John McGraw | |||
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McGraw in 1924
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Third baseman / Manager | |||
Born: Truxton, New York |
April 7, 1873|||
Died: February 25, 1934 New Rochelle, New York |
(aged 60)|||
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MLB debut | |||
August 26, 1891, for the Baltimore Orioles | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 12, 1906, for the New York Giants | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .334 | ||
Home runs | 13 | ||
Runs batted in | 462 | ||
Stolen bases | 436 | ||
Managerial record | 2,763–1,948 | ||
Winning % | .586 | ||
Teams | |||
As player
As manager |
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Member of the National | |||
Baseball Hall of Fame | |||
Inducted | 1937 | ||
Election Method | Veterans Committee |
As player
As manager
John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934), nicknamed "Little Napoleon" and "Mugsy", was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player and long-time manager of the New York Giants. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. While primarily a third baseman throughout his career, he also played shortstop and the outfield in the major leagues.
Much lauded as a player, McGraw was one of the standard-bearers of dead-ball era baseball. Known for his quick temper but also being a great baseball mind, scientifically as well as in bending the playing rules, especially in the days of less than four umpires, McGraw was a key player on the pennant-winning 1890s Baltimore Orioles, and later applied his talents and temper while a captain (playing)-manager, transitioning in 1902 to the New York Giants, with whom he became entirely a bench manager in 1907 until his retirement in 1932.
Even with his success and notoriety as a player, he is best known for his managing, especially since it was with a team so popular as the New York Giants. His total of 2,763 victories in that capacity ranks second overall behind only Connie Mack; he still holds the National League record with 2,669 wins in the senior circuit. McGraw is widely held to be "the best player to become a great manager" in the history of baseball. McGraw also held the MLB record for most ejections by a manager (132) until Bobby Cox broke the record in 2007.
McGraw's father, whose name was also John, and his older brother Michael immigrated from Ireland in 1856. Their last name is spelled "McGrath" but pronounced McGraw. He and his brother had arrived in time for the Civil War, and were drawn into the conflict as part of the Union army. Shortly after the war, he married and McGraw's older half-sister was born. John McGraw, Sr.'s first wife died, and he began moving around looking for work—a search that ultimately led him to Truxton, New York, in 1871. It was there that the elder John McGraw married young Ellen Comerfort. They had the younger John McGraw on April 7, 1873.