James Harry Colliflower (March 11, 1869 – August 12, 1961), nicknamed "Collie", 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 during the season. As a 30-year-old

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

southpaw

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 ...

for the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

, Colliflower won his debut game on July 21 giving up only 3 runs on 6 hits in a 5–3 victory against his hometown Washington Senators in the first half of a double header. Colliflower then lost his next 11 decisions, compiling an 8.17

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

, and a .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 ...

as a substitute

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 ...

. In 1905, he coached

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

's baseball team before becoming a minor league

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

for a couple of seasons. He umpired 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 ...

during the 1910 season. Colliflower umpired in the Southern League in 1911, and the Departmental League in Washington D.C. in 1912. After retiring from umpiring Colliflower worked as a clerk for his nephew's fuel and oil company.

Family

Colliflower's nephew, James E. Colliflower, earned a bachelor's degree and three law degrees from Georgetown. He is enshrined in the Georgetown Athletics Hall of Fame as a coach of the varsity men's basketball squad from 1911 to 1914 and 1921–1922. James' brother

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

was also a college basketball coach, for

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

References

External links

Harry Colliflower and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colliflower, Harry 1869 births 1961 deaths 19th-century baseball players Austin Senators players Baseball players from Frederick County, Maryland Cleveland Spiders players Derby Angels players Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball coaches Major League Baseball pitchers New Haven Blues players New Haven Texas Steers players Norfolk Clam Eaters players Norfolk Clams players Norfolk Crows players Oswego Grays players Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons players