George Washington Harper (June 24, 1892 – August 18, 1978) was an American professional baseball player. From 1916 to 1929, he played as an

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 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 the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants,

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 ...

, and Boston Braves. Harper played 1073 major league games and had a career .303

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 91 home runs and 530 RBI. After his major league career ended, Harper returned to the minor leagues, where he played and managed for several more seasons.

Early life

Harper was born in

Arlington, Kentucky Arlington is a home rule-class city in Carlisle County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 324 at the 2010 census, a drop from 395 in 2000. It was formally incorporated by the state assembly in 1876.Commonwealth of Kentucky. Offi ...

, and he attended

Fordyce High School Fordyce High School (FHS) is a comprehensive public high school located in Fordyce, Arkansas, United States. The school provides secondary education in grades 9 through 12 for students encompassing of land including Fordyce, Leola, Bearden, ...

Fordyce, Arkansas Fordyce is a small town in Dallas County, Arkansas, United States. Its population has been decreasing since the 1980's when the town reached an all time high of 5,175. The population in 2020 was 3,396 down from 4,300 at the 2010 census, and fro ...

. He entered professional baseball in 1913 with the

Paris Boosters The Paris Boosters was a Class-D South Central League (1912) and Texas–Oklahoma League (1913) baseball team based in Paris, Texas, USA. George Harper and Dickey Kerr Richard Henry Kerr (July 3, 1893 – May 4, 1963) was an American profession ...

of the Texas-Oklahoma League. Standing 5'8" tall and weighing 165 pounds, Harper threw right-handed and batted left-handed. He made his major league debut with the Detroit Tigers in 1916.

Career

In 1917 and 1918, he played 91 games in right field for the Detroit Tigers, next to

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 ...

in center field. Harper played right field for the Tigers as they transitioned the position from Hall of Fame member

Sam Crawford Samuel Earl Crawford (April 18, 1880 – June 15, 1968), nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Crawford batted and threw left-handed, stood tall and weighed . Born in Wahoo, Nebraska, he had a s ...

to another Hall of Fame member

Harry Heilmann Harry Edwin Heilmann (August 3, 1894 – July 9, 1951), nicknamed "Slug", was an American baseball player and radio announcer. He played professional baseball for 19 years between 1913 and 1932, including 17 seasons in Major League Baseball with ...

. After moving to the National League, Harper was three times among the league's leaders in batting average and on-base percentage: 1922, 1927 and 1928. Harper started for the 1927 Giants in place of the terminally ill

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 ...

. Even with Youngs out, that year's Giants team had six future Hall of Famers in the starting lineup and one future Hall of Fame pitcher. Harper had a .435 on-base percentage that year, good enough for third best in the National League, but the team finished in third place. On May 10, 1928, Harper was traded to the

for catcher

Bob O'Farrell Robert Arthur O'Farrell (October 19, 1896 – February 20, 1988) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for 21 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and the New Yo ...

. On September 20, the Cardinals were facing the Giants when Harper hit three home runs in one game. Writing for the North American Newspaper Alliance, Walter S. Trumbull said that Harper had likely won the pennant for St. Louis with that performance. The Cardinals went to the

1928 World Series The 1928 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1928 season. The 25th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion New York Yankees versus the National League champion St. Louis Cardina ...

, where they were swept by the

New York Yankees 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 ...

. Harper appeared in three games, collecting one hit in eleven plate appearances. He finished his career with a .303 batting average, 91 home runs, and 530 RBI. He remained active in the minor leagues through 1936 and included a year as player/manager for the

El Dorado Lions EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

of the

East Dixie League The East Dixie League was an American professional minor league baseball league that operated for two seasons from 1934 to 1935 as a Class C level league. History The East Dixie League was created when the Dixie League split up into the East ...

in 1934. In 1935, he was well into his forties and hit .344 for El Dorado in 135 games. Before the 1936 season, he was traded from El Dorado to the

Jackson Senators The Jackson Senators was the name of at least two minor league baseball teams that played in Jackson, Mississippi. First team The first known Jackson Senators club competed in the Delta League in 1904. Jackson also played as a member of the Cotton ...

of the

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...

in exchange for a player named Doodle Rushing. The ''

Austin Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' advertised a baseball school that Harper was to run in March in

Kilgore, Texas Kilgore is a city in Gregg and Rusk counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. Over three-fourths of the city limits is located in Gregg County, the remainder in Rusk County. The population was 12,975 at the 2010 census and 13,376 ...

. In 1936, Harper's last year playing professional baseball, he hit .297 in 118 games between the Jackson Senators and the

Augusta Tigers The Augusta Tigers was the primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams in Augusta, Georgia. Beginning in 1884, Augusta has hosted numerous teams in various leagues. History The Augusta Yankees were a South Atlantic League minor league ba ...

of the

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 ...

. By February 1937, Harper was living in Shreveport, Louisiana; he was not under contract with any team, but he indicated that he would entertain playing, managerial or executive offers in baseball.

Later life

Harper died in 1978 at a hospital in

Magnolia, Arkansas Magnolia is a city in Columbia County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 11,577. The city is the county seat of Columbia County. Magnolia is home to the World's Largest Charcoal Grill and the World Championship S ...

, and he is buried in New Hope Cemetery. He had been inducted into the

Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame is the hall of fame and museum for sports in Arkansas, United States. The hall of fame inducted its first class in 1959. The hall's museum is located on the west end of the Verizon Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. ...

eight years earlier.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, George 1892 births 1978 deaths People from Carlisle County, Kentucky Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Kentucky Detroit Tigers players Cincinnati Reds players Philadelphia Phillies players New York Giants (NL) players St. Louis Cardinals players Boston Braves players Minor league baseball managers Paris Boosters players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Paris Snappers players Fort Worth Panthers players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Oklahoma City Indians players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Shreveport Sports players Tyler Sports players San Antonio Indians players El Dorado Lions players Augusta Tigers players Jackson Senators players