William Jethro "Kid" Gleason (October 26, 1866 – January 2, 1933) was an American

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 (A ...

(MLB) 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 activitie ...

. Gleason managed the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

from 1919 through 1923. His first season as a big league manager was notable for his team's appearance in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

and the ensuing

Black Sox Scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a Major League Baseball game-fixing scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for money from a gambling syndicate l ...

, although Gleason was not involved in the scandal. After leaving the White Sox, Gleason was on the

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

staff for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

, until 1931.

Early life

Gleason was born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 20 ...

. He acquired the nickname "Kid" early in life, not only because of his short stature (growing to only 5-foot-7, 155 pounds) but also because of his quite energetic, youthful nature. His family later moved to the Pocono Mountains in northeast Pennsylvania, where his father worked as a coal miner.

Playing career

Gleason played two seasons in the minor leagues of northern Pennsylvania. In 1886, with Williamsport of the Pennsylvania State League, he batted .355 and stole 20 bases in 36 games. Gleason debuted as a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") 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 the pitched ball or dr ...

with the Philadelphia Quakers on April 20, 1888, after impressing Hall of Fame manager

Harry Wright William Henry "Harry" Wright (January 10, 1835 – October 3, 1895) was an English-born American professional baseball player, manager, and developer. He assembled, managed, and played center field for baseball's first fully professional team, t ...

during an exhibition game against the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. After enjoying mixed success as a pitcher in 1888 and 1889, Gleason opted to stay in the National League under Wright instead of moving to the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded professional American baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Prof ...

set up in 1890. His 1890 season was his best as a pitcher, with 38 wins, a 2.63 ERA, 54 complete games, and 506 innings pitched. Gleason was sold to the St. Louis Browns for the 1892 season, where he played for two and a half seasons as a starting pitcher and reserve fielder. With St. Louis, he made appearances as an outfielder, first baseman, second baseman, and shortstop, and hit .235. After being shipped to the

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 ...

partway through the 1894 season, Gleason pitched effectively in 20 starts and also batted .349, helping Baltimore to a National League pennant. Early in the 1895 season, manager Ned Hanlon moved Gleason to second base full time, where he hit well but fielded poorly that year. Baltimore repeated as NL champions, but Hanlon traded Gleason in the offseason to the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. In New York, Gleason played five seasons as the regular second baseman, hitting a respectable .271 overall but with little power. He served as a team captain, and in that capacity may have invented the intentional walk during an 1897 game by advising his pitcher to walk a strong hitter to face a weaker one. Gleason also earned local fame on April 26, 1900, for helping New York firemen rescue residents from an apartment fire. Gleason joined the new

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

in 1901, starting at second base for two years with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. From 1903 to 1908, he returned to Philadelphia and hit .250 over the period; he led the NL in

sacrifice bunt In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, and ...

s in 1904 and 1905. Gleason compiled a .261 career batting average. He retired as a player after the 1908 season at the age of 42, having appeared as a player in just two games for the Phillies that year. However, four years later, Gleason would make an unlikely return to the big leagues as a player, with his two at-bats in one game at second base for the White Sox in 1912 making Gleason one of only 29 MLB players to have played in four different decades. Gleason led the league in

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or '' fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wi ...

s and assists three times each, though he also led in errors four times. He ranks seventh all-time in errors as a second baseman.

Coaching career

Gleason began his coaching career in 1908 with the Phillies as a player-coach. The Phillies unconditionally released Gleason on April 12, 1910, prior to Opening Day. At the time, the ''Philadelphia Inquirer'' called Gleason "one of the most popular players who ever donned a Philadelphia uniform." After sitting out 1910 and 1911, Gleason joined the

in 1912, where he made one appearance as a player and became a coach under manager Jimmy Callahan. Gleason became manager of the White Sox on December 31, 1918, following the dismissal of

Pants Rowland Clarence Henry "Pants" Rowland (February 12, 1878 – May 17, 1969) was a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 through 1918 who went on to become a major figure in minor league baseball. He was born in Platteville, ...

. In his first season, the team won the pennant but lost the

to the

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

, resulting in allegations the White Sox had been paid by gamblers to "

throw Throwing is an action which consists in accelerating a projectile and then releasing it so that it follows a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a remote target. This action is best characterized for animals with prehensile ...

" the Series. The ensuing scandal resulted in lifetime bans from baseball for eight White Sox players. Gleason, however, was not involved in the gambling, and some sources noted he was among those who alerted White Sox owner Charles Comiskey of the fix. Although he felt betrayed and disappointed by his 1919 team, he continued to manage the White Sox through the 1923 season. After leaving in 1923, Gleason went on in 1926 to coach under manager Connie Mack with the

until retiring after the 1931 season. As a coach, Gleason won two

championships with the Athletics, in 1929 and 1930.

Death

Gleason died due to a heart ailment in 1933, at the age of 66, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. His funeral was attended by an estimated 5,000 people, including baseball luminaries such as Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Hall of Fame manager

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 189 ...

. He is buried in Philadelphia's

Northwood Cemetery Northwood Cemetery is a cemetery located in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1878. Notable interments * George Bradley (1852–1931) Major League Baseball player. * Duke Esper (1 ...

In popular culture

Gleason has been referenced in pop culture in several books, and is a prominent supporting character in Ring Lardner's 1916 novel '' You Know Me Al''. He is portrayed by actor

John Mahoney Charles John Mahoney (June 20, 1940 – February 4, 2018) was an English-born American actor. He was known for playing Martin Crane on the NBC sitcom '' Frasier'' (1993–2004), and won a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role in 2000. Mahon ...

in the 1988 film '' Eight Men Out'', based on Eliot Asinof's book of the same name.

Managerial record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleason, Kid 1866 births 1933 deaths Major League Baseball second basemen Philadelphia Quakers players Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Browns (NL) players New York Giants (NL) players Detroit Tigers players Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox managers Philadelphia Athletics coaches Minor league baseball managers Williamsport Lumber Citys players Scranton Miners players Memphis Egyptians players Baseball players from Camden, New Jersey Sportspeople from Camden, New Jersey Burials at Northwood Cemetery, Philadelphia