John Reed McFetridge (August 25, 1869 – January 10, 1917), 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), ...

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 ...

who played one game in and 12 games in with the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. He played with three minor league baseball teams in the Philadelphia area including the Wilmington Peaches of the

Tri-State League The Tri-State League was the name of six different circuits in American minor league baseball. History The first league of that name played for four years (1887–1890) and consisted of teams in Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia. The second leagu ...

Early life

McFetridge was born on August 25, 1869. His father had wealth from a successful printing business and refused to allow his son to play professional baseball. McFetridge rejected an offer to play for the Cleveland, Ohio

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 ...

team in 1888. He pitched for the amateur Wynnewood team in Philadelphia and for the amateur Highland team in Gloucester, New Jersey. He played college ball at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Career

In 1890, McFetridge pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies after the manager

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...

was finally able to convince McFetridge's father to allow him to pitch one game as a tryout. He pitched a complete-game

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and won the game, but his father continued to refuse to allow him to play professional baseball. He returned to amateur baseball and pitched for the New Jersey Rivertons. His father finally relented in 1903 and allowed McFetridge to join the Philadelphia Phillies. McFetridge played only one season with the Phillies and finished with a 1-11 record. In 1907, he played for the Wilmington Peaches in the

and did well enough to earn a spot on the 1908 roster. However, he broke his kneecap playing in a neighborhood football game which ended his professional baseball career. He died from a heart attack in

Glenolden, Pennsylvania Glenolden is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,153 at the 2010 census, down from 7,476 at the 2000 census. Geography Glenolden is located in eastern Delaware County at (39.898812, −75.292456). I ...

on January 10, 1917 and was interred at

Laurel Hill Cemetery Laurel Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Founded in 1836, it was the second major rural cemetery in the United States after Mount Auburn Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts. The cemetery is ...

in Philadelphia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFetridge, Jack 1869 births 1917 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Philadelphia Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) Major League Baseball pitchers Philadelphia Phillies players Semi-professional baseball players University of Pennsylvania alumni Wilmington Peaches players