» May 15, 1894: In the aftermath of a fierce fight between Baltimore's John McGraw and Boston's Tommy Tucker in the 3rd inning, a devastating fire starts in the RF stands at Boston's South End Grounds. The fire destroys $70,000 worth of equipment as well as the park, the only truly double-decked grandstand Boston would ever have. The fire spreads to adjacent blocks and eventually destroys or severely damages 170 buildings. The team moves to the Congress Street ball park for several months before returning to the rebuilt Walpole Street Park.
» 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.
» January 12, 1900: John McGraw threatens that if the National League drops Baltimore, which is controlled by the owners of the Brooklyn Superbas, he will form an American League team. Two weeks later the NL Circuit Committee recommends buying out Baltimore, Washington, Cleveland, and Louisville and going to an 8-team league. McGraw then organizes a Baltimore club in the AL.
» February 3, 1900: Rival forces fight for control of the Union Park ball grounds in Baltimore. John McGraw's men camp around a fire at 3B. Ned Hanlon, his former manager in Baltimore in the 1890s, now manager of Brooklyn and still president of the Baltimore club in the National League, has forces camped around 1B.
» February 15, 1900: Unable to get backers in Philadelphia, John McGraw withdraws Baltimore from American League, ending prospects for the league as a rival to the National League. Two weeks later McGraw will sign to manage Baltimore (NL).
» February 28, 1900: John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson both sign contracts with Baltimore. When the long-rumored move by Baltimore to disband occurs, the two players are supposed to report to Brooklyn, but they will refuse and sit out the first third of the season instead, Finally, they are traded to St. Louis.
» March 23, 1900: John McGraw, Wilbert Robinson, and Bill "Wagon Tongue" Keister, an infielder, are sold by Brooklyn to St. Louis for $15,000. McGraw and Robby refuse to report.
» May 8, 1900: John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson end their holdout and sign with the Cardinals. Both contracts have the reserve clause crossed out, freeing McGraw to return to Baltimore in the AL in 1901.
» August 4, 1900: The Cardinals blow a 4–1 lead to the Giants, but come back against reliever Christy Mathewson, pitching his 3rd straight game in relief, to take another lead 8–7 in the 7th. St. Louis wins, 9–8, with John McGraw scoring the winning run in the 8th, handing Matty his first career decision. Matty will go 0–3 as a Giant before returning to Norfolk.
» August 18, 1900: Veteran manager Pat Tebeau resigns from the Cards. When 3B John McGraw refuses the job, the Robison brothers, the St. Louis owners, pick Louie Heilbroner, the 4' 9" Cardinals business manager, to run the team for the remainder of 1900. Many of the players refuse to take orders from the diminutive Heilbroner, and it will be McGraw who is really in command. Heilbroner will return to the front office the following year and in 1910 he will begin publishing The Baseball Blue Book.
» August 19, 1900:
Patsy Tebeau quits as the Cardinals manager. John McGraw, ppossibly looking ahead to a possible Baltimore club in the new league, turns dwon the job. Louis Heilbroner replaces Patsy.
» September 19, 1900: St. Louis C Wilbert Robinson objects to umpire Jim Gaffney calling a Brooklyn runner safe at home, and throws the ball at the ump. Gaffney swings his mask at Robby and tosses him out of the game. Cardinals captain John McGraw refuses to put in another catcher, claiming one is injured and the other suspended. The ump forfeits the game to the Superbas. The Brooklyn fans object to the suspension of play and President Ebbets refunds money to those who want it.
» October 11, 1900: The AL announces that in 1901 it intends to put a team in Baltimore led by John McGraw, and one in Washington. But they pledge to stay out of Philadelphia and St. Louis unless the NL starts a fight.
» October 20, 1900: The Cardinals withhold the final month’s pay on all but five players, including John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson, citing late hours, dissipation, and gambling as reasons for the poor showing of the team, which finished tied for 5th.
» November 21, 1900: Given a 10-year contract to control the Baltimore franchise, John McGraw says he intends to be in baseball a long time, and wants to lease grounds in Baltimore where he can stay. He'll be in baseball 32 more years, but not in Baltimore. Nick Young says the National League wishes success to the American League, but does not consider it a major league.
» January 4, 1901: The Baltimore American League club incorporates, with John McGraw as manager and part owner.
» January 29, 1901: Newly named Rules Committee of Connie Mack, John McGraw, and Charles Comiskey, after rejecting a proposal to ban the bunt, recommends no changes at this time.
» March 11, 1901: The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Baltimore manager John McGraw has signed a Cherokee Indian named Tokohoma. It is really black 2B Charlie Grant, who McGraw is trying to pass off as an Indian, but the ruse does not work.
» 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.
» April 28, 1902: Outfielder Jimmy Sheckard of the AL Baltimore Orioles jumps the team and returns to the NL, the first American Leaguer to jump to the NL. In his short stay in the AL, Sheckard had been constantly razzed by fans about his contract jumping. White Sox president Comiskey says, We don't want Sheckard in our league. He has broken too many contracts." President Tom Daly of the Ball Players' Protective Association echoes the sentiments. "Our organization is unalterably opposed to such tactics as Sheckard has made use of. I am glad he has gone back to Brooklyn, for while he is a great ball player and a nice fellow personally we do not countenance violating a written contract as he has done. I suppose (Ned) Hanlon scared him into jumping." With Sheckard (and his $1,000 signing bonus gone) Orioles manager John McGraw will play 3B with Kelly moving to CF.
» June 2, 1902:
The Giants fire manager Horace Fogel and replace him 2B Heinie Smith. The change lasts six weeks before Smith goes back to the infield and John McGraw takes over.
» July 8, 1902: John McGraw, accused by Ban Johnson of trying to wreck the Baltimore and Washington clubs, negotiates his release from the Orioles and officially signs to manage the Giants at $11,000 a year, although he'd already secretly signed a contract several days earlier brought to Baltimore by Giants secretary Fred M. Knowles. McGraw says, "I wish to state that I shall not tamper with any of the Baltimore club's players." But conspiring with National League owners Brush and Andrew Freedman, McGraw swings the sale of the Orioles their way, enabling them to release Orioles Dan McGann, Roger Bresnahan, Joe McGinnity, and Jack Cronin for signing by the Giants. Joe Kelley and Cy Seymour go to Brush's Cincinnati Reds.
» July 19, 1902: The last-place Giants lose their first game under new manager John McGraw 4–3 to the Phillies. They will end the season in last place. In part to make room for the four new Orioles who have landed in New York, McGraw releases nine Giants.
» July 23, 1902: John McGraw has his first win as the Giants manager, when New York downs Brooklyn, 4–1.
» August 26, 1903: The Boston Beaneaters drive Christy Mathewson from the mound with five runs in the 6th to take a 6-5 lead over the Giants and hold on to win by that score. When Roger Bresnahan is called out at home in the 9th New York and John McGraw and Gilbert lead the argument against August Moran. Moran tosses them for their troubles. New York wins the nitecap, 3-2, in 10 innings.
» December 12, 1903:
Continuing efforts to build a winner in New York, John McGraw acquires 34-year-old SS Bill Dahlen from Brooklyn in exchange for pitcher Jack Cronin and iron-fingered SS Charlie Babb. McGraw says this is the trade that makes the Giants into winners. In 1904, Dahlen will top the National League with 80 RBI. When he retires in 1911, he will have fielded more chances than any other SS.
» April 14, 1904: At Brooklyn's Washington Park, a record 15,000 fans are on hand for the Opener, delayed until 4:00. John McGraw's Giants then take the field and bang out 10 hits to beat Oscar Jones, 7-1. Christy Mathewson allows three hits to win.
» May 7, 1904: In St, Louis, the first-place Giants provoke a protest in winning 2-1, with a pair in the 9th off starter Jack Taylor. John McGraw, pinch running after a single by Jack Warner, scores on a single by Roger Bresnahan. As McGraw rounded 3B, with 1B coach Gilbert following him, the entire Giant team collects along the 3B line yelling, St. Louis 1B Jake Beckley complains to the ump about it and, when one of the Giants dashes to home from the coach's box, Beckley fires to an uncovered home plate, thinking it is Bresnahan trying to score. Which he then does for the win. St. Louis manager Kid Nichols protests the game, claiming, correctly, that the players left the bench in violation of rule 56, section 17. The rule states: "if one or more members of the team at bat stand or collect around a base for which a base runner is trying, thereby confusing the fielding side and adding to the difficult of making such play, the base runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate or teammates." NL president Pulliam rejects the complaint and many fans and writers agree, saying the protest is unmanly, as noted by historian Benton Stark (The Year They Called off the World Series).
» May 12, 1904: For his second game in three days, Christy Mathewson is shelled in the first inning, as the Reds tally four runs. Umpire Bob Emslie adds some fireworks of his own, tossing John McGraw for too much lip. The Giants tie it in the 3rd, but the Reds make 13 hits off Matty while the Giants contribute six errors. The Reds win, 13-7.
» June 10, 1904: In the opener of the battle for first place at the Polo Grounds, Christy Mathewson pitches a brilliant one-hitter to beat Chicago, 5-0. The lone hit is Johnny Kling's 4th-inning single. The other action is provided by ump Charlie Zimmer, who ejects Sam Mertes on a strike call. He also thumbs John McGraw, coaching at 3B, to the bench, and sends Dummy Taylor, the 1B coach, to the clubhouse. One wag said later that Taylor was making too much noise.
» July 27, 1904: John McGraw and John T. Brush say they have no intention of playing a post-season series with the American League champions. "The Giants will not play a post season series with the American League champions. Ban Johnson has not been on the level with me personally, and the American League management has been crooked more than once." says McGraw. "When we clinch the National League pennant, we'll be champions of the only real major league," Ban Johnson fires back, "No thoughtful patron of baseball can weigh seriously the wild vaporings of this discredited player who was canned from the American League." As the New York Highlanders battle for the AL pennant, local pressure mounts, but Brush, still angry over the inter-league peace treaty, and McGraw, who despises Ban Johnson, are adamant.
» August 7, 1904: The Giants swap outfielders sending rookie OF Moose McCormick (.266) west to the Reds who in turn send him to Pittsburgh for Harry Sebring (269). The Reds ship Mike Donlin (.356) to the Giants. Turkey Mike, sitting out a month's suspension for drunken behavior in Chicago, will enjoy the New York life style and being reunited with John McGraw, for whom he starred at Baltimore, in 1901. He'll help the Giants win two straight pennants.
» August 17, 1904:
Christy Mathewson starts his 2nd in a row against the Pittsburgh and again the host Bucs rough him up, collecting 13 hits and six runs. But New York counters with 13 hits and nine runs against Charlie Case, to win, 9–6. Honus Wagner gets thrown out of the game after objecting to John McGraw's interference with a throw from the Bucs 3B Bobby Leach.
» September 5, 1904: In Front of 37,000 fans the Giants sweep the Beaneaters, beating Boston 6-1 and 4-3. Christy Mathewson wins the opener, beating Irv Wilhelm, and is not scored upon until the 9th when Jim Delahanty and Tom Needham triple. Red Ames wins the nitecap. Following the Giant sweep, excited fans hoist John McGraw up to carry him to the Polo Grounds field house. But McGraw gets dropped during the excitement, sustaining a sprained ankle.
» September 23, 1904: The Giants sleepwalk against the Pirates ("Pittsburg Plays All By Itself" is the NY Herald headline) as Red Ames allows three runs in eight innings before John McGraw pulls him. His replacement is Frank Bowerman who gives up four runs in his only ML inning. The Pirates win, 7-0.
» October 4, 1904: In the first of two at New York, the Giants loses to the Cardinals 7-3 despite Sam Mertes' contribution of four hits for the cycle. New York drops the 2nd game in a forfeit in the 4th inning. With New York losing 2-1, three Giants are tossed out by umpire James Johnstone, a Giants nemesis. John McGraw is slow in replacing them on the field, and the ump declares a forfeit to St. Louis. One paper states tomorrow that McGraw didn't have enough players left on the bench to field a team.
» October 10, 1904:
John McGraw issues a statement saying that he, not president John Brush, was responsible for refusing to play the AL winner in a post season series. The Sporting News will declare the Pilgrims champions by default.
» April 24, 1905: At Baker Bowl, Giants manager John McGraw lets Christy Mathewson hit with two on in the 9th, and the ace promptly singles in two runs to give the Giants a 5-4 lead. Matty then checks the Phils in the bottom of the 9th for the win over Bill Duggleby.
» May 19, 1905: Banished yesterday for brawling with Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke, John McGraw roams the Polo Grounds before today's game with the Pirates, shouting insults at Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss. McGraw accuses him of controlling the NL umpires through league president Harry Pulliam and welching on gambling debts. McGraw is again ejected during the game. Dreyfuss will files a formal protest with the league about McGraw's behavior, his swearing, and his shouting "Hey, Barney" at Dreyfuss from the field. He also contends that the Giants manager offered to wager $10,000 that the Giants would win the game. McGraw responds to Dreyfuss' complaint by stating that NL President Pulliam could not "forget his former role as the secretary to Dreyfuss." A meeting of the Leagues directors results in a $150 fine and 15-day suspension for McGraw, but John Brush immediately gets a Superior Court injunction blocking the suspension and further hearings exonerate McGraw.
» May 27, 1905: Harry Pulliam levies a $150 fine and a 15-day suspension. John McGraw files for an injunction against the fine and suspension, which the judge eventually grants. On June 1st the NL board meets in Boston and clears McGraw of the Dreyfuss charges, then censures Barney Dreyfuss for engaging in a public altercation with McGraw. The "Hey, Barney" line will follow Dreyfuss for years.
» January 5, 1906: John McGraw and jockey Tod Sloan open a billiard parlor at 34th Street and Broadway, which soon becomes a popular and profitable hangout for New York's sporting life.
» April 26, 1906: Immediately following the Giants 4-3 win over Philadelphia, John McGraw slugs a fan who had made a derogatory remark about the Giants. Then the manager proceeds on to the clubhouse. When a policeman arrives he refuses to arrest McGraw on the grounds that he had not witnessed the altercation.
» May 18, 1906: Christy Mathewson, weakened from a bout of diphtheria, is pounded for 14 hits by the Pirates and loses, 7-6. Honus Wagner paces the attack with two singles and a triple and also picks off Bill Dahlen off 2B in the 9th inning with the hidden ball trick. Dahlen, intently watching Lefty Leifield on the mound, misses Wagner who gently touches him with the ball. John McGraw is so furious with Dahlen that he slaps him with a $100 fine, later rescinded. The Pirates have now won three in a row from New York.
» June 21, 1906: At the Polo Grounds, umpire Bob Emslie tosses John McGraw in the 4th inning, but his fellow ump Hank O'Day goes one better, banishing Joe McGinnity and first sacker Dan McGann in the 5th. Down 4-2, Christy Mathewson relieves for the Giants and shuts out the Pirates over the last four innings. The Giants load the bases in the 9th and Chappie McFarland relieves a tired Sam Leever. A single scores one and with two outs, Doc Marshall singles to score the winning run. Mathewson wins, 5-4.
» August 6, 1906: In New York, Art Devlin and John McGraw are tossed for abusing umpire James Johnstone during a 3-1 loss to Chicago. The two will be suspended.
» August 7, 1906: On John McGraw's orders, umpire James Johnstone is refused admittance to the Polo Grounds, and the ump, standing outside the Polo Grounds, forfeits the match to the Cubs. McGraw insists the game go on with a player from each team umpiring. McGraw picks reserve Sam Strang, but Cubs manager Frank Chance refuses to go along, pointing out the game has already been forfeited.
» September 11, 1906: In Boston, New York's Christy Mathewson (19-9) shuts out the Beaneaters, 3-0, striking out 9. Today's game is the last one that John McGraw, playing 3B, appears in the lineup.
» January 10, 1907: John McGraw stops a runaway team of horses in Los Angeles, saving two young women from injury.
» May 11, 1907: John McGraw deals three aces today against the Pirates, and emerges with a 9-6 win. Starter Joe McGinnity lasts one inning, Hooks Wiltse pitches until the 7th when he is given the hook in favor of Christy Mathewson. The Giants score four runs in the bottom of the 7th off Mike Lynch with the victory going to Matty.
» 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.
» May 23, 1907: Before a packed house of 23,000, John McGraw uses his entire pitching staff of six against the Cubs, but Chicago still wins, 5-2 to move into first place over New York. Hooks Wiltse lasts just one inning, giving up two Chicago runs. Jimmy Sheckard's three-run homer in the 5th off Christy Mathewson, pitching on a day's rest, seals the win for Chicago.
» July 28, 1907: The Reds take their 3rd game in a row from the Giants, and winning pitcher Jake Weimer adds insult to injury with a swipe of home. An incensed John McGraw gets into a fight with a park security man and belts him. Police break it up and no arrests are made.
» September 23, 1907: At the start of the Giants match in Pittsburgh, John McGraw hands Bill Klem the lineup card with Roger Bresnahan's name in the lineup. The two argue about whether the catcher can play after yesterday's ejection and then when Klem turns away he is hit in the face with a glass of water. No culprit comes forward but Klem gets his revenge in the 6th by ejecting McGraw and Art Devlin for arguing a call. The Pirates win, 2-1.
» September 24, 1907: Christy Mathewson shuts out the Pirates, 2-0, while Bill Klem continues his battle with the Giants by tossing four more, including John McGraw.
» October 7, 1907: Friction between his catchers and the need to strengthen the Giants infield prompt John McGraw to trade Frank Bowerman, along with Bill Dahlen, Dan McGann, George Browne, and Cecil Ferguson to Boston for young SS Al Bridwell, veteran 1B and recently fired manager Fred Tenney, and reserve C Tom Needham.
» May 16, 1908: Andy Coakley gives up six hits in beating the Giants in Cincinnati, 6-1. Christy Mathewson lasts just two innings and John McGraw pinch hits for him in the 3rd.
» July 6, 1908: In Cincinnati, Christy Mathewson stops the Reds, 2–1, beating Andy Coakley for a Giants win. He'll beat them again by the same score on the 9th. The 3rd place Giants are now one 1/2 games behind the first-place Pirates. John McGraw misses the game to scout 19-year-old prospect Rube Marquard, pitching in Columbus.
» July 16, 1908: At Chicago, manager Frank Chance figures to rattle Giants rookie Otis "Doc" Crandall and elects to bat the Cubs first (this option rule for the home team was changed in 1951). But Crandall is a rock and nurses a 4-1 lead into the last of the 9th. After one out, Christy Mathewson, warming in the bullpen, decides the game is well in hand and goes into the clubhouse to shower. Crandall promptly walks three straight, wherein John McGraw looks in vain for Matty. The Giants ace quickly dries off, throws on a uniform, and puts his street shoes on. By the time he arrives on the mound, reliever Joe McGinnity has walked in a run. Matty gets a ground out, then a strikeout, and the Giants win, 4-3. Ed Reulbach takes the loss for Chicago.
» August 17, 1908: In a rain-shortened game, Christy Mathewson throws his mitt on the field and defeats the Cards, 3-0, in six innings, with Harry Sallee taking the loss. With the Giants at bat in the 5th, John McGraw signals Cy Seymour to steal home-even though Cards C Bill Ludwig has the ball. Jack Barry, the next batter, then strikes out on three pitches, as the Giants race to beat the downpour.
» August 22, 1908: At League Park, veteran Joe McGinnity, in relief of Red Ames who walks the first two batters, stops the Reds, 5-1, beating Buck Ewing. Earlier in the day, the Reds turned down John McGraw's offer for McGinnity.
» August 24, 1908: The Giants gain the NL lead by winning two at Pittsburgh, after first refusing to play a doubleheader. John McGraw protests that only one game was scheduled and he was not given 24 hours notice about the 2nd match. But after polling the players, he relents. Hooks Wiltse then tops Vic Willis, 4-1 and Christy Mathewson beats Lefty Leifield, 5-1. Willis tires in the 8th, giving up a 2-run triple to Roger Bresnahan, followed by a Mike Donlin homer. In the nitecap, Donlin and Larry Doyle each drive home a pair. The doubleheader is watched in New York on electric diamonds known as "Compton's Baseball Bulletin" at Madison Square Garden and the Gotham Theatre. Bulletins will display all remaining games.
» September 9, 1908: In a 7-3 New York win, the Giants steal nine bases off Brooklyn's Billy Maloney, an OF pressed into service as a catcher. That's enough to make him quit the game. Following the game John McGraw makes his stage debut in a show at the Hippodrome. He has a small part in the show "Sporting Days."
» June 5, 1909: St. Louis admirers give Roger Bresnahan a diamond ring and the rest of the team silk umbrellas, then Cardinal errors give the Giants six runs and the game, 8-7. John McGraw and Larry Doyle are tossed by umpire Charlie Criger.
» August 11, 1909: John McGraw puts 50-year-old coach Arlie Latham at 2B in a 19-3 romp over St. Louis. Latham goes hitless but handles two assists.
» August 24, 1909: The Giants split with the Pirates, taking the first game 4-3 behind Hooks Wiltse, then losing the 2nd. Bugs Raymond toils the whole nine innings for the Giants and gets clobbered 11-3. John McGraw leaves the high-living pitcher in the runaway to teach him a lesson.
» June 17, 1910: When Louis Drucke falters against the Pirates in the top of the 9th, Giants manager John McGraw calls for Bugs Raymond to protect the 3–2 lead. Raymond has supposedly been warming up behind the stands, but apparently had visited a saloon across the way, and swapped a ball for two shots of whiskey. Raymond hits two batters, allows two hits and tosses one wild, and the Pirates win, 6–3. A furious McGraw suspends the pitcher indefinitely. Bugs will be back on July 5th.
» July 22, 1910:
Bugs Raymond, talented but hard-drinking spitball pitcher, walks the winning run home in New York's 4th straight loss to the Pirates. John McGraw suspends
him for the rest of the season.
» May 13, 1911: At Hilltop Park, Fred Merkle has six RBIs in one inning—on a double and a Fred Merkle inside-the-park home run—as the Giants tee off on three St. Louis pitchers for 13 runs in the first inning, including seven before an out is recorded. Merkle adds a 3-run double in the inning and then scores the last run on the front end of a successful double steal. The spree ties a first inning major-league record enjoyed by the Boston Beaneaters against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1900, and it remains a Giants club record through the 20th century. John McGraw decides to save starter Christy Mathewson for another day and lifts him after one inning, but the official scorer credits Matty with the win. McGraw wants to give Marquard some experience in pitching without pressure and brings in Rube to finish. He works the last eight innings and strikes out 14, setting a 20th century National League record, and a since broken ML record, for strikeouts by a reliever: Walter Johnson will K 15 batters in 1913 and Randy Johnson will match it in 2001, while Denny McLain will rack up 14 in 1965. The Giants roll, 19–5, pinning the loss on Harry Sallee.
» June 7, 1911: After two years on the vaudeville circuit with his wife Mabel Hite, and occasional sojourns to jail for drunkenness and assault, "Turkey Mike" Donlin is reinstated by the National Commission. He rejoins the Giants, but John McGraw's willingness to put up with him ceases after 12 games, and the .333 lifetime hitter is traded to the last-place NL Boston Rustlers.
» June 8, 1911: The Cards chase Bugs Raymond and the Giants, scoring eight runs in six innings off Bugs. John McGraw is furious with Raymond, suspecting him of drinking again. He suspends him and fines him $200. A week from now, Raymond will turn up in Connecticut, making a lone pitching appearance for the hamlet of Winsted in a 4–0 loss to Torrington. Bugs will return to the Giants where he'll be used sparingly.
» July 17, 1911: Boston Braves infielder Buck Herzog and OF Doc Miller fail to show up for a game and are suspended by the club. After a conference with the club president, they rejoin the team. John McGraw, anxious to retrieve former Giant Herzog to shore up a weak infield, will swap C Hank Gowdy and SS Al Bridwell to Boston for Herzog on the 21st.
» July 28, 1911: Charley "Victory" Faust shows up at the Giants' hotel in St. Louis asking for a tryout. Manager John McGraw observes the "pitcher," who obviously is no player, and carries him on the team as an unofficial "mascot," and good luck charm. But the Giants lose to the Cards today, 5–2, with the help of five errors.
» September 12, 1911: In the nitecap of a game billed as a pitchers' duel, Boston's Cy Young and the Giants' Christy Mathewson face each other before 10,000, Boston's largest crowd of the year. Young gives up three homers and nine runs in less than three innings. After the Giants build a 9–0 lead, John McGraw lifts Mathewson, who pitched just two innings, preferring to save his ace for the pennant race against Chicago and Philadelphia. This is the only time the two pitchers ever face each other. Mathewson adds to New York's scoring in the 3rd by swiping home. The Giants coast, 11–2. In the field, Matty also helps when, with Doc Miller on 1B in the 2nd inning, a line drive to center by Hank Gowdy results in a DP (8-4-1-3). New York wins the 1st game, 9–3, and now lead the Cubs by two games.
» May 3, 1912:
Despite a triple steal, the Giants lose to the Phils, 8-6, in 10 innings. New York overcomes a 5–0 deficit to tie, but reliever Christy Mathewson is drilled for three doubles and the loss, while Pete Alexander gets the win. Bill Klem sets a season high mark when he tosses four players, including John McGraw, out of the game.
» August 12, 1912:
Cubs owner Charles Murphy hints that the Cards and other clubs go easy against John McGraw's Giants. Later Phils' owner Horace Fogel, a former Giants manager whose ownership of the Phils is seen as a front for Murphy and financial backer Charles Raft of Cincinnati, echoes the accusation and charges NL umpires with favoring the Giants. It will lead to Fogel's being expelled from the NL.
» September 7, 1912: Arthur "Bugs" Raymond, 30, is found dead at the Hotel Valey in Chicago of a brain hemorrhage, two days after his skull was fractured in a barroom fight. Raymond last pitched for the Giants in 1911, compiling a 6–4 before his drinking forced John McGraw to let him go.
» October 8, 1912: The World Series opens. Giants manager John McGraw goes with rookie Jeff Tesreau, his most effective late-season pitcher, against the Red Sox. Smoky Joe Wood fans 11 and wins 4–3 before 35,730 at New York.
» May 30, 1913:
As New York beats the Phils, John McGraw joins Fred Clarke, Cap Anson, Frank Selee, and Connie Mack as managers who have won 1,000 games.
» July 5, 1913: With manager John McGraw in the grandstands, the Giants win their 11th straight, beating Brooklyn, 3–2. Christy Mathewson is the winner over Pat Ragan, scattering 12 hits but walking none. His walkless streak is at 47 innings.
» August 13, 1913:
Doc Crandall is rescued from the basement: John McGraw buys him back from the Cards 12 days after trading him. According to historian Merritt Clifton, Doc has a sore arm and is sent back as damaged goods. He will pitch for Brattleboro to get his arm in shape before rejoining the Giants for the stretch drive.
» August 30, 1913: The Giants score six runs against Grover Cleveland Alexander, but the Phillies come back from the 6–0 deficit to score eight against Christy Mathewson. With two outs in the top of the 9th, and the Phils leading 8–6 over New York, umpire Bill Brennan, acceding to a request by the wily John McGraw, orders Phils captain Mickey Doolan (Phils manager Red Dooin had been ejected during the 6-run 6th) to have spectators removed from the CF bleachers, where they are waving hats, newspapers, and handkerchiefs to distract the batters. When Doolan refuses, Brennan forfeits the game, 9–0, to the Giants. Bedlam ensues and later, when the two umpires and Giants players try to board the train at the North Philadelphia Station, they are attacked by fans. The police draw their revolver to control the crowd. The Phils protest the forfeit and NL president Lynch will reverse the umpire and rule the game an 8–6 Phils win. The Giants then appeal. NL directors say both Brennan and Lynch are wrong, and order the game completed from the point at which it was stopped. The game will be finished October 2, with the outcome the same.
» September 6, 1913: Ed Reulbach pitches Brooklyn to a 2–0 whitewash of the Giants, allowing just two hits. Christy Mathewson takes the loss, his 9th of the year. John McGraw, frustrated with his team's lack of hitting, losses an argument with ump Mal Eason and is tossed.
» October 11, 1913: John McGraw loses his 3rd straight World Series. In game 5, Christy Mathewson is good, but Eddie Plank is better; his 2-hitter wins the 3–1 finale. Frank Baker at .450 and Eddie Collins at .421 lead a strong A's offense.
» 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 12, 1913: While John McGraw is on his world tour, Giants president Harry Hempstead makes a swap with the Reds. The Reds send OF Bob Bescher to the Giants for young catcher Grover Hartley and Buck Herzog, who replaces Tinker as manager and shortstop.
» April 18, 1914: At Ebbets Field, Wilbert Robinson leads his Dodgers to a pasting of John McGraw's Giants. Brooklyn racks Christy Mathewson for 10 hits and nine runs in seven innings. Zack Wheat leads the way with a 3-run homer while driving home five runs.
» April 29, 1915: Federal League star Benny Kauff jumps from the Brookfeds to the New York Giants. When Boston refuses to play if Kauff is in the Giants' lineup, ump Ernie Quigley forfeits the game to New York. The two teams agree to play an exhibition game. The other ump, Mal Eason, telephones NL president John Tener, who declares Kauff ineligible until reinstated and orders Eason to forfeit the game to Boston. Meanwhile, the Braves win the exhibition game, 13–8. The next day Tener rules this to be an official game, and both forfeits are canceled. Kauff goes back to Brooklyn where he leads the FL at .342, and John McGraw has to wait until next year to sign him.
» June 11, 1915:
Giants catcher Larry McLean, suspended by McGraw for 10 days, goes on rampage at Buckingham Hotel in St. Louis and picks a fight with John McGraw and scout Dick Kinsella. McGraw banishes the catcher saying he'll never play for Giants again. Christy Mathewson, unperturbed, beats the Cards in the afternoon. McLean will be shipped to the Cards, from whence he came, on August 6th for Doc Crandall.
» October 3, 1916: Brooklyn tops the Giants 8–6 and clinches the pennant. A disgusted John McGraw leaves the bench in the 5th inning, convinced his players aren't trying against the Robins, who feature many ex-Giants on the roster.
» March 25, 1917: John McGraw signs a five-year contract for $40,000 a year plus bonuses. The contract makes him the highest paid figure in baseball.
» June 8, 1917: After a game in Cincinnati, John McGraw takes a swing at umpire Bill "Lord" Byron as they are leaving the field, splitting Byron's lip. NL President John Tener fines McGraw $500 and suspends him for 16 days. McGraw sounds off to writer Sid Mercer about the general shortcomings of Tener and his umpires. When McGraw's quotes are published, he signs a statement denying he'd said what was printed. The Baseball Writers Association protests, forcing another NL meeting at which Tener finds McGraw guilty and fines him another $1,000. Mercer, a friend of McGraw's, quits the beat and never speaks to McGraw again.
» June 18, 1917:
The NL Board of Directors votes to back President John Tener's drastic discipline of John McGraw and orders the Giants manager to appear in person defend counter charges made by Tener. Tener actions are based on newspaper accounts quoting McGraw as saying the league president is incompetent.
» January 8, 1918: Buck Herzog, in John McGraw's doghouse since September, is traded to the Braves for veteran Larry Doyle and righty Jesse Barnes. Doyle, a former Giant and fan favorite, was acquired from the Cubs four days ago and his trade was rumored. He will play three years in New York before retiring.
» January 14, 1919:
John McGraw, Charles A. Stoneham, and Tammany politician
Judge Francis X. McQuade buy controlling interest
in the Giants from the John Brush estate. Having drawn
just 265,000 fans in 1918, the club is sold at a bargain
price. The 3 will spend many days in courtrooms fighting
among themselves, and fending off government charges
about Stoneham's business practices.
» February 5, 1919: Charges brought in 1918 by Reds owner Garry Herrmann and manager Christy Mathewson against Hal Chase for betting against his team and throwing games in collusion with gamblers are dismissed by National League president John Heydler. Heydler decides Chase's sometimes indifferent play was due to "carelessness." Two weeks later John McGraw trades 1B Walter Holke and C Bill Rariden to the Reds for Chase, but the Giants will also have their problems with him. In September, McGraw will send Chase and Heinie Zimmerman home without explanation; during the investigation of the Black Sox scandal in 1920, McGraw will testify that the dismissal was because both players had thrown games and tried to enlist Fred Toney and Benny Kauff in their scheme.
» March 4, 1919: John McGraw gives up on lefty Slim Sallee, selling him to the Reds. McGraw will buy him back next year.
» March 7, 1919: Christy Mathewson, back from the war, rejoins the Giants as pitching coach and heir apparent to John McGraw.
» June 8, 1920:
Failing in his efforts to buy Rogers Hornsby from St. Louis, John McGraw picks up the NL's top SS, Dave Bancroft, from the Phils for over-the-hill SS Art Fletcher, P Bill Hubbell, and cash.
» August 7, 1920:
Following an all-night drinking bout and a fight at the Lamb's Club in New York, John McGraw will be indicted for violating the Volstead (Prohibition)
Act and charged with assault, but he will be acquitted. He will also be called to testify in Chicago hearings investigating gambling and bribery among players, including Hal Chase and Heinie Zimmerman.
» September 6, 1920:
Hal Chase and Heinie Zimmerman are indicted on bribery charges as an aftermath of the investigation into the 1919 World Series. John McGraw testified that he dropped the two after the 1919 season for throwing games and trying to entice Fred Toney, Rube Benton and Benny Kauff to join them. Zimmerman denies the charges, Chase ignores them, but the duo will be banned for life from baseball by Judge Landis.
» June 1, 1921:
John McGraw wants Reds 3B Heinie Groh, but Groh, still holding out for $15,000, is put on the ineligible list by the Reds. Groh offers to sign only if he'll be sold to New York. Commissioner Landis vetoes the deal and will reinstate him only if Groh stays with the Reds all season. The decision costs Groh a WS share, but he'll move to New York in 1922.
» July 29, 1921:
John McGraw buys OF Irish Meusel, who is hitting .353 but has been suspended by the Phillies for lackadaisical
play. McGraw gives up three bench warmers and $30,000. The Giants take three from the Reds and go into the NL lead for the first time. They will fall back by seven games before coming on with a rush in September.
» December 6, 1921: John McGraw finally gets Heinie Groh from the Reds; it costs him C Mike Gonzalez, OF George Burns, and a reported $250,000. Other figures range as low as $100,000.
» April 25, 1922:
Promising rookie outfielder Ralph Shinners is beaned by Phils righty George Smith in a 9–2 Giants win. When Shinners returns in a few days he is not the same hitter. An angry John McGraw accuses Smith of a deliberate beaning and Shinners and Smith will later brawl at the Polo Grounds over the beaning. McGraw will finally send the Giants rookie down on August 3rd.
» August 8, 1922: The Giants Shufflin’ Phil Douglas is suspended and fined $100 by John McGraw. (Douglas, an alcoholic, and McGraw did not enjoy the best of relationships after McGraw forced Douglas to undergo a terrible treatment for alcoholism.) Douglas writes a letter to St. Louis Cardinals OF Les Mann, his former roommate at Chicago, offering to disappear if they make it worth his while, lest he help McGraw win the pennant. Mann turns the letter over to Branch Rickey, who relays it to Commissioner Landis. In Pittsburgh on the 16th, Douglas admits he wrote the letter, and Landis bars him from baseball for life. Sadly, when Douglas sobered up he asked Mann to destroy the letter, but Mann had already passed it on. Douglas was 11-4 at the time, with the lowest ERA on the club (2.63).
» September 25, 1922: The Giants beat St. Louis, 5-4 in 10 innings, to clinch John McGraw's 8th pennant and the Giants' 10th in 41 years in the National League.
» June 7, 1923:
John McGraw ships P Jesse Barnes and C Earl Smith to the Braves for P Mule Watson and C Hank Gowdy.
» September 16, 1923: The Cubs lose 10–6 to the Giants in Chicago, despite the hitting of Hack Miller who collects three doubles and a triple. A riot occurs in the 8th inning when umpire Charlie Moran makes an out call at 2B on Sparky Adams, Moran is pelted by hundreds of pop bottles. Judge Landis, in attendance at the game, shakes his cane at the angry mob, and play is held up for 15 minutes. John McGraw and the umpires need a police escort at the conclusion.
» October 3, 1923: Babe Ruth, playing in an exhibition game for John McGraw at the Polo Grounds, bashes the first home run ever hit over the RF roof.
» November 12, 1923: John McGraw sends OF Casey Stengel, SS Dave Bancroft, and OF Bill Cunningham to the Braves for P Joe Oeschger and OF Billy Southworth. Bancroft will be named player-manager, one of three players in the swap who will skipper the Braves.
» December 6, 1923: While in Paris, John McGraw announces plans for a tour of Europe by the Giants and White Sox in 1924, as world interest in baseball grows. In Romania, Queen Marie will throw out the first ball to mark the game's debut in July.
» October 1, 1924: Another bribery scandal clouds the World Series atmosphere. Judge Landis bans Giants OF Jimmy O'Connell and coach Cozy Dolan from the World Series after they admit an attempt to bribe Phils SS Heinie Sand on the 27th to "go easy" in their season-ending series against the Giants. O'Connell implicates Frank Frisch, George Kelly, and Ross Youngs, who deny everything and are cleared by Landis. O'Connell is out of baseball at 23. American League President Ban Johnson, an enemy of the Giants John McGraw, proclaims that the World Series should be canceled because of the betting scandal, a pronouncement that the owners will ignore. Johnson, however, decides not to attend any World Series games.
» 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.
» February 25, 1925: John McGraw arrives in Florida and is installed as president of a real estate development near Bradenton called Pennant Park. With streets named for early Giants heroes, and lots offered for $2,500 to $5,000, McGraw hires a fleet of salesmen and heads north. NY newspapers run a series of full-page ads featuring a picture of John McGraw with the bold caption "You've followed me in baseball, now follow me in real estate." A year later, the boom will go bust, washed away by two hurricanes. McGraw will incur a loss of $100,000 after paying off close friends, players, and other investors, and will be hounded by creditors.
» February 28, 1926: Arriving for spring training, a chastened John McGraw announces that he is through with the real estate business. McGraw's involvement with Pennant Park last year cost him more than $100,000.
» May 11, 1926: The Giants sell sore-armed pitcher Art Nehf to the Reds. The fair-minded Nehf is upset that John McGraw has not informed Reds' manager Jack Hendricks of Nehf's arm problems, and the pitcher will not speak with the Giants' manager for years.
» August 20, 1926:
The Giants lose their fifth in six games 6-2 in St. Louis. Frankie Frisch misses a sign that costs a run. After the game, berated by John McGraw in front of the team, Frisch buys a ticket to New York and leaves the team. Fined $500, McGraw's favorite, and heir apparent, is through with the Giants.
» December 20, 1926: In probably the biggest player-for-player trade to date, Rogers Hornsby is traded from the Cardinals to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and P Jimmy Ring. Hornsby, after 12 years in St. Louis, will play for three teams in the next three years. Hornsby and owner Sam Breadon had had an increasingly stormy relationship, and feelings between Frankie Frisch and John McGraw were equally as bad. Thirty years later, Hornsby will call the trade "the biggest disappointment in my life."
» March 17, 1927: In a battle of Irish managers on St. Patrick's Day, the Cardinals beat John McGraw's Giants, 3–0, in a Grapefruit League contest. Cards manager Bob O'Farrell also clouts a home run.
» July 19, 1927:
It's John McGraw Day at the Polo Grounds, in honor of his 25 years as Giants manager. The Cubs spoil the day with an 8-5 win.
» October 22, 1927:
Future Hall of Famer Ross Youngs, one of John McGraw's
favorite players, dies of Bright's disease at age
30, cutting short a 10-year career in which he batted
.322. Youngs had been accompanied by a specialist
as early as 1924, and after the illness had been identified,
the Giants hired a nurse to travel with Youngs. He
was bedridden in 1927, after appearing in just 95
games in 1926.
» May 14, 1928: In Chicago, Charlie Root beats the Giants, 8–2. Fred Fitzsimmons takes the loss. Outside the park after the game, John McGraw is knocked down by a taxicab and suffers a broken leg that will keep him out of the dugout six weeks. Roger Bresnahan takes over.
» December 17, 1928:
National League President John Heydler's designated hitter idea gets the backing of John McGraw, but the American League is against it.
» August 2, 1929:
After being shut out four straight times by Giants hurler Fred Fitzsimmons, the Reds score off him in the first inning, add two unearned runs in the 3rd to win, 3–2. Freddie allows just four hits in losing to Pete Donohue. Before the game, John McGraw issues a vehement denial that he has hurt morale by browbeating his players and issuing fines for errors. He says he has only fined Hubbell $25 for failing to touch second base in a game, and Frank Hogan $50 for failing to show up at the team hotel in Boston one night. "These, plus a fine of $100 assessed against Jack Cummings for being absent without leave for ten days—during which I had no idea where he was and could not even notify him of his transfer to the Braves—constitutes the total fines I have ordered." He also states that he hasn't even been in the clubhouse since July 18th.
» July 18, 1931:
John McGraw is ejected from a game in St. Louis after he rages over an out call on the Giants Chick Fullis. A telegram McGraw receives before the next game causes another tantrum, as NL president Heydler fines him $150 and suspends him for three days.
» September 27, 1931:
In a scheduled doubleheader at Ebbets Field, the Dodgers beat the Giants 12–3 in the opener. The nitecap, called on account of darkness after three innings with no score, will turn out to be the final contest between managers Wilbert Robinson and John McGraw, one-time friends and business partners, but now bitter enemies. McGraw has the edge, 197–190, with five ties.
» June 3, 1932:
John McGraw, who came to New York in 1902, resigns as manager of the Giants and is replaced by Bill Terry,
the team's star 1B.
» December 12, 1932: In a 3-team deal, the Giants send Freddie Lindstrom to the Pirates and OF Chick Fullis to the Phils, getting P Glenn Spencer and OF George Davis in return. The Bucs ship OF Gus Dugas to Philley. Lindstrom's departure was expected after he made known his disappointment in not being named John McGraw's successor.
» July 6, 1933:
The first major-league All-Star Game is played at Comiskey Park, and Babe Ruth is the star. His 2-run HR is the margin of victory in the AL's 4-2 win. John McGraw comes out of retirement to manage the NL.
» February 25, 1934: John McGraw, in ill health since his retirement as Giants manager early in the 1932 season, dies of uremia at his home in New Rochelle, NY, at age 60. His last public appearance had been the 1933 All-Star Game as the National League manager. McGraw managed for 33 years.
» December 7, 1937: Five of baseball's pioneers are added to the Hall of Fame: Connie Mack, John McGraw, Morgan Bulkeley, Ban Johnson, and George Wright.
» 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.
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