Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #55: James R. "Jimmy" McAleer. "Loafer". Manager with the Washington Senators in 1909-1911. As a center fielder, he had 1,008 hits and 262 stolen bases in 13 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Cleveland Spiders in 1989-1998. His best season was probably 1892 with Cleveland as he posted a .318 OBP with 92 runs scored and 40 stolen bases in 638 plate appearances. He finished his playing career with the St. Louis Browns in 1902 and 1907. He also managed the Cleveland Blues in 1901 and the St. Louis Browns in 1902-1909. He was also a major shareholder in the Boston Red Sox in 1911-1913. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1912, but his ownership was brief, fraught with conflict, and ended amid acrimony.

Deveaux explains McAleer's introduction to Washington and the benefits for Walter Johnson: Now that Cantillon was on his way out (as manager of Washington following the 1909 season) because of the poor quality of his ball club at Washington, the league president (Ban Johnson) stepped in and suggested the hiring of Jimmy McAleer, most recently the manager of the St. Louis Browns who had finished an awful seventh in 1909. The affable McAleer had finished out of the second division only three times in eight years with the Browns, so although Washington was becoming known as a burial ground for managers, he couldn't afford to be choosy. The marriage was consummated, and the former stylish outfielder of the Cleveland Spiders took over the helm of the Washington Nationals for 1910. . . .

. . . It seemed that Jimmy McAleer played a role in turning Walter Johnson around in 1910. From then on, the Big Train could count on being a starting pitcher only, and not having to drive himself to the point of exhaustion with frequent relief appearances. Also, with McAleer, Walter would be given normal rest time between starts. McAleer also offered advice from an opposing manager's viewpoint -- he felt that Johnson could be beaten whenever he began to rely too heavily on his curveball. The tip proved invaluable. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

McAleer's SABR biography covers his tumultuous first year as "owner" of the Boston Red Sox: The 1912 season, McAleer’s first as club president, was an unqualified success. The team opened its new stadium, Fenway Park, on April 20, coasted to the pennant by 14 games over the second-place Senators, and defeated the New York Giants in the World Series. However, McAleer and Stahl, who was not McAleer’s choice to manage the team, clashed often. The team was also divided by friction between Irish Catholic players, led by catcher Bill Carrigan, and the Protestant contingent headed by stars Tris Speaker and Joe Wood. McAleer was an Irish Catholic, while Stahl, a Protestant, was a close friend of Speaker and Wood. The two factions engaged in petty bickering and the occasional physical altercation, while Stahl and McAleer battled openly. The feuding on the Boston club provided much fodder for local newspaper columns and marred an otherwise successful season.

The differences between Stahl and McAleer came to a head during the World Series. With the Red Sox leading the Series three games to one (with one tie), Stahl chose Joe Wood to pitch Game Six at Fenway Park. McAleer, however, ordered his manager to send Buck O’Brien, an Irish Catholic, to the mound instead. McAleer had his way, and the Red Sox lost 5-2, with all five runs scored off O’Brien in the first inning. Wood was so angry with the outcome that he reportedly attacked O’Brien with a bat before the seventh game. Teammates broke up the ugly fight, but Wood pitched so poorly afterward that many believe to this day that he lost the game on purpose. He faced only nine batters in Game Seven, allowing six runs and seven hits before giving way to a reliever. He appeared to be merely lobbing the ball across the plate, perhaps to show his disgust with McAleer, or possibly because he was exhausted from the pregame fight with O’Brien. Though the Red Sox eventually prevailed in the eight-game Series, questions about the integrity of the seventh game of the 1912 World Series have lingered ever since.

McAleer’s popularity in Boston was further damaged by a ticket fiasco before Game Seven. The Royal Rooters, Boston’s boisterous, mostly Irish fan club headed by Mayor John “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald, paraded on the field at Fenway Park before the game and proceeded to their usual block of seats in the left-field stands, only to find that club management had sold the seats out from under them. A near-riot ensued that delayed the game for nearly an hour before the police could gain control of the situation. McAleer blamed a “clerical error” for the mix-up, but the outraged Rooters called for a fan boycott of the eighth game the next day. As a result, only about 17,000 people, half of Fenway Park’s capacity, saw the Red Sox win the world championship.

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