Fergy Malone

Fergy Malone
Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
April 17, 1884, for the Philadelphia Keystones
MLB statistics
Batting average	.274
Home runs	1
Runs batted in	157
Teams
National Association of Base Ball Players Philadelphia Athletics (1864, 1870) Keystone of Philadelphia (1865) Diamond State Base Ball Club of Wilmington, Delaware (1866) Quaker City of Philadelphia (1867) Washington Olympics (1868–1869)   League player Philadelphia Athletics (1871–1872) Philadelphia White Stockings (1873) Chicago White Stockings (1874) Philadelphia White Stockings (1875) Philadelphia Athletics (1876) Philadelphia Keystones (1884)   League manager Philadelphia White Stockings (1873) Chicago White Stockings (1874) Philadelphia Keystones (1884)

Fergus G. Malone (August, 1844 – January 1, 1905) was a professional

in 1871, champion of the first professional league season.

Born 1842 in County Tyrone (today part of Northern Ireland), Malone was one of four Irish natives to play in the first National Association season and one of five in the first National League season. If the NA is disregarded as a major league, he and Andy Leonard share distinction as the first major leaguers born in Ireland, their teams having met in the first NL game, 22 April 1876 (Leonard is first overall taking the NA into account).

Although a left-handed thrower, Malone was mainly a catcher with major teams, both amateur and pro. Physically it was a demanding position, no one using a face mask or regularly using a glove. (Doug Allison used buckskin mittens in 1870, but gloves and masks were only adopted for regular use by some catchers beginning in the late 1870s.)

Malone was the primary

season, catching 20 of 60 games.

Malone was the highest paid player in professional baseball in 1874 with an annual salary of $2,800 (equivalent to $75,402 in 2023).[1]

Fergy Malone was 34 when the Athletics were expelled from the National League, which contracted from eight to six for 1877. He returned to the majors with the one-year

for his teams in 1873, 1874, and 1884, recording a total of 47 wins and 66 losses.

Malone died 1905 in

at the age of 60. He is buried at New Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia.

The

.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball player–managers

References

• Wright, Marshall (2000). The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857–1870. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co.
  ISBN 0-7864-0779-4

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Retrosheet. "Fergy Malone".
• Fergy Malone at Find a Grave