Jimmy "Browntown" Boyle (January 19, 1904 in Cincinnati, Ohio – December 24, 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio), 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 catc ...

for the 1926

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

, has the distinction of having one of the shortest known

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 ...

careers. Although Boyle is only one of about 900 ballplayers who have played in only a single major league game, he is distinguished by having played for only one

inning In baseball, softball, and similar games, an inning is the basic unit of play, consisting of two halves or frames, the "top" (first half) and the "bottom" (second half). In each half, one team bats until three outs are made, with the other tea ...

, the ninth inning of a game against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

in June of that year (which the Giants lost 8–0). After three

outs In baseball, an out occurs when the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a batter or runner is out, they lose their ability to score a run and must return to the dugout until their next turn at bat. When three outs are recorded in a h ...

, Boyle never got to bat and never played again; he is even further distinguished by having never played in the minors, moving straight to the Giants from college. He asked manager John McGraw for his release and it was granted August 2, 1926.

Playing History

Boyle was called up to New York in the summer of 1926, arriving by Pullman train car. He signed a contract for $250 to play with the Giants, minus a $30 deposit for both his home and away uniforms. His brief career started at the top of the ninth inning when

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

sent him to replace Paul Florence behind homeplate at the Polo Grounds. That would be the extent of his career in the Majors.

Family History

Boyle's family emigrated from Ireland in the 1800s and settled in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

. His father James worked as a brewery truck driver and a fireman. Jimmy was a second-generation ballplayer (uncommon in an era when there had only been two generations of ball players); his two uncles Jack and Eddie Boyle were catchers for the Phillies and Pirates, respectively. As well, his brother

Buzz Boyle Ralph Francis "Buzz" Boyle (February 9, 1908 – November 12, 1978) was an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1929 through 1935. He played for the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers. In ...

played for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

. Boyle played football and baseball at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

in Cincinnati; he was class president and enjoyed "feminine companions and

Chesterfield cigarettes Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette, named after Chesterfield County, Virginia. The brand is owned by conglomerate Altria and produced by its subsidiary Philip Morris USA. History Chesterfields, originally a blend of Turkish tobacco, Turkish an ...

" according to his yearbook. He is the grandfather of sportswriter

Steve Rushin Steve Rushin (born September 22, 1966) is an American journalist, sportswriter and novelist. He was named the 2005 National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, and is a four-time finalist for the ...

. His granddaughter remembers seeing his signed Giants contract next to a photo of him in uniform in their house. Jimmy died of leukemia on Christmas Eve, 1958.

Sources

Jim Boyle
at

SABR Sabr () (literally 'endurance' or more accurately 'perseverance' and 'persistence'"Ṣabr", ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'') is one of the two parts of Iman (concept), faith (the other being ''shukr'') in Islam. It teaches to remain Spirituality, sp ...

(Baseball BioProject)

References

Major League Baseball catchers 1904 births 1958 deaths New York Giants (baseball) players Xavier Musketeers baseball players Baseball players from Cincinnati 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-catcher-1900s-stub