A McCreachery Card Theory

[cyseymour]

There has been some interesting speculation on why an Old Judge card with Deacon White on it had the name "McCreachery" underneath it. Some believe the theory that was a joke because White's playing had become so poor that he was presumed to be the manager. This is a great story, but I believe there is a more likely, and unfortunately, cynical reason for why White was given the name "McCreachery".

In the late 19th Century, there were many Irish immigrants coming to America. Seeing that by stealing jobs and resources from other Americans, they came to resent the Irish, and it lead to discrimination against them. It is hard to imagine in our country today, which is 25 percent Irish, but some Irishmen changed their names to rid themselves of prefixes like "O" or "Mc". For instance, Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke briefly changed his name to "Rourke" when he entered the league, and reversed it back about a year later.

So the reason behind the "McCreachery" name given to Deacon White's card wasn't simply that it was a false name, but that it was an Irish one. My belief is that the slander made against White was mocking his religiosity, that the joke is that he was Catholic, as the Catholics had strict codes of behavior in regards to alcohol, etc. As such, the McCreachery card is derogatory in nature, towards both the Irish and White himself. This is most certainly the reason for its very low print run.

This doesn't mean that the card isn't an incredibly interesting card, especially seeing as it is a unique card of a Hall of Famer. Surely, it would reach 200k+ in auction, being probably the only known unique card of a HOFer in existence. I felt that it was time for the real story of the McCreachery card to come out, and it my strong belief that this story is an accurate interpretation of the card.

[Joe_G.]

Who, besides yourself, has ever suggested that Deacon's play was poor at time of his 1888 card being published (or any other time for that manner). When that photo was taken in April of 1888, he had finished a solid year batting well over league average (even over Detroit's league leading average). His Wins over Defensive and Offensive Replacement were both positive. Same would hold true for 1888. He was a solid contributer to the team even though he was the oldest player in baseball. His salary was likewise a healthy $3500, only behind Brouthers and Richardson at $4000.

Minor correction, but the spelling on his portrait is "McCreachery", not "McCreacherie". It has always been my belief that they simply took White's 9th pose, a portrait, and decided to tease him as looking more like a manager than a player. Many managers are shown in portrait.

I'm not as well versed on Irish slander but previously didn't find it unusual to assign a ficticious name that started with "Mc". It is the most common start to a last name in the Old Judge set. Just look at McAleer, McCarthy x2, McCauley, McClellan, McCormack, McCormick, McCullum, McDonald, McGarr, McGeachy, McGlone, McGuire, McGunnigle, McKean, McKinnon, McLaughlin, McPhee, McQuaid x2, McTammany, & McVey. Were they all slandered?

I do find the topic interesting however and would like to hear more.

[cyseymour]

Joe, thanks for the correction on the name spelling. To answer your first question, the belief that the McCreachery name is via the Old Judge book, p. 87.

"The final example is a rare portrait card of Deacon White. A fictitious name, McCreachery, is listed together with the title of manager for the Indianapolis club. Deacon White, the oldest player in the league, was apparently better suited to manage from the bench than play third base for the Detroit Wolverines."

To answer your second question, there are a lot of players with the prefix "Mc" in the OJ set. Obviously, they were not being slandered - those were their real names and they were actually Irish. But Deacon White was not Irish, his last name of "White" is obviously not Irish, and that is what makes it slander to change his name to an Irish one.

To call an Irish person a "Mick" is an ethnic slur. I would never use that language but you can see where it comes from. Personally, not only don't I have anything against the Irish, but it is a dream of mine to visit Ireland. From everything I had heard and seen it is a spectacularly beautiful country and the people are very nice. I also like Celtic music, which is really cool.

But in 19th Century America, not everyone did love the Irish. A lot of it is due to economic forces that make people feel they need to battle for resources, without which would threaten their livelihood. This makes them suspicious of outsiders. Even native-americans were called "foreigners" in the pre-war time period. How hypocritical is that?

[cyseymour]

One more point: if Deacon White really did have a strong year that year, as you suggest, that would not lend credence to the theory on the OJ book that they were poking fun at his poor play.

[RCMcKenzie]

Mac is gaelic for "son of". O' means "grandson of". Mc and mac are used interchangeably between people of Scotch or Irish heritage.

There is no such clan name as McCreacherie or McCreachery etc. The closest I have heard of is the Scotch name McCeachern.

It's my guess that they were making fun of his older age, as in Mac "Creature".... Not a malicious slander just making fun.

www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/genealogy.html

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Mac is gaelic for "son of". O' means "grandson of". Mc and mac are used interchangeably between people of Scotch or Irish heritage.

There is no such clan name as McCreacherie or McCreachery etc. The closest I have heard of is the Scotch name McCeachern.

It's my guess that they were making fun of his older age, as in Mac "Creature".... Not a malicious slander just making fun.

www.geo.ed.ac.uk/home/scotland/genealogy.html

Very interesting. I had never known the gaelic meaning of those prefixes.

But if it truly was meant to mean "Mac Creature", then that could very well indeed suggest it to mean that he was a "creature of Irish descent." Terrific observation.

[RCMcKenzie]

On his wikipedia page (for what it's worth), it says that Deacon White was a "flat-earther" zealot. He went around trying to convince people that the earth was flat. So, it may have been making fun of his intelligence.

The word 'creature' also used to be humorous slang for 'whiskey'.(Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary 1959). It could be that they thought he drank. I am unaware of Catholics having strict views about alcohol usage. Anyway, I believe it was a nickname and running joke among the ball players and not an insult or slur in any way.

[cyseymour]

Wow, I had no idea about the slang of the word creature being a term for drinking. It turns out that the Irish were very heavy drinkers back then, according to the stereotype.

http://www.victoriana.com/Irish/Iris...alCartoons.htm

If "to creature" means to drink a lot, and the Irish were known to drink a lot, then the name "McCreachery" could have been a joke that meant "drinks so much that he's Irish".

If that's the case, then you are probably right that it is not really meant to be malicious (albeit still engaging in a stereotype).

[RCMcKenzie]

Yes, that's what I'm thinking it meant....

Also "White" is a very common English surname. Wikipedia cites a British genealogy website as listing "White" as the 16th most common surname in the United Kingdom.

[cyseymour]

Fascinating! Thank you so much for participating in this thread and enlightening me with your observations!

[Joe_G.]

I guess we left too much open to interpretation w.r.t. the McCreachery card. I was responsible for much of the content in the "Old Judge Production" chapter so I'll take the blame for not being more specific. To quote the book directly, as you did above, "The final example is a rare portrait card of Deacon White. A fictitous name, McCreachery, is listed together with the title of manager for the Indianapolis club. Deacon White, the oldest player in the league, was apparently better suited to manage from the bench than play third base for the Detroit Wolverines".

I did not intend to suggest his play was poor, but instead that his age (and appearance) was more appropriate for a manager than playing the hot corner. As for the name McCreachery, there could be an inside joke that has been long lost to time. I have enjoyed reading the posts between you and RcMcKenzie.

Thank You.

[cyseymour]

Joe,

Glad you have enjoyed reading the posts, and the OJ book was a definitely a huge contribution. However, I must say that I do believe the idea that the McCreachery card was a reference to his age was a misinterpretation. It happens - every book (and in fact, history itself) is an interpretation. That's why they say that history is always changing.

As for the idea of whether it was malicious, I have mulled it over and still think it might have been a mix - i.e., while it was a joke about his drinking, the producers of the cards may have realized it was malicious after a very short print run and then pulled the card. Which is why there is only one remaining specimen today.

Clearly, in a time period where Irishmen were seen as wild drinkers, hot-tempered and belonged to a poor, undereducated class subject to job discrimination, i.e., many signs for employment that read "Irish Need Not Apply", the card could be very well considered to be derogatory. White clearly had some very eccentric and uneducated ideas, and that could be the source of calling him Irish.

Whether it was malicious or purely as a spoof is subject to debate (we may never really know their true intentions) but White's strong performance on the field, plus the etymology of the name teasing him, strongly suggests that the joke on the card was not really a reference to his age.

[Joe_G.]

I'm not yet persuaded to see it your way but enjoy the conjecture.

I do have another request however, and that would be to change the title from "The Real Story of McCreachery" to "A McCreachery Card Theory".

[cyseymour]

Originally Posted by Joe_G.

I do have another request however, and that would be to change the title from "The Real Story of McCreachery" to "A McCreachery Card Theory".

Consider it done.

[Matthew H]

There's a lot of evidence pointing toward Joe'e theory. They used his only pose that showed his age and in street clothes, they switched him from player to manager, and Goodwin and Co had already issued other poses with humorous content, nothing malicious (unless you want to count Radbourn's middle finger).

It seems more likely that they got a stack of his photos from Fearnaught and thought that pose looked like the manager cards they were printing and made a joke. One interesting note is that the photographer was located in Indianapolis, I'm not sure what other connection Deacon White would have there, but I bet Joe would know.

The "creature" idea is pretty cool.

[RCMcKenzie]

His Christian, or given name, is James Laurie White. His parents and friends probably called him Jimmy, Jim, Jaime etc. Baseball players have a long-standing tradition of giving everyone a nickname. They called him "Deacon".

A Deacon in the Catholic church is a member of the congregation who is from the community. They are not formally trained like the priests, but they read from the bible and stand on the stage with the priests during the ceremony. Often, Deacons in a Catholic church are Bankers or Lawyers during the week and participate in the Mass on Sunday.

My thought is if they called him, "Deacon", they thought he was overly pious. And if he drank in his later years they may have called him McCreachery to make fun of his pious ways and beliefs (flat-earth) etc. At the same time, he was the manager and one of the winningest players of the era and so they respected him.

I am only speculating here, and preferred the title "story" to "theory" as I have very little fact to support my conjectures.

[Abravefan11]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

My thought is if they called him, "Deacon", they thought he was overly pious.

From an 1878 article.

[cyseymour]

Interesting. Based on the article Tim posts, Deacon White was very unlikely to have been big drinker. Which goes back to the theory in my original post that it was somehow a joke about his religiosity and ideas of the world.

They lived in a time when there was a lot of discrimination against the Irish, so for the OJ producers to have intentionally given him a fake name with both an Irish prefix ("Mc") and suffix ("y") could hardly have been a coincidence or something haphazard or unintentional. People were very aware of the last names and what they meant, whether they were Irish or English, Jewish or German (i.e. "Germany Shafer", "Pretzel Getchen") etc. Seeing that Jim O"Rourke had removed the "O" before his name to make his name seem less Irish, clearly people were very conscious of last names and the different ethnic backgrounds they reflected.

So I definitely think that the fact he was given a faux-Irish name means that he was being called Irish. Whether to poke fun at his drinking, religion or ideas of the world, I am not 100% sure, but I still think a Mc-creature would be "creature of Irish descent". The name would be too much of a coincidence not to have been, especially considering the context of the rampant discrimination against the Irish in the 19th Cent, and people being very well aware of the different ethnic heritages deriving from names.

[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!

[RCMcKenzie]

n172mccreachery.jpg


Great research, David. Thanks to all who have contributed to the discussion. It is a fun subject to discuss. I have read that White was a minor league manager, but apparently he never actually managed the Indianapolis club, which supports David's account of the meaning of the name (downfall, fall from grace etc.).

I also read in the last week that White was aware of the induction classes in 1936 and 1937 and was very surprised that he was not going into the HOF. he died in 1939 at 91.

[cyseymour]

Just a little more info:

"Crea" is Latin, it is the root word for create, creator (i.e. God).

http://www.english-for-students.com/crea.html

Cher is from French, it is a word of affection, probably literally means sweet, the English word "Cherry" is presumably derived from it. "Chery" is a last name in French. The English name "Cheryl" is derived from it. We use this in English, i.e. "Sweet Marie", "Sweet Jesus", etc.

So a little more fluidly, "McCreachery" means "Sweet Son of God". It is a double-entendre with the word "creach" to describe the demise of the teams he's played for, because "Creach" means "fall from grace". Get it?

These OJ producers sure were smart! Bravo to everyone who participated!

[JeremyW]

Be careful of what you say, my mom's name is Cheryl. Pretty interesting thread though.

[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

[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]

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.

[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

[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!

[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 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!!!

[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.

[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.

[RCMcKenzie]

tebeaumgr.jpg

Here is a card I happened to get in the mail today of Oliver Wendell Tebeau who became manager of the Cleveland Infants in 1890 at the age of 25. He continued as a player/manager through 1898 with the then Cleveland Spiders.

Jack McGeachy was 24 with Indy in 1887 when Burnham left his post as manager. I have not been able to find any indication that McGeachy managed Indy, but he appears to have been an established starting player at 24 and may have been player manager for a brief interim period.

After learning about the Detroit and Indy combined photoshoots it seems more likely to me that the resulting McCreachy card was some sort of mix up, rather than an elaborate riddle.

[cyseymour]

Joe,

Do you even have a high grade Delahanty to trade? They're pretty hard to find, you know.

You make some interesting points, but it doesn't disprove the source of the riddle. Your criticism doesn't touch the side of the double-entendre originally observed by "Pariah" that says "Sweet Son of God", i.e. McCrea/Chery. That's just a reference to his religiosity.

It does paint some question on the theory that Dan N. raises with "creach" being a downfall/"fall from grace". Perhaps it was not the downfall of the Wolverines, exactly, but the joke on the card via Mgr. Indianapolis being that he was too old to play, it still suggests a downfall.

So the double-entendre still fits... unless you no longer believe the card was intended as a joke?

One more thing:

Deacon White career OPS .740
Ed Delahanty career OPS .916

To each his own, my friend.

[cyseymour]

So people think it's an error card with both the wrong name AND the wrong photo? Even though the riddle McCrea/Chery perfectly explains the personality of the gentleman in the photo?

Here's another question: did anyone think this before the McCreachery card was exposed as a riddle? Because I didn't hear anyone suggest it then. Does that mean that the riddle theory makes it more likely to be an error card?