James D. McElroy (November 5, 1862 – February 24, 1889) was an American professional baseball player who played one season at the major league level. He pitched thirteen games for the 1884 Philadelphia Quakers, and one game for the Wilmington Quicksteps.[1] His W–L record was 1–13, and he had an earned run average of 5.12.[1] He attended Saint Mary's College of California in Moraga, California.[2]
Jim McElroy | |
---|---|
Pitcher | |
Born: Napa County, California | November 5, 1862|
Died: February 24, 1889 Needles, California | (aged 26)|
Batted: Unknown Threw: Unknown | |
MLB debut | |
May 26, 1884, for the Philadelphia Quakers | |
Last MLB appearance | |
August 21, 1884, for the Wilmington Quicksteps | |
MLB statistics | |
Games pitched | 14 |
Win–loss record | 1–13 |
Earned run average | 5.12 |
Stats at Baseball Reference | |
Teams | |
He is first seen on May 2, 1884, pitching for the Baltimore Monumentals of the Eastern League, when he pitched against the Quicksteps.[3] Before the 1884 season, Harry Wright took over as the Phillies manager, and liked McElroy's talent.[3] He threw extremely hard, but was very wild. In his 14 starts, there were seven different catchers who caught him, four of whom claimed that McElroy was the first pitcher they had ever caught at the major league level. In an era when catcher's equipment was still very meager, and with no other catchers willing to work with McElroy, Wright had to release him.[3]
McElroy became a drug addict and died in Needles, California[1] after a man injected him with opium which proved to be too much for his system to handle. [4]
References
edit- General
- Nemec, David;Zemen, Davis. 2004. The baseball rookies encyclopedia. Brassey's. ISBN 1-57488-670-3.
- Specific
- ^ a b c "Jim McElroy's career statistics". Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- ^ "Jim McElroy's career statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
- ^ a b c Nemec, p. 27
- ^ https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/jim-mcelroy/
External links
edit- Career statistics from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Jim McElroy at SABR (Baseball BioProject)