T206 Unique/Fun Fact Cards

[Chuck9788]

WITHOUT A DOUBT the "CRAZIEST" player card that I own is a T-206 Larry McLean (gold border) below.




Please check out this BIO below :

McLean was the tallest catcher in major league history. Known for his heavy drinking and violent behavior, McLean's career ended after a 1915 brawl with New York Giants manager John McGraw and coach Dick Kinsella. He was fatally shot by a bartender six years after his last major league appearance.

McLean was known to chew large amounts of Brown's Mule tobacco and was a heavy drinker of corn whiskey. When he signed with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League in 1905, he became teammates with a pitcher who also struggled with alcohol use, Ned Garvin. Baseball author Dennis Snelling said that this pitcher-catcher combination formed "one of the most volatile batteries in the history of the game."

In 1906, McLean signed with Portland again for a $1400 annual salary. McLean's wife publicly voiced her objection to the salary, and she said that Portland owner William Wallace McCredie was not paying McLean consistent with his value. She said that the minor-league team in Altoona was willing to sign him for $2400 per year. McLean did play in 88 games for the 1906 Portland Beavers and he hit .355. The team won the Pacific Coast League.

A drinking incident with Cincinnati that year ended with McLean jumping in the fountain at the Buckingham Hotel, and it resulted in McLean being demoted back to the minor leagues by manager Kid Nichols. "I can pitch to Larry real good, but I can't manage him worth a dime," Nichols said.

Before the 1910 season, the Reds suspended McLean after he violated team rules during spring training at Hot Springs, Arkansas. In response to the suspension, McLean wrote a "letter of resignation" from the club. His resignation was accepted, but he was later allowed to rejoin the team with the caveats that he would play for a reduced salary and would sit out the first week of the regular season.

In August 1913, McLean was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Giants. Chief Meyers was the Giants' primary catcher, but he was injured during the 1913 postseason, so McLean played five games in the 1913 World Series.

CAREER ENDING FIGHT

In June 1915, McLean engaged in a brawl with Giants manager John McGraw and scout Dick Kinsella. McLean had recently been suspended for ten days for failing to stay in shape. He was angry at Kinsella because he felt the scout had convinced McGraw to suspend him. McLean and several companions entered the lobby of the team's hotel and attacked Kinsella. The melee escalated and Kinsella broke a chair over McLean's head while several team members worked to subdue McLean. The catcher and his companions fled in a car. McGraw dismissed McLean from the Giants later that day. McLean never played again.


DEATH

McLean was killed on March 14, 1921 in Boston, where he was shot by the manager of a saloon. He had become unruly the night before his death and chased a bartender out of the saloon. When McLean returned on the night of March 14, he became offended when the manager refused to lend him a cigarette. The manager said that McLean was attempting to crawl over the bar, aided by his friend (and recent parolee) Jack McCarthy, when the manager fired 2 gunshots.

McLean was dead when he arrived at the hospital, while McCarthy was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the stomach. The saloon manager, James J. Connor, was arrested on suspicion of murder and given a light sentence.


LEGACY

McLean received one vote in the 1937 Baseball Hall of Fame elections. He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. At 6'5", McLean holds the record as being the tallest catcher in major league history.