James H. Hallinan (May 27, 1849 – October 28, 1879) was an Irish born

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. In the first professional league season, he played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

in five games for the 1871

Fort Wayne Kekiongas The Fort Wayne Kekiongas were a professional baseball team, notable for winning the first professional league game on May 4, 1871. Though based in Fort Wayne, they were usually listed in game reports as simply "Kekionga" or "the Kekiongas", per the ...

. He returned to professional play four years later and worked as a regular player for five teams in four major league seasons, including two as the regular

of the

New York Mutuals The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Asso ...

Early years

Hallinan began his baseball career in with the amateur Aetna Club of Chicago, and played

for four seasons with that club. During that stretch, he played a few professional games for the

of the National Association.

Major league career

Hallinan did not play professional baseball again until he joined the

Westerns The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States, along with Fort Madison. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is ...

in . He played every inning of their 13 games at shortstop and, when the Westerns folded, moved on to the

for the remainder of that season and all of 1876, when the Mutuals were a founding member 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 ...

. His two

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 ranked third in the league. With three in 1875 he had ranked fourth in the NA. The Clipper observed that he, "being remarkably fleet of foot, was often credited with home runs." Jimmy playing sparingly for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

in . When the Reds disbanded during business troubles, it looked as if the team was going to fold; he and

Charley Jones Charles Wesley Jones (born Benjamin Wesley Rippay on April 30, 1852 – June 6, 1911) was an American left fielder in the National Association and Major League Baseball who hit 56 home runs and batted .298 during his twelve-year career. He wa ...

agreed to sign and play with the Chicago White Stockings. The Reds eventually corrected their situation, and asked for their two players back. The two teams agreed that Jones would return to the Reds while Hallinan would remain with the White Stockings. During July of , Hallinan became too ill to play, which forced him to quit, and although he returned to the field later in August for the

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 ...

, he was only able to participate in three games. Although he was a better than average hitter, he lacked skill in the field. For his career, he

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

.287 in 170 games, but in his 111

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

at shortstop, he totaled 161 errors for a .744 fielding percentage. He didn't fare much better in his games in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball and ...

or at second base, as his career total was .756. Early in his career, he spent most of his playing time at shortstop, but he was later moved to the outfield.

Death

It is alleged that the reason Jimmy became too ill to play was most likely due from overuse of alcohol. In October of the following year, he succumbed to

inflammation Inflammation (from la, wikt:en:inflammatio#Latin, inflammatio) is part of the complex biological response of body tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or Irritation, irritants, and is a protective response involving im ...

of the

bowels The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans ...

and died at 30 years of age in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was interred at the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallinan, Jimmy Major League Baseball shortstops Fort Wayne Kekiongas players Keokuk Westerns players New York Mutuals players Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players Chicago White Stockings players Indianapolis Blues players Major League Baseball players from Ireland Irish baseball players Irish emigrants to the United States 19th-century baseball players 1849 births 1879 deaths 19th-century Irish people Deaths from gastritis Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Evanston, Illinois)

Early years

Major league career

Death

See also

References

External links