Roger Bresnahan Information & Roger Bresnahan Links at HealthHaven.com

**Roger Bresnahan**
Roger Bresnahan
;
	Catcher / Manager
	Born: June 11, 1879; Toledo, Ohio
	Died: December 4, 1944 (aged 65); Toledo, Ohio
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
	August 27, 1897 for the Washington Senators
Last MLB appearance
	October 3, 1915 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average	.279
Home runs	26
Runs batted in	530
Teams
	As Player Washington Senators (1897); Chicago Orphans (1900); Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902); New York Giants (1902-1908); St. Louis Cardinals (1909-1912); Chicago Cubs (1913-1915); As Manager St. Louis Cardinals (1909-1912); Chicago Cubs (1915);
Career highlights and awards
	World Series champion (1905); Managerial record: 328-432; 2 seasons with a .300+ batting average;
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1945
Election Method	Veteran's Committee

Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee" for his Irish roots,^[1] was an American player in Major League Baseball who starred primarily as a catcher and a player-manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945.

Bresnahan introduced the use of the catcher's shin guard in 1907^[2] .

[edit] Biography

Born in Toledo, Ohio, he began his major league career as a pitcher, throwing a six-hit shutout on August 27, 1897. However, he eventually moved to catcher (although he could play all nine positions), and was labeled one of the best at that position by managers John McGraw and Branch Rickey. Despite taunts by other players, he experimented with head and thigh protection gear which had been introduced by some college teams, which included the first MLB batting helmet, and this led to the widespread use of more protection for catchers in the early 20th century.

Bresnahan, catching for the Giants against the Pirates, and wearing shinguards that resemble a wicket-keeper's cricket pads.

Bresnahan played for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago Orphans/Cubs (1900, 1913-15), Baltimore Orioles (1901-02), New York Giants (1902-08), St. Louis Cardinals (1909-12), and the Cubs again (1913-1915). In 1446 games, he had a batting average of .279 in 4480 at-bats.

Bresnahan had managed the Cardinals while playing for them, and the Cubs in 1915. His overall record was 328-432.

Bresnahan died of a heart attack at his home in Toledo at age 65, and was elected to the Hall of Fame the following year; decades later, Sabermetrician Bill James said it was an honor that Bresnahan did not deserve.^[3]

Bresnahan was buried in Calvary (Roman Catholic) Cemetery in Toledo, Ohio.

[edit] 1911 train wreck

On July 11, 1911, with the Cards only three games out of first place in early July, the team was involved in a train wreck while riding the Federal Express from Philadelphia to Boston.^[4] Fourteen passengers were killed after the train derailed and plunged down an 18-foot (5.5 m) embankment outside Bridgeport, Connecticut.^[4] None of the Cardinals were seriously injured, due to a fortuitous pre-trip change in the location of their Pullman car that Bresnahan had requested. The Cardinals helped remove bodies and rescue the injured.^[4]

Despite posting their first winning season since 1901, the Cardinals never recovered from the incident, finishing a distant fifth.

[edit] Commemorations

Bresnahan was mentioned in the poem Line-Up for Yesterday by Ogden Nash:

Baseball Hall of Fame plaque
Battery mate of Christy Mathewson with the New York Giants, he was one of the games most natural players and might have starred at any position. The "Duke of Tralee" was one of the few major league catchers fast enough to be used as a leadoff man

Line-Up for Yesterday
B is for Bresnahan Back of the plate; The Cubs were his love, and McGraw his hate.
— Ogden Nash, Sport magazine (January 1949)^[5]

[edit] See also

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases

[edit] References

^ Have you heard of this Player; Nicknames and 18 from the Sporting News
^ Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 36. Random House. ISBN 0-394-50253-1.
^ Bill James Answers All Your Baseball Questions, an April 2008 entry from the Freakonomics blog
^ ^a ^b ^c Tuesday, July 11th from BaseballLibrary.com
^ "Baseball Almanac". http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-23.

[edit] External links

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
Major league career managerial statistics from Baseball-Reference
Baseball Hall of Fame – Member biography
The Deadball Era
SABR Roger Bresnahan biography

[0] Have you heard of this Player; Nicknames and 18 from the Sporting News

[1] Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 36. Random House. ISBN 0-394-50253-1.

[2] Bill James Answers All Your Baseball Questions, an April 2008 entry from the Freakonomics blog

[trainwreck-3] Tuesday, July 11th from BaseballLibrary.com

[4] "Baseball Almanac". http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_line.shtml. Retrieved 2008-01-23.

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