Ivey Brown Wingo (July 8, 1890 – March 1, 1941) was an American

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

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 ...

. He played all or parts of 17 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), ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and Cincinnati Reds, primarily 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 ...

Personal life

It is not known exactly where Wingo was born, with some accounts saying Gainesville, Georgia and others

Norcross, Georgia Norcross is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population as of the 2010 census was 9,116, while in 2020 the population was 17,209. It is included in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan statistical area. History ...

. Regardless, he spent the entirety of his life as a resident of the state of Georgia.

Baseball career

Wingo spent the first four years of his career (1911–14) with the Cardinals and last thirteen years with the Reds. He also managed the Reds for two games during the 1916 season. He led 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 ...

in at bats per strikeout (30.7) in 1917. Wingo was the backup catcher for the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

championship Reds team, starting 3 of 8 games behind

Bill Rariden William Angel Rariden (February 4, 1888 – August 28, 1942), was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1909 to 1920 for the Boston Doves/Rustlers/Braves, Indianapolis Hoosiers/Newark Pep ...

. Starting games 1, 4 and 7 of the best-of-nine series, Wingo went 4 for 7 with 3 walks. He had the game-winning RBI in game 1, when his 2-out single to right field in the bottom of the 4th inning broke a 1–1 tie. With 5 victories in 8 games, the Reds won the series which was fixed by several co-conspirators, including

Arnold Rothstein Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 4, 1928), nicknamed "The Brain", was an American racketeer, crime boss, businessman, and gambler in New York City. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletic ...

and

Abe Attell Abraham Washington Attell (February 22, 1883 – February 7, 1970), often referred to by newspapers as "The Little Hebrew", was an American boxer who became known for his record-setting, six year consecutive reign as World Featherweight Champion ...

. Wingo played for the Reds until 1926, then continued with the team as a coach before getting in one final major league appearance on the last day of the 1929 season, replacing regular catcher Johnny Gooch in the late innings of a game against the Cardinals. At the time of his retirement, Wingo held the

record for games caught in a career at 1,233. He still holds the post-1900 major league record for most career errors by a catcher (234). Wingo was selected to the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1993.Georgia Sports Hall of Fame page for Ivey Wingo
/ref>

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wingo, Ivey 1890 births 1941 deaths Atlanta Crackers players Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds managers Cincinnati Reds players Columbus Senators players Greenville Spinners players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball player-managers Minor league baseball managers People from Gainesville, Georgia St. Louis Cardinals players Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area

Personal life

Baseball career

See also

References

External links