Jeremiah Dennis Denny (born ''Jeremiah Dennis Eldridge''; March 16, 1859 – August 16, 1927) was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

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), ...

. He played for 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 ...

(1881–1885), St. Louis Maroons (1886),

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

(1888–1889),

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(1890–1891),

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

(1891),

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 ...

(1891), and

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as ...

(1893–1894). He also played 86 games at shortstop in six seasons. After leaving the major leagues, Denny continued playing minor league baseball until 1902. He was the last major league

position player In baseball, a position player is a player who on defense plays as an infielder, outfielder, or catcher. In Major League Baseball (since 1973 in the American League and since 2022 in the National League), there is also a designated hitter, who ...

(non-

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 ...

) to play his entire career on the diamond without wearing a fielding glove.

Name

Eldridge attended St. Mary's College, Phoenix, Arizona, in the late 1870s, and wanted to play semi-professional baseball during the summer months, when he wasn't playing for the college as an amateur. He used the pseudonym "Jerry Denny" to hide his professional play from the college.

Professional achievements

Denny holds the major league record for most chances by a third baseman in a single game, handling 16 chances during an 18-inning match on August 17, 1882. In 1884, Denny helped 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 ...

champion Grays defeat the

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

of 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 ...

in the major leagues' first post-season championship match-up. That season, he was the Grays' leader in

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 (six, and one in the championship series) and runs batted in (59), and second in

extra-base hits In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

(37). Denny's career totals are 1,237 games, 4,946 at bats, 714 runs, 1,286 hits, 238 doubles, 76 triples, 74 home runs, 667 RBI, 130

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, 173 walks, and a

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 ...

of .260. "Denny was a rarity among power-hitters in that he drew very few walks, a factor that led to his offensive value being overrated throughout his career," wrote baseball historian Craig Wright, who explained: " enny'sbatting averages were very normal for a position player of his era, but he walked so little that when he retired he had the second worst on-base percentage (.287) among major leaguers with 5000 plate appearances."Wright, Craig R., "Jerry Denny," ''Pages from Baseball's Past'' (subscription newsletter), August 2, 2021

Unconventional fielding technique

At the time Denny began his professional career, fielding gloves had not yet become standard equipment, other than padded mitts for

catchers 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 ...

and

first basemen A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Fielding gloves gradually gained acceptance between 1885 and the mid-1890s, but Denny refused to adapt. He was one of the few

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

major league players; although he threw primarily with his right arm, he could also toss with his left. This gave him a defensive advantage at his customary field position—in ranging to his left on a ground ball, if he saw a play at second base, instead of having to transfer the ball to his right hand while pivoting and repositioning his body (as third basemen would customarily do), Denny could dispatch the ball to second with his left hand. This skill contributed to his refusal to wear a glove in the field, long after most players considered gloves essential.

References

External links

Jerry Denny
- BaseballBiography.com

''New York Times'', August 17, 1927 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Jerry 1859 births 1927 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball third basemen Cleveland Spiders players Indianapolis Hoosiers (NL) players Louisville Colonels players New York Giants (NL) players Philadelphia Phillies players Providence Grays players St. Louis Maroons players Minor league baseball managers San Francisco Eagles players San Francisco Mutuals players San Francisco Star players San Francisco Athletics players San Jose Dukes players Augusta Electricians players Derby Angels players Bridgeport Orators players Waterbury Pirates players Derby Lushers players Norwich Witches players Norwich Reds players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Baseball players from New York (state)

Name

Professional achievements

Unconventional fielding technique

See also

References

External links