Samuel E. Barkley (May 24, 1858 – April 20, 1912) was an American

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), ...

second baseman. Born in

Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Located almost entirely in Ohio County, of which it is the county seat, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and also contains a tiny portion extending ...

, he played for four teams in six seasons from to .

Career

Barkley began his career with the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American Assoc ...

of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for five seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, and 1886–1887. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by the We ...

, and was a member of their championship team in . He was still with the team when they joined 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 ...

for the season, and was the everyday second baseman. He batted .306 that season and led the league in doubles with 39. Following the season, Toledo and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

made an arrangement in the off-season for a trade involving several players, but the trade broke down after the waiting period and only Barkley and one other player actually played with St. Louis. After a lawsuit it was estimated that Barkley had been valued for $800. Chris von der Ahe later claimed that Barkley's value was $1,000, but that may have been the asking price. In March

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

, Browns owner Chris von der Ahe offered Barkley for $1000 to the first team to pay the money.

Billy Barnie William Harrison Barnie (January 26, 1853 – July 15, 1900), nicknamed "Bald Billy", was an American manager and catcher in Major League Baseball. Born in New York City, he played as a right fielder in the National Association in 1874–75. In 1 ...

was able to have Barkley sign an undated contract with the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

and wired the asking price to Von der Ahe, but he had already secured a deal with owner of the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

Denny McKnight Harmar Denny McKnight (April 29, 1848 – May 5, 1900) was an early baseball manager and executive. On October 15, he founded the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh in anticipation of playing in the new American Association. The club then b ...

, and Sam was convinced to play for the Allegheny club instead. The American Association suspended and fined Barkley for signing with Pittsburgh this action. Barkley sued the Association, but they settled out of court with suspension being lifted although the fine stayed in place. Baltimore was offered and accepted

Milt Scott Milton Parker Scott (January 17, 1861 – November 3, 1938), nicknamed "Mikado Milt", was an American professional baseball player whose career spanned from 1882 to 1889. He appeared in 341 Major League Baseball games over four seasons as a first ...

as payment. That first season with Pittsburgh, the season, he hit .266 with 31 doubles, and he also stole 22 bases, while playing in 122 games. His stats declined significantly in , only playing in 89 games, hitting only .224. After the season was over, Pittsburgh sold him to the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a baseball team in the National League in 18 ...

of the

. He was given good playing time in by the Cowboys, playing in 116 games, but his batting average slid further down, to .216, but the season was not uneventful. On June 13, he

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League Ba ...

, and he was given the managerial reins, which lasted 58 games and 21 wins. A

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

ended his baseball career.

Post-baseball career

After his career in baseball ended, Barkley opened a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

shop in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. After the cigar shop closed, Barkley and his wife Dora moved to

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

. In Chicago he opened a saloon. Barkley died at the age of 53 in his hometown of Wheeling, and was buried in Peninsula Cemetery.

Personal life

Barkley married Flora "Dora" Feldman, who took the name Dora Feldman Barkley after marriage. She was a young woman who he had met while playing in Kansas City. Dora, at the age of 18, grew infatuated with Barlkey and ran away from home to pursue him. Feldman

stalked Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

Barkley, and, at a Kansas City

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

room where he was staying, confronted him and threatened to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

if he did not marry her. While he initially believed the young woman to be

insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

, he ultimately wed her, and they soon after had a child named Harold Barkley together. When they lived in Chicago, Dora, working as an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

, began a public

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

with

political boss In politics, a boss is a person who controls a faction or local branch of a political party. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves; most historical bosses did not, at least during the times of their greatest influence. Numerous off ...

, and former

crime boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or nearl ...

Michael Cassius McDonald Michael Cassius McDonald (1839 – August 9, 1907) was a crime boss, political boss, and businessman based out of Chicago. He is considered to have introduced organized crime to the city, and to have also established its first political machine ...

, who she had known in her childhood. It is believed that Barkley was paid $30,000 by McDonald to divorce his wife. The two divorced, and she wed McDonald, who also adopted the son he had with Dora, who would become known as Harold McDonald.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkley, Sam 1858 births 1912 deaths Sportspeople from Wheeling, West Virginia 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from West Virginia Major League Baseball second basemen Toledo Blue Stockings players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Kansas City Cowboys players Kansas City Cowboys (AA) managers Toledo Blue Stockings (minor league) players Toledo Black Pirates players Major League Baseball player-managers

Career

Post-baseball career

Personal life

See also

References

External links