Joseph Henry Mulvey (October 27, 1858 – August 21, 1928) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 ...

. 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), ...

(MLB) from 1883 to 1895 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 Leag ...

, Philadelphia Quakers/Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, Washington Senators, and

Brooklyn Grooms The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Califo ...

. Mulvey survived a gunshot wound to the shoulder with Providence in his first major league season, and he became best known as a third baseman for the three Philadelphia teams between 1883 and 1892.

Early career

Mulvey broke into the major leagues with the

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 ...

in 1883. He played in a total of four games for the Grays, but his tenure there was not without some excitement. In June 1883, Grays outfielder Cliff Carroll had antagonized one of the team's fans – a man named Jimmy Murphy – by spraying Murphy with a water hose as the fan was watching the Grays warm up. Enraged, Murphy went home and retrieved a gun. Mulvey was not seriously injured in the shooting, and Murphy was arrested. He returned to the park, waited until the players were leaving the field at the end of the game, and fired a shot at Carroll. His aim was off, and the bullet struck Mulvey in the shoulder. Mulvey sustained only a flesh wound, and Murphy was arrested. Mulvey was traded to the Philadelphia Quakers (later renamed the Philadelphia Phillies) shortly after the shooting, and he played in another three games that season after switching to third base. The following year, Mulvey began playing regularly for the Quakers, appearing in 100 of their 120 games. He would play regularly for Quakers/Phillies through the 1889 season.

Later career

In 1890, following many other stars of the

, he jumped to the Players' League, where he joined the Philadelphia Athletics as their starting 3rd baseman. When the Players' League folded after a single season, the Athletics moved to 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 ...

, and Mulvey went with the team.Joe Mulvey Stats
Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 8, 2019. The 1892 season saw Mulvey rejoining the

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) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

, where he was now the back-up to

Charlie Reilly Charles Thomas Reilly (February 15, 1867 – December 16, 1937) was an American professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1889 to 1897 for the Columbus Solons, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and W ...

. The following season saw him traded to the Washington Senators, where he split 3rd base duties with 3 other players: Duke Farrell,

Cub Stricker John A. "Cub" Stricker, born John A. Streaker (June 8, 1859 – November 19, 1937) was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for seven different teams during his 11-season career, mostly with t ...

, and

Sam Wise Samuel Washington Wise (August 18, 1857 – January 22, 1910) was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in Major League Baseball from 1881 to 1893, most often as either a shortstop or second baseman. He played fo ...

. Mulvey did not play in the 1894 season, but he returned to baseball for the 1895 season, playing with the

, as the backup to Billy Shindle. For his career, Mulvey batted .261, with 28 home runs. According to his statistics, his best year was 1890 with the Philadelphia Athletics, in which he achieved career highs for RBIs (87), walks (27), on-base percentage (.326), slugging percentage (.428) and doubles (26). He almost equaled his career bests for home runs (5) and batting average that year as well (.287). The most home runs he had in any one year was 6, with the Phillies in 1884 and 1889, and his best batting average was .289, also with the Phillies in 1889. Along with five other players, Mulvey still holds the record for most errors by a third baseman in a single game, 6, set on July 30, 1884.

Death

Mulvey was found dead inside the Phillies locker room at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

on the morning of August 21, 1928. He worked at the park as a watchman and had attended a boxing match there the previous night. Mulvey, who was 69, appeared to have suffered from heart problems. He is interred at Magnolia Cemetery.

References

External links

*
Portraits at NYPL Digital Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulvey, Joe 1858 births 1928 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball players from Providence, Rhode Island 19th-century baseball players Providence Grays players Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Philadelphia Quakers players Philadelphia Phillies players Philadelphia Athletics (PL) players Philadelphia Athletics (AA 1891) players Brooklyn Grooms players Reading Actives players Binghamton Bingoes players Allentown Buffaloes players Allentown Kelly's Killers players Easton (minor league baseball) players Ashland (minor league baseball) players Allentown Goobers players Rochester Blackbirds players Rochester Brownies players Montreal Royals players