Albert J. "Cozy" Dolan (born James Alberts, December 23, 1882 – December 10, 1958) 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. The , 160-pound

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 ...

and

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 us ...

played for six teams; 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 ...

(1909), the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

(1911–1912), the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(1912–1913), 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 ...

(1913), 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 ...

(1914–1915) and 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. ...

(1922). Over his career he posted career numbers of 299 hits, 210 runs, 102 stolen bases, a .339 Slugging percentage, and a .252

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 ...

. In the final series of the 1924 season, the Giants were playing the

at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

and battling for the pennant with the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. Giants outfielder Jimmy O'Connell offered Phillies shortstop Heinie Sand $500 to throw the games. Sand rejected the bribe and reported it to Phillies manager

Art Fletcher Arthur Fletcher (January 5, 1885 – February 6, 1950) was an American shortstop, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. Fletcher was associated with two New York City baseball dynasties: the Giants of John McGraw as a player; and the Yanke ...

. It eventually led to the lifetime suspension of O'Connell and Dolan, who was a coach for the Giants, by Commissioner Landis, although future-Hall of Famers

Frankie Frisch Frank Francis Frisch (September 9, 1898—March 12, 1973), nicknamed "The Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was an American Major League Baseball player and manager of the first half of the twentieth century. Frisch was a switch-hitting secon ...

, George Kelly, and

Ross Youngs Ross Middlebrook "Pep" Youngs (April 10, 1897 – October 22, 1927) was an American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "Pep", he played ten seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Giants from 1917 through 1926, playing right field ...

were also implicated.

Personal life

Dolan was born in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

on December 23, 1889 to James T. and Bridget (Joyce) Dolan. He was the youngest of 7 children. His birth record indicates he was named Alvin, but a 1911 newspaper report says, "Albert J Dolan, commonly known and called as Alvin Dolan... ." He records his name as Albert James Dolan on his World War I draft registration card. On January 2, 1907, Albert J. Dolan married Georgia Simpson, daughter of Douglas J. and Mary (Abrams) Simpson, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The couple frequently wintered in Oshkosh during Cozy's off season. This tendency is evidenced by articles such as the following: "Mr. and Mrs. Albert J. Dolan have returned to Oshkosh to spend the winter in this city. They will reside at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Simpson, 1316 South Main street. Mr. Dolan is a member of the New York American league baseball team" (The Daily Northwestern shkosh, Wisconsin 10 Oct 1911). The city of Oshkosh was very proud of their native son and local papers assiduously followed his career. Articles such as the following were common: "PLAYS WINNING BALL. Alvin Dolan Makes Home Run and Brings Victory to Jersey City Over Newark. Alvin Dolan, the Oshkosh young man who formerly played with the Oshkosh team in the Wisconsin state league and the W-1 league, and is now playing third base with Jersey City in the Eastern league, makes the eastern fans sit up by clouting the ball." The article continues to describe a specific game and touts Alvin's prowess. Another article shows some of Cozy Dolan's personality when he joined the bowlers team of Oshkosh's Elks Lodge when they competed in a state tournament in 1915. A review of the tournament in The Daily Northwestern (an Oshkosh newspaper) includes the following Cozy Dolan antics: "A feature of the Oshkosh expedition to the tournament was a concert by the Arions of this city at the Hotel Beaumont, Green Bay, at supper-time Saturday. They played in the lobby for an hour, under the direction of Albert J. Dolan, the Oshkosh baseball star who plays left field for the St. Louis Cardinals. The name "Cozy Dolan" was changed to "Dazy Colan" for the time being, and the ball-player-bowler-comedian literally brought down the house with his skillful interpretations of the wiles and arts of bandmaster. With all the magnetic directive powers of a John Philip Sousa, all the grace of a D'Urbando, "Dozy Colan" led the Arions in an artistic concert" (''The Daily Northwestern'' (Oshkosh, Wisconsin), 25 Jan 1915).Ancestry.com. ''The Daily Northwestern'' (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) atabase on-line Provo, Utah, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: ''The Daily Northwestern''. Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA. Database created from microfilm copies of the newspaper. Cozy Dolan died December 8, 1958 in his hometown of Chicago.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Cozy 1880s births 1958 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders New York Highlanders players St. Louis Cardinals players New York Giants (NL) players New York Giants (NL) coaches Pittsburgh Pirates players Cincinnati Reds players Philadelphia Phillies players Minor league baseball managers Oshkosh Indians players La Crosse Pinks players Rockford Reds players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Jersey City Skeeters players Rochester Hustlers players Indianapolis Indians players Sportspeople from Oshkosh, Wisconsin Baseball players from Wisconsin Baseball players from Chicago