Hughie Jennings
Hughie Jennings | ||
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Runs batted in | 840 | |
Managerial record | 1,184–995 | |
Winning % | .543 | |
Teams | ||
As player
As manager
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Career highlights and awards | ||
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Member of the National | ||
Baseball Hall of Fame | ||
Induction | 1945 | |
Election method | Old-Timers Committee |
Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American
. During those three seasons, Jennings had 355 runs batted in and hit .335, .386, and .401.Jennings was a fiery, hard-nosed player who was not afraid to be hit by a pitch to get on base. In 1896, he was
Early years
Born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Jennings was the son of Irish immigrants, James and Nora, who according to Jack Smiles's biography of Jennings, Ee-yah: The Life and Times of Hughie Jennings, Baseball Hall of Famer (page 7), arrived in Pittston in 1851.
Jennings worked as a
Baltimore Orioles: 1893–1899
Jennings played with the Orioles for parts of seven seasons and became a star during his years in Baltimore. The
During the Orioles' championship years, Jennings had some of the best seasons ever by a major league shortstop. In 1895, he hit .386, scored 159 runs, collected 204 hits, knocked in 125 runs, and stole 53 bases. In 1896, his performance was even better, as he hit .401 (2nd best in the National League) with 209 hits, 121 RBI, and 70 stolen bases.
The fiery Jennings was also known as one of the most fearless players of his time, allowing himself to be hit by pitches more than any other player. In one game, he was hit by a pitch three times. In 1896, he was hit by pitches 51 times—a Major League record that still stands. In just five seasons with the Orioles from 1894 to 1898, Jennings was hit by pitches an unprecedented 202 times. During one game, Jennings was hit in the head by a pitch from Amos Rusie in the 3rd inning, but managed to finish the game. As soon as the game ended, Jennings collapsed and was unconscious for three days.[2][3]
Jennings was also one of the best fielding shortstops of the era. He led the National League in
Brooklyn Superbas and Philadelphia Phillies: 1899–1903
In 1899, when manager Ned Hanlon moved to the Brooklyn Superbas, several of his star players, including Jennings, Joe Kelley, and Willie Keeler followed. While Jennings was never the same after the injury to his arm in 1898, he contributed to Brooklyn's National League pennants in 1899 and 1900.[1]
In 1901, Jennings was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. However, his failing arm cut his career short, as he never played in more than 82 games or hit above .272 in two seasons with the Phillies. Jennings played 6 games for the Superbas in 1903, effectively ending his playing career, with the exception of 9 at bats during his tenure as the manager of the Detroit Tigers.
Cornell Law School and an off-season law practice
While playing for the Orioles in the 1890s, Jennings and John McGraw both attended classes at St. Bonaventure University. After the 1899 season, Jennings was accepted to Cornell Law School. He managed the Cornell University baseball team while studying law and concluded that he was well-suited to being a manager.[4] While at Cornell, he joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity chapter there. Jennings continued as a scholar-athlete until the spring of 1904, when he left campus early to manage the Orioles. Though he never finished his law degree at Cornell, Jennings passed the Maryland bar exam in 1905 and started a law practice. Jennings practiced law in Baltimore and in Scranton, Pennsylvania.[1][3] He continued to work at his law practice during the off-seasons through the remainder of his baseball career.
The "Ee-Yah" years: 1907–1920
In 1907, Jennings was hired as manager of a talented Detroit Tigers team that included future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. Jennings led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants, in 1907–1908-1909. However, Jennings' teams lost the 1907 and 1908 World Series to the "Tinker to Evers to Chance" Chicago Cubs and the 1909 Series to Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates. Jennings continued to manage the Tigers through the 1920 season, though his teams never won another pennant.
During his years as Detroit's manager, Jennings became famous for his antics, mostly in the third base coaching box, which variously included shouts of "Ee-Yah", and other whoops, whistles, horns, gyrations, jigs, and grass-plucking. The "Ee-Yah" whoop became his trademark and was accompanied with waves of both arms over his head and a sharp raising of his right knee.[1] In 1907, he was suspended for taunting opponents with a tin whistle.[3] The "Ee-Yah" shouts continued and became such a trademark that Jennings became known as Hughie "Ee-Yah" Jennings, and Detroit fans would shout "Ee-Yah" when Jennings appeared on the field.[2][4] (See also Jack Smiles, Ee-yah: The Life And Times Of Hughie Jennings, Baseball Hall Of Famer)
Hughie Jennings was honored alongside the retired numbers of the Detroit Tigers in 2000. |
Behind the antics was a great coaching mind.
In 1912, during a game in which "pick-ups" played for the Tigers when the regular team went on strike to protest the suspension of Cobb after an incident involving a fan in the stands whom Cobb assaulted, Jennings, who also sent his coaches in as substitute players, came to bat himself once as a pinch hitter. According to one source, when the umpire asked him for whom he was batting, Jennings answered, "None of your business." The umpire noted on his lineup sheet, "Jennings--batted for exercise."[5]
While Jennings was fiery, hard-nosed, colorful, and even eccentric, he insisted he had always played the game honestly. When a scandal arose in
New York Giants: 1921–1925
Jennings signed on as a coach with his old friend,
Managerial record
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
DET | 1907 | 150 | 92 | 58 | .613 | 1st in AL | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost World Series (CHC) |
DET | 1908 | 153 | 90 | 63 | .588 | 1st in AL | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost World Series (CHC) |
DET | 1909 | 152 | 98 | 54 | .645 | 1st in AL | 3 | 4 | .429 | Lost World Series (PIT) |
DET | 1910 | 154 | 86 | 68 | .558 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1911 | 154 | 89 | 65 | .578 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1912 | 153 | 69 | 84 | .451 | 6th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1913 | 153 | 66 | 87 | .431 | 6th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1914 | 153 | 80 | 73 | .523 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1915 | 154 | 100 | 54 | .649 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1916 | 154 | 87 | 67 | .565 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1917 | 153 | 78 | 75 | .510 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1918 | 126 | 55 | 71 | .437 | 7th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1919 | 140 | 80 | 60 | .571 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET | 1920 | 154 | 61 | 93 | .396 | 7th in AL | – | – | – | |
DET total | 2103 | 1131 | 972 | .538 | 4 | 12 | .250 | |||
NYG | 1924 | 44 | 32 | 12 | .727 | Interim | – | – | – | |
NYG | 1925 | 32 | 21 | 11 | .656 | Interim | – | – | – | |
NYG total | 76 | 53 | 23 | .697 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Total[8] | 2179 | 1184 | 995 | .543 | 4 | 12 | .250 |
A lifetime of tragic accidents
Jennings' life was filled with several tragic accidents. There was the beaning incident in Philadelphia that left him unconscious for three days. While attending Cornell, he fractured his skull diving head-first into a swimming pool at night, only to find the pool had been emptied.[1][2] In December 1911, Jennings came close to death after an off-season automobile accident. While driving a car given to him by admirers, Jennings' car overturned while crossing a bridge over the Lehigh River near Gouldsboro, 23 miles (37 km) southeast of Scranton. In the crash, Jennings again fractured his skull, suffered a concussion of the brain, and broke both legs and his left arm. For several days after the accident, doctors were unsure if Jennings would survive.[1][4]
The physical abuse and blows to the head undoubtedly took their toll. During the 1925 season, McGraw was ill, and Jennings was put in full charge of the Giants. The team finished in second place and the strain caught up with Jennings, who suffered a
On February 1, 1928, Jennings died at age 58 at his home at 530 Vine Street in
Jennings was posthumously elected to the
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball player-managers
- List of Major League Baseball managers by wins
- 1909 Detroit Tigers season
Notes
- ^ New York Times. February 1, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Detnews.com | Michigan History Archived 2013-01-02 at archive.today at info.detnews.com
- ^ a b c CAM Cornelliana at cornellalumnimagazine.com
- ^ a b c d e f TheDeadballEra.com :: HUGHIE JENNINGS' OBIT Archived 2008-07-19 at the Wayback Machine at www.thedeadballera.com
- Bugs Baer; Title not remembered, but may be "1912: Philadelphia Athletics 24, Detroit Tigers 2.", plus at least one other baseball book. In Baseball's Unforgettable Games by Joe Reichler and Ben Olan (1960), the game appears under the title of "The Tigers Strike over Cobb's Suspension"; Jennings is listed in the box score in that book as a pinch-hitter.
- ^ Al Stump, Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball (1994), pp. 372–373.
- ^ Hughie Jennings - Baseball Biography
- ^ a b "Hughie Jennings". Baseball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved October 1, 2015.
- Newspapers.com.
Further reading
- Kashatus, William C. Diamonds in the Coal Fields: 21 Remarkable Baseball Players, Managers and Umpires from Northeast Pennsylvania (McFarland, 2002).
- Smiles, Jack. Ee-yah: The Life and Times of Hughie Jennings, Baseball Hall of Famer (McFarland, 2005).
External links
- Hughie Jennings at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Hughie Jennings managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com