Malachi Jeddidiah Kittridge (October 12, 1869 – June 23, 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 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 16 seasons 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) between 1890 and 1906, for six different teams, predominantly the
Chicago Colts
The following is a North American professional sports league organization, franchise history of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, a charter member of the National League who started play in the National Association of Base Ball Players, ...
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 ...
. He batted and threw right-handed.
Biography
Kittridge was not a good hitter—he had a .219
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 ...
for his major-league career
—but in his career he was regarded as having one of the best throwing arms. In 1904, he was hired as
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 ...
of the
Washington Senators of the
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...
, but the team started the season , and Kittridge was replaced by
Patsy Donovan
Patrick Joseph "Patsy" Donovan (March 16, 1865 – December 25, 1953) was an Irish born right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from to , most notably the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He batted .301 lifetime and ...
. The Senators finished with a record for the season.
Kittridge was traded to the
Cleveland Naps
The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...
in the middle of the 1906 season, but he only had five
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
s for the Naps before retiring from baseball. In 1910, Kittridge served as player-manager of the
Elgin Kittens in the
Class D level
Northern Association
The Northern Association was a Class D level minor league. It began and ended play in 1910, disbanding on July 19, 1910. The Joliet club moved to Sterling on June 21. The Clinton and Freeport teams disbanded on June 28; The Elgin and Kankakee fran ...
. The team's "Kittens" moniker was in honor of Kittridge. The team finished in first place.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball player–managers
Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Founded in 1869, it is composed of 30 teams. Each team in the league has a manager, who is responsible for team strategy and leadership on and off ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers*
1869 births
1928 deaths
19th-century baseball players
Boston Beaneaters players
Chicago Colts players
Cleveland Naps players
Louisville Colonels players
Major League Baseball catchers
People from Clinton, Massachusetts
Washington Senators (1901–1960) players
Washington Senators (1891–1899) players
Washington Senators (1901–1960) managers
Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts
Baseball players from Massachusetts
Portsmouth Lillies players
Quincy Black Birds players
Worcester Farmers players
Montreal Royals players
Montreal Royals managers
Dayton Veterans players
Scranton Miners players
Elgin Kittens players
Saginaw Krazy Kats players
Major League Baseball player-managers
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