Edward Francis Sweeney (July 19, 1888 – July 4, 1947), often referred to as "Big Ed Sweeney", was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. He played in

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 the New York Highlanders / Yankees of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

from 1908 to 1915 and 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 ...

of 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 ...

in 1919.

Baseball career

Early career

Sweeney attended St. Ignatius College Prep in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, and played for their baseball team as a

. He also played baseball as a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a consid ...

. Sweeney made his

debut with the

Columbia Gamecocks Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

of the Class C

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 1905. He also played for Columbia during the 1906 season. The

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the Class A

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

drafted him from Columbia after the 1906 season. Playing for Atlanta in the 1907 season, Sweeney split time at catcher with Syd Smith. One day in 1907, while warming up

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Russ Ford Russell William Ford (April 25, 1883 – January 24, 1960) was a Canadian-American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Highlanders / Yankees of the American League from 1909 to 1913 and for the B ...

, a ball hit a concrete pillar, scuffing it. When Ford threw the ball again, it moved wildly. Ford began to experiment with this effect in secret, not telling Sweeney about it.

Major leagues

In 1908, Sweeney made his major league debut for 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 ...

of the

on May 16. At the age of 19, he was the fourth-youngest player in the American League that season. When

Kid Elberfeld Norman Arthur "Kid" Elberfeld (April 13, 1875 – January 13, 1944) was an American professional baseball shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (1898), Cincinnati Reds (1899), Detroit Tigers (1901–1903 ...

became the Highlander's manager during the season, he increased Sweeney's playing time. Sweeney had a .146

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 32

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

for the Highlanders in the 1908 season. In 1909, Sweeney batted .267 in 67 games. He led all American League catchers with 20 errors committed. Sweeney, New York, American League, Met Museum

Sweeney, New York, American League, Met Museum

Ford joined the Highlanders in 1910, and told Sweeney about how he had learned to throw the

emery ball An emery ball is an illegal pitch in baseball, in which the ball has been altered by scuffing it with a rough surface, such as an emery board or sandpaper. This technique alters the spin of the ball, causing it to move in an atypical manner, a ...

following the initial discovery in 1907. Ford taught Sweeney how to catch it and requested that the Highlanders have Sweeney serve as his personal batterymate. That year, Sweeney batted .200 in 78 games played. Sweeney batted .231 in 83 games during the 1911 season. He missed the beginning of the 1912 season due to a contract dispute with the team. He still caught 110 games that year, and batted .268. Sweeney led all American League catchers with 114

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

s (114). He also led American League catchers with 34 errors. After the 1912 season,

Dave Fultz David Lewis Fultz (May 29, 1875 – October 29, 1959) was an American football and baseball player and coach. He played Major League Baseball as a center fielder in the National League with the Philadelphia Phillies (1898–1899) and Baltimore ...

formed a

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

for baseball players, called the Players Fraternity, with Sweeney,

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the las ...

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 ...

, and

Red Dooin Charles Sebastian "Red" Dooin (June 12, 1879 – May 12, 1952) was an American professional baseball player and manager. A catcher in Major League Baseball during the first two decades of the 20th century, he played 1,219 of his 1,290 games as a ...

serving as vice presidents. In 1913, Sweeney batted .265 in 117 games, and also hit his first two major league

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. Sweeney again led the league in caught stealings that year, with 133, but also allowed the most

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s (205) and

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

s (19). Before the 1914 season, Sweeney came to terms with the Buffalo Buffeds of the outlaw

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the mino ...

, the president of the American League, intervened in the negotiations. Claimed by both leagues, Sweeney signed with the Yankees for $9,000 ($ in current dollar terms), the largest salary for a catcher to date. Ford jumped to the Federal League before the 1914 season, and Sweeney taught the emery ball to

Ray Keating Raymond Herbert Keating (July 21, 1893 – December 28, 1963) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball for the New York Highlanders / Yankees of the American League from 1912 to 1916 and in 1918 and for ...

, a

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to mo ...

pitcher. On September 12, 1914, Sweeney caught Keating during a game against the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

Eddie Collins Edward Trowbridge Collins Sr. (May 2, 1887 – March 25, 1951), nicknamed "Cocky", was an American professional baseball player, manager and executive. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from to for the Philadelphia Athlet ...

became suspicious after

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

, and asked

Tom Connolly Thomas Henry Connolly (December 31, 1870 – April 28, 1961) was an English-American umpire in Major League Baseball. He officiated in the National League from 1898 to 1900, followed by 31 years of service in the American League from 1901 to 1 ...

, the

home plate umpire In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is ...

, to inspect the ball. Connolly saw that the ball was scuffed, and investigated Keating's glove, finding

emery paper Emery paper is a type of abrasive paper or sandpaper, that can be used to abrade (remove material from) surfaces or mechanically finish a surface. Operations include deburring, polishing Polishing is the process of creating a smooth and sh ...

. Following the discovery, the emery ball was outlawed, punishable with a 30-day suspension and a $100 fine ($ in current dollar terms). Sweeney batted .213 with one home run in 87 games played in 1914.

Later career

Sweeney's playing time decreased in 1915; he played 53 games for the Yankees and batted .190. The Yankees demoted him to the

Richmond Climbers The city of Baltimore, Maryland, has been home to two Minor League Baseball teams called the Baltimore Orioles, in addition to the three Major League Baseball teams that have used the name (the first of which played in the American Association i ...

of the Class AA

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 ...

in August. The Yankees did not bring Sweeney with them to spring training in 1916, and attempted to buy out the remainder of his contract before the 1916 season. They struggled to find a team that would acquire him, as his salary was tied for the 12th-highest in the league. Sweeney eventually signed with the Toledo Iron Men of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

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 ...

. The Yankees sold Sweeney and Keating outright to Toledo before the 1917 season. With Toledo, Sweeney was reunited with Ford. Following the

United States' entry into World War I United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

, Sweeney enlisted in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

after the 1917 season. Commissioned as a

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

, he managed U.S. Army baseball teams in 1918, before serving on the front lines in France with the 161st Artillery Brigade. Sweeney returned to the United States in January 1919. The Yankees traded Sweeney to the

of the

for

Gus Getz Gustave Getz (August 3, 1889 – May 28, 1969) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1909 through 1918 for the Boston Doves, Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, and Pitt ...

and Hooks Warner before the 1919 season. He had four

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

in 42

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 (.095 batting average) for the Pirates, before he was released in July. Sweeney signed with the

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 19 ...

of the Class AA

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 ...

for the remainder of the 1919 season. The Kansas City Blues of the American Association purchased Sweeney from Seattle before the 1920 season. He was released to the

San Antonio Bears The San Antonio Bears were a minor league baseball team located in San Antonio, Texas. The Bears played in the Texas League from 1920 through 1928. Their home stadium was League Park. Season records Source: League leaders * 1920: Ed Brown – ...

of the Class A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

after the season. Sweeney returned to Chicago and played semi-professional baseball in 1921, and he signed with the

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, franchise of the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

, an

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontie ...

, in 1923. Grave of Edward Francis Sweeney (1888–1947) at Mount Carmel Cemetery, Hillside, IL

Personal life

Sweeney was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, on July 19, 1888. His father was a battalion chief in the

Chicago Fire Department The Chicago Fire Department (CFD) provides fire suppression, rescue services, Hazardous Materials Response services and emergency medical response services to the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chi ...

and a contractor who built a garage for his sons, Ed and Gene, that they turned into a taxi business. Sweeney stood at and weighed approximately , giving him the nickname "Big Ed Sweeney". Sweeney died in Chicago on July 4, 1947. He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Ed 1888 births 1947 deaths Major League Baseball catchers New York Highlanders players New York Yankees players Pittsburgh Pirates players Atlanta Crackers players Toledo Iron Men players Seattle Rainiers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Baseball players from Chicago Military personnel from Illinois United States Army personnel of World War I