Henry “Hank” O’Day was one of those rare men who played, umpired and managed in MLB.
Started his career in the 1880′s in the American Association; his catcher was Fleetwood Walker, the first black man to play professional baseball. Not a good pitcher in an era that boasts gaudy pitching numbers O’Day managed to throw 1600 innings and play in 3 different professional leagues before he hung it up with a sub .500 after the 1890 season.
O’Day joined the umpiring business in 1895 and is in that position that he gained most of his baseball fame. O’Day is most famous for being the umpire during the famous “Merkel Incident” and the second base umpire for the first triple play in World Series History.
The Cincinnati connection with O’Day is found in 1912, a year that O’Day found himself a manager in the National League and it was the Reds who gave the arbitrator his first chance at managing O’Day’s greatest accomplishment as a Red is that he was at the helm of the club when they opened the new stadium that was christened “Redland Field” and later renamed Crosley Field.
It was also the Reds who also gave him his first pink slip after the season ended. Back to umpiring went O’Day only to reemerge in 1914 managing the Cubs to their first sub .500 record in 12 seasons. In 1915 he was once again wearing blue and defending his calls to the players he managed the year before.
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."
This book is fantastic and it's all targeted at 19th century receivers
http://www.amazon.com/Catcher-Behind.../dp/1566638704
I think he's borderline and that's coming from a guy that appreciates what Ken Boyer in his era. I think the one thing that needs to be more stressed with him is how great he was at defense. He won 9 gold gloves, 8 of which he won in consecutive years. What really hurts him, in my eyes anyway, is how he fell off the cliff later on in his career. After age 33, he was below league average. For 9 years though he was about as consistent of a player as you would find in that era.
I didn't realize how dominant Deacon White was in his era. His OPS+ of 127 is brilliant for a catcher. He should be in the HOF. By no means am I saying Deacon White was better than Bench because he wasn't but Bench had a career OPS+ of 126.
It's not perfect but I think it's the best way to compare what a player did in their era compared to the rest of the competition. That isn't to say that an ERA+ of 127 is the same in 1910 as it was in 1975 or 2007. Just like WAR, to me it's an attempt to explain performance. It isn't the end all though.
Deacon White's OPS+ of 127 at least tells us he was a dominant player compared to the rest of the players in his area. It's especially great for a catcher.
I tried to find out but coudn't...
What cap/team will White be wearing in his induction plaque?
Attended 1976 World Series in my Mother's Womb. Attended 1990 World Series Game 2 as a 13 year old. Want to take my son to a a World Series Game in Cincinnati in my lifetime.
Decon's Brother Will was a long time SP for the Redlegs. He is 16th on the all-time MLB ERA list, just ahead of Mariano Rivera, and light years ahead of the next closest active MLBer Clayton Kershaw.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...hitewi01.shtml
Attended 1976 World Series in my Mother's Womb. Attended 1990 World Series Game 2 as a 13 year old. Want to take my son to a a World Series Game in Cincinnati in my lifetime.
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