A McCreachery Card Theory

[insidethewrapper]

I, like Joe, have researched the Detroit Wolverines for years. This "White-McCreachery" Old Judge card is interesting to say the least. I have no explanation for it , but two things come to mind after reviewing the newspapers from the first part of 1888. I think these photos were taken in April , 1888 before the season ( is that correct Joe ?). The Tomlinson photos were taken in Mid-May.
If these were taken in Indianapolis, the Indianapolis team had a player named
"McGeachey" not much different from "McCreachery" (G vs Cr and extra "r" at end of name) One of two things, it could have been an error in spelling or a joke by the photographer. Since the portraits ( like the Watkins card) were managers, on this photo was printed manager again by mistake.

During this pre-season time, White indicated he would leave the team if Watkins remained the manager. Just a few weeks ( March, 1888) White was guaranteed by the directors of the club that he would be treated fairly by Watkins. He then agreed to sign, he disliked Watkins intensely. So this photo session was during this time.

Maybe he was in on the joke with the photographer etc and he was listed as manager to get even with Watkins.

These are just 2 possibilities I thought could have happened.


Joe, I have a question, is this card considered in the "short print" OJ catagory ?

[cyseymour]

Just for those who skimmed my previous posts, the McCreachery case has been solved. The name is a double-entendre:

McCrea/Chery means "Sweet Son of God"
Creach means "Fall from Grace"

The double-entendre reflects both his religious views and downfall as a baseball player. That is the way the name is McCreachery. Thank you to all who contributed.

[insidethewrapper]

Does anyone have a clear picture of this card ? In Lew Lipset's book, he spells the card name as "McGreachery" with as "G" instead of a "C". Which is it ?

[oldjudge]

Cy--from what I have read there are several theories as to what the name means, if anything. Your theory is one of several and I would not jump to the conclusion that it is the correct theory.

Not sure what you mean by a short print card. it is certainly a rare card. How many were printed initially is anyone's guess. Since only one is known to exist now it couldn't have been that many. Also, not all portraits are manager cards.

There is a clear picture of the card in the Old Judge book

[insidethewrapper]

Sorry if I used the wrong term, I meant, is it short printed. Don't see for sell very often. Thanks.

[oldjudge]

Here is a list of Indianapolis managers:


http://www.baseball-almanac.com/mgrtmih9.shtml


McGeachy was only 23 in 1887--probably much too young for manager material.

[insidethewrapper]

1887 Indy managers were : Burnham, Thomas and Fogel, Spence in 1888.


Interesting: White and McGeachey were teammates for a short time with Detroit in 1886.

In the spring of 1888, White was 40 years old and his manager Watkins was 29 ( 30 in May) !!!

I also wondered if Detroit and Indy were at the same photo studio on the same day.

[Matthew H]

Cy, I like you theory but it seems a bit too esoteric to fall in line with the general humor used by the sets creator... We're talking about a few guys taking photos, they had a hard time spelling names right. I'm not saying they were dumb.. Just sayin'.

Great thread though!

[teetwoohsix]

Wow, great thread !!! I've enjoyed reading through this.

It's interesting that I was just reading about the Irish poteen makers, and the photo shown was from 1885. It in fact said that the Irish have long had a reputation as hard drinkers, and that their habit of drinking poteen ( pronounced po-cheen - a roughly distilled potato whiskey) earned them some of their reputation for being hard fighters.

Also, (cyseymour) if you like Irish artwork check out The Book of Kells, located in the Trinity College Dublin. It's an amazing group of manuscripts created in Ireland and Northern Britian between the seventh and tenth centuries (if you can't make it to Ireland, grab the book by Bernard Meehan titled "The Book Of Kells" ). The artwork is amazing.

Sorry for getting off track....great thread !!!

Sincerely, Clayton

[insidethewrapper]

On page 452 of the Old Judge Book it states that Detroit and Indianapolis were photographed in 1888 by Fearnaught Studios in Indianapolis. As stated before, maybe they were in the studio together that day in April, 1888 and there was a mix-up or mistake between the teams at the studio. I also see that a Spence Indy Manager OJ card was not made in 1888. Why ? Maybe McGeachey was going to be the manager and the card was simply misspelled.

More research will be needed to see if McGeachey, a Indy player, was being considered as a manager during this time period and also when Spence was hired as manager.

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by teetwoohsix

Wow, great thread !!! I've enjoyed reading through this.

Also, (cyseymour) if you like Irish artwork check out The Book of Kells, located in the Trinity College Dublin. It's an amazing group of manuscripts created in Ireland and Northern Britian between the seventh and tenth centuries (if you can't make it to Ireland, grab the book by Bernard Meehan titled "The Book Of Kells" ). The artwork is amazing.

Clayton, I have been to England but was unable to make it to Ireland that trip. It is high on my list, and when I do go, I will be certain to see The Book of Kells. It sounds incredible.

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Cy--from what I have read there are several theories as to what the name means, if anything. Your theory is one of several and I would not jump to the conclusion that it is the correct theory.

Jay - I agree that it is good not to jump to conclusions, but when I did the research, I had one of those "Aha!" moments that one gets when they solve a riddle.

Riddles and wordplay were very popular forms of entertainment in the 19th Century - remember, this is before the days of radio and television. Solving riddles was a social and recreational activity. In the book "Emma", by Jane Austen, they sit before a dinner party and solve riddles together.

Moreover, the education system was different back then. Most students had to learn french and latin. So having a double-entendre like the one found in "McCreachery", where the answer lies in the roots of the name, would not be so far out of the norm for that time period.

The idea that the card just accidentally featured Deacon White, stating that he was a manager, with a false, unheard of name whose etymology suggests a double-entendre which very accurately and wittingly describes White's situation at that time is highly implausible.

Far more likely is that the card was a joke, as initially surmised by Joe G., and the riddle that I outlay above is the solution to why the card was called "McCreachery". And it is a splendid riddle! Very funny!!!

[RCMcKenzie]

Lew Lipset's book also talks of Indianapolis outfielder Jack McGeachy who played for the Hoosiers from 1887 thru 1889. Lipset mentions that Watch Burnham was the Indy manager in 1887, but left before the end of the season. Lipset goes on to say that Harry Spence was the manager of Indy in 1988. There is no mention of who took over for Burnham to finish up 1887. Could it have been Jack McGeachy as an interim player manager in 1887. If so, then the card could simply have been an error card with no hidden meanings. In other words, the printer put the wrong photo for Jack McGeachy and misspelled his name..

[insidethewrapper]

As Joe previously has stated, Deacon did not "fall from Grace" and was not a "downfall as a baseball player " He had a great 1887 season, won the 1887 "World Championship" and was reserved by Detroit for the 1888 season. The team was very shaken when to talked about retiring before the 1888 season. He was a key player even at his age. This photo was taken before the 1888 season, but not sure when it was printed as a card.

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

As Joe previously has stated, Deacon did not "fall from Grace" and was not a "downfall as a baseball player " He had a great 1887 season, won the 1887 "World Championship" and was reserved by Detroit for the 1888 season. The team was very shaken when to talked about retiring before the 1888 season. He was a key player even at his age. This photo was taken before the 1888 season, but not sure when it was printed as a card.

It was printed in 1888, per design of the card. White had a poor year in 1888 and the team disbanded.

[Troy Kirk]

Like Joe and Insidethewrapper, I have also done a lot of research on the Detroit ballclubs of the 1880s. The Detroit pictures for the Old Judge set were taken sometime between April 25-28, 1888 in Indianapolis. This is the only window when Lady Baldwin and Frank Scheibeck could have both been photographed and the Fearnaught photos prove they were taken in Indianapolis.

Joe and Insidethewrapper pointed out several wrong notions about White already. Another wrong notion is that Boston didn't want him in 1889. In fact, Boston did want him but White refused to play for Boston because White still harbored some bad blood towards Boston due to his treatment in Boston when he played there earlier. Boston tried to get him for a while, then gave up and let him go to Pittsburgh instead.

While all this speculation about the McGreachery name is interesting, I'm certainly not buying it. Old Judge cared about selling cigarettes, and they wouldn't want to insult any Irish customers. The company was a little playful with the dog card, but I don't think there was any riddle or statement being made with that card, it was just a fun card.

McGreachery is certainly a strange card and worthy of discussion, but I don't think it follows a pattern by Old Judge of making cards with riddles because I don't think there are any Old Judge cards with riddles. They were just baseball cards to help sell cigarettes. By all means, keep the discussion going though.

[cyseymour]

Troy,

While the photos were may have been taken in April, 1888, the McCreachery card was most likely published after the season for the reasons outlined by Joe G. The card is a joke, and there are several other joke cards in the set.

There are no other cards with riddles, but clearly the name is fictional. No other person in the world has that name, so it was most likely a very deliberate choice. Most people using a pseudonym haphazardly would choose from the multitude of already known names. The fact that they created their own name suggests there is a hidden meaning.

In addition to the double-entendre, it is still possible that they were also still trying to poke fun at White by making the name sound Irish. There was very little PC-ness and I doubt they were too concerned about offending Irish customers simply by putting the name on there. Or if it did offend, perhaps that is the reason for such a small print run (only one card known to exist).

Including both the double-entendre and simultaneously making the name sound Irish required some brilliant linguistic engineering, but it is not outside their capacity since, of course, they had the license to use whatever fake name they wished and did not have to stay within the bounds of conventional names.

But the double-entendre of "Sweet Son of God/Fall from Grace" is very, very on target, not only with the life and times of Deacon White, his poor play, and his religiosity, and the demise of his team, but also consistent with the joke of calling him a manager of Indianapolis. The narrative makes perfect sense.

As far as whether Boston wanted him, I wouldn't know, but whether did they did or not, it doesn't change the story that he had fallen very hard from his championship days just a year earlier. He had gone from "preacher" to "creacher" very quickly. That is the reflection that the card is commenting on.

[Joe_G.]

Holy smokes, glad to see the many replies since my last visit but I still cannot follow cyseymour's reasoning. I believe much of the confusion for you cyseymour resides in a failure to soak in all that is known about the situation. In no particular order, I'd like to offer some information that might help you.

- All Deacon White N172 cards are rare, the McCreachery only has a single known copy today, some of his other poses are not that far behind. I'd gladly trade a high grade Delahanty for a White
- By studying the N172 team change cards of 1888 (Fa & Fb), as well as the other years of N172 production, you quickly realize that the N172 cards were produced during the earliest part of the baseball season. The cabinets would often catch later in the year trades (produced perhaps during and after the N172 run)
- Only new players for Indy & Detroit were photographed in 1888 at Fearsnaught studio together with those that were somehow missed in 1887. McGeachy was photographed in 1887, so he was not part of the photo shoot. Strangely, all players were photographed in 5 poses except Deacon who posed for 9 different shots. The other Detroit players to be photographed that day were Baldwin, Conway, Getzien, and Scheibeck.
- Detroit began 1888 very strong, holding first place as late as July 28th (tied with NY Giants at 47-20 => well past 1/2 way point of season) when they lost the first of 16 straight! Yes, Detroit lost 16 straight but not because of Deacon White. Hardy Richardson broke his ankle (season ending injury), Sam Thompson had a lame throwing arm (wouldn't play remainder of the season), and most importantly, the team did not like their manager (Watkins). Watkins was strict and quick to fine players whether they deserved it or not and this quickly grew old. The Wolverines wouldn't return to winning ways until team Secretary, Robert Leadley, would take over as manager. By mid-1888, every team member despised Watkins (Deacon wasn't alone on this).
- Furthermore, the poor finish to 1888 wasn't responsible for Detroit disbanding; the death blow was instead due to a tough NL ruling that left visiting clubs with a smaller share of gate receipts. Detroit drew huge crowds on the road and did well in 1887 however they couldn't cover the player's salaries in 1888 with the smaller cut. (Jealous Boston, New York, etc. knew how to put an end to a small town team)
- Lastly, and I repeat, Deacon White had a solid 1888, he wasn't the demise of the Wolverines.

I do however like the discussion that has resulted from the probing.

Great to hear from some of my long time Detroit friends! Hope all is well.