Ted Sullivan (baseball)

{{Short description|Irish baseball player and manager (1851–1929)}}

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Ted Sullivan

|position=Manager/Right fielder

|image=Ted Sullivan 1893 Nashville American illustration.png

|caption=An 1893 illustration of Sullivan

|birth_date={{birth date|1851|3|17}}

|birth_place=County Clare, Ireland

|death_date={{death date and age|1929|7|5|1851|3|17}}

|death_place=Washington, D. C., U.S.

|bats=Unknown

|throws=Unknown

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=July 16

|debutyear=1884

|debutteam=Kansas City Cowboys

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=October 18

|finalyear=1884

|finalteam=Kansas City Cowboys

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Games played

|stat2label=At bats

|stat3label=Batting average

|stat1value=4

|stat2value=11

|stat3value=.364

|teams=

As Player

Kansas City Cowboys ({{baseball year|1884}})

As Manager

St. Louis Browns ({{baseball year|1883}})
St. Louis Maroons ({{baseball year|1884}})
Kansas City Cowboys ({{baseball year|1884}})
Washington Nationals ({{baseball year|1888}})

}}

Timothy Paul "Ted" Sullivan (March 17, 1851 – July 5, 1929) was an Irish born manager and player in Major League Baseball who was born in County Clare, Ireland.

Career

After attending St. Mary's College (in St. Mary's, Kansas) and Saint Louis University,{{Cite web |last=Vaccaro |first=Frank |title=Ted Sullivan |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ted-sullivan/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Society for American Baseball Research |language=en-US}} he managed four teams during the 1880s, one of which was the {{baseball year|1884}} St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, which finished with an astonishing 94–19 record. He began the year with a 28–3 record, but moved on in midseason to manage another UA team, the Kansas City Cowboys; Fred Dunlap took over in St. Louis, compiling a 66–16 record as the Maroons won the UA pennant in the league's only year of existence. Kansas City was a dismal 3-17 when Sullivan took over managerial duties, going 13-46 the rest of way. During his time in Kansas City, he also made his only three field appearances, playing two games in right field and one as a shortstop; he collected three hits in nine at bats. He did not manage again until the {{baseball year|1888}} Washington Nationals, then 10–29, hired him to finish out the season.{{Cite web |title=1888 Washington Nationals Statistics |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/WHS/1888.shtml |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=Baseball-Reference.com |language=en}} He led the team to a mark of 38–57, and ended his major league career with a record of 132-132. Sullivan later managed in the minors, including a stint with the Nashville Tigers of the Southern League in {{baseball year|1893}}.{{Cite web |last=Traughber |first=Bill |date=2004-05-05 |title=Looking Back: Nashville Tigers See Light in 1894 |url=http://www.nashvillesounds.com/news/newsarchive.asp?newsId=1004 |access-date=22 March 2008 |website=Nashville Sounds}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024|fix-attempted=yes}}

Sullivan is considered a pioneer of early baseball; he founded both the Northwest League and the Texas League, both minor leagues that still exist and thrive today. Credited with discovering Charles Comiskey, he is considered by some to be the first person to emphasize the importance of scouting.{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Peter |title=What It Means to Be a Fan |url=http://www.press.umich.edu/webhome/fantalk.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303223348/http://www.press.umich.edu/webhome/fantalk.pdf |archive-date=2007-03-03 |website=University of Michigan Press}} Comiskey joined the St. Louis Browns in {{baseball year|1882}}, and replaced Sullivan as the team's manager in mid-{{baseball year|1883}}; it had been Sullivan's first managerial post, as he compiled a record of 53–26 to begin the year. Also, Sullivan was a great promoter of the game; he would tell stories of baseball's beginnings, and of its many star players. He authored books detailing these, including a barnstorming trip around the world in 1913–1914 by Comiskey's Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants. He also credited himself as the originator of the word "fan", as in baseball fan. Sullivan later became a team executive and owner.

Post-career

Sullivan died in Washington, D.C. at the age of 78, and is interred at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

References

External links

[https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/sullite01.shtml Baseball-Reference.com] – career managing record and playing statistics
[https://web.archive.org/web/20060903152905/http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/books/excerpts/4295.pdf Nebraska Press: The Tour to End All Tours] – account of Charles Comiskey's 1913–1914 baseball world tour, recounts his early association with Sullivan
[https://www.amazon.com/phrase/Ted-Sullivan Ted Sullivan at Amazon.com]
[http://www.haroldseymour.com/article.asp?articleid=60045 review of The Tour to End All Tours]
[http://shamrockclubwis.com/Reflections/2011April.pdf A Most Impressive Man - Ted Sullivan] - Shamrock Club's Emerald Reflections

Category:Major League Baseball right fielders

Category:St. Louis Browns (AA) managers

Category:St. Louis Maroons managers

Category:Kansas City Cowboys (UA) managers

Category:Washington Nationals (1886–1889) managers

Category:19th-century baseball players

Category:Major League Baseball players from Ireland

Category:Irish baseball players

Category:Irish emigrants to the United States

Category:Sportspeople from County Clare

Category:1851 births

Category:1929 deaths