A McCreachery Card Theory

[novakjr]

With minimal reasearch. The word "creach" can be roughly translated to the Old English "Hyre", meaning a downfall, descent or ruin. Is there any chance that Creach, Creacher, or Creachery, could in reference to his association with the National Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players, and their opposition to the reserve clause? Also maybe combined the Buffalo incident in late 1888, where he refused to report to Pittsburgh(whom he'd been traded to) because he wanted to play for Buffalo(a team that he had purchased)? Perhaps his actions were viewed as destructive to the game by some people? This could also possibly have led to the Mc being added in a derogatory manner.

The Buffalo incident is briefly discussed in this article..
http://research.sabr.org/journals/james-deacon-white

[cyseymour]

Fantastic research, David. From that article, we can see that the downfall came in 1888.

"In 1888 the Wolverines dropped from first to fifth, and then at season's end, dropped right out of the league."

So the term "creach" could very well have been in response to the rapid downfall of the Detroit Wolverines. Also, the card is dated to 1888 based on its design, which has the white block with text at the bottom, not 1887, since the photo lacks the "flying sausage" advertisement known on 1887 cards.

So it seems that they were calling him Irish via blaming him for the downfall of the Detroit Wolverines. Wow.

[cyseymour]

Hmm... having thought this through, it is also true that at the close of the 1888 season, White was sold to Boston, who wound up releasing him because he was too old. So probably the card is a joke on a number of levels.

a) White was too old and thus tabbed a manager of Indianapolis.
b) "Creach" being that his poor performance in 1888 was responsible for Detroit's downfall.
c) "McCreachery" - labelled as being Irish in a derogatory manner as a result of it.

So Joe's original interpretation of him being called a manager because he was too old was probably correct. However, this thread does unveil the mystery of the "McCreachery" name and add another layer to the card's meaning

[Matthew H]

David, thanks for posting that SABR Journal. That was a very informative read. It seems that Deacon Whites enshrinement was long overdue.

[novakjr]

my main point, wasn't necessarily that poor performance led to the downfall of the Wolverines, but that his actions and views could eventually be very destructive to the game in general, if other players were to follow suit(basically unionization)..Although the same could possibly be applied in terms of being a clubhouse distraction to the Wolverines..

"creachery" would be collective actions or views(and/or the practice of) that are perceived to be destructive or distractive(in this case depending on your views, to either just the Wolverines or on a larger scale the whole league). Maybe it's just a case of "deacon being manny"?

Or maybe we're all over thinking it...

Just looked at the article again. I completely missed a key sentence.
"Just as White had been present at the temporary demise of Cincinnati as a major league city, so was he to be a part of Buffalo's departure." Combine that with Detroit's downfall. Maybe the joke is that he was viewed as the "kiss of death" for a team?

Co-incidentally, after jokingly appearing on this card as the manager for "Indianapolis", they also folded in 1889. Now wouldn't that be the ultimate joke..

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by novakjr

my main point, wasn't necessarily that poor performance led to the downfall of the Wolverines, but that his actions and views could eventually be very destructive to the game in general, if other players were to follow suit(basically unionization)..Although the same could possibly be applied in terms of being a clubhouse distraction to the Wolverines..

"creachery" would be collective actions or views(and/or the practice of) that are perceived to be destructive or distractive(in this case depending on your views, to either just the Wolverines or on a larger scale the whole league). Maybe it's just a case of "deacon being manny"?

Or maybe we're all over thinking it...

Just looked at the article again. I completely missed a key sentence.
"Just as White had been present at the temporary demise of Cincinnati as a major league city, so was he to be a part of Buffalo's departure." Combine that with Detroit's downfall. Maybe the joke is that he was viewed as the "kiss of death" for a team?

Co-incidentally, after jokingly appearing on this card as the manager for "Indianapolis", they also folded in 1889. Now wouldn't that be the ultimate joke..

Maybe they knew Indianapolis was about to go under, and that's why they choose that team!

[oldjudge]

David--that is an interesting theory and it makes quite a bit of sense. A unique card now has a great story to go with it.

[cyseymour]

Another interpretation:

McCrea in gaelic: "Son of Grace"
Chery in french: "Dear, Darling", aka "mon cherie"

So McCreachery could have meant something along the lines of "Dear Son of Grace". Which would make sense since he was a devout Christian.

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/0/Chery
http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Mccrea

I think we have a winner!