WHY I THINK DEACON McGUIRE SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN

WHY I THINK DEACON McGUIRE SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN 

By- Damien 

Deacon McGuire was best known for his longevity. His career spanned from 1884 through 1906, a total of 22 seasons, not including short stints in 1907, 1908, 1910, and 1912. McGuire’s record of 26 seasons in Major League Baseball stood until 1993, when Nolan Ryan played his 27th. However, McGuire’s record is probably more impressive than Ryan’s since he was a catcher, playing mostly before the days of shin guards, and he caught his last game at age 48. During that time catchers took a wonderful beating, and McGuire in particular was famed for his mangled hands. While he lasted just about forever, McGuire was also a fine player, compiling a career batting average of .278, including five .300 seasons. He also held his own behind the plate, as he still holds career records at the post for both assists and caught stealing. However, his most important innovation may be that he was the first catcher ever to pad his mitt (1884). This made catching a whole lot safer, but all things considered somebody else probably would have done it if McGuire hadn’t. Deacon McGuire started his career with the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884, hitting .185 in 45 games. This was nothing unusual, as most catchers in that era hit below .200, but McGuire had a resounding season in 1887, hitting .307 for the Philadelphia Quakers. He played 41 games in 1888, hitting .259 for three teams in two different leagues, and was out of the Majors entirely in 1889. McGuire returned in 1890, hit .299, and established himself as probably the best catcher of the 1890’s. He hit the ball, threw out runners, and drove in runs at a blistering pace. His best season was probably 1895, when he batted .336 with 10 home runs and 97 RBI’s. McGuire had two more solid seasons come the turn of the 20th century but struggled in 1902, playing in 72 games and hitting only .227. He did a little better in 1903, and played three years with the New York Highlanders after that. He had one last good season in 1906, batting .299 in limited action, and scarcely played after that. McGuire came out of one year retirement in 1910, and in playing one game with Cleveland he became one of the first four decade players in MLB history. In 1912, he became the oldest player ever to catch an AL game, and additionally became the oldest to collect a base hit. Deacon McGuire was a good hitter, a sort of pioneer for padding his glove, and perhaps the most durable catcher of all time. Again, you can never say enough about the value of a durable catcher who can hit. For this reason and for all of his career accomplishments, McGuire gets my vote for the Hall of Fame. 

LIFETIME STATISTICS 

Games career: 1,781 season high: 133 in 1895 

At Bats career: 6,291 season high: 538 in 1895 

Hits career: 1,750 season high: 181 in 1895 

Doubles career: 300 season high: 30 in 1895 

Triples career: 79 season high: 10 in 1891 

Home Runs career: 45 season high: 10 in 1895 

Runs career: 770 season high: 89 in 1895 

Runs Batted In career: 840 season high: 97 in 1895 (McGuire’s RBI total from 1884 AA is unavailable) 

Stolen Bases career: 118 season high: 17 in 1895 (McGuire’s stolen base information prior to 1886 is unavailable) 

Walks career: 515 season high: 61 in 1892 

Strikeouts career: 442 season high: 49 in 1892 (McGuire’s strikeout information from 1884 and 1891 AA is unavailable) 

Batting Average career: .278 season high: .343 in 1897 

On Base Percentage career: .341 season high: .388 in 1895 

Slugging Percentage career: .372 season high: .478 in 1895 

Total Bases career: 2,343 season high: 257 in 1895 

Sacrifice Hits career: 47 season high: 10 in 1898 (McGuire’s sacrifice hit information prior to 1894 is unavailable) 

Fielding Percentage career: .940 season high: .972 in 1899 

Double Plays career: 193 season high: 37 in 1898 led NL C: 12 in 1895, 14 in 1896 led AL C: 11 in 1904 

Putouts career: 7,743 season high: 707 in 1898 led NL C: 412 in 1895, 349 in 1896 

Assists career: 1,925 season high: 182 in 1895 led AA C: 130 in 1891 led NL C: 180 in 1895 

Caught Stealing Percentage career: .364 season high: .451 in 1904 (McGuire’s caught stealing information prior to 1890 is unavailable) 

Pickoffs career: N/A 

DID YOU KNOW? 

-went 1-for-2 in his final MLB game 

-pitched the last four innings of a game in 1890 

-led the NL in games caught in 1895 (133; setting a new MLB record) and 1896 (98) 

-led AA catchers in caught stealing in 1891 (120) and led NL catchers in 1895 (189) and 1899 (119) 

-threw out seven runners trying to steal second base and picked two more off of second and third in one game in 1900 

-was the oldest player in the AL in 1904, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910, and 1912 

-among MLB catchers, ranks 14th in double plays and 24th in games caught 

-also played 93 games at first base, five at third base, four at shortstop, 33 in the outfield, and 12 as a pinch hitter 

-hit three home runs off of Hall of Famer Kid Nichols and one each off of John Clarkson and Tim Keefe 

-went 210-287 (.423) as a manager 

-umpired a few MLB games from 1886 through 1905 

fielding discrepancy between assists and caught stealing 

why a .364 cs% in 4,000 tries is better than a .364 cs% in 1,000 tries