Charles John "Chick" Fulmer (February 13, 1851 – February 15, 1940) was a

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), ...

player who played

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 ...

from to . He played for the

Rockford Forest Citys Rockford Forest Citys (officially the Forest City Club), from Rockford, Illinois was one of the first professional baseball clubs. Rockford played for one season during the National Association inaugural year of . They are not to be confused wit ...

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 Asso ...

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, Jimmy ...

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 ...

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867– ...

, and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

. His brother, Washington Fulmer, also played a single game at the major league level.

Early life

Fulmer was born in Philadelphia, and he came from a family of soldiers. His father Michael was a major in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

before becoming a butcher in Philadelphia. Fulmer's grandfather John fought in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

, and his great-grandfather Michael was involved in the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

. Fulmer tried to serve in the Civil War himself by joining the Southwark Guards, but he was 14 years old and he was sent home before he saw any battle.

Career

Fulmer made his major league debut for the

in 1871, the first year that games were played in 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 ...

. He played for the league's

in 1872 before moving on to a three-year stint with the

. He claimed that he executed the first major league

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) under ...

in 1873, but MLB lists the first one as being earned by another player in 1909. The league folded after the 1875 season. In 1876, Fulmer received his only opportunity to manage at the major league level; he was a player-manager for the

in the first year of the National League's existence. The team finished 30–36. He played in the minor leagues for a couple of seasons before his

were admitted to the National League in 1879. He stayed with Buffalo in 1880, but he struggled to hit and he did not play much. Before the 1881 season, there was talk that Fulmer would be signed by the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

, but manager

Frank Bancroft Francis Carter Bancroft (May 9, 1846 – March 30, 1921) was an American manager in Major League Baseball for the Worcester Ruby Legs, Detroit Wolverines, Cleveland Blues, Providence Grays, Indianapolis Hoosiers, and Cincinnati Reds of the Natio ...

ultimately signed another player to fill his infield needs. Fulmer decided to sit out of baseball for a year, becoming the manager of a traveling theater troupe that staged productions of ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U. ...

''. He returned to baseball for three years 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 ...

, playing with teams in Cincinnati and St. Louis. His last professional playing appearances were in 1885 with an independent team in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

Later life

Fulmer came back to Philadelphia after his baseball career was over and he stayed there for the rest of his life. He worked as a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

, despite not having a college education or legal training. Later, he was a doorman for the

Curtis Publishing Company The Curtis Publishing Company, founded in 1891 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, became one of the largest and most influential publishers in the United States during the early 20th century. The company's publications included the ''Ladies' Home Jour ...

in the Center City district. Fulmer suffered a stroke in the late 1930s and he died in 1940. He was interred at Fernwood Cemetery in

Fernwood, Pennsylvania Delaware County, colloquially referred to as Delco, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. With a population of 576,830 as of the 2020 census, it is the fifth-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the third=smallest in area. De ...

. He was survived by his wife, Annie; they had married 65 years earlier. Fulmer's brother, Washington Fulmer, who played in one game for the hapless 1875 Brooklyn Atlantics, preceded him in death by more than 30 years.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulmer, Chick Major League Baseball infielders Philadelphia Keystones (NABBP) players Cleveland Forest Citys (NABBP) players Rockford Forest Citys players New York Mutuals players Philadelphia White Stockings players Louisville Grays players Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Baseball players from Philadelphia 19th-century baseball players 1851 births 1940 deaths Pittsburgh Allegheny players Philadelphia Athletic players Buffalo (minor league baseball) players Albany (minor league baseball) players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Portland (minor league baseball) players Burials at Fernwood Cemetery (Lansdowne, Pennsylvania) American magistrates Union Army soldiers