HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

John Tortes "Chief" Meyers (July 29, 1880 – July 25, 1971) 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), ...
catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
for the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
, Boston Braves, and Brooklyn Robins from 1909 to 1917. He played on the early Giants teams under manager
John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...
and was the primary catcher for Hall of Famer
Christy Mathewson Christopher Mathewson (August 12, 1880 – October 7, 1925), nicknamed "Big Six", "the Christian Gentleman", "Matty", and "the Gentleman's Hurler", was a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher, who played 17 seasons with the New York Giant ...
. Meyers hit over .300 for three straight years as the Giants won three straight
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 ...
pennants from 1911 to 1913. Overall, he played in four
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
– the 1911, 1912, and 1913 Series with the Giants, as well as the 1916 Series with the Robins. Meyers was a Native American from the
Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...
.


Early years

Meyers was born to John Meyer and Felicite Meyer, a
Cahuilla The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California.Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...
. At the age of seven, his father died; John Meyers continued to live in Riverside, and attended Riverside High School. Meyers was playing baseball in a 1905 summer tournament when
Ralph Glaze Daniel Ralph Glaze (March 13, 1881 – October 31, 1968) was an American sportsman and coach who played as a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball, and later became a football and baseball coach and administrator at several colleges. Ear ...
, a former pitcher, noticed his talent and convinced Dartmouth alumni to provide Meyers with cash, railroad tickets, and a doctored high school diploma. Meyers had not graduated, but the fake diploma got him into Dartmouth. While attending classes and playing baseball, Dartmouth discovered that his diploma was forged. Not wanting to complete a special program to be reinstated into Dartmouth, Meyers signed a baseball contract with an independent league.


New York Giants

After playing a couple years in various leagues, Meyers was a rookie with the New York Giants in 1908, at age 28. Meyers and the Giants lost the pennant that year due to "
Merkle's Boner Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a g ...
." The following year, the Giants traded away
Roger Bresnahan Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee", was an American player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). As a player, Bresnahan competed in MLB for the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago ...
, the best catcher in the league, to the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
, which gave the young catcher an opportunity to display his talent, and Meyers didn't disappoint. In 1910, Meyers was hitting .285 making a name for himself throughout the league. Meyers was big and strong, and like the majority of other catchers, wasn't blessed with speed. He hit for power and average. Meyers led the Giants in batting for three consecutive seasons. He was a student of the game, predicting pitchers' pitches and location. Facing elimination against the Athletics in Game 6 of the 1911 World Series, Meyers' Giants trailed 6–1 entering the bottom of the seventh in Philadelphia. After Chief Bender opened the frame with a flyout, two singles and an error by first baseman
Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...
fielding a throw on a sacrifice bunt made the score 7–1. Two consecutive singles would score two further runs, then with runners at the corners, Harry Davis hit a 2–1 pitch into right-center to make it 10–1. Continuing the rally, Jack Barry hit a
ground rule double A ground rule double is a baseball rule that awards two bases from the time of pitch to all baserunners including the batter-runner, as a result of the ball leaving play after being hit fairly and leaving the field under a condition of the ground ...
into the right field crowd scoring another run and putting runners at second and third, which finally convinced John McGraw to replace his pitcher,
Hooks Wiltse George Leroy "Hooks" Wiltse (September 7, 1879 – January 21, 1959) was a professional baseball pitcher. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1904 to 1915. He was the brother of pitcher Snake Wiltse. Biography "Hooks" earned ...
, having given up 7 earned runs over innings. Future Hall of Famer
Rube Marquard Richard William "Rube" Marquard (October 9, 1886 – June 1, 1980) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball in the 1910s and early 1920s. He achieved his greatest success with the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Ba ...
, who had gone 24–7 that year with a 2.50 ERA and a career-high 237 strikeouts, came into pitch with two runners in scoring position and his team down by ten. His third pitch was so fast and wild that it "dented the screen in the grand stand". Both runners scored on the play because Meyers "refused to chase the ball", instead "glaring at Marquard" in obvious frustration. After a "heated conference" between the battery mates near home plate, order ensued, but the next batter promptly singled off Marquard. The emotional and
adrenaline Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands and ...
-fueled Meyers then threw out the runner trying to steal second base, stopping the rally. The next batter struck out, ending the inning, although the 11-run lead would prove enough to secure a championship for Philadelphia. Meyers had his greatest success in the 1912 season, hitting .358 and finishing third in the MVP award voting. His .441 on-base percentage led the league. Meyers was also a key player in that year's
World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...
versus the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, which featured the infamous "Snodgrass Muff" as well as captivating performances by Mathewson and
Smoky Joe Wood Howard Ellsworth "Smoky Joe" Wood (October 25, 1889 – July 27, 1985) was an American professional baseball player for 14 years. He played for the Boston Red Sox from 1908 to 1915, where he was primarily a pitcher, and for the Cleveland Indi ...
.


Mathewson and Meyers

Meyers was the primary catcher for Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson. In only two years of playing Major League Baseball, Meyers teamed up with the great Christy Mathewson, putting on a sketch entitled "Curves", written by their co-star May Tully. The half-hour sketch included both Mathewson and Meyers explaining the art of their position. This wasn't the only project they teamed up for, as both Mathewson and Meyers would act in another sketch which toured for several weeks.


Late career

At the age of 35—Meyers claimed that he was younger than he actually was—his performance started to decline as he batted just .232, and Giants placed him on waivers. In 1916, he played 80 games for the Brooklyn Robins, batting .247 with 21 RBIs. In 1917, be played 47 games for the Robins, and 25 games for the Boston Braves. Overall for the 1917 season, he batted .225 with 7 RBIs. After getting cut in 1918, Meyers joined the
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 ...
of the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...
; he batted .328 in 65 games. In 1919, Meyers was hired as
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 ...
of the New Haven Weissmen in the Eastern League; he batted .301 in 84 games. After getting replaced by Danny Murphy, Meyers' last stop in baseball was catching for a semipro team in San Diego in 1920. After getting booed at a semipro game, Meyers decided to quit baseball and became a police chief for the Mission Indian Agency.


Personal life

The media displayed affection for the Native American ball player because he was interesting and original. On off-days or rain outs, Meyers would visit historical monuments, watch local college teams practice, and frequently visited museums and exhibits. Meyers was interviewed by
Lawrence Ritter Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball. Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School ...
for ''
The Glory of Their Times ''The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It'' is a 1966 book, edited by Lawrence Ritter, telling the stories of early 20th century baseball. It is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest books ...
'' in March 1964. This brought him a great deal of fame, years after he had left baseball. Meyers died in 1971 and was interred at Green Acres Memorial Park in Bloomington, California; his grave marker indicates he served as a private in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.


See also

*
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle In baseball, completing the cycle is the accomplishment of hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of frequency, the cycle is roughly as common as a no-hitter; '' Baseball Digest'' calls it "one of th ...


References


Further reading

* * * * (audio)


External links

, o
Baseball Almanac
o

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyers, Chief 1880 births 1971 deaths United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I Baseball players from Riverside, California Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Butte Miners players Cahuilla people Dartmouth College alumni Harrisburg Senators players Lancaster Red Roses players Major League Baseball catchers Minor league baseball managers Native American sportspeople Native American United States military personnel New Haven Weissmen players New York Giants (NL) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players 20th-century Native Americans