James Christopher "Ike" Caveney (December 10, 1894 – July 6, 1949) 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), ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

who played 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 ...

from to . He later became the

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 San Francisco Seals of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

from 1932 to 1934.

Early life

2021-10-04 11 54 36-San Francisco Call 25 September 1911 — California Digital Newspaper Collection

Caveney was raised in San Francisco. Later in life, he went on to coach the touring junior baseball team and Australian rules football at several San Francisco schools.

Playing career

Caveney began his playing career in 1914 and became the starting shortstop for the San Francisco Seals from 1918 to 1921. In 1922, he was part of a new left side of the infield for the

. His best season was 1923 when he had a .277

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 ...

and was one of the top defensive shortstops in the National League. Injuries forced him to quit at the end of 1925. In 1926, he returned to the

playing for the Oakland Oaks for a partial season and a full season in 1927. In 1928, he was traded to the San Francisco Seals where he played until 1934.

Managing career

From 1932 to 1934, Caveney was the

for the Seals. Although the Seals won the PCL pennant in 1931 and 1935, they were beaten by the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

in 1933 and 1934 for the title. The most well-known aspect of his managing career is the early development of

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

's career.

Vince DiMaggio Vincent Paul DiMaggio (September 6, 1912 – October 3, 1986) was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. During a 10-year baseball career, he played for the Boston Bees (1937–1938), Cincinnati Reds (1939–1940), Pittsburgh Pirates (1 ...

was signed by the team in 1932 and towards the end of the season

Augie Galan August John Galan (May 23, 1912 – December 28, 1993) was an American professional baseball outfielder, manager and coach. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Chicago Cubs, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, New ...

, the starting shortstop, requested to be able to miss the final four games of the season to vacation in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. The team would be left without a shortstop, so Vince suggested to Caveney that his little brother, playing semi-pro ball at the time, could fill in for a few games, and Caveney agreed. Although he did not play great in the few games, he was invited to the Seals spring training the next season, when he made the opening day team. Joe DiMaggio's defensive play at shortstop was plagued by errors, both fielding errors and overthrowing first base, which persisted into the regular season in 1933. Frustrated by play, Caveney moved Joe into the outfield in the fourth game of the season which became his position for the remainder of the season and his career. Caveney was replaced after the 1934 season by

Lefty O'Doul Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishmen ...

Personal life

Caveney was charged with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

following the death of a Japanese man outside a

pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...

in San Francisco in 1919. The victim was punched in the head during a fight and suffered a fractured skull. Caveney was acquitted after witnesses failed to identify him as the puncher.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caveney, Ike 1894 births 1949 deaths Baseball players from San Francisco Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Senators players Major League Baseball shortstops Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Salt Lake City Skyscrapers players San Francisco Seals (baseball) managers San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Seattle Indians players Springfield Reapers players Murray Infants players People acquitted of manslaughter