Personal Information*
Born: April 7, 1873, in Truxton, NY
Died: February 25, 1934, in New Rochelle, NY
Nicknames: Mugsy and Little Napoleon
Height: 5’7”
Baseball Information*
Positions: 3rdBase, Shortstop, Outfield
Teams: Baltimore Orioles (1891-1899, 1901-1902), St. Louis Cardinals (1900), New York Giants (1902-1907)
First Game: August 26, 1891
Last Game: June 18, 1907
Bats: Left Throws: Right
Managerial Information*
Teams Managed: Baltimore Orioles (Player/Manager, 1899-1902), New York Giants (Player/Manager, 1902-1906, Manager Only, 1907-1932)
Games Managed: 4769
Games Won: 2763
Games Lost: 1948
Games Tied: 58
Winning Percentage: .586
Baseball Stats (Career)*
WAR: 45.7. At Bats: 3924. Hits: 1309
Home Runs: 13. Batting Average: .334. Runs: 1024.
RBI: 462. Stolen Bases: 436. OBP: .466.
SLG: .410. OPS: .876. OPS. +: 135
Awards and Accomplishments
Hall of Fame Induction: 1937 (as manager)
Biography**
John Joseph McGraw was born on April 7, 1873, in Truxton, NY to John and Ellen McGraw. He had seven younger siblings. His father, who emigrated from Ireland, fought in the Civil War and later worked for the railroad. John McGraw grew up in relative poverty. Three of John’s siblings along with his mother died of diphtheria during the diphtheria epidemic of 1884-85. Following the families, devastating loses, John’s father became an abusive alcoholic. When McGraw was 12 years old, he left home after he could no longer take his fathers abuse. He moved into the Truxton House Inn where he was raised by a widow named Mary Goddard. He worked odd jobs and used the money to buy baseball equipment.
When John was sixteen years old, he became a pitcher for the Truxton Grays. Even though he was only 5’7” and 100 pounds, he excelled. In 1890 he began playing in the New York-Penn League when the manager of the Truxton Grays began managing in the New York-Penn League and agreed to let John play on his team. However, McGraw made 8 errors in 10 chances at third base and was promptly released. The next season he played shortstop for the Cedar Rapids, a team in the Illinois-Iowa League where he played shortstop. McGraw began playing in the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles in 1891. The Orioles were originally part of the American Association; however, the team joined the National League in 1892. McGraw could play many positions but eventually settled in at third base. During the 1892 season, Ned Hanlon became the team’s manager partway through the season. Hanlon took McGraw under his wing and helped him develop his skills as a leadoff hitter. McGraw developed into one of the best leadoff hitters in the National League. He was also adept at getting on base.
The Orioles were a team full of talent and included such players as Willie Keeler, Dan Brouthers, Joe Kelley, and Hugh Jennings. The team won the National League pennant in 1894, 1895, and 1896. Beginning in 1899, many of the Orioles staff including Hanlon moved to Brooklyn to work for the Brooklyn Superbas. However, McGraw with the Orioles and began managing the team. McGraw took a brief break from the team in September of 1899 after his wife, Mary died unexpectedly when her appendix ruptured. McGraw’s contract was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900 after the Orioles were disbanded and McGraw refused to go to the Brooklyn Superbas.
The Baltimore Orioles became a team once again in 1901, however, the new Baltimore Orioles began as part of the American League. The American League, which began in 1901 was started by Ban Johnson. McGraw joined the new Baltimore Orioles and became the team’s manager. However, John McGraw and Ban Johnson had a very contentious relationship and the pair struggled to get along. Tempers boiled over and the battle between the two ended in 1902 when Ban Johnson suspended John McGraw indefinitely. At that point, McGraw became a player-manager for the New York Giants of the National League. The Giants began improving and won the National League Pennant in 1904. The team should have faced the Boston Americans in the 1904 World Series, however, due to John McGraw’s and Giant’s owner John T. Bush’s distaste for Ban Johnson, The Giants refused to play in the World Series. The Giants won the pennant, again, in 1904 and chose to play in the World Series against the American League winners, the Philadelphia Athletics. The Giants won the second-ever World Series behind star pitcher Christy Mathewson. The Giants won the pennant again in 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1917, but did not win the World Series in any of those years.
As a manager, McGraw was known to focus heavily on pitching, defense, and aggressive baserunning. He was constantly looking for players that would help his team in those areas. McGraw was also famous for frequently acquiring and trading players in order to find players who fit his style of play. While McGraw helped to introduce the use of pinch-runners, pinch-hitters, and relief pitchers, he also had a bad temper that rattled many of his players. McGraw’s temper often led to disagreements with umpires and resulted in him being ejected 118 times, which is more ejections than any other manager in baseball history.
McGraw used his fame and prestige to help other teams. He initially helped Jacob Ruppert buy the Yankees and even allowed the Yankees to use the Giants’ ballpark, the Polo Grounds when the Giants were not home. However, after Babe Ruth joined the Yankees, McGraw became angered at the popularity that Ruth brought to the Yankees. McGraw insisted that the Yankees leave the Polo Grounds thus beginning a rivalry between the two clubs. The Giants beat the Yankees in the World Series two seasons in a row from 1921-1922. However, in 1923 the Yankees beat the Giants in their first-ever World Series win. The Giants lost the series again in 1924, this time to the Washington Senators. John McGraw’s health began to decline which caused him to resign on June 3, 1932. John McGraw finished his managerial career with 2,784 wins.
In 1933, in what would be John McGraw’s last appearance on the baseball field, he managed the National League in the first-ever All-Star Game, which was held at Comiskey Park. McGraw’s National League played Connie Mack’s American league. John McGraw died on February 25, 1934, in New Rochelle, NY from prostate cancer and uremia. McGraw was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.
* Baseball Reference. Richie Ashburn. Retrieved from https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/ashburi01.shtml.
** Society for American Baseball Research. Richie Ashburn. Retrieved from https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/cda44a76.
Image Source: Library of Congress, National Photo Company Collection October 4, 1924
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