John Thomas Kibler (July 17, 1886 – October 18, 1971) 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, coach of

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and baseball, college athletics administrator and Minor League Baseball executive. He was a coach at

Washington College Washington College is a private liberal arts college in Chestertown, Maryland. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782. George Washington supported the founding of the college by consenting to have the "College at Chester" name ...

, in various capacities, for over half a century. His duties included coaching the baseball, basketball and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams. Prior to joining the Washington College staff, Kibler had been a baseball and basketball coach at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He coached the basketball team from 1908 to 1910 and compiled a record of 22–2. He still holds the school coaching record for highest winning percentage. Kibler joined the Washington College staff in 1913. He coached the basketball team until 1939, going 272–108 during those years. From 1937 to 1949, he was the President of the

Eastern Shore League The Eastern Shore Baseball League was a class D minor league baseball league that operated on the Delmarva Peninsula for parts of three different decades. The league's first season was in 1922 and the last was in 1949, although the years were no ...

. He is perhaps best known for a decision he made in 1937 to forfeit all of the

Salisbury Indians The Salisbury Indians were a United States minor league baseball team which played in Salisbury, Maryland. The team began operation in 1922 as a founding member of the Eastern Shore League, which operated out of cities on the Delmarva Peninsula. ...

's wins midway through the season, under shaky evidence. The ruling was later called "stupid," "unjust," and "unfair." Salisbury eventually came back to win the league championship. Kibler died on October 18, 1971, at Union Memorial Hospital in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He was inducted into the Washington College Hall of Fame on October 9, 1981."Washington College Hall of Fame"
''washcoll.edu''. Retrieved October 17, 2010.

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* * 1886 births 1971 deaths Baseball shortstops Basketball coaches from Maryland Beaumont Oilers players Chillicothe Infants players Minor league baseball executives Newark Indians players Ohio State Buckeyes baseball coaches Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball coaches San Antonio Bronchos players Washington College Shoremen and Shorewomen athletic directors Washington College Shoremen baseball coaches Washington College Shoremen basketball coaches Washington College Shoremen football coaches College men's basketball head coaches in the United States People from Chestertown, Maryland {{1880s-US-basketball-bio-stub