John Joseph O'Connor (June 2, 1866 – November 14, 1937), also known as ''Peach Pie'', was an American

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

in the American Association, the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, and the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

, primarily used as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. O'Connor appeared in games across four decades. O'Connor was involved in a scandal in 1910 when, as player-manager of the St. Louis Browns, he attempted to help Nap Lajoie win the batting title over Ty Cobb. O'Connor ordered a rookie third baseman to play in a position that allowed Lajoie to bunt and reach first base easily. Later, O'Connor and a coach tried to bribe the official scorer to change a call to a hit. Although Cobb won the title, the scandal led to an investigation, and O'Connor and the coach were fired and informally banned from baseball for life. Research in 1981 revealed that Cobb's statistics were incorrectly counted, and Lajoie should have won the batting title.

Career

O'Connor began his career as a

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 ...

and

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 catc ...

for the

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...

, and he soon moved his way around the infield. He also played for the

Columbus Solons The Columbus Solons were a professional baseball team in the American Association from 1889 to 1891. In three seasons, they won 200 games and lost 209 for a winning percentage of .489. Their home games were played at Recreation Park in Columbu ...

from

1889 Events January * January 1 ** The total solar eclipse of January 1, 1889 is seen over parts of California and Nevada. ** Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka experiences a vision, leading to the start of the Ghost Dance movement in the Dakotas ...

1891 Events January * January 1 ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new African territories. * January 4 – The Earl of Zetland issues a ...

, and in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

, he joined the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

, where he would stay until

1898 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queen ...

, when the owners of the

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 ...

were buying their players from the Spiders, who ceased to exist in

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

. O'Connor moved west to play with the

Perfectos Perfectos was a radio device used by Royal Air Force's night fighters during the Second World War to detect German aircraft. It worked by triggering '' Luftwaffe's'' FuG 25a Erstling identification friend or foe (IFF) system and then using the r ...

until 10 games into the

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

season, he was traded to the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

. He played one season with the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

before finishing his career back in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

with the Browns. O'Connor is one of only 29 players in baseball history to date who have appeared in Major League games in four decades.

Scandal

O'Connor was the player-manager of the Browns in

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

, finishing a dismal 47–107. He tried to help

Nap Lajoie Napoléon Lajoie (; September 5, 1874 – February 7, 1959), also known as Larry Lajoie, was an American professional baseball second baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Nicknamed "the Frenchman", he represented both Ph ...

win the

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

and the associated

1910 Chalmers Award The 1910 Chalmers Award was an event in the history of Major League Baseball, marking one of the first attempts to honor the sport's top players. Introduced by Hugh Chalmers, president of the Chalmers Motor Car Company, the award promised a Cha ...

over

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

in the last two games of the season, a doubleheader at

Sportsman's Park Sportsman's Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the same piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street, on t ...

. Cobb was leading Lajoie .385 to .376 in the batting race going into that last day. O'Connor ordered

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Red Corriden to station himself in shallow

left field 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 syst ...

. Lajoie bunted five straight times down the third base line and made it to first easily. On his last at-bat, Lajoie reached base on a fielding

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

, officially giving him a hitless at-bat and lowering his average. O'Connor and coach Harry Howell tried to bribe the official scorer, a woman, to change the call to a hit, offering to buy her a new wardrobe. Cobb won the batting title by less than one percentage point over Lajoie, .385069 to .384095. The resulting outcry triggered an investigation by American League president

Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of th ...

, who declared Cobb the rightful winner of the batting title (though Chalmers awarded cars to both players). At his insistence, Browns' owner Robert Hedges fired both O'Connor and Howell and released them as players; both men were informally banned from baseball for life. O'Connor accepted responsibility for the scheme, but maintained that it was the players' idea; he didn't object because the game was not a factor in the pennant race.Bio of Robert Hedges
at

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and statistical record of baseball. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on Au ...

To date, it is the most severe penalty handed down to a manager for in-game misconduct. It is tied for the most severe penalty overall ever handed down to a manager;

Pete Rose Peter Edward Rose Sr. (April 14, 1941 – September 30, 2024), nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1963 to 1986, most prominently as a member of ...

of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

was also banned for life for betting on baseball. In 1981, however, research revealed that one game was counted twice for Cobb when he went 2-for-3. As a result, his 1910 batting statistics should have been shown as 194-for-506 and .383399, less than 0.0007 behind Lajoie at 227-for-591.

Managerial record

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Jack 1866 births 1937 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Columbus Solons players Cleveland Spiders players St. Louis Perfectos players St. Louis Cardinals players Pittsburgh Pirates players New York Highlanders players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen St. Louis Browns managers Baseball player-managers Baseball players from St. Louis St. Joseph Reds players Denver Mountaineers players Little Rock Travelers players Cleveland Forest City players Minor league baseball managers Sportspeople banned for life Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis)

Career

Scandal

Managerial record

See also

References

External links