John Edgar Clapp (July 15, 1851December 18, 1904), nicknamed "Honest John", was a

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 ...

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 sq ...

whose career spanned 12 seasons, 11 of which were spent with the

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)

Middletown Mansfields The Middletown Mansfields were an early baseball team in Middletown, Connecticut that existed from 1866 to 1872. Formation In the summer of 1866, a ballclub was established at Middletown's Douglas Pump Company by the factory owner's son, sixteen-y ...

(1872),

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

(1873–75),

St. Louis Brown Stockings The St. Louis Brown Stockings were a professional baseball club based in St. Louis, Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most ...

(1876–77),

Indianapolis Blues The Indianapolis Blues were a baseball team in the National League for one season (1878), in which they finished fifth in the six-team league with a 24–36 record. They were managed by outfielder/first baseman/catcher John Clapp, and played the ...

(1878),

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

(1879),

Cincinnati Stars The Cincinnati Stars were a Major League Baseball team that played in the National League for the 1880 season and were managed by John Clapp. The club finished their only season in 8th place with a record of 21–59. Following the 1880 campai ...

(1880), Cleveland Blues (1881), and

New York Gothams The New York Giants were a Major League Baseball team in the National League that began play in the season as the New York Gothams and were renamed in . They continued as the New York Giants until the team relocated to San Francisco, Californ ...

(1883). Clapp, who predominately played as a

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 ...

, also played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. Over his career, Clapp compiled a career

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 .283 with 459

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 713

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 92 doubles, 35 triples, 7

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, and 834

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 bat ...

(RBI). Over 1,188

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, Clapp

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

51 times. Although the majority of his career was spent in the major leagues, Clapp also played two seasons of minor league baseball. He made his MLB debut at the age of 21 and was listed as standing and weighing . His brother, Aaron Clapp, also played one season of MLB for the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Univer ...

Early life

John Edgar Clapp was born on July 15, 1851, in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named a ...

Professional career

In 1872, Clapp began his professional career with the Middletown Mansfields of the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

(NA). Over 19 games played, Clapp batted .278 with one home run and a team-high 30 runs scored while managing the team to a 5–19 record. After the team folded, Clapp joined the Philadelphia Athletics. His single home run tied him for the team-lead along with

Wes Fisler Weston Dickson Fisler (July 6, 1841 – December 25, 1922) was a professional baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1871 to 1876. He was an infielder/outfielder who threw right-handed. Fisler debuted on May 20, 1871, fo ...

Cherokee Fisher William Charles "Cherokee" Fisher (November 1844 – September 26, 1912) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher who played in the National Association from 1871 to 1875 and the National League in 1876 and 1878. Career Fisher was a pit ...

, and

Tim Murnane Timothy Hayes Murnane (June 4, 1851 – February 7, 1917) was an American sportswriter specializing in baseball, regarded as the leading baseball writer at ''The Boston Globe'' for about 30 years until his death. At the same time, he organize ...

. Next season, in 1874, Clapp led the NA in at bats per home run (55); his OPS (.732) was a career-high, while the Athletics finished the season 33–22, third in the NA, under manager Dick McBride. In his final year with the club, Clapp batted .264 with 77 hits and 39 RBI. His

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or ''fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

total was second in the NA among catchers. In 1876, Clapp joined the St. Louis Brown Stockings 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 ...

(NL). He finished the year tied for the team lead in games played (64) and hits (91), while he led the NL in

s as a catcher, with 333. Next season, Clapp batted a career high .318, while his on-base percentage and

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

percentages were the second highest in his career. In the field, Clapp committed 40 errors as a catcher, second highest in the NL to

Lew Brown Lew Brown (born Louis Brownstein; December 10, 1893 – February 5, 1958) was a lyricist for popular songs in the United States. During World War I and the Roaring Twenties, he wrote lyrics for several of the top Tin Pan Alley composers, espec ...

's 49. After leaving the team, Clapp joined the Indianapolis Blues, where he served as a player-manager for the 1878 season. Playing primarily in the outfield, Clapp was tied for the MLB lead in games played along with Indianapolis teammates

Silver Flint Frank Sylvester "Silver" Flint (August 3, 1855 – January 14, 1892) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. He played 13 seasons of major league baseball for the St. Louis Red Stockings, Indianapolis Blues and Chicago White Stockings. Biograp ...

Russ McKelvy Russell Errett McKelvy (September 8, 1854 – October 19, 1915) was an American Major League Baseball player who played center fielder, center field for the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (the only year the Blues were in the Major ...

Orator Shafer George W. Shafer ometimes spelled ''Shaffer'' or ''Schaefer''(October 4, 1851 – January 21, 1922) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Orator", because he was an avid speaker, Shafer played for 10 teams in four different majo ...

, and

Ned Williamson Edward Nagle "Ned" Williamson (October 24, 1857 – March 3, 1894) was a professional baseball infielder in Major League Baseball. He played for three teams: the Indianapolis Blues of the National League (NL) for one season, the Chicago White S ...

. After his one-year stint with the Blues, Clapp joined the Buffalo Bisons. Playing in 70 games, Clapp managed the team to a 46–32 record, placing the Bisons third in the NL. On June 25 of that year, Clapp ended a streak of 212 consecutive games played, serving primarily as a catcher. In 1880, now playing and managing for the Cincinnati Stars, Clapp played in a total of 80 games, a career high, while leading the team to a 21–59 record. He played for the Cleveland Blues in 1881, when he earned the nickname "Honest": in May, a Chicago

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

named James S. Woodruff offered Clapp $5,000 ($ in 2011) to allow a

passed ball In baseball, a catcher is charged with a passed ball when he fails to hold or control a legally pitched ball that, with ordinary effort, should have been maintained under his control, and, as a result of this loss of control, the batter or a ru ...

with runners on base, and also wanted to be informed which games to bet on when the moves would take place. Clapp reported him to the Chicago police, which led to Woodruff's arrest. In 1882, after leading the NL in walks, Clapp made his minor-league debut for 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

League Alliance The League Alliance was the first semi-affiliated minor league baseball league. Proposed by Al Spalding on January 15, 1877. Independent baseball teams were to affiliate with National League teams, which would honor their respective contracts. The ...

. In 1883, his last MLB season, Clapp played for and managed the New York Gothams for their inaugural season. Clapp, then 34, spent his final professional season with the St. Paul Apostles, where he batted .180 with 11 hits and a double.

After baseball

After retiring from baseball, Clapp served as a night sergeant in his hometown of Ithaca, New York. He died at midnight on December 18, 1904, of

apoplexy Apoplexy () is rupture of an internal organ and the accompanying symptoms. The term formerly referred to what is now called a stroke. Nowadays, health care professionals do not use the term, but instead specify the anatomic location of the bleedi ...

. Clapp was interred at

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...

in Ithaca.

References

;General * * ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapp, John Major League Baseball catchers 19th-century baseball players Middletown Mansfields players Philadelphia Athletics (NA) players St. Louis Brown Stockings players Indianapolis Blues players Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Buffalo Bisons (NL) managers Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players Cincinnati Reds (1876–1880) managers Cleveland Blues (NL) players Cleveland Blues (NL) managers New York Gothams players New York Gothams managers Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Ithaca, New York 1851 births 1904 deaths New York Metropolitans (minor league) players St. Paul Apostles players Major League Baseball player-managers

Early life

Professional career

After baseball

See also

References

External links