Books and articles about Max Carey

Carey was the best-fielding centerfielder of his era. For 9 of his 17 seasons with Pittsburgh, he topped the league in putouts and total chances, and his career totals are exceeded only by Mays and Speaker for putouts, and by Speaker, Mays, and Cobb for total chances. Four years he led in outfield assists, and his lifetime total of 339 is the modern NL record. Most impressive were the range and speed which took him to the most fielding chances per game seven times, and the best NL career total for double plays (86), again topped only by Speaker and Cobb.

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He also used his speed on the bases, leading the NL in steals ten times, six times topping 50. In 1922, he stole 51 bases in 53 attempts. His 738 SB put him among the all-time leaders. A switch-hitting leadoff man, Carey scored 42% of the time he reached base by a hit or walk. Playing in cavernous Forbes Field, he had a total of 159 triples. His average rose after the shift to the lively ball, from .273 between 1910 and 1919 to .304 between 1920 and 1926.

Carey had turned to baseball when he no longer had the money to continue as a Lutheran divinity student. He joined the Pirates in 1910, played alongside player-manager Fred Clarke for a season, and took over left field when Clarke quit. In 1916, he moved back to centerfield.

Carey played vigorously and with flair. He was team captain in 1926 when Clarke returned to the Pirate bench to advise Manager Bill McKechnie. Carey, in a slump, heard that hard-nosed old Fred had urged McKechnie to bench him, saying that the batboy couldn't do worse at the plate. Ruffled, Carey called a team meeting to protest Clarke's harsh judgment. The challenge backfired. There was more support for Clarke's position than Carey expected. In retaliation the front office released two Carey supporters outright and sold Carey himself to Brooklyn for $4,000.

He played through 1929, scouted for the Pirates in 1930, and managed the Dodgers to third- and sixth-place finishes in 1932 and 1933. He scouted and managed in the minors off and on through 1956, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1961. (ADS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 16, 1912: The Pirates top the Reds, 8–2, and pull off 5–3–7 double play along the way. Left fielder Max Carey makes the putout at 2B. » July 25, 1912: Fleet OF Max Carey goes hitless, but steals four bases and scores five runs in the Pirates 12–3 win over host Brooklyn. Carey will lead the NL in thefts 10 times, and retire with 738. Owen Wilson has a triple for Pittsburgh, off Eddie Stack, one of 36 he'll hit this year for a ML record. » July 25, 1913: At Philadelphia, Pirates OF Max Carey scores five runs against the Phils without a hit, reaching first on an error and four walks, as the Bucs win 12–2. He also steals four bases and advances twice on wild pitches. A student at St. Louis Theological Seminary, he will lead the NL in runs this season: he'll lead in stolen bases as well, the first of 10 such seasons. » July 18, 1914: The Pirates spilt a twinbill with New York, winning Game One by a 3–0 score, then losing the nitecap, 6–5 in 10 innings. New York scores three in the top of the 10th off George McQuillan, and the Bucs came back with two off Christy Mathewson. Max Carey pops up with the tying run on 3B to end the game. » June 29, 1915: In the 7th inning of game 1, Cards LF Cozy Dolan's single hits his own glove in the grass behind third. Buc LF Max Carey hustles in and throws Dolan out trying for a double (as noted by Clem Comly). Pittsburgh wins the opener, 8–6 and the Cards rebound in the nitcap, 6–4. » September 23, 1915: Before the game at Pittsburgh, manager Fred Clarke is presented with a grandfathers clock and a red leather binder signed by thousands of well-wishers. Clarke plays four innings in left field and goes 1-for-2. After reaching first, Clarke is replaced by Max Carey, and the out-going manager exits to thunderous applause. Pittsburgh wins, 8–4, over the Braves. » May 7, 1916: Pittsburgh's Max Carey hits a homer off Cubs rookie Jimmy Lavender to give the Pirates a 1–0 win. The Cubs will lose ten 1–0 decisions this year, tying the ML record. » November 29, 1916: In Kansas City, Walter Johnson and Grover Cleveland Alexander face each other for the first time. The exhibition game between the two stars features Zach Wheat, Casey Stengel, Max Carey, Hal Chase and others. The "Johnsons" prevail over the "Alexanders", 3–2. » June 18, 1917: In a 4–0 win over the Cardinals, Pirate center fielder Max Carey triples in the 3rd inning and then steals home. Mort Cooper scatters six hits in the win for the last-place Pirates. » August 27, 1917: In the 4th inning in New York, Pirates swiftie Max Carey beats out a bunt single, and goes to 2B on a single by Tony Boekel. Both runners steal on the next pitch from Rube Benton and, with Boekel entangled with New York 2B Buck Herzog, Carey steals home as well. Wilbur Cooper makes the one run stand up for the 1–0 win. For Carey, it is his 13th steal of home enroute to a NL record 33 steals of home. » July 25, 1921: Max Carey flags down 11 flies in CF in the Pirates' 6-3 win over New York, tying three others for the NL record. » July 7, 1922: Pirates OF Max Carey is the busiest man on the field in an 18-inning 9–8 loss to the Giants. He gets six hits, draws three walks, has three SBs, including one of home, and catches seven flies. His 51 stolen bases in 53 attempts is the highest success rate ever achieved by a SB leader, remarkable in a season where the league average success rate on steals is 54%. His record of 31 straight steals without being caught will be broken by Davey Lopes' 38 in 1975. Johnny Gooch also has six hits in the losing effort. » July 29, 1922: At the Polo Grounds, the under-performing Pirates crack five homers and trounce the league-leading Giants, 8–3. Max Carey hits two and starter Wilbur Cooper another. » July 30, 1922: The Pirates again top the Giants, 7–0, as Max Carey bangs another two home runs. The Pirates will win two more to sweep the four-game series with the Giants. » August 13, 1923: Pirates OF Max Carey steals 2B, 3B, and home versus Brooklyn. He will again lead the NL with 51. Equally fleet in the field, he will garner 450 putouts and 28 assists. He is the only OF to top 400 putouts 6 times. Richie Ashburn will later do it 9 times. » June 12, 1925: Against the Pirates, the Giants make a triple play that goes from SS Travis Jackson to C Hank Gowdy to 3B Heinie Groh to RF Ross Youngs to 2B George Kelly to 1B Terry. In the first inning, with Max Carey on 3B and Johnny Rawlings on 2B, Kiki Cuyler taps a slow roller to SS that gets away from Jackson for a few seconds. Carey starts home and is caught, Jackson to Gowdy to 3B Groh. Rawlings, on his way to 3B, heads back to 2B and is run down. Cuyler tries for 2B and gets caught in a rundown. » June 22, 1925: After a day of rest, Pittsburgh again wallops St. Louis, winning 24–6. Max Carey collects 2 hits in an inning twice, in both the first and eighth frames, while Kiki Cuyler and Pie Traynor hit grand slams. The Pirates collect 21 hits, 6 for home runs. George Grantham, with a pair of homers, and Carey score 4 times each as the Cards help with 7 errors. Pittsburgh scored 21 runs in their previous game with the Birds, to set an NL scoring record (20th C.) for 2 games. » October 15, 1925: A steady downpour yesterday and today has left the field a muddy mess as the 7th game is played in the rainiest conditions ever. It's a short day for Vic Aldridge: three walks and two hits, and he's out of there with one out in the first. Walter Johnson takes a 4–0 lead to the mound. The Bucs clobber him for 15 hits, good for 24 total bases. Max Carey's 4-for-5 gives him a Series-high .458. The Senators make the most of seven hits, scoring seven runs, including Roger Peckinpaugh's home run, the 12th of the Series, a World Series record. Johnson would have fared better but for two more errors by SS Peckinpaugh, the MVP's 7th and 8th, still the World Series record for any position. The Senators made only one other error. Ray Kremer picks up his 2nd win with a 4-inning relief effort, as the Senators lose 9–7. The Series breaks all financial records, grossing almost $1.2 million. Winning shares are $5,332.72; losers' $3,734.60. » August 13, 1926: Pittsburgh players ask that Fred Clarke, assistant to owner Barney Dreyfuss, not be permitted to sit on the bench. Dreyfuss squelches the revolt by releasing Carson Bigbee and Babe Adams, and suspending Max Carey, who has slumped to .222. Carey is waived to the Dodgers. » May 12, 1927: Brooklyn P Dazzy Vance collects four hits and holds the Reds to the same number, all doubles, and Brooklyn wins 6–3. The Robins last run comes on a clean steal of home by Max Carey. » July 26, 1927: Max Carey, who played 17 years with the Pirates before he was dismissed, returns to Pittsburgh in a Dodgers uniform and makes a clean steal of home in the sixth inning. It is his 33rd and last steal of home, an NL record. » October 23, 1931: Brooklyn announces Wilbert Robinson is through as manager and the club will be called the Robins only in the past tense. Max Carey, a no-nonsense sort, will take over next year. » December 15, 1932: The Phils send Ray Benge and $15,000 to the Dodgers for Cy Moore, Mickey Finn, and Jack Warner. Finn will have a great spring and Brooklyn's Max Carey will admit in April that Burt Shotton outguessed him on the deal. » February 23, 1934: Casey Stengel, who had been a Dodger coach, signs a 2-year contract to manage Brooklyn. He replaces Max Carey. » May 16, 1947: New York's Johnny Mize scores a run in his 16th straight game, helping his team beat the Cubs 5–3. Mize, who will lead the National League in runs, eclipses the NL mark of Max Carey and Fred Lindstrom. Ted Kluszewski will better the league mark seven years later. » January 29, 1961: Billy Hamilton and Max Carey are voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. » September 10, 1974: The Cardinals lose to the Phillies 8–2, but Lou Brock breaks Maury Wills' major-league record by stealing his 104th and 105th bases of the season. It also gives him 740 career SBs, breaking Max Carey's National League record of 738. » August 9, 1975: Davey Lopes steals his 32nd consecutive base for the Dodgers without being caught in a 2–0 win over the Mets. This breaks the major-league record set by Max Carey in 1922. » September 17, 1977: The Pirates top Montreal 6–3 as Frank Taveras steals his 64th base of the season to become the Bucs' all-time base stealer. Max Carey had been the Pirates' theft leader. » April 28, 1982: Pete Rose goes 5-for-5 to tie Max Carey for the NL record with nine career 5-hit games, as Philadelphia scores six times in the top of the 9th to beat Los Angeles 9–3.