Jake Early
| Jake Early | |||
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| Catcher | |||
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Born: May 19, 1915 Kings Mountain, North Carolina |
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Died: May 31, 1985 (aged 70) Melbourne, Florida |
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| MLB debut | |||
| May 4, 1939, for the Washington Senators | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 1949, for the Washington Senators | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .241 | ||
| Hits | 532 | ||
| Runs batted in | 264 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
Jacob Willard Early (May 19, 1915 – May 31, 1985) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Washington Senators and the St. Louis Browns. Early was a left-hand-hitting batter and was known for his skill at catching the knuckleball.
Born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Early began his professional baseball career in 1936 at the age of 21 with the Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League. By 1938, he had moved up to the Charlotte Hornetts of the Piedmont League where he posted a .316 batting average in 97 games. Early made his major league debut with the Washington Senators on May 4, 1939 at the age of 24. He served as a reserve catcher, backing up future Baseball Hall of Fame member, Rick Ferrell. Former catcher and Senators coach Benny Bengough helped Early develop his catching skills.
The Senators traded Ferrell to the St. Louis Browns in May 1941, leaving Early to share catching duties with Al Evans. Early out-hit Evans and ended the season having caught the majority of the team's games with a career-high batting average of .284 along with 54 runs batted in and a team-high 10 home runs. His hitting performance earned him the starting catcher's job in 1942. Although his batting average dropped to .204, he led American League catchers in assists and in baserunners caught stealing, and finished second in putouts. Early developed a reputation as a talkative player on the field, using several methods to distract the hitter. These methods of distraction included his imitation of a radio announcer's play-by-play commentary, an auctioneer's sales pitch and even singing.
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