George Frederick "Peaches" Graham (March 23, 1877 – July 25, 1939) was a baseball

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 cat ...

for the

Cleveland Bronchos The Cleveland Guardians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since 1994, they have played in Progressive Field. The Cleveland team originated in ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

, Boston Doves/Rustlers, and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Born in

Aledo, Illinois Aledo (u--doh) is a city in Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,640 at the 2010 census, up from 3,613 in 2000. It is the county seat of Mercer County. History Aledo was established in the 1850s when the railroad was ...

, Graham played seven seasons of

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 ...

over the span of eleven years. He debuted in with the Bronchos as a second baseman, and came back in with the Cubs 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 ...

, but only pitched in one game, a loss. After a five-year hiatus, Graham returned in 1908 as a utility player with the Braves. He started games as a

, second baseman,

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 cat ...

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 scoring system u ...

, and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

, but was predominantly a catcher. Graham was traded mid-season to the Cubs, but only played there for three months before being traded for

Dick Cotter Richard D. Cotter (September 17, 1842 – March 12, 1927), also known as Dick Cotter and R.D. Cotter, was an Irish born American member of the first California Geological Survey. Biography Richard D Cotter was orphaned at a young age and emigr ...

to Philadelphia, where he would finish his major league career after the season at the age of thirty-five. He had a son, Jack, born in 1916, who would go on to play professional baseball. Graham died in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

at the age of sixty-two.

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Peaches Graham
at Baseball Almanac 1877 births 1939 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Cleveland Bronchos players Chicago Cubs players Boston Doves players Boston Rustlers players Philadelphia Phillies players Rock Island Islanders players Colorado Springs Millionaires players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Scranton Miners players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wichita Witches players Des Moines Boosters players Davenport Blue Sox players Hannibal Mules players Baseball players from Illinois People from Aledo, Illinois {{US-baseball-catcher-1870s-stub