Books and articles about Hughie Jennings

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One of baseball's most colorful and best-loved characters, Jennings rose from breaker boy in the Pennsylvania anthracite fields to the Hall of Fame. The redheaded, freckled firebrand wore a major league uniform for more than three decades as a player, coach, and manager. He also earned a law degree and built a successful off-season legal practice. Jennings's best years came as captain of the powerful, brawling Baltimore Orioles, National League champions in three straight years, 1894-96 and winners of the 1897 Temple Cup. Operating within and outside the rules, Jennings and teammates John McGraw, Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, and Wilbert Robinson were the scourge of opponents and umpires. During his five full seasons in Baltimore, Jennings never batted below .328 and achieved a high of .398 in 1896, the ML record for shortstops. In addition, he stole as many as 70 bases in a season and was the leader in fielding average and putouts three times each.

His hitting declined in later years, and a sore arm forced a move back to first base, but Jennings's superior skills as a strategist and field leader kept him steadily employed. He played for pennant winners in Brooklyn in 1899 and 1900, and later captained the Phillies before embarking on a managing career in the minors. Purchased by the Tigers in 1907, Jennings guided the team to pennants in his first three years at the helm. The Tigers lost all three World Series, however, and never again won a pennant under Jennings, who remained on the job through 1920. From the third base coaching box, the hyperactive skipper prodded his charges, among them the young Ty Cobb, and taunted the opposition with shouts, whistles, and gyrations. His piercing yell of "Ee-Yah" became a trademark. Upon leaving the Tigers, Jennings was signed by former Oriole teammate John McGraw as a coach and assistant manager with the Giants. In the role of right-hand man, Jennings was a part of four consecutive pennant-winning clubs (1921-24).

Though durable, Jennings suffered an incredible string of mishaps on and off the field. He was often hit by pitches; a then-record 49 times in 1896 alone. Two skull fractures, one the result of an accidental dive into an empty swimming pool, slowed but did not stop him. A nervous breakdown after the 1925 season, however, brought his baseball days to an end. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945. (JL)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 26, 1892: Boston's John Clarkson loses a no-hitter with two outs in the 9th inning, as Hughie Jennings of the Louisville Colonels comes through with a hit. Clarkson wins, 7–0. » May 11, 1894: In the course of a 12–7 loss to Philadelphia, Baltimore's star SS Hughie Jennings is hit by three Wilfred "Kid" Carsey pitches, establishing a ML record. » May 9, 1896: Baltimore's Hughie Jennings knocks down Reds 3B Charlie Irwin before he can catch Bid McPhee's throw. Jennings scores afterward to give the Orioles a controversial 6–5, 10-inning win over Cincinnati. Umpire Bob Emslie is escorted out of the ballpark by Cincinnati police. » February 4, 1899: Hugh Jennings will not go south with the Brooklyn team but will get in shape as baseball coach for Cornell University. » February 7, 1899: Under a joint ownership arrangement, several Baltimore players are shifted to Brooklyn, and that club transfers several to the Orioles. Manager Ned Hanlon takes Willie Keeler, Joe Kelley, Hughie Jennings, and others with him while John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson remain in Baltimore. The powerful new Brooklyn team is nicknamed the Superbas. » July 29, 1900: With all the National League teams in the East, and no Sunday games allowed, 100 players gather in New York City. Their demands are: release of players who are not going to be used rather than farming them out, and players to share in the purchase price when they are sold. Says veteran Hughie Jennings, "We are not out to fight the owners, but to resolve injustices in the contracts." » April 28, 1901: Veteran SS Hugh Jennings, teammate and roommate of John McGraw in Baltimore’s great days, will play for Connie Mack’s Athletics after getting his law degree at Cornell. McGraw persuades him to play for Baltimore instead, touching off a battle royal with Mack and Ban Johnson. The result is ill feelings that never heal. Jennings winds up playing for the Phillies. » February 2, 1905: Hugh Jennings, now managing Baltimore in the Eastern League, is admitted to the Maryland bar after completing law studies at Cornell. In two weeks Yankees OF Dave Fultz, a Columbia graduate, passes the New York bar exam. Fultz will suffer a late September collision with teammate Kid Elberfeld, breaking his nose and jaw, and retire at 31. In 1912 he will organize and lead the Players' Fraternity. » October 1, 1906: Hugh Jennings resigns as Baltimore manager to take over at Detroit for 1907. Infusing the Tigers with aggressive Baltimore spirit, he will win pennants the next three years, and stay at the helm for 14. » May 21, 1907: Three Finger Brown and Christy Mathewson hook up in a pitching duel, with the Chicago ace emerging the winner, 3-2. Matty's batterymate Roger Bresnahan makes two errors to cause Mathewson to lose his 1st of the year. Mobbed at the Polo Grounds after the loss, umpires Hank O'Day and Bob Emslie require police protection. The crowd is egged on by John McGraw, who will be thrown out of games seven times this year. The next day AL ump Billy Evans needs a police escort after argumentative Hugh Jennings incites a riot. Jennings will be suspended. » August 2, 1907: Hugh Jennings, known for his gyrations on the coaching lines and "Eeyah" war cry, is suspended for 10 days for using a tin whistle while coaching at 3B for the Tigers. » October 2, 1908: In Detroit, the Tigers score two runs in the 9th to edge the Browns, 7–6. Ty Cobb scores the winning run , but is practically carried across the plate by Hugh Jennings. Cobb had been held at 3B by the umpire who believed Rossman's double had gone into the crowd. Cobb argued that it had not, and Jennings later reminded Cobb to, "score first, argue later." The Tigers remain in first by a half-game. » July 13, 1911: In the 9th against the A's, Ty Cobb breaks a 7–7 tie by scoring from first on a Jim Delahanty's single. Cobb runs through coach Hughie Jennings' frantic signal to hold up and using a fadeaway slide eludes the tag of the catcher Ira Thomas. Detroit wins 8–7 to stay in first place. » May 18, 1912: The Tiger players protest Ty Cobb's suspension and vote to strike. Faced with a $5,000 fine for failing to field a team, club owner Frank Navin orders manager Hugh Jennings to sign up some local amateurs. Al Travers, Bill Leinhauser, Dan McGarvey, Billy Maharg (whose real name was Graham, "Maharg" reversed), Jim McGarr, Pat Meany, Jack Coffey, Hap Ward, and Ed Irvin put on Tiger uniforms. Two Detroit coaches, Joe Sugden, 41, and Jim McGuire, 48, complete the lineup, and score the only two runs for Detroit. The Athletics win 24–2, as Travers goes all the way, giving up 26 hits and 24 runs in eight innings. The only recruit to hit for Detroit is Irvin, who laces two triples in three at bats and closes his ML career with a 2.000 slugging average (only three other players will debut with two triples -— Roy Weatherly, Willie McCovey, and John Sipin). Only one ever plays another ML game: Maharg will bat once for the Phils in 1916. He will also be involved as a conspirator in the Black Sox scandal of 1919. A's starter Jack Coombs leaves after three innings with a 6–0 lead, good enough for a win under the rules at the time. Boardwalk Brown and Herb Pennock divide the rest of the pitching for the A's. Starter Travers, having pitched his only ML game, returns to his studies at St. Joseph's College and later becomes a Catholic priest. » September 11, 1912: In a tumultuous game featuring an attack on an umpire and three ejections, Eddie Collins swipes six bases to pace the A's to a 9–7 win over the Tigers. In the 3rd inning, Ty Cobb foils an intentional walk when he steps across the plate to slap a single. To the dismay of the home crowd, Ump Tommy Connolly calls a foul strike, and manager Hugh Jennings gets tossed for protesting. Collins swipes his 6th base in the 8th inning and, on the front end of a double steal, crosses the plate, but Frank Baker is thrown out at 2B. Baker will reprise his record on the 22nd. » October 12, 1913: John McGraw hosts a reunion for Hugh Jennings and the old Orioles. After a night of heavy drinking, he blames his longtime friend, business partner, and teammate Wilbert Robinson for too many coaching mistakes in the Series. Robby replies that McGraw made more mistakes than anybody and McGraw fires him. Eyewitnesses say Robby douses McGraw with a glass of beer and leaves. They won't speak to each other for 17 years. Six days later Robby will begin a legendary 18 years as manager, replacing Bill Dahlen. The team will carry the nickname Robins, as well as Dodgers, during his tenure. » December 31, 1914: Ban Johnson's efforts to strengthen the New York Yankees succeed when he arranges the purchase of the team by Colonel Jacob Ruppert and Cap Huston for $460,000 from Bill Devery and Frank Farrell. After Detroit owner Navin refuses to let Hugh Jennings go, the new Yankee owners will name longtime Detroit pitcher Bill Donovan as manager. Donovan was recently manager of Providence (IL). » September 1, 1917: In the bottom of the 1st inning at Cleveland, Tris Speaker tries to steal home with Joe Evans batting (as noted by Retrosheet). Evans swings and lines the ball into Speaker's face. Tiger manager Hugh Jennings allows a courtesy fielder Elmer Smith to play CF in the 2nd frame while Speaker has his face stitched. Speaker then returns to CF in the 3rd. » January 5, 1925: During the White Sox' and Giants' tour of Europe, the French Baseball Federation awards silver medals to John McGraw, Charlie Comiskey, and Hugh Jennings for their efforts to advance the game in France. » April 25, 1945: Baseball writers cannot seem to get any Hall of Fame candidates past the 75 percent requirement, but a committee selected to bring in some old-timers succeeds with a group of turn-of-the-century names: Jimmy Collins, Roger Bresnahan, Fred Clarke, Dan Brouthers, Ed Delahanty, Hugh Jennings, Mike "King" Kelly, Jim O'Rourke, Wilbert Robinson, and Hugh Duffy. Collins, overlooked in six HOF elections, was on the all-time teams of Connie Mack and John McGraw. » June 28, 1987: Don Baylor moves ahead of Ron Hunt on the all-time hit-by-pitch list when the Yankees Rick Rhoden plunks him during a 6–2 loss to the Red Sox. It is the 244th time that Baylor has been hit by the pitch. He'll end with 267, putting him 3rd on the list behind turn-of-the-century star Hughie Jennings.