Harry Parker Bemis (February 1, 1874 – May 23, 1947) was a

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 ...

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), ...

. Nicknamed "Handsome Harry,""Harry Bemis' Obit"
''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-29. he played with 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 ...

from 1902 to 1910. He batted right and threw right. In his nine-year career, he batted .255, with five

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, 569 hits, 234

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, 214

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, and 49

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. He stood at 5'6" and weighed 155 pounds.

Biography

Born in

Farmington, New Hampshire Farmington is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 6,722 at the 2020 census. Farmington is home to Blue Job State Forest, the Tebbetts Hill Reservation, and Baxter Lake. The town center, where 3,824 peopl ...

, Bemis started his professional baseball career in 1899 in the Eastern League. He played three years for the Toronto Royals. In 1901, he hit .307"Harry Bemis Minor League Statistics & History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-29. and was acquired by 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 ...

's Cleveland Naps. He made his major league debut in 1902. That season, he hit a career-high .312 and led all AL catchers in assists and

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. Bemis was Cleveland's primary catcher for the rest of the decade. In 1903, he led the league's catchers in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. His batting average went down to .226 in 1904, but he improved the next two seasons to .292 and .276 with

OPS+ OPS may refer to: Organizations *Obscene Publications Squad, a former unit of the Metropolitan Police in London, England * Oceanic Preservation Society *Office of Public Safety, a former US government agency * Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg ...

totals of over 100. In June 1907, Bemis was run over at home plate by

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 ...

. The Tigers' star was trying for an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer". Discussion To score a ...

and knocked Bemis down, jarring the ball loose in the process. Bemis then picked the ball up and beat Cobb over the head with it before he was restrained by the umpire; Bemis was also ejected from the game. Cobb later claimed that Bemis was one of only two intentional spiking targets in his entire career.''LIFE'', Mar 24, 1952, p. 73.
/ref> In 1908, Bemis hit just .224, and his playing time declined. He continued to hit poorly in the following seasons; in 1911, he went down to the minor leagues with 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 ...

Columbus Senators The Columbus Senators Minor league baseball team was created in as a founding member of the Tri-State League. After that, the Senators played in the Western League (1897-1899), Interstate League (1900), Western Association (1901), and Americ ...

. He also played in the

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 ...

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 ...

, and

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

. He retired after the 1915 season, when he was 41 years old. After his baseball career ended, Bemis worked for a furniture company. He died at his home in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

in 1947 and was buried in the Elmhurst Park Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bemis, Harry 1874 births 1947 deaths People from Farmington, New Hampshire Sportspeople from Strafford County, New Hampshire Baseball players from Cleveland Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from New Hampshire Cleveland Bronchos players Cleveland Naps players Paterson Weavers players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Newark Colts players Toronto Canucks players Toronto Royals players Columbus Senators players Jersey City Skeeters players Memphis Chickasaws players Elmira Colonels players