This is the first book-length biography of Ned Hanlon, a Hall of Famer but yet an underappreciated figure in baseball history. As a first generation Irish-American, Ned Hanlon left behind a childhood in the cotton mills to become a star player in the major leagues and the famous manager of the colorful 1890s Baltimore Orioles. He traveled the world on an all-star team and was a key member of the first attempt by baseball players to unionize, which led to the creation of the upstart Players’ League.

Hanlon was an innovative and shrewd tactician whose strategies and ideas helped baseball transition from its rough infancy into the modern game we know today. As one of the premier baseball minds of his time, “Foxy Ned” also exerted a profound influence on the sport through the managerial tree he established, which includes Hall of Fame managers such as John McGraw, Miller Huggins, and Connie Mack.

Tom Delise taught high school English for forty years and lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jay Seaborg is a retired history teacher living in Mount Airy, Maryland.

Tom Delise and Jay Seaborg

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 246
Bibliographic Info: 41 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9396-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5140-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Out of the Shadows 1
1. From the Mills to the Majors (1857–1888) 3
2. Around the World and the Brotherhood (1888–1891) 19
3. A New Sheriff in Town (1892) 32
4. Building a Champion (1893) 48
5. The Oriole Way (Spring, 1894) 61
6. The Pride of Baltimore (1894) 75
7. Band of Brothers (1895) 91
8. Dirty Jack Comes to Town (1896) 106
9. Chasing History (1897) 119
10. Summer of Discontent (1898) 133
11. Hanlon’s Superbas (1899–1900) 146
12. All They Thought of Was Pay Day (1901–1905) 162
13. Porkopolis Purgatory (1906–1907) 175
14. Baseball in the Blood (1908–1937) 184
Epilogue 198
Appendix 1. Timeline of Hanlon’s Life 205
Appendix 2. Ned Hanlon Player and Manager Statistics 207
Appendix 3. Ned Hanlon Coaching Tree 210
Appendix 4. Major Baseball Rule Changes from Hanlon’s Birth Through His Career 211
Chapter Notes 213
Bibliography 227
Index 231

“At last, a full-fledged biography of the one of the great brains of 19th century baseball. Ned Hanlon was the strategist behind the 1890s Baltimore Orioles, a seminal team whose style of ‘inside’ baseball has influenced the national pastime to the present day. Hanlon was also a pivotal character in the unending battles between owners and players, between monopolists and upstarts, that have made baseball so emblematic of this nation’s history. Read this pleasing book and you’ll understand more about the roots of today’s game.”—Burt Solomon, author of Where They Ain’t: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball