James Wear "Bug" Holliday (February 8, 1867 – February 15, 1910) was an American

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

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), ...

for ten seasons, in the 1885 World Series and from through . He was the first player to make his major league debut in post-season play, with the Chicago White Stockings in 1885. He played the rest of his career with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

, both when they were in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

and in 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 ...

. He twice led the league in

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, and was among the leaders in various other offensive categories throughout his career. After his playing career was over, he was an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

for one season.

Career

Holliday was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, and became the first player in major league history to make his debut in the post-season when he was called up, at the age of 18, by the Chicago White Stockings when they needed another

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for Game 4 of the 1885 World Series. He played in one game, and had no hits in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. Holliday made his regular-season major league debut in 1889 for the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the American Association. In his first season with the Red Stockings, he led the league in home runs with 19, while finishing in the top ten in many offensive categories. He was fifth in

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with .321, fifth in runs batted in (RBIs) with 104, third in hits with 181, and ninth in doubles with 28. Before the season, the Red Stockings transferred their team over to the National League and officially became the Reds. Holliday picked up where he left off the previous season, with an opening day home run off Bill Hutchinson in a 5–4 loss to the Chicago Colts. But after that, his season's power numbers dropped significantly, as he hit only four home runs, tallied 75 RBIs, and had a .270 batting average. He bounced back the following season, when he hit nine home runs, which was fourth in the league, batted .319 to finish second in the league, and totalled 84 RBIs, which was ninth. He followed the campaign with an even better season, when he played in 153 games, batted 602 times, scored 114 runs, and tripled 16 times, all career highs. He also claimed his second home run title that season, with 13, and finished in the top ten with 176 hits as well. Both and saw Holliday continue his batting production; although his home runs dipped to five in 1893, he still batted .310, totaled 84 RBIs, and scored 108 runs. But statistically, 1894 was his greatest season, when his .372 batting average was his career-high, as well as his 119 runs scored, 190 hits, 119 RBIs, .420

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .523

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. During the first six years of his career, he slugged 63 home runs, which was second to only

Roger Connor Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

during the same span; but in he had an

appendectomy An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a Surgery, surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acu ...

, and was never the same player after that. In his last four seasons he was never more than a part-time player. In 930 games over 10 seasons, Holliday posted a .312

(1141-for-3658) with 735 runs, 162 doubles, 72 triples, 65

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 621 RBI, 252 stolen bases, 360

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .377

and .449

. He finished his career with a .934

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

primarily as an outfielder.

Post-career

When Holliday's professional baseball career was over, he played for fellow Cincinnatians Julius and Max Fleischmann on their semi-professional Mountain Athletic Club in 1899.Jersey City News. August 23, 1899 In 1903, he was a National League umpire for the season, officiating in 53 games that season. He was involved in one incident in which

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 ...

of 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 ...

and Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jack Morrissey became engaged in words, which led to Wagner being surrounded by other Reds players. Holliday ejected Wagner from the game to quell the possibility of an altercation on the field. He continued to live in Cincinnati, and worked in a pool room while also covering

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

for a local newspaper. He died at the age of 43 in Cincinnati of

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the ga ...

of foot and leg, and is interred at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham ...

, also in Cincinnati. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' reported his illness on February 3, 1910, and as a result, Reds manager

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds ...

ordered all of the Cincinnati players to be vaccinated before they left for training camp.

Personal life

Holliday married Mary Thurman, daughter of Ohio politician

Allen G. Thurman Allen Granberry Thurman (November 13, 1813 – December 12, 1895), sometimes erroneously spelled Allan Granberry Thurman, was a United States Democratic Party, Democratic United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative, Supre ...

and the former wife of William S. Cowles, in 1894.

References

External links

* : {{DEFAULTSORT:Holliday, Bug 1867 births 1910 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball center fielders Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Cincinnati Reds players Chicago White Stockings players Topeka Golden Giants players National League home run champions Baseball players from St. Louis Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Infectious disease deaths in Ohio Deaths from gangrene

Career

Post-career

Personal life

See also

References

Further reading

External links