John Montgomery Ward

Information about John Montgomery Ward

John Montgomery Ward
Infielder/Pitcher
Batted: LeftThrew: Right
MLB Debut
July 15, for the Providence Grays
Final game
September 29, for the New York Giants
Career Statistics
Batting average    .275
Hits    2,104
RBI    867
Teams
As Player: As Manager:
Career Highlights and Awards
John Montgomery Ward (March 3, 1860 – March 4, 1925) was a 19th century Major League Baseball star pitcher, shortstop and manager. Ward was a pitcher and outfielder for his first 7 seasons and then played 11 years as a shortstop and second baseman. He also acted as player-manager and was a leader of the 1879 pennant winning Providence Grays, posting 47 victories as a 19-year old pitcher. Ward together with Ned Hanlon formed the first baseball players union, The Brotherhood of Professional Baseball Players in 1885, successfully challenging the player reserve clause. He also was one of the leads in forming a new baseball league - the Players League - which lasted one year. Throughout his career, Ward played with many of the legendary 19th century ballplayers including Charles Radbourn, Roger Connor, Buck Ewing, James "Tip" O'Neill and Dave Orr. While most modern sources use the name “Monte” when referring to Ward, during his time as a player and manager the nickname was never used by Ward, his team mates, Major League Baseball or the vast majority of the press.

Ward was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and later attended Penn State University. In his short time there, he helped jump start a baseball program and is often credited for developing the first curveball. Ward entered the National League with the Providence Grays in 1878 and played that season exclusively as a pitcher, going 22-13 with 1.51 ERA. Over the following two seasons, while seeing increasing time in the outfield and at third base, Ward had his two finest seasons as a pitcher, going 47-19 with 239 strikeouts and a 2.15 ERA in 1879 and 39-24 with 230 strikeouts and a 1.74 ERA in 1880. Perhaps more remarkably, he pitched nearly 600 innings each year (587.0 in 1879 and 595.0 in 1880).

Ward moved to the New York Gothams (renamed the Giants in 1885) in 1883, completed his transition from a pitcher to an everyday player in 1884, and became the every day shortstop in 1885. Ward played for the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in 1890 in the short-lived Players League before returning to the National League to play for the Brooklyn Grooms in 1891 and 1892. Ward finished his career after playing the 1893 and 1894 seasons with the New York Giants. He accumulated 1408 runs, 26 home runs, 867 RBI and a .275 batting average, including three seasons batting over .300.

Enlarge picture
John Montgomery Ward baseball card, 1887


Ward retired from baseball at age 34 in order to enter the legal profession. As a successful lawyer he represented baseball players against the National League. Later he acted as president of the Boston Braves franchise and became an official in the short lived Federal League in 1914. One interesting fact of Ward's career was he pitched the second perfect game in baseball history, both occurring within a six day period. Pitching for Providence against Buffalo on June 17, 1880, Ward retired 27 batters in a row, striking out two, and won 5-0. John Lee Richmond had thrown baseball's first perfect game just five days before, on June 12. The next perfect game by a National League pitcher wouldn't happen for 84 years, when Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game on Father's Day in 1964.

Ward also managed parts of seven seasons (1880, 1884, 1890, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1894), accumulating 412 wins and 320 losses for a .563 winning percentage.

In the last quarter century of his life, Ward’s real sporting passion became golf. He won several championships around New York, played all over Europe, and competed regularly in the United States Golf Association U.S. Amateur, he finished 2nd in the Prestigous North and South Amateur Championship at Pinehurst Country Club in North Carolinain the year 1903. The North and South Amateur was the equal of any major golf event at the turn of the century. The first North and South event took place in 1901. Ever the organizer, he was one of the founders of the New York Golf Association and the Long Island Golf Association.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veteran's Committee in 1964. Ward is one of the most underappreciated players in the Hall of Fame. According to the win shares formula developed by Bill James, Ward is the 15th greatest non-pitcher in major-league history.

John Montgomery Ward died the day following his 65th birthday on March 4, 1925 and is interred in Greenfield Cemetery in Uniondale, Long Island, New York.

See also

External links

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Los Angeles Dodgers managers
Brooklyn Atlantics (1884)
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infielders, and "the battery" (two). Meanwhile the team in at bat sends nine batters to home plate one by one in fixed batting order.

The nine fielding positions are universal in high-level competitive baseball, and the actual positions taken on the field are exceptionally
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pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk.
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The Providence Grays was a team name used by several major and minor league baseball teams based in Providence, Rhode Island .

Major league Grays

In 1884, Providence was a major league baseball city.
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Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball measuring the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters, respectively. The two statistics are related, in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.
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hit (denoted by H), sometimes called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice.
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The Providence Grays was a team name used by several major and minor league baseball teams based in Providence, Rhode Island .

Major league Grays

In 1884, Providence was a major league baseball city.
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San Francisco Giants Established 1883 Based in San Francisco since

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Major league affiliations
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The Brooklyn Ward's Wonders was a team who played in the Players League in 1890. The team's nickname derived from its superstar shortstop, hall of famer John Montgomery Ward. The team finished with a 76-56 record, good enough to finish in second place.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Established 1883 Based in Los Angeles since 1958

Team Logo Cap Insignia
Major league affiliations
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The Providence Grays was a team name used by several major and minor league baseball teams based in Providence, Rhode Island .

Major league Grays

In 1884, Providence was a major league baseball city.
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San Francisco Giants Established 1883 Based in San Francisco since

Team Logo Cap Insignia
Major league affiliations
  • National League (1883–present)

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The Brooklyn Ward's Wonders was a team who played in the Players League in 1890. The team's nickname derived from its superstar shortstop, hall of famer John Montgomery Ward. The team finished with a 76-56 record, good enough to finish in second place.
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Los Angeles Dodgers Established 1883 Based in Los Angeles since 1958

Team Logo Cap Insignia
Major league affiliations
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win (denoted W) is generally credited to the pitcher for the winning team who was in the game when they last took the lead. A starting pitcher must generally complete five innings to earn a win.
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perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher (or combination of pitchers) pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches first base.
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The following were the champions of baseball's National League from 1876 to 1900:
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starting pitcher, often abbreviated as starter, is the pitcher who pitches the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher.
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Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most
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manager (or more formally, the field manager); this individual controls matters of team batting order to more closely communicate with baserunners, but most managers delegate this responsibility to an assistant.
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pitcher is the player who throws the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk.
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Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder.
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