Jacob Willard Early (May 19, 1915 – May 31, 1985) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played in

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), ...

as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the Washington Senators and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. Early was a left-hand-hitting batter and was known for his skill at catching the

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from laminar to turbulent flow. This cha ...

Baseball career

Born in

Kings Mountain, North Carolina Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...

, Early began his

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

career in at the age of 21 with the Jacksonville Tars of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

. By , he had moved up to the Charlotte Hornetts of the

Piedmont League The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States. Teams The following teams were members of the Piedmont ...

where he posted a .316

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 ...

in 97 games. Early made his major league debut with the Washington Senators on May 4, 1939 at the age of 24. He served as a reserve catcher, backing up future Baseball Hall of Fame member,

Rick Ferrell Richard Benjamin Ferrell (October 12, 1905 – July 27, 1995) was an American professional baseball player, coach, scout, and executive. He played for 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red So ...

. Former catcher and Senators coach

Benny Bengough Bernard Oliver "Benny" Bengough (July 27, 1898 – December 22, 1968) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played the majority of his Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the New York Yankees during the 1920s when t ...

helped Early develop his catching skills. The Senators traded Ferrell to the St. Louis Browns in May 1941, leaving Early to share catching duties with Al Evans. Early out-hit Evans and ended the season having caught the majority of the team's games with a career-high batting average of .284 along with 54

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 ba ...

and a team-high 10

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. His hitting performance earned him the starting catcher's job in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in w ...

. Although his batting average dropped to .204, he led American League catchers in assists and in baserunners caught stealing, and finished second in putouts. Early developed a reputation as a talkative player on the field, using several methods to distract the hitter. These methods of distraction included his imitation of a radio announcer's play-by-play commentary, an auctioneer's sales pitch and even singing. By

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 ...

, Early was being recognized as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. He had the arduous task of catching for a Senators' starting pitching staff that included four knuckleball pitchers. Dutch Leonard,

Johnny Niggeling John Arnold Niggeling (July 10, 1903 – September 16, 1963) was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 184 games in Major League Baseball over all or parts of nine seasons (–) with the Boston Bees / Braves, Cincinnati Reds ...

Roger Wolff Roger Francis Wolff (April 10, 1911 – March 23, 1994) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed knuckleball pitcher, he appeared in 182 games over all or part of seven seasons in Major League Baseball between and : three w ...

and

Mickey Haefner Milton Arnold "Mickey" Haefner (October 9, 1912 – January 3, 1995) was an American knuckleball-throwing left-handed pitcher who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball between and , six and a half of them with the Washington Senators (19 ...

all threw the notoriously difficult to catch knuckleball. Further recognition came when he was selected to be the starting catcher for the American League in the 1943 All-Star Game. The difficulty in catching the knuckleball was evident as Early led the league in passed balls allowed. In December 1943, Early was called into military service and was inducted into the United States Army. He was assigned to an artillery unit attached to the 87th Infantry Division and fought in the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. He lost two years of his baseball career while he served in the Army. After being discharged from military service, Early returned to play for the Senators in 1946 but, his two years absence from the game showed as he only managed to post a .201 average while sharing catching duties with Evans. In December, the Senators traded Early to the St. Louis Browns for

Frank Mancuso Frank Octavius Mancuso (May 23, 1918 – August 4, 2007) was an American professional baseball player and, served as a Houston City Council member for 30 years after his sports career had ended. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball ...

. In 1947, he platooned alongside catcher Les Moss, hitting for a .224 average along with a career-high on-base percentage of .381 in 87 games. Early was traded back to the Senators in March 1948 where, he once again shared catching duties with Evans. He led the league in baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage, throwing out an impressive 63.8% of baserunners who attempted to steal a base, the eighth highest single-season percentage in baseball history. In 1949, he split his playing time between the minor league

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

and the Washington Senators. After being released by the Senators in February , he played five more seasons in minor league baseball, including four seasons with the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

before retiring in at the age of 39.

Career statistics

In a nine-year major league career, Early played in 747 games, accumulating 532 hits in 2,208

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

for a .241 career batting average along with 32 home runs, 264 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .330. He ended his career with a .976 fielding percentage. Early led American League catchers twice in baserunners caught stealing, once in caught stealing percentage and once in assists. His 48.79% career caught stealing percentage ranks 27th all-time among major league catchers.

Later life

Early went on to become a

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 s ...

in the minor leagues, leading the Rock Hill Chiefs in and then managed the Statesville Owls in . He retired from baseball in and returned to Kings Mountain where he worked as a police officer and recreation director. He retired to Florida in 1970 and died in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on May 31, , at the age of 70.

References

External links

Jake Early: He Was Known as The Chattering Catcher
Baseball Digest, November 1985 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Early, Jake 1915 births 1985 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from North Carolina Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Jacksonville Tars players Major League Baseball catchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers People from Kings Mountain, North Carolina Rock Hill Chiefs players St. Louis Browns players United States Army personnel of World War II Washington Senators (1901–1960) players