My Thirty Years In Baseball

by John McGraw

Biography & Autobiography Sports & Recreation

51 chapters6h 7mEnglish1923

About this book

The autobiography of John Joseph McGraw, another one of the "greats" of baseball. McGraw, along with Casey Stengel, has managed the most league pennants, with ten. He also holds the NL record for seasons managed, with 31 (thirty with the Giants and one with the original Orioles). He is third among major league managers in wins with 2,763, behind Connie Mack and Tony La Russa, though, at .586, McGraw's winning percentage as a manager is about .050 higher than La Russa's and .100 higher than Mack's. This book tells, in his own words, the hows and whys of his remarkable career, from player to manager. - Summary by cavaet

Chapters (50)

1Chapter I: What McGraw told his team the day before the recent World's Series began -- Why Babe Ruth failed to shine -- Do college men make the best ball players?

477

2Chapter II: The new play that ruined the Yanks -- Outwitting Joe Bush -- Twenty-five dollars fine for a home run that won the game.

476

3Chapter III: Individual vs. team work -- The "I thought" ball players -- What happened to Snodgrass for the error in Boston that lost the World's Series?

480

4Chapter IV: A manager's troubles with picturesque characters -- Bugs Raymond, the spitball pitcher, and his trial by a newspeper jury.

528

5Chapter V: Schreckengost and the "Cracker" contract -- How Rube Waddell put one over on Connie Mack -- Walter Brodie "waits out" a Boston pitcher.

432

6Chapter VI: How McGraw, batting left-handed, learned to hit into left field -- The curve that couldn't be pitched -- First professional days with the Olean team.

475

7Chapter VII: Early experiences in Cedar Rapids -- The half-wit who emptied the grandstand -- Sammy Strang the first pinch hitter.

465

8Chapter VIII: The freshest ball player -- First meeting with Pop Anson -- McGraw's "jump" to the Baltimore Orioles -- The first big league game.

462

9Chapter IX: Is modern baseball superior to old? -- Plays that were never heard of thirty years ago -- Origin of the "charley horse" -- New spirt of the game.

494

10Chapter X: The "bench" school of training -- McGraw shifted to second base -- First meeting with Hugh Jennings -- Trading experinece for an education.

480

11Chapter XI: Ned Hanlon starts a revolution in baseball -- How Jennings improved his batting average -- Invention of the "hit and run" play -- New blood for the Orioles.

475

12Chapter XII: "Hit-'Em-Where-They-Ain't" Keeler -- The greatest team in baseball history -- Horseshoe luck that beat the Giants.

454

13Chapter XIII: Oratory that misfired -- The mustache era in baseball -- Umpire Jack Kerns and the lemon "strike."

405

14Chapter XIV: The invisible ball -- Folly of baiting the umpire -- Joe Kelley and the hundred dollar watch.

402

15Chapter XV: Baseball fans now better sportsmen -- "Steve" Brodie and the heckler -- Old "Well! Well!" -- The darkey rooter who asked to be lynched.

396

16Chapter XVI: The real mark of superiority in a ball team -- Secret of Ty Cobb's success -- The "steal and slam" play -- McGraw's speciality -- Effect of the lively ball.

463

17Chapter XVII: "Bench" vs. "coach line" managers -- How signals are given -- Personal contact in spring training.

424

18Chapter XVIII: Difference between major and minor leaguers -- Drilling the recruit -- Mastering the slide -- A pitcher's peculiar fault.

437

19Chapter XIX: Temperaments of rookie twirlers -- The trouble with Rube Marquard -- When is a curve not a curve? -- Exit the "spitball."

420

20Chapter XX: Origin of the World's Series idea -- The spree that cost the Orioles the championship -- Trouble over series receipts -- First intimation of "fixed" games.

447

21Chapter XXI: Gambling nearly kills the national sport -- McGraw makes base-stealing record -- An umpire's compliment -- Players' share of gate receipts.

469

22Chapter XXII: The Orioles planted in Brooklyn -- McGraw a manager -- Bucking the syndicate -- McGinnity comes to Baltmore.

444

23Chapter XXIII: Cutting down the big league -- McGraw sold to St. Louis -- Playing baseball and the ponies.

450

24Chapter XXIV: Growth of the American League -- Disagreement with Ban Johnson -- McGraw accepts management of New York Giants, 1902.

473

25Chapter XXV: McGraw's wide-open contract -- Christy Mathewson as a first baseman -- Roger Bresnahan, pitcher -- Rebuilding a team.

422

26Chapter XXVI: Christy Mathewson becomes a pitcher-- His wonderful memory -- Other phases of the personality that made "Matty" the greatest twirler that ever lived.

439

27Chapter XXVII: How Mathewson stopped the "squeeze play" -- Coveleskie's scheme for keeping track of base runners -- "Crazy" Schmidt discovers "Pop" Anson's "weakness."

385

28Chapter XXVIII: Brodie forgets to score -- The umpire who "talked back" to Dummy Taylor -- McGraw's fifty-dollar umbrella joke -- Wilbert Robinson and the balloon ascension.

401

29Chapter XXIX: Bresnahan becomes a catcher -- American League formed in New York -- Why the Giants refused to play a World's Series in 1904 -- The Giants beat the Philadelphia Athletics in their first World's Series, 1905.

447

30Chapter XXX: Greatest ball team McGraw ever managed -- "Vegetable reception" of the Giants in Pittsburgh -- Skylarking.

427

31Chapter XXXI: Sam Merteas's great catch -- Keeler pulls one out of the barbed wire -- The danger of the sunfield.

402

32Chapter XXXII: Science of managing a ball team -- Hitting the weak spots -- Why base running is a lost art -- The delayed steal.

460

33Chapter XXXIII: The affadavit -- Making a ball club -- Getting back at the fans -- Police protection in Cincinnati.

414

34Chapter XXXIV: Greatest hit ever made -- What actually happened the day Merkle failed to touch second -- Longest wallop on record.

381

35Chapter XXXV: What happens when a ball team grows old -- Big trades -- A new batch of famous youngsters.

454

36Chapter XXXVI: The check on personal habits of players -- Best way to keep in condition -- The pitcher who ate his way out of the league.

406

37Chapter XXXVII: Interesting development of the game -- 1907-12, Philadelphia Athletics in first rank -- The team that "stole" the pennant -- Marquard and Mathewson do some explaining.

454

38Chapter XXXVIII: Greatest of all ball players -- The longest throw on record.

460

39Chapter XXXIX: Has the lively ball taken the pep out of the national game? -- Base running a lost art.

443

40Chapter XL: The All-American team of thirty years -- What McGraw thinks would be the greatest ballclub in the world - and why.

419

41Chapter XLI: Analysing the players on McGraw's All-American team of all time -- Infielders and outfielders who contributed innovations to the sport.

432

42Chapter XLII: The Hall of Fame pitchers -- Devore's experience with Walter Johnson's "smoke" -- Rube Waddell's hands.

451

43Chapter XLIII: McGraw picks the All-National League team of thirty years -- The first "floater" pitcher -- Delehanty's record -- Four home runs in one game.

392

44Chapter XLIV: The All-American League team -- Greatest of all spitball pitchers -- Ty Cobb vs. Tris Speaker.

426

45Chapter XLV: A defense of the sand-lot player -- Baseball as a training school for other professions.

454

46Chapter XLVI: Around the world with the White Sox -- Baseball and the crime wave -- Meeting with the King of England.

438

47Chapter XLVII: The mutton pie episode in London -- Playing before the Khedive of Egypt -- The Federal League's offer to McGraw -- Why the Federal League died.

406

48Chapter XLVIII: Why baseball unions fail -- McGraw's personal suggestions for a real ball players' fraternity.

381

49Chapter XLIX: Should a ball player marry? -- Two kinds of wives -- The marital year of grace.

381

50Chapter L: The commissioner of baseball -- Why he was needed -- A tribute to Judge Landis.

418

My Thirty Years In Baseball

About this book

Chapters (50)

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