A McCreachery Card Theory

[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 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.

Or maybe Indy didn't have a manager at the time and the joke was that White was the manager because he was so old?

Also, White was a famous player who had been in the league for twenty years. How could they possibly fail to recognize his picture? It's about as likely that someone would mistake Derek Jeter for Tony LaRussa.

[Exhibitman]

The first law firm I worked for had a heavily Irish partnership including the managing partner. There was one German-Jewish partner and as a joke they wrote a "Mc" on his door namplate prefacing his last name. Perhaps part of the name used on the card was a similar nod to the Irish composition of the sport in the era.

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The first law firm I worked for had a heavily Irish partnership including the managing partner. There was one German-Jewish partner and as a joke they wrote a "Mc" on his door namplate prefacing his last name. Perhaps part of the name used on the card was a similar nod to the Irish composition of the sport in the era.

Adam, great observation. This is what I believe as well, that they were poking fun at him by calling him Irish. If that's true, and seeing the name "McCreachery" is does not exist in real life, then it's also possible that the name McCreachery was invented as an elaborate pun containing the word "Creach" and the names "McCrea" and "Chery".

We'll never know for sure, but the pun and the joke of him being Irish fit very well within the context of the life and times of Deacon White.

[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!!!