Denny McKnight

Denny McKnight
Manager
Born: January 29, 1848(1848-01-29) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Died: May 5, 1900(1900-05-05) (aged 52) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Batted: Unknown	Threw: Unknown
MLB debut
1884 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
1884 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Games managed	12
Wins-Losses	4-8
Win/Loss %	.333
Teams
As Manager Pittsburgh Alleghenys (1884)
Career highlights and awards
Founded the Pittsburgh Pirates

Harmar Denny McKnight (January 29, 1848 – May 5, 1900) was the founding owner of the Allegheny Baseball Club of Pittsburgh in anticipation of playing in the new American Association. He founded the club on October 15, 1881. The club then became known as the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (now known as the Pittsburgh Pirates). McKnight also managed the club at the beginning of the 1884 season.

American Association and move to the National League

McKnight served as President of the American Association until he was ousted in 1886. His ouster was result of a controversy surrounding St. Louis Browns player Sam Barkley. In March 1886, Browns owner Chris Von der Ahe offered Barkley for $1000 to Allegheny, the first team to pay the money. Billy Barnie, the manager of the Baltimore Orioles, was able to have Barkley sign an undated contract with his team and wired the $1000 asking price to Von der Ahe. However Von der Ahe had already secured a deal with McKnight who was still the Alleghenys' owner. Barkley was convinced by Von der Aheto play for the Allegheny club instead of Baltimore. However the Orioles appealed the decision by McKnight, who used his position as the President of American Association to decided where Barkley would play. It was later decided that the American Association would suspended and fined Barkley for signing with Allegheny. However McKnight refused Barkley's punishment and did not tell Barkley he would be suspended for the year. Barkley sued the Association, but they settled out of court with suspension being lifted although the fine stayed in place. Baltimore was offered and accepted Milt Scott as payment. For his role in the controversy, McKnight was ousted as American Association President. This then led Allegheny President, William A. Nimick, moving the team from the American Association to the National League.^[1]

Players' League

The Alleghenys were severely crippled during the 1890, when nearly all of their stars jumped to the Pittsburgh Burghers of the Players' League. With a decimated roster, the team experienced what is still the worst season in franchise history, going 23-113.^[2] The battle nearly ruined McKnight, and he was forced to return his franchise to the league. However, almost immediately after this, McKnight joined the backers of the Burghers as a minority owner, which then repurchased the Pittsburgh National League franchise and rechartered it under a different corporate name. They were thus able to legally recover the services of most of the players who had jumped to the upstart league a year earlier..^[3]

References

• Baseball-Reference
• 1881 in baseball

Notes

1. ^ "Baseball: The Early Years, pgs. 217-218". Harold Seymour. http://books.google.com/books?id=zQO-WWL1v1AC&pg=PA217&lpg=PA217&dq=%22sam+barkley%22+baseball&source=web&ots=eCc7-o2wO0&sig=vegu8pVjfKpzX8I4heZcJEDmzdw&hl=en#PPA218,M1. Retrieved 2008-03-15. 
2. ^ Kovacevic, Dejan (April 27, 2006). "St. Louis trumps Pirates' rally, 4-3". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06117/685462-63.stm. 
3. ^ Purdy, Dennis (2006). The Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball. New York City: Workman. ISBN 0761139435. 

Preceded by Joe Battin	Pittsburg Alleghenys Manager 1884	Succeeded by Bob Ferguson
Preceded by First	Pittsburg Alleghenys Owner 1881-1886	Succeeded by William A. Nimick
Preceded by First	American Association President 1882-1886	Succeeded by Wheeler C. Wyckoff

Persondata
Name	Macknight, Denny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 29, 1848
Place of birth	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Date of death	May 5, 1900
Place of death	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania