Cecil Calvert Broughton (December 28, 1860 – March 15, 1939) was an American professional

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 ...

player from 1883 to 1891. He played parts of four seasons in

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 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 six major league clubs. His career in the major leagues included stints with the Cleveland Blues (1883),

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1883), Milwaukee Brewers (1884),

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

(1885),

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New York ...

(1885), and

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 ...

(1888). He also played minor league baseball for clubs in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

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 ...

and St. Paul, Minnesota,

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. After retiring from baseball, Broughton became the first chief of police in

Evansville, Wisconsin Evansville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,703 at the 2020 census. History Evansville was first settled in the 1830s by New Englanders who were attracted to the area by its pristine wooded landscape an ...

. He captured a group of train robbers after a gunfight in 1900 and years later also captured Evansville's first automobile thieves.

Early years

Broughton was born in Magnolia, Wisconsin. He began playing organized baseball for teams in

, in 1879 and 1880. By 1882, he was playing for the Janesville Mutuals.

Professional baseball player

Cleveland and Baltimore

Broughton made his major league debut in May 1883 with the Cleveland Blues of 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 ...

. He appeared in only four games for Cleveland and played in nine additional major league games later that same year with the

. He compiled a .190

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 ...

with the two clubs during the 1883 season.

Milwaukee Brewers

In 1884, Broughton played for the Milwaukee Brewers, first as part of 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 ...

and then as part of the newly formed and short-lived Union Association. He appeared in 60 games as part of the Northwestern League and 11 games for the Brewers as part of the Union Association. In 11 major league games in the Union Association, Broughton compiled a .308 batting average.

St. Louis and New York

In 1885, Broughton played in 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 ...

for the

and

. He appeared in a total of 15 games for the Browns and Metropolitans, compiling a .121 batting average in 58 at bats.

Memphis and Milwaukee

During the 1886 and 1887 seasons, Broughton played in the minor leagues. He played for the Memphis Grays of 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), Cla ...

in 1886 and compiled a .236 batting average in 82 games. Late in the 1886 season, as the southern teams broke up, he returned to Milwaukee. In 1887, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers of the Northwestern League, batting .303 in 105 games.

Detroit

In November 1887, Broughton signed to play with the

of the National League. He began the 1888 season with the Wolverines, but he appeared in only one game and had no hits in four at bats. His final major league game was on April 21, 1888. According to one newspaper account, he did not "show up well" with Detroit due to illness and was released to Minneapolis.(available through the Library of Congress Chronicling America database)

Minneapolis and Saint Paul

After being released by Detroit, Broughton finished the 1888 season playing in the Western League for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

and St. Paul Apostles. He appeared in 93 Western League games in 1888 and played in another 100 games for the Apostles in 1889. He compiled a .254 batting average in 1889. In June 1889, ''The Sporting Life'' praised Broughton's work with St. Paul's pitchers: "People have got so used to seeing Cal Broughton catch game after game without a skip that his fine work is often lost sight of. Where, oh where would some of St. Paul's pitchers be now if they hadn't had Cal's 'head' back of the plate?" ''The Saint Paul Daily Globe'' in 1889 said of Broughton: "Broughton is a great coach for a young pitcher, and it takes a pretty fleet-footed runner to steal second base on him. He refuses to get rattled under any circumstances, and is always a prince of good humor." Years later, the ''Globe'' wrote that Broughton had been "as good a catcher as the league had." Broughton also began the 1890 season playing for the Apostles.

Seattle

Late in the 1890 season, Broughton traveled to the west coast where he appeared in 16 games for the

Seattle Hustlers The Seattle Hustlers were a minor league baseball team based in Seattle, Washington and were Seattle's first professional team. From 1890 to 1892, the Seattle Hustlers were charter members of the Pacific Northwest League. Also referred to as the ...

of the

Pacific Northwest League The Pacific Northwest League was a professional Minor League Baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest. It was the first professional baseball league ever in the region. History Founding The Pacific Northwest League was founded in 1890. I ...

. Broughton played third base for Seattle, leading ''The Sporting Life'' to write that it "looks rather funny to see Cal Broughton playing any position except behind the bat, but he is putting up great third base play." The Seattle club finished in third place, but reportedly "made a remarkable showing since the addition of Broughton."

Final seasons

He returned to the St. Paul Apostles later in the 1890 season. Broughton concluded his professional baseball career playing for the

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...

team in the

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 ...

in 1891.

Family and later years

Broughton was married in 1881 to Harriet Chase. After leaving major league baseball, Brougton lived in Evansville, Wisconsin, where he purchased a billiard parlor in 1895. In April 1899, he was elected chief of police in Evansville, a position that he held for 17 years. In 1900, he was in a gunfight with train robbers. Broughton and his assistant Chief of Police captured the robbers, only to have them escape from the jail. Broughton's posse found two of the robbers hiding in a corn field, and the third was captured several days later. Thirteen years later, he captured Evansville's first automobile thieves. In 1917, Broughton stepped down as chief of police and went to work for the D. E. Wood Butter Company. He returned to the Evansville police department in 1927 as the assistant chief. He remained with the police department until 1933 when, at age 72, he became an invalid. Broughton died in Evansville in 1939 and was interred at Maple Hill Cemetery there.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broughton, Cal 1860 births 1939 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Wisconsin Cleveland Blues (NL) players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Milwaukee Brewers (UA) players New York Metropolitans players Detroit Wolverines players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Memphis Grays players Milwaukee Cream Citys players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players St. Paul Apostles players Lowell Lowells players People from Rock County, Wisconsin American municipal police chiefs Burials in Wisconsin People from Evansville, Wisconsin Seattle Hustlers players