James Thomas "Deacon" McGuire (November 18, 1863 – October 31, 1936) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach whose career spanned the years 1883 to 1915. He played 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, principally as a catcher, for 11 different major league clubs. His longest stretches were with the Washington Statesmen/Senators (901 games, 1892–99), Brooklyn Superbas (202 games, 1899–1901) and New York Highlanders (225 games, 1904–07). He played on Brooklyn teams that won National League pennants in 1899 and 1900.
McGuire was the most durable catcher of his era, setting major league catching records for most career games caught (1,612), putouts (6,856), assists (1,860), double plays turned (143), runners caught stealing (1,459), and stolen bases allowed (2,529). His assist, caught stealing, and stolen bases allowed totals remain current major league records. During his major league career, he also compiled a .278 batting average, .341 on-base percentage, 770 runs scored, 1,750 hits, 300 doubles, 79 triples, 45 home runs, 840 RBIs and 118 stolen bases. His best season was 1895 when he caught a major league record 133 games and compiled a .336 batting average with 10 home runs, 97 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.
McGuire was also the manager of the Washington Senators (1898), Boston Red Sox (1907–08) and Cleveland Indians (1909–11). He compiled a 210–287 (.423) as a major league manager.
Early years McGuire was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1863. He moved as a boy to Cleveland, learned to play baseball "on the lots" of that city, and at age 18 was playing for the "Woodlands" team. As a young man, he moved to Albion, Michigan, where he worked as an apprentice in an iron foundry in Albion and played baseball on the weekend.
Professional baseball player
Minor leagues McGuire first gained note playing baseball for a team in Hastings, Michigan, where he was paired with pitcher Lady Baldwin. McGuire was reputed to be "the only catcher within a 50-mile radius who could handle" the left-handed Baldwin and his "incendiary fastball and sinuous curve, a so-called 'snakeball.'" At age 19, McGuire began his professional baseball career in 1883 with the Terre Haute, Indiana, club.
Toledo Blue Stockings McGuire made his major league debut in June 1884 with the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association. He hit .185 in 151 at bats and appeared in 45 games. At Toledo, he shared the catching responsibilities with Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first African-American player in Major League Baseball. McGuire and Walker each caught 41 games for the Blue Stockings. The Blue Stockings finished in eighth place (out of 13 teams) with a 46–58 record and folded after the 1884 season.
Detroit Wolverines McGuire began the 1885 season playing for the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the newly formed Western League. McGuire appeared in 16 games for the Hoosiers, who were the dominant team in the Western League, compiling an .880 winning percentage.
In mid June 1885, the Western League disbanded, and a mad rush developed to sign the players on the Indianapolis roster, a line-up that included McGuire, Sam Thompson, Sam Crane, Chub Collins, Jim Donnelly, Mox McQuery, Gene Moriarty, and Dan Casey. Sam Thompson later told the colorful story of the Detroit Wolverines' acquisition of the Indianapolis players. Detroit sent two representatives (Marsh and Maloney) to Indianapolis, principally to sign the Hoosiers' battery of Larry McKeon and Jim Keenan. The Wolverines were outbid by the Cincinnati Reds for McKeon and Keenan but wound up with the Hoosiers' manager (Bill Watkins) and the rest of the team's starting lineup. The only catch was that a 10-day waiting period would allow other teams to outbid Detroit. Marsh and Maloney promptly sent the players to Detroit and quartered them in a hotel there. The next morning, the players were told that the team had arranged a fishing trip for them. The players boarded the steamship Annette and enjoyed the first day and night of successful fishing. After three days, the players became suspicious, but the ship captain laughed when asked when they would return to Detroit. As the players became mutinous on the sixth day, the captain admitted he had been ordered to keep them "out at sea" for 10 days. In another account, Thompson described his 10 days aboard the Annette as follows: We were prisoners, but well cared-for prisoners. Anything in the line of creature comforts you could find packed away on ice. We lived on the best in the market, and spent the rest of the time in fishing and playing poker, chips having very thoughtfully been provided. On the night of the tenth day, at midnight, we were all taken ashore where Watkins met us and signed us to our contracts.Fleitz, More Ghosts, p. 155. The players were only later presented with their accumulated mail which included scores of offers from other clubs. A writer in the Detroit Free Press later noted: "Detroit magnates showed some inside baseball brains and great finessing in sending the players away from all tempters for that period when they belonged to no club."
Once at Detroit, McGuire hit .190 in 121 at bats and served as the backup for catcher Charlie Bennett; Bennett caught 62 games and McGuire 31. While with the Wolverines, McGuire was reunited with Lady Baldwin, the "snakeball" pitcher who he had caught in Hastings. Despite the infusion of talent from Indianapolis, the Wolverines finished in sixth place with a 41–67 record.
Philadelphia Quakers
In November 1885, the Wolverines returned McGuire to league control, and he was then acquired by the Philadelphia Quakers in January 1886. McGuire played with the Quakers for two full seasons.
In 1886, McGuire caught 49 games for the Quakers, two more than the team's other principal catcher Jack Clements. The 1886 season was McGuire's first in the major leagues with a winning ball club, as the Quakers finished in fourth place in the National League with a 71–43 record.
In 1887, McGuire and Clements again split the catching duties for the Quakers, with 41 and 59 games, respectively. McGuire improved dramatically as a batter in 1887. After compiling a .198 batting average in 1886, McGuire hit .307 in 150 at bats. The team also improved to second place with a 75–48 record.
McGuire began the 1888 season with the Quakers. However, on June 30, 1888, he was released by the Quakers after batting .333 in 12 games and 51 at bats.
Cleveland, Toronto and Rochester On July 2, 1888, McGuire signed as a free agent with the Detroit Wolverines. He appeared in only three games for Detroit, had no hits in 13 at bats, and was released on August 1, 1888. In late August 1888, McGuire met and signed with Tom Loftus, the manager of the Cleveland Blues of the National League. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported at the time: "He will strengthen the team a good deal, especially in batting. Jim was a little careless as to his condition early in the season and Harry Wright released him because he had three other cheaper catchers. . . . At this time he is in perfect condition and has given a fine sample of his work in the three games against Kansas City." McGuire appeared in 26 games for Cleveland at the end of the 1888 season, batting .255 in 94 at bats.
In early February 1889, McGuire was released by Cleveland and signed by the Toronto Canucks of the International League. McGuire appeared in 93 games for Toronto and hit .282 with 72 runs scored, 42 extra base hits and 29 stolen bases. (An account published at the end of the 1889 season stated that McGuire hit .300 at Toronto and caught 92 games).
In February 1890, the Rochester Broncos of the American Association purchased McGuire from Toronto. In his return to the major leagues, McGuire appeared in 87 games for Rochester, 71 as a catcher, 15 at first base, three in the outfield and one as a pitcher. He hit .299 with a .356 on-base percentage, .408 slugging average and 53 RBIs. Prior to the 1890 season, McGuire had never earned a Wins Above Replacement (WAR) rating even as high as 1.0; his 1890 season received a 2.7 WAR rating. His defensive play also blossomed in 1890 with a 0.9 Defensive WAR rating – the only season in McGuire's long career in which he ranked among the top ten Defensive WAR ratings in his league.
The "Deacon" In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, sports historian Bill James wrote that McGuire was called Deacon, "because he didn't drink and carouse", like other players of his era. To the contrary, a biographical sketch of McGuire published in 1901 stated that McGuire had been a heavy drinker for much of his career, though he did later become a "teetotaler." The sketch noted:McGuire's career, as will be noted, has been a somewhat checkered one and not without its ups and downs. His downs, for the most part, were due to an acquaintance he early formed with the Hon. John Barleycorn, and his association with this noted gentleman led to frequent and divers bouts with one Ben Booze who invariably gave Mac the worst of it and came near causing his downfall. It was not until he quit these gentlemen entirely that the true worth of the man permanently asserted itself and his flight into fame was continued.
Another account, published in Sports Illustrated 1984, stated that McGuire's Brooklyn teammates gave him the nickname in 1900 because he was "so straight-arrow" and had never been fined or ejected from a game. Multiple accounts support the widely publicized claim that he was never fined or ejected from a game and describe McGuire as "placid, easy-going, hard-working and thoroughly conscientious."("McGuire was never fined or put out of a game by an umpire.")
However, the origin of the "Deacon" nickname appears to date back to 1896. In February of that year, The Sporting Life, a national baseball newspaper, reported a dispatch from Michigan that McGuire "has experienced religion at a revival meeting and is thinking of giving up baseball and devote his time to preaching, perhaps." The Sporting Life closed with this observation: " If Mac felt bent on doing missionary work his duty is to remain right where he is. But he will be back next April doing just as brilliant work behind the bat as last year. He will have no redress, however, if he is addressed hereafter as 'Deacon' McGuire."
Washington Senators
In February 1891, McGuire jumped from the Rochester Broncos to the Washington Statesmen. He played the next nine seasons in a Washington uniform.
During the 1891 season, McGuire appeared in 114 games for the Statesmen, including 98 as a catcher and 18 in the outfield. He compiled a .303 batting average and, with the boost from 43 bases on balls and 10 times hit by pitch, a .382 on-base percentage. For the second consecutive season, he earned a 2.7 WAR rating – a level he would exceed only once in his career. Focusing solely on offense, his Offensive WAR rating in 1891 was 3.3 – the only time he ranked among the top ten Offensive WAR ratings in his league. Defensively, McGuire led the American Association's catchers with 130 assists, 56 errors, 204 stolen bases allowed and 129 runners caught stealing. Despite McGuire's efforts, the Statesmen finished the 1891 season in last place in the American Association with a 44–91 record.
In 1892, the Statesmen were admitted to the National League and renamed the Senators. The Senators finished the season in 10th place (out of 12 teams) with a 58–93 record. McGuire's batting average, ever erratic, dropped 71 points from the prior year to .232. However, McGuire had almost as many bases on balls (61) as hits (73), giving him a more than respectable .360 on-base percentage. Factoring in all of his contributions, McGuire received a 2.4 WAR rating for 1892.