William H. Craver (June 1844 – June 17, 1901) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

player from

Troy, New York Troy is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Huds ...

who played mainly as a

middle infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

, but did play many games at

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

as well during his seven-year career. He played for seven different teams, in two leagues. He was later expelled from the Major Leagues in the infamous Louisville gambling scandal in .

Early life

Before his baseball career, Craver had served in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

with the 13th Heavy Artillery Regiment out of

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. He enlisted on January 21, 1864, as a

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in Company K, and mustered out on June 28 in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

. When the war, and his military career were over, he began his organized baseball career as a

in 1866 with the Union Baseball Club of

Rensselaer County Rensselaer County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,130. Its county seat is Troy. The county is named in honor of the family of Kiliaen van Rensselaer, the original Dutch owner of the ...

, which became the Unions of Lansingburgh. The Unions gained the nickname of Haymakers in August of that year after a visit to the

Capitoline Grounds The Capitoline Grounds, also known as Capitoline Skating Lake and Base Ball Ground,Lowry, p. 34 was a baseball park located in Brooklyn, New York from 1864 to 1880. It was built to rival nearby Union Grounds, also in Brooklyn. The park hosted loca ...

and the Elysian Fields. Later, in 1870, while playing for a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

team, he was accused of breaking his contract with the team.

Major League Baseball career

In , Craver joined the

Troy Haymakers The Troy Haymakers were an American professional baseball team. History Established in 1860 as the Union Base Ball Club Lansingburgh, located in neighboring Lansingburgh, New York, the Haymakers participated in the first professional pennant ra ...

, who entered the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

in the league's first season. He played second base, and after just four games, he replaced Lip Pike as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. He played well,

batting Batting may refer to: *Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs *Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ru ...

.322, but the team finished in seventh place. For the next two seasons, he joined the

Baltimore Canaries The Baltimore Canaries were a professional baseball club in the National Association from 1872 to 1874. History The team was usually listed as Lord Baltimore in the box scores of the day, and were also referred to as the Yellow Stockings. The can ...

, the first of which he was

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

. He was replaced at manager later in the year by

Everett Mills Everett Mills (January 20, 1845 – June 22, 1908) was an American Major League Baseball player from Newark, New Jersey. He played in all five seasons of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players, National Association (&ndas ...

, but stayed with the team through the season. Playing for the

Philadelphia White Stockings The Philadelphia White Stockings were an early professional baseball team. They were a member of the National Association from 1873 to 1875. Their home games were played at the Jefferson Street Grounds. They were managed by Fergy Malone, Jimm ...

in , he led the league in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, and as a second baseman, he led the league in

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or '' fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wi ...

s and

errors An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'. In statistics ...

. Craver had his best offensive season that year, batting .343 and leading the league in

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

s. In , he moved over the

Philadelphia Centennials The Centennial baseball club, or Philadelphia Centennials in modern nomenclature, were a short-lived baseball team in the National Association in 1875. They were named the Centennial club during a time when the city of Philadelphia was busy makin ...

. He played in just 13 games for them when, together with

George Bechtel George A. Bechtel (September 2, 1848 – April 3, 1921?) was an American right fielder and pitcher in professional baseball's early history. He played in all five seasons of baseball's first all-professional league, the National Association, an ...

, he was traded to the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

to replace injured players Dave Eggler and Wes Fisler in exchange for $1,500. He led the NA in triples in 1875 with 13. The National Association folded following the season, and Craver joined the

New York Mutuals The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Ass ...

, a team that he also managed. It was his only season in New York, as the Mutuals were expelled from the league for not making the required western trip. It was during this season that Craver was reputedly savagely beaten by a gambler for doublecrossing him on a fix. He gained infamy the following season, his final season, when playing for the

Louisville Grays The Louisville Grays were a 19th-century United States baseball team and charter member of the National League, based in Louisville, Kentucky. They played two seasons, 1876 and 1877, and compiled a record of 65–61. Their home games were a ...

Expulsion

In , the Grays were ahead in the league standings, with a 27-13 record with only 15 games left to play, but then lost their lead through horrible play, losing eight straight games at one point. The trouble reportedly began when

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

Bill Hague was injured and needed to be replaced.

George Hall George Hall may refer to: People The arts * George Hall (actor) (1916–2002), Canadian-American actor * George Hall (musician) (c. 1893 – c. 1989), American bandleader * George Hall (cartoonist) (born 1960), Australian comic book writer and ...

suggested that the team pick up his former Mutuals teammate Al Nichols. The errors by Nichols, Hall, and Craver began to accumulate, and owner Charles Chase became suspicious when he noticed that Nichols was still in the lineup, even though Hague was fully healthy. The players were soon seen around town with new clothes and jewelry. Chase confronted pitcher

Jim Devlin James Alexander Devlin (June 6, 1849 – October 10, 1883) was an American Major League Baseball player who played mainly as a first baseman early in his career, then as a pitcher in the latter part. He played for three teams during his five ...

and did not receive a confession, but Hall thought Devlin had confessed. Hall claimed that Nichols was the person in contact with the gamblers and all three had thrown games. Chase requested from each member of the team permission to see all the

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

s sent and received. Craver was the only man on the team to refuse, which caused him to be suspended. The telegrams proved the three were in open communication with the gamblers. The

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

subsequently expelled all four players "for conduct in contravention of the objects of this League." Craver was banned even though it was not proven that he participated in throwing any games, but there were reports of his gambling and insubordination in his past, along with his refusal to cooperate with this investigation.

Later life

After his forced retirement from baseball, Craver became a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

, along with fellow "criminal" Devlin. He began to receive military

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

on July 1, 1892, as a result of time as a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

, which would continue on to his widow, Catherine C. Craver. Craver died at the age of 57 of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

in his hometown of Troy, and is interred at Oakwood Cemetery.

References

External links