Thomas Jefferson York (July 13, 1850 – February 17, 1936) was 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. Over the course of York's 15-season career as a professional, which spanned the National Association and

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), ...

, he racked up 1095 hits in 4005 at bats, for a .273

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 ...

. Twice, during his playing time with the

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 ...

, he was also

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

including the entire first season of the team's existence in 1878. York began his playing career in the amateur

National Association of Base Ball Players The National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) was the first organization governing American baseball. (The sport was spelled with two words in the 19th century.) The first convention of sixteen New York City area clubs in 1857 effecti ...

with the Powhatan club in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1869. In 1871, he became a member of the

Troy Haymakers The Troy Haymakers were an American professional baseball team. History Established in 1860 as the Union Base Ball Club Lansingburgh, located in neighboring Lansingburgh, New York, the Haymakers participated in the first professional pennant ra ...

, one of the founding clubs of the National Association. He was playing for the

Hartford Dark Blues The Hartfords (more commonly called the Hartford Dark Blues because of their uniform color) were a 19th-century baseball team. The team was based in Hartford, Connecticut. History In 1874, baseball in Hartford, CT was being played in a fever pit ...

when they joined the new

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 s ...

in 1876. In 1878, after the Hartfords folded, York joined the

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

. That season, he led the National League in

total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...

, extra-base hits, and

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

s. He was a member of the National League champion Grays team of 1879, and remained with the team until 1882. In 1883, now a member of the Cleveland Blues he led the league in walks. After one season with the Blues, he was purchased by 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 ...

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 ...

. He played two seasons for Baltimore to finish out his major league career. Tom died at the age of 86 in New York City, and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, which is in Brooklyn.Baseball-Almanac player page
/ref>

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Tom Major League Baseball left fielders Troy Haymakers (NABBP) players Troy Haymakers players Baltimore Canaries players Philadelphia White Stockings players Hartford Dark Blues players Providence Grays players Cleveland Blues (NL) players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Providence Grays managers Major League Baseball player-managers Cleveland Forest Cities players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Brooklyn Baseball players from New York City 19th-century baseball players 1850 births 1936 deaths Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn People from Brooklyn

See also

Notes

References