George Thomas Stovall (November 23, 1877 – November 5, 1951), nicknamed "Firebrand", was an American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

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), ...

. He played for the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

and the

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 p ...

in 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 ...

, and he also played two seasons with the

Kansas City Packers The Kansas City Packers were a Federal League baseball club in Kansas City from 1914 to 1915. They finished sixth in 1914 with a 67–84 record, and fourth in 1915 with an 81–72 record. The Packers moved to Kansas City in July 1913 from Coving ...

of the short-lived

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 ...

. He was the manager of the Naps for one season in , and in , he went to the Browns, serving as player-manager for two seasons. In , he jumped to the Packers as a first baseman-manager. In 1916, he signed with the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

and played a season there before retiring from baseball at age 39. In 5596 career

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, Stovall had 1382 hits. He recorded 231 doubles and 142 career

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. While for the most part a first baseman, he did play some second base and even

third base 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 ...

, especially early in his career. In

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

, he played 46 of his 112

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

at second. Every year from 1905 until 1910, Stovall recorded at least 13 stolen bases. In late 1913, Stovall was suspended by the American League for spitting tobacco juice at an umpire. However, league president

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 ...

did not think this went far enough, and ordered Stovall fired. He was succeeded by the relatively little-known (at the time)

Branch Rickey Wesley Branch Rickey (December 20, 1881 – December 9, 1965) was an American baseball player and sports executive. Rickey was instrumental in breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier by signing black player Jackie Robinson. He also creat ...

. His elder brother, Jesse Stovall, pitched two seasons in the major leagues.

Managerial record

References

External links

The Deadball Era
* 1877 births 1951 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Cleveland Naps players St. Louis Browns players Cleveland Naps managers St. Louis Browns managers Minor league baseball managers Portland Webfoots players Burlington River Rats players Kansas City Packers players Toledo Iron Men players Vernon Tigers players Jacksonville Indians players Baseball players from Missouri Major League Baseball player-managers People from Jackson County, Missouri Baseball coaches from Missouri {{US-baseball-manager-stub

Managerial record

See also

References

External links