William Porter "Spike" Shannon (February 7, 1875 – May 16, 1940) was a professional

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. Shannon was 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 c ...

over parts of five seasons (1904–1908) with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was 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 ...

leader in runs scored in 1907, when he scored 104 runs for the Giants. For his career, he compiled a .259

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 ...

, 183

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 ba ...

, 383 runs scored, and 145 stolen bases. After his playing career, he was an

in the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

during 1914 and 1915 for a total of 177 games. Shannon was an alumnus of

Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-profession ...

. He was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

, and later died in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

at the age of 65.

Minor and Major League Career

Spike Shannon made his major league debut on April 15, 1904 at the age of 29. Before then he toiled in the minor leagues, playing for teams like the Richmond BlueBirds of the Atlantic League, The Syracuse Stars of the Eastern League, and the St. Paul Saints of 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 ...

. With St. Paul he played in 135 games and batted .308 along with 41 stolen bases. In September 1903, the

draft Shannon from St. Paul as part of that years Rule 5 draft. In his first season in the big leagues, he played in 134 games and stole 34 bases. He batted .280 in his rookie season. His batting average fell over the course of the next two season,s though he remained a threat to steal on the base paths. On July 13, 1906, the Cardinals traded him to the Giants for catcher/outfielder Doc Marshall and OF/INF

Sam Mertes Samuel Blair Mertes (August 6, 1872 – March 11, 1945) was a professional baseball player. He was an outfielder over parts of 10 seasons (1896–1906) with the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Orphans, Chicago White Sox, New York Giants (NL), New Y ...

. Despite having a .265 batting average in 1907, Shannon led the

in runs scored with 104. He also led the league in at bats and plate appearances as well. 1908 would be his final season as a major league player. He struggled to start the season, and placed on waivers by the Giants. The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed him off waivers and paid the Giants $1,500 for his rights. However, he continued to slump and on September 30, 1908, he played his final game, going one for four against the

, ironically, the very team he'd made his major league debut for a few seasons earlier. In 694 games over five seasons, Shannon posted a .259

(677-for-2613) with 383 runs, 3 home runs, 183

RBIs 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 ...

, 145 stolen bases and 286 bases on balls. He finished his career with a .974 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. Hoping to catch the eyes of scouts and make his way back to the big leagues, Shannon signed with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. His batting slump continued and he retired after the 1911 season. Shannon still made another comeback at the age of 38 a few years later, this time for the

Virginia Ore Diggers The Virginia Ore Diggers were a minor league baseball team based in Virginia, Minnesota. From 1913 to 1916, the Ore Diggers played exclusively as members of the Class C (baseball), Class C level Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), Northern Lea ...

of the Northern League. In 52 games, the best he could muster was a .216 batting average. He retired after the 1911 season. After his playing days were over, Shannon returned to baseball again, this time as an umpire in the

, a league that would go on to sue both the American and National Leagues, accusing them of having a monopoly on major league baseball. The Federal League was hoping to become a third major, but the lawsuit drained the league of revenue and it went out of business.

Death

Spike Shannon died on May 17, 1940 at the age of 65.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shannon, Spike 1875 births 1940 deaths Grove City College alumni Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Pittsburgh St. Louis Cardinals players New York Giants (NL) players Pittsburgh Pirates players Minor league baseball managers Charleston Seagulls players Richmond Bluebirds players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Harrisburg Ponies players Jersey City Skeeters players Meriden Silverites players Indianapolis Hoosiers (minor league) players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Virginia Ore Diggers players Sportspeople from Pittsburgh

Minor and Major League Career

Death

See also

References

External links