Elmer Ellsworth "Sy" Sutcliffe (April 15, 1862 – February 13, 1893), also known as "Cy" or "Old Cy," was an American

baseball 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 tea ...

player. He played eight seasons of

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), ...

, principally 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 ...

but also as a first baseman, outfielder, and shortstop, for seven major league teams. He died at age 30 from

Bright's disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied b ...

, just four months after playing in his final major league game.

Early years

Sutcliffe was born in 1862 in

Wheaton, Illinois Wheaton is a suburban city in Milton and Winfield Townships and is the county seat of DuPage County, Illinois. It is located approximately west of Chicago. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 52,894, which was estimated ...

Professional baseball career

Chicago and St. Louis

Sutcliffe began his professional baseball career as a

for

Cap Anson Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), nicknamed "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman. Including his time in the National Association (NA), he played a record 27 c ...

's Chicago White Stockings, making his major league debut on October 2, 1884, at age 22. When he debuted in the major leagues, Sutcliffe received attention principally for his unusual height of six feet, two inches. ''The Sporting Life'' in April 1885 observed:

"Two Chicago boys tell many amusing stories about their good-natured and popular giant catcher Sutcliffe. His pedal extremities are of liberal dimensions, and in Nashville a wagon ran on to one of his feet and then stopped. Sutcliffe never knew it until he turned to walk away and found his foot caught fast. In Chattanooga, as he was standing on the curbstone, a granger, slightly under the influence of liquor, drove up and hitched his horse to him, thinking he was a telegraph pole."

Sutcliffe began the 1885 season with the Chicago White Stockings. He appeared in only 11 games for the team and was released in mid-July with ''The Sporting Life'' reporting that he "must be added to the list of exploded phenomenon." Shortly after being released by Chicago, he was signed by the St. Louis Maroons. He appeared in 16 games for the Maroons. Over the course of the entire 1885 season, Sutcliffe compiled a .152

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 ...

. Despite his low batting average, ''The Sporting Life'' on September 30, 1885, wrote that "Sutcliffe outranks Ewing as the best batting catcher of the League."

Minor leagues

In 1886, Sutcliffe played in the minor leagues for the Augusta and

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

clubs in the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...

. He appeared in 42 games as an outfielder and 34 as a catcher and compiled a .223 batting average. Sutcliffe began the 1887 season with the Des Moines Hawkeyes in 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 ...

. He appeared in 105 games for Des Moines, 51 as a catcher, and 34 as a right fielder, and raised his batting average by more than .100 points to .352. Late in the 1887 season, the ''Milwaukee Journal'' wrote: "Sutcliffe is a good catcher, but he is without doubt the laziest-looking and slowest-moving player in the Northwestern League."

Detroit Wolverines

At the end of the 1887 season, Sutcliffe joined the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

to play in the

1887 World Series The 1887 World Series was won by the Detroit Wolverines of the National League, over the St. Louis Browns of the American Association, 10 games to 5. It was played between October 10 and 26, and played in numerous neutral cities, as well as in De ...

. Sutcliffe had 12 plate appearances in the World Series and managed one hit, a stolen base, and a run scored. Sutcliffe remained with the Detroit club for the 1888 season. He appeared in 49 games and served in a utility role, playing 24 games at shortstop, 14 at catcher, five at first base, four in the outfield, and two at second base. He compiled a .257 batting average with 23 RBIs and six stolen bases in 1888. Sutcliffe displayed tremendous strength with his throwing arm, contributing 34 assists and five double plays turned in only 14 games as a catcher. In an April 1888 game against Cincinnati, "four Reds were nailed while making suckers of themselves trying to steal second on Sutcliffe, who threw like a catapult." The 1888 Detroit team finished in fifth place with a 68–63 record. With high salaries owed to the team's star players, and gate receipts declining markedly, the team folded in October 1888 with the players being sold to other teams. Sutcliffe was sold to the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

along with Ed Beatin,

Henry Gruber Henry John Gruber (December 14, 1863 – September 26, 1932) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played from 1885 through 1895. A right-hander, he played five years in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Wolverines (1887–88) a ...

, and

Larry Twitchell Lawrence Grant Twitchell (February 18, 1864 – April 23, 1930) was a professional baseball player from 1886 to 1896. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily as an outfielder but occasionally as a pitcher, with seven different ...

Cleveland Spiders and Infants

Sutcliffe appeared in 46 games, 37 as a catcher and eight as a first baseman, for the Cleveland Spiders in 1889. He compiled a .248 batting average for the season. While playing for the Spiders, Sutcliffe became engaged in a salary dispute with the team. His contract with the Detroit team had called for him to be paid $2,450 -- $450 above the maximum salary permitted by the National League. Cleveland cut his salary to $1,750, and Sutcliffe protested. The Brotherhood of Professional Base-Ball Players supported Sutcliffe's case, and he was ultimately promised an additional $250. In 1890, Sutcliffe jumped to the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

and joined the

Cleveland Infants The Cleveland Infants were a one-year baseball team in the Players' League, a short-lived Major League that existed only for the 1890 season. Owned by Al Johnson, the Infants finished , their lone season, with 55 wins and 75 losses. Their home g ...

. He appeared in 99 games and compiled a .329 batting average in 386 at bats. Defensively, Sutcliffe ranked among the leading catchers in the Players' League with 115 assists (3rd), 84 games at catcher (3rd), 110 runners caught stealing (3rd), nine double plays turned (4th), and 265 putouts (5th). However, he also led the league with 50 errors and 55 passed balls and ranked second in the league with 213 stolen bases allowed.

Washington and Baltimore

When the Players' League disbanded after its first season, Sutcliffe joined the Omaha Lambs of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...

for the 1891 season. He appeared in 62 games for Omaha. In July 1891, Sutcliffe jumped from Omaha to the

Washington Statesmen Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

of the American Association. He returned to a utility role in Washington, appearing in 35 games as an outfielder, 22 as a catcher, three as a shortstop, and one as a third baseman. He also compiled career highs with a .353 batting average and a .409

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. His .353 batting average was the highest in Major League Baseball, but he did not have a sufficient number of at bats to qualify for the batting title. Sutcliffe concluded his major league career 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 ...

in 1892. He appeared in 66 games, all at first base, for the Orioles and compiled a .279 batting average. His batting was considered to be good, "but late in the season it was evident that he was losing his grip."

Family and death

Sutcliffe married Ella Traver on September 11, 1886. Their son, Elmer, was born in October 1886. In February 1893, Sutcliffe died at his home in

, of "

of the kidneys". In its obituary for Sutcliffe, ''The Omaha Daily Bee'' described him as follows:

"He was quite a character in his way, and were it not for his intemperate habits would undoubtedly have been the best professional backstop in the country. As it was, his irregular habits impaired his efficiency and it was only at times he was seen at his best. He was quite a wit and was celebrated for the way in which he could roast an umpire, at the same time keeping his eyes in an entirely different direction from that individual."

Sutcliffe died at age 30, just four months after playing his final major league baseball game. He was buried at the Wheaton Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutcliffe, Sy 1862 births 1893 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball catchers Chicago White Stockings players St. Louis Maroons players Detroit Wolverines players Cleveland Spiders players Cleveland Infants players Washington Statesmen players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Augusta Browns players Savannah (minor league baseball) players Des Moines Hawkeyes players Omaha Lambs players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players Fort Wayne (minor league baseball) players Sportspeople from Wheaton, Illinois Baseball players from DuPage County, Illinois Deaths from nephritis