Harry Eugene Wheeler (March 3, 1858 – October 9, 1900) was an American 19th century

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 from

Versailles, Indiana Versailles is a town in Johnson Township, Ripley County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 2,113 at the 2010 census. The town is the county seat of Ripley County. History It was decided in 1818 a county seat should be located at ...

. A well travelled player, he played for eight different teams in three different leagues during his six seasons.

Career

Wheeler began his career with the

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leagu ...

as a

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 ...

, where he pitched well. He had an

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 ...

of 3.48, and won six of the seven games in which he pitched. A good start to his career, but the next two years, he played in only six games for 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 ...

Cincinnati Stars The Cincinnati Stars were a Major League Baseball team that played in the National League for the 1880 season and were managed by John Clapp. The club finished their only season in 8th place with a record of 21–59. Following the 1880 campai ...

and Cleveland Blues. He was formally converted to 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 cat ...

upon his return the majors in after an absence in , when he joined the

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 ...

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867– ...

. Harry did well with the bat that season, finishing in the top ten in many hitting categories, highest among them were his 11

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, in which he finished third. He played for the Columbus Buckeyes the following season. The season saw his hitting decline, and his fielding, which was already a liability, was getting worse. This was his last full season he played. He ended his career in the failed

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

in , including a four-game stint as

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

, losing all of them.

Post-career

Wheeler died at the age of 42, of syphilitic locomotor ataxia. He was interred at

Spring Grove Cemetery Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum () is a nonprofit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 4521 Spring Grove Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the third largest cemetery in the United States, after the Calverton National Cemetery and Abraham L ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Harry 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Indiana Providence Grays players Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players Cleveland Blues (NL) players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Columbus Buckeyes players St. Louis Browns players Kansas City Cowboys (UA) players Kansas City Cowboys (UA) managers Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies players Baltimore Monumentals players Burials at Spring Grove Cemetery Sportspeople from Ohio 1858 births 1900 deaths Waterbury (minor league baseball) players Waterbury Brassmen players Waterbury Brass Citys players Manchester Maroons players Worcester Grays players Major League Baseball player-managers People from Versailles, Indiana

Career

Post-career

See also

References

External links