Deacon McGuire

Deacon McGuire
Catcher
Born: November 18, 1863(1863-11-18) Youngstown, Ohio
Died: October 31, 1936(1936-10-31) (aged 72) Duck Lake, Michigan
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 21, 1884 for the Toledo Blue Stockings
Last MLB appearance
May 18, 1912 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics
Batting average	.278
Hits	1,748
Runs batted in	840
Teams
As Player Toledo Blue Stockings (1884) Detroit Wolverines (1885) Philadelphia Quakers (1886-1888) Detroit Wolverines (1888) Cleveland Blues (1888) Rochester Broncos (1890) Washington Statesmen/Senators (1892-1899 Brooklyn Superbas (1899-1901) Detroit Tigers (1902-1903) New York Highlanders (1904-1907) Boston Americans/Red Sox (1907-1908) Cleveland Naps (1908, 1910) Detroit Tigers (1912) As Manager Washington Senators (1898) Boston Americans/Red Sox (1907-1908) Cleveland Naps (1909-1911)

James Thomas "Deacon" McGuire (November 18, 1863 – October 31, 1936) was a catcher, manager and coach in Major League Baseball who spent over a quarter of a century playing professional baseball in a much-traveled career which saw him set several records for durability. His record of playing in 26 major league seasons was unmatched until 1993, and he established a major league record for career games caught which stood until 1925; his record of 1859 career assists as a catcher remains the major league record.

Baseball career

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, McGuire moved with his family to Cleveland when he was still a child.^[1] He began his professional baseball career with the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association. When the team folded, he joined the Detroit Wolverines. In 1886, McGuire joined the Philadelphia Quakers, where he would stay for three years, and in 1888, he briefly returned to the Wolverines before playing 26 games for the Cleveland Spiders.

After serving as player-manager of the Toronto franchise in the International League in 1889, he had a one-year stint with the short-lived Rochester Broncos, then joined the Washington Senators, where he would stay for eight years until being traded to the Brooklyn Superbas during the 1899 season; in 1899 and 1900 he was one of the two principal catchers for Brooklyn's NL champions. In 1902 he joined the Detroit Tigers of the rival American League. Before the 1904 season, he was sold to the New York Highlanders, catching 97 games, at age 40, for a team that missed the pennant by 1.5 games.

Throughout his career, he was signed on and played for a total of 11 different major-league teams, wearing 12 different jerseys, giving him the record of playing for more teams than any other baseball player until he was surpassed by Matt Stairs in 2010 who played for 12 different teams.^[2]

McGuire is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date who have appeared in Major League games in four decades.

Managerial career and retirement

Already having been a player-manager for the Senators in 1898, he became manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1907, and had a three-year term leading the Cleveland Naps beginning in 1909. His career managerial record finished at 210-287 (.423). Afterward, he became a coach with the Tigers from 1911 to 1917, and later was coach at Albion College in Michigan.

McGuire died in Duck Lake, Michigan at age 72.

References

1. ^ "A Century of Sports: The Mahoning and Shenango Valleys". The Vindicator: p. D-6. April 11, 1999. 
2. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-stairs031210&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?word=McGuire%2C%20Deacon%2C%201863%2D1936&s=3&notword=&f=2 Photos at NYPL Digital Archives

Preceded by Bob Unglaub	Boston Red Sox Manager 1907-1908	Succeeded by Fred Lake
Preceded by Nap Lajoie	Cleveland Naps Manager 1909-1911	Succeeded by George Stovall

Persondata
Name	Macguire, Deacon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	November 18, 1863
Place of birth	Youngstown, Ohio
Date of death	October 31, 1936
Place of death	Duck Lake, Michigan