Timothy Hayes Murnane (June 4, 1851 – February 7, 1917) was an American

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

specializing in

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 t ...

, regarded as the leading baseball writer at ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' for about 30 years until his death. At the same time, he organized and led

professional sports In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought l ...

leagues and helped govern the baseball industry. He had been a

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player, and played several seasons in the major leagues as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and center fielder.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Naugatuck, Connecticut Naugatuck is a consolidated borough and town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town spans both sides of the Naugatuck River just south of Waterbury and includes the communities of Union City on the east side of the river, whi ...

, Murnane acquired his Irish brogue from his father, an Irish immigrant. Little is known about his childhood; he mentioned in one of his newspaper columns that he attended school in a one-room rural schoolhouse. While some sources say Murnane attended Holy Cross prep school in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, this is doubtful; searches in the school's archives show there was another man with the same name who attended, but he was from

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

, and Murnane was playing baseball in Connecticut during the years he was said to be at Holy Cross.

Playing career

During Murnane's early years in baseball, he played as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the Stratford, Connecticut, club in ; some old-timers of that era said this club was called the Savannah Seniors. Murnane remained at catcher for two seasons with the Savannah Seniors, but moved to center field while with the Middletown Mansfields club of Middletown, Connecticut, halfway through the season. The Mansfields entered the professional National Association for , which begins Murnane's major league career in records that count the National Association as a major league. He was the Mansfields' regular first basemen; that would be his most common fielding position but he played only a few full seasons "every day". Following the 1872 Mansfields, Murnane played in the majors for the Philadelphia Athletics (1873–74), Philadelphia White Stockings (1875),

Boston Red Caps The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

(1876–77),

Providence Grays The Providence Grays were a Major League Baseball team based in Providence, Rhode Island who played in the National League from until . The Grays played at the Messer Street Grounds in the Olneyville neighborhood. The team won the National Leag ...

(1878)—as the first player signed by a new club—and finally the Boston Reds (1884), whom he also managed. During eight seasons in the major leagues Murnane batted .261 with five

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 and 127

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 ...

. Highlights of his playing days would include finishing fifth in the National Association batting race with an average of .359 in 1872, and leading the NA with 30 stolen bases in 1875. While Providence won the championship in its second season, the 27-year-old Murnane was no longer on the team or in the league. In 1879 and 1880, he played part-time for Capital City (in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York C ...

), Rochester, and Albany, before retiring "to open a saloon and billard hall in Boston". Murnane returned to baseball and the major leagues for one year when the Union Association challenged the newly organized baseball industry, placing one of its eight clubs in Boston, backed by

George Wright George Wright may refer to: Politics, law and government * George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford * George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island * George Wright ...

with Murnane one minor investor. Only 32, he served as recruiter, captain, and first baseman of the Boston Reds and guided them to a fifth-place finish with a record of 58–51. They did not threaten the National League in Boston, home to the NL's champion team and one of its anchor franchises. Rather, the Reds or "Unions" were a welcome but decidedly lesser attraction when the Beaneaters were out of town.

Later career

After his career in uniform, Murnane served as president of the minor league

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

and Eastern League, and went on to a 30-year career as a sportswriter and baseball editor with ''

''.

Death

Murnane died in 1917 at age 65 of a heart attack while attending the opera at the Schubert Theatre in Boston. News reports said his death came only about 30 minutes after he had written his daily sports column for the Globe. He was originally buried in the Old Dorchester Burial Ground in Dorchester. Hundreds attended Murnane’s funeral. The pallbearers included Boston mayor

James Michael Curley James Michael Curley (November 20, 1874 – November 12, 1958) was an American Democratic politician from Boston, Massachusetts. He served four terms as mayor of Boston. He also served a single term as governor of Massachusetts, characterized ...

and Congressman James A. Gallivan; former Red Sox owner John I. Taylor was an usher. Many ballplayers attended, including

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

, then a pitcher for the Red Sox. Murnane's place of burial was later moved to the Old Calvary Cemetery in

Roslindale Roslindale is a primarily residential neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, bordered by Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, West Roxbury and Mattapan. It is served by an MBTA Commuter Rail line, several MBTA bus lines and the MBTA Orange Line in nearby J ...

. Murnane had left little to care for his widow and four children from his second marriage, so 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 ...

and the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known ...

(BBWAA) established a memorial fund for his family and held a benefit game on September 27, 1917, at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

. The Red Sox, with Babe Ruth pitching, defeated an all-star team that include

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

Tris Speaker Tristram Edgar Speaker (April 4, 1888 – December 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player. Considered one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he compiled a career ba ...

, and

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

in the outfield. More than 17,000 people attended, generating $13,000 for the Murnane family. The memorial fund purchased a gravestone for Murnane. In 1946, the Baseball Hall of Fame established the

Honor Rolls of Baseball The Honor Rolls of Baseball were established in 1946 by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's Permanent Committee to establish as a second level of induction designed to recognize non-playing contributors.James, p. 46 The committee de ...

and named Murnane one of 12 writers to be honored. He was selected by the BBWAA as a recipient of the

J. G. Taylor Spink Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...

for excellence in baseball journalism in 1978.

Sources

*Eldred, Rich (1996). "Timothy Hayes Murnane". ''Baseball's First Stars''. Edited by Frederick Ivor-Campbell, et al. Cleveland, Ohio: SABR. *Retrosheet
"Tim Murnane".
Retrieved 2022-03-16.

References

External links

Baseball Hall of Fame – Spink Award recipient
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murnane, Tim 1851 births 1917 deaths Baseball writers Sportswriters from Massachusetts Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball outfielders 19th-century baseball players Middletown Mansfields players Philadelphia Athletics (NA) players Philadelphia White Stockings players Boston Red Caps players Providence Grays players Boston Reds (UA) players Boston Reds (UA) managers Baseball players from Connecticut College of the Holy Cross alumni Capital City of Albany players Rochester Hop Bitters players Jersey City Skeeters players Major League Baseball player-managers BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients People from Naugatuck, Connecticut Sportspeople from New Haven County, Connecticut The Boston Globe people