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Jim McKeever (baseball)

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Jim McKeever
Catcher
Born: (1861-04-19)April 19, 1861
Saint John, New Brunswick
Died: August 19, 1897(1897-08-19) (aged 36)
Boston, Massachusetts
Batted: Right
Threw: Unknown
MLB debut
April 17, 1884, for the Boston Reds
Last MLB appearance
July 11, 1884, for the Boston Reds
MLB statistics
Batting average.136
Home runs0
Runs scored13
Teams

James McKeever (April 19, 1861 – August 19, 1897), was an American professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the Boston Reds in 1884.

Early years

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McKeever was born in 1861 in Saint John, New Brunswick, the son of Irish immigrants.[1] He moved to Boston with his parents at age three.[1] He was boyhood friends in South Boston with Tommy McCarthy, who was later inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.[2] He graduated from the Lawrence School in Boston in 1875 and became employed by the Norway Iron Company.[3]

Baseball career

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McKeever played baseball "as a business" for several years for teams in the Boston area.[3]

In April 1884, he signed with the Boston Reds in the Union Association.[4] The Baltimore Sun reported that McKeever was working at a South Boston foundry before signing his first professional contract with the Reds.[5] The Boston Globe reported that he was "a large man with no previous pro experience" who would be positioned at catcher and serve as one half of Boston's "change battery" with pitcher Charlie Daniels.[1] A biography of McKeever in The National Pastime described him as "a strong defensive catcher" who was "unable to hit successfully against the suspect UA pitching."[1] During his major-league career, he appeared in 16 games and scored 13 runs with a .136 batting average,[6] before he was released along with Fred Tenney in August.[7]

McKeever later played for several years for clubs in Biddeford, Maine (1885), Waterbury (1885), Minneapolis (1887), Eau Claire, Wisconsin (1887), Easton, Pennsylvania (1888), Haverhill, Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts, and Oil City, Pennsylvania (1895).[1][6][8] He also later played for the Boston-based clubs Woven Hose in 1890, the Whittentons in 1891, and Institute in 1893.[9][10][11]

He played principally at the catcher position but also appeared as a right fielder, center fielder, and first baseman.[6] He was described in the Star Tribune in 1887 as a "fine back stop" and an "excellent thrower" with endurance that allowed him to catch up to five games a week.[12]

Poor health led to his retirement as a player during the 1895 season. He thereafter served as manager of a semipro team in Boston.[1]

Death

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On August 19, 1897, Mckeever died "after an illness of five weeks of brain fever".[3] At the time of his death, the South Boston Bulletin called him "one of the best known ball players about Boston."[1] He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Malden, Massachusetts.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Russell Field (1996). "Jim McKeever, A province unrewarded: the case of the misplaced Newfoundlander". The National Pastime. Society for American Baseball Research: 87–88. ISBN 9780910137645.
  2. ^ Donald Hubbard (2008). The Heavenly Twins of Boston Baseball: A Dual Biography of Hugh Duffy and Tommy McCarthy. McFarland. p. 16. ISBN 978-0786434558.
  3. ^ a b c "Death of James McKeever: Was a Well-Known Baseball Player of South Boston". The Boston Globa. August 20, 1897. p. 8. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "James McKeever signs with Boston Unions". The Boston Globe. April 3, 1884. p. 4. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Base-Ball in Boston". The Baltimore Sun. April 24, 1884. p. 5. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b c d "Jim McKeever Player Register". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  7. ^ "Short Stops". Kansas City Times. August 11, 1884. p. 2. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ David Nemec (2012). The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball: Biographies of 1,084 Players, Owners, Managers and Umpires. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786490448.
  9. ^ "Woven Horse Team's Gala Night". The Boston Globe. April 12, 1890. p. 5. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Amateur Base Ball Notes". The Boston Globe. July 25, 1891. p. 7. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Institute 25, North Weymouth 5". The Boston Globe. July 9, 1893. p. 3. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Minneapolis Base Ball Team for the Approaching Season". Star Tribune. February 7, 1887. p. 3. Retrieved May 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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