John B. Day
{{Short description|American tobacco merchant and baseball executive}}
{{Other people||John Day (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=John B. Day
|position=Owner / Manager
|image=John B. Day.jpg
|caption=Day in 1884
|birth_date={{Birth date|1847|9|23}}
|birth_place=Colchester, Connecticut, U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|1925|1|25|1847|9|23}}
|death_place=Cliffside, New Jersey, U.S.
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=Games managed
|stat1value=66
|stat2label=Managerial record
|stat2value=29–35
|stat3label=Winning %
|stat3value=.453
|teams=
As manager
- New York Giants ({{mlby|1899}})
|highlights=
}}
John Bailey Day (September 23, 1847 – January 25, 1925) was an American tobacco merchant who became an owner and manager in professional baseball of the late 19th century. He was the first owner of the franchise now known as the San Francisco Giants.
Biography
Day was born in Colchester, Connecticut, in 1847. He became wealthy first in the cigar manufacturing business, and then by opening a tobacco processing plant in Manhattan's Lower East Side.{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/john-day/ |title=John Day |first=Bill |last=Lamb |website=SABR |date=September 27, 2011 |accessdate=September 20, 2020}}
Day was founding owner of the independent New York Metropolitans in 1880 and leased the Polo Grounds for them to play in, which was the first baseball large-scale venue in Manhattan. In 1883, his New York Gothams/Giants of the National League began play at the same site. By 1885, Day concentrated his attentions on the Giants team. Encountering financial difficulties, mainly as a result of the 1890 Players' League revolt, in January 1893 he sold the Giants franchise to Cornelius Van Cott.{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/sf/history/owners.jsp |title=Giants All-Time Owners |website=MLB.com |accessdate=September 20, 2020}}
Day was the first of two managers for the 1899 New York Giants, leading the team to a 29–35 record in 66 games played (two contests were ties);{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/dayjo99.shtml |title=John Day Managerial Record |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=September 20, 2020}} he was succeeded by Fred Hoey.{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYG/1899.shtml |title=1899 New York Giants Statistics |website=Baseball-Reference.com |accessdate=September 20, 2020}} In 1900, Day served as the National League's chief of umpires.
Later in life, Day suffered the first of several strokes in 1910.{{cite book |title=Baseball in 1889: Players Vs. Owners |first=Daniel Merle |last=Pearson |page=184 |publisher=Popular Press |year=1993 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1O1BFWv9v4sC&pg=PA184 |isbn=0879726180}} He died at age 77 in 1925, having lost his fortune, in Cliffside, New Jersey.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/59672071/obituary-for-john-b-day-aged-77/ |title='Father of Giants' Dies at Age of 77 |agency=AP |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, Pennsylvania |page=12 |date=January 26, 1925 |accessdate=September 20, 2020 |via=newspapers.com}} Married twice but without children, Day was interred at Portland, Connecticut.
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
Further reading
- {{sabrbio|c281a493|Bill Lamb|October 10, 2013}}
External links
- [https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/dayjo99.shtml Manager page at Baseball Reference]
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{San Francisco Giants owners}}
{{San Francisco Giants managers}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, John B}}
Category:19th-century American merchants
Category:People from Colchester, Connecticut
Category:American tobacco industry executives
Category:New York Giants (baseball) owners