James McKeever (April 19, 1861 – August 19, 1897), was an American

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. 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), ...

for the Boston Reds in 1884.

Early years

McKeever was born in 1861 in

Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John is a seaport city of the Atlantic Ocean located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John is the oldest incorporated city in Canada, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign of Ki ...

, the son of Irish immigrants. He moved to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

with his parents at age three. He was boyhood friends in

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

with

Tommy McCarthy Thomas McCarthy (also Tom and Tommy) may refer to: Academia * Thomas A. McCarthy (born 1940), American professor of philosophy * Thomas J. McCarthy (born 1956), American professor of polymer chemistry at the University of Massachusetts * J. Thomas ...

, who was later inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

. He graduated from the Lawrence School in Boston in 1875 and became employed by the Norway Iron Company.

Baseball career

McKeever played baseball "as a business" for several years for teams in the Boston area. In April 1884, he signed with the Boston Reds in the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

. ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'' reported that McKeever was working at a South Boston

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

before signing his first professional contract with the Reds. ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' reported that he was "a large man with no previous pro experience" who would be positioned at

and serve as one half of Boston's "change battery" with pitcher

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

. A biography of McKeever in ''The National Pastime'' described him as "a strong defensive catcher" who was "unable to hit successfully against the suspect UA pitching." During his major-league career, he appeared in 16 games and scored 13 runs with a .136 batting average, before he was released along with

Fred Tenney Frederick Tenney (November 26, 1871 – July 3, 1952) was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned 20 seasons, 17 of which were spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Boston Beaneaters/Doves/Rustlers (1894–1907, 1911) ...

in August. McKeever later played for several years for clubs in

Biddeford, Maine Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

(1885),

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

(1885),

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

(1887),

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

(1887),

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...

(1888),

Haverhill, Massachusetts Haverhill ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Haverhill is located 35 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire border and about 17 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The population was 67,787 at the 2020 United States Cen ...

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

, and

Oil City, Pennsylvania Oil City is a city in Venango County, Pennsylvania known for its prominence in the initial exploration and development of the petroleum industry. It is located at a bend in the Allegheny River at the mouth of Oil Creek. Initial settlement of Oi ...

(1895). He also later played for the Boston-based clubs Woven Hose in 1890, the Whittentons in 1891, and Institute in 1893. He played principally at the catcher position but also appeared as a right fielder, center fielder, and first baseman. He was described in the ''

Star Tribune The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...

'' in 1887 as a "fine back stop" and an "excellent thrower" with endurance that allowed him to catch up to five games a week. Poor health led to his retirement as a player during the 1895 season. He thereafter served as manager of a semipro team in Boston.

Death

On August 19, 1897, Mckeever died "after an illness of five weeks of

brain fever Brain fever describes a medical condition where a part of the brain becomes inflamed and causes symptoms that present as fever. The terminology is dated and is encountered most often in Victorian literature, where it typically describes a potential ...

". At the time of his death, the South Boston ''Bulletin'' called him "one of the best known ball players about Boston." He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in

Malden, Massachusetts Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people. History Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeever, Jim 1861 births 1897 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball people from New Brunswick Biddeford (minor league baseball) players Boston Reds (UA) players Canadian expatriate baseball players in the United States Eau Claire (minor league baseball) players Easton (minor league baseball) players Haverhill (minor league baseball) players Major League Baseball players from Canada Major League Baseball catchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Newburyport Clamdiggers players Sportspeople from Saint John, New Brunswick Waterbury (minor league baseball) players Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (Malden, Massachusetts)