Athletes - Jack Boyle

Home > Listing Index > Athletes > Jack Boyle

	Athletes - Jack Boyle

John Anthony Boyle (March 22 1866 - January 7 1913), nicknamed "Honest Jack", was an American catcher and first baseman in Major League Baseball. 6'4", 190 lbs., Batted and Threw Right-Handed, B.A. .253 F.A. .951, Played in the majors for 13 years from 1866-1898, with Cincinnati (1886) and St. Louis (1887-1889, 1891) of the American Association, Chicago of the Players League (1890), New York (1892) and Philadelphia (1893-1898) of the National League.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Boyle was a noted catcher who came up with the Cincinnati Reds of the American Association. He was but 17 years of age when he was given a trial. An early pitcher by the name of Bob Mitchell is credited with his discovery. Boyle played with the Reds his first year, 1880, and was traded to the St. Louis Browns. The Reds obtained speedy outfielder Hugh Nicol in this transaction. In 1881 Jack caught only a couple of games until July 3. Then an injury to the regular catcher, Al Bushong, gave him his opportunity. He caught 85 straight games for the Browns using the old finger glove which preceded the protective mitt of the modern era.

Boyle accompanied Charles Comiskey to Chicago on the Brotherhood team in 1890 and returned to St. Louis with him the following year. In 1892 Jack signed with the New York Nationals for a sum of $5,500. This was the largest salary ever paid to a major leaguer at this time. There followed five years as a star catcher for the Philadelphia club before being sold to Kansas City. He stayed with Kansas City but three months prior to returning to Cincinnati.

He opened a saloon in the Ohio River city on Seventh Street which grew into a successful business for him. Over the years Jack Boyle caught a number of famous baseball pitchers. Among these include Silver King, Jack Stivetts, Bob Caruthers, and Dave Foutz.

Boyle was 46 years of age when he died of Bright's Disease at his home on Academy Avenue, Price Hill, Cincinnati, Ohio.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Jack Boyle ]

This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article Jack Boyle; it is used under the GNU Free Documentation License. You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the GFDL.

Searches on eBay