William Frederick "Bones" Ely (June 7, 1863 – January 10, 1952) was a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

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 (AL), ...

. He was born in North Girard, Pennsylvania. Ely was the starting shortstop for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

for several seasons before

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

. Immediately before his release during the 1901 season, an article in ''The Buffalo Enquirer'' described the only thing standing between Wagner and Pittsburgh's shortstop job was "Bones Ely, who has gone back faster than an incline car that has slipped a cable. Ely cannot hit a balloon and his fielding is passe." During the 1904 season, Bones Ely along with his brother Ben Ely purchased the

Portland Browns Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Bones Ely managed 33 games that season before resigning his position on May 16. The Ely brothers sold their shares of the team to Walter McCredie and

William Wallace McCredie William Wallace "W. W." McCredie (April 27, 1862 – May 10, 1935) was a U.S. Representative from Washington. Early years Born in Montrose, Pennsylvania, McCredie moved to Iowa with his parents, who settled on a farm near Manchester in Delaware ...

before the end of the season. Ely died at the age of 88 in Imola, California. His remains were

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

and placed in the Chapel of the Chimes columbarium in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

Sources

External links

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Retrosheet
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SABR Biography Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Bones 1863 births 1952 deaths 19th-century baseball players Atlanta Windjammers players Baseball players from Pennsylvania Binghamton Bingoes players Binghamton Crickets (1880s) players Brooklyn Grooms players Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Duluth Whalebacks players Louisville Colonels players Major League Baseball shortstops Memphis Giants players Minor league baseball executives People from Erie County, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Athletics players Pittsburgh Pirates players Portland Beavers managers St. Louis Browns (NL) players St. Paul Apostles players Syracuse Stars (AA) players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Toledo Black Pirates players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Youngstown (minor league baseball) players San Francisco Pirates players