Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan began his major league baseball career in 1897 as an 18-year-old pitcher and ended it in 1915 as a catcher, after famously introducing shin guards for the position. He was so widely admired that the Baseball Hall of Fame awarded him a plaque only six years after it opened. He played every position, coached, and managed. He survived a near-fatal accident on the field and, as a first responder, helped save lives during the aftermath of a horrific railroad crash. He was later principal owner and president of the Toledo American Association franchise for eight years.
This first-ever biography, based on many years of research, covers Bresnahan’s entire life and playing career as it intersected with American history.

John R. Husman is the Toledo Mud Hens Team Historian and has been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research since 1982. He lives in Sylvania, Ohio.

John R. Husman
Foreword by John Thorn
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 291
Bibliographic Info: 38 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9466-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5239-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword 1

Preface 3

One. “A High Fast One, on the Inside” 5

Two. The Duke of Tralee Toledo 8

Three. “A Laurel to the Hibernian Brow of the Youngster” (1897) 13

Four. “Bresnahan Was Very Wild” (1898) 19

Five. “Speed Bresnahan” (1899–1900) 23

Six. He Would Never Again Be Known as a Pitcher (1901) 27

Seven. “I Signed to Catch, and That’s the Only Place I’ll Play” (1902) 34

Eight. “McGraw Has to Put Him In Somewhere” (1903) 42

Nine. “Bresnahan Is One of the Best Ballplayers in the United States” (1903) 50

Ten. “The Most Versatile Man in the National League” (1904) 54

Eleven. The Giants’ ­First-Line Catcher and Leadoff Batter (1905) 61

Twelve. “Bresnahan Put Up an Extraordinary Game in Every Particular” (1905) 67

Thirteen. “The Best Catcher Living” (1906) 71

Fourteen. An 8,­000-Mile Road Trip with Shin Guards (1907) 78

Fifteen. “He Was the Best Ball Player in America” (1907) 85

Sixteen. “It Is the Big Catcher’s Natural Way to Fight for a Game” (1908) 94

Seventeen. “The Most Popular Player That Has Ever Stepped Inside the Polo Grounds” (1908) 101

Eighteen. “Something Besides Last Place Seems Certain to Ensue” (1909) 113

Nineteen. “Roger Bresnahan Is the Most Popular Man in St. Louis” (1909) 119

Twenty. “Bresnahan Shows Himself to Be a Great Baseball General” (1910) 129

­Twenty-One. Bresnahan’s Wrecking Crew (1911) 138

­Twenty-Two. “The Player, Man and Hero” (1911) 147

­Twenty-Three. And Now He’s the “Duke of Tralee” (1912) 158

­Twenty-Four. Bresnahan versus Britton (1912) 165

­Twenty-Five. “I Never Quit on the Ball Field, and I Won’t Quit Now” (1912–1913) 175

­Twenty-Six. “A $12,000 Coach, Murphy’s Mistake or a White Elephant” (1913) 181

­Twenty-Seven. “Bresnahan Is Boss” (1914) 186

­Twenty-Eight. “Bresnahan Has Held the Cubs in the Race” (1915) 192

­Twenty-Nine. Roger’s ­Long-Time Dream Realized (1916–1919) 201

Thirty. Bresnahan “Rather Enjoyed Presidenting the Team” (1920–1923) 210

­Thirty-One. “I Didn’t Have a Thing” (1924–1945) 222

Epilogue 239

Appendix 1. Roger Bresnahan’s Team Associations 241

Appendix 2. Positions Played by Bresnahan in Major Leagues 243

Appendix 3. Toledo in the American Association During Bresnahan’s Ownership 244

Appendix 4. Bresnahan’s Playing Record at Toledo 245

Appendix 5. Roger Bresnahan’s Major League Career Numbers 246

Appendix 6. Honors 248

Chapter Notes 249

Bibliography 273

Index 277