John Francis Dwyer (March 25, 1868 – February 4, 1943) was an American right-handed

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 draw ...

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 (AL), ...

for the Chicago White Stockings (1888–1889),

Chicago Pirates The Chicago Pirates was a baseball team in the Players' League for a single season in 1890. The team played its home games at South Side Park (II). Its powerful National League rivals were the Chicago White Stockings which later became the Cubs. ...

(1890),

Cincinnati Kelly's Killers Kelly's Killers were a Major League baseball team that played in Cincinnati, Ohio during the 1891 baseball season. The team played in the American Association, which was a major league from 1882 to 1891. The team nickname By contemporary news ...

(1891), Milwaukee Brewers (1891),

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 p ...

(1892), and Cincinnati Reds (1892–1899). He was the

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 activities ...

for the Detroit Tigers in 1902.

Baseball career

Dwyer was born in Lee, Massachusetts, in 1868. He started his professional baseball career in 1888 with the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...

's Chicago Maroons. He won 19 games for the Maroons and then made his major league debut with the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

's Chicago White Stockings in September."Frank Dwyer Minor Leagues Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2021. Over the next four years, Dwyer played for several different teams. He became a member of the Cincinnati Reds in June 1892 after making light of St. Louis Browns owner Chris von der Ahe in the newspaper. Von der Ahe released him and fined him $100, though Dwyer said he could have been sold to another ball club for $1,500. Dwyer played for the Reds from 1892 to the end of his playing career in 1899. On June 23, 1896, he gave up

Roger Connor Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

's 123rd career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, which broke

Harry Stovey Harry Duffield Stovey ('' né'' Stowe; December 20, 1856 – September 20, 1937) was a 19th-century Major League Baseball player and the first player in major league history to hit 100 home runs. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Stovey played f ...

's previous record of 122. Connor's record of 138 was eventually broken by

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

. Dwyer's 1896 season was the best of his career, as he had a 24–11

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of matc ...

and a 3.15

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

. The 24 wins were his career-high."Frank Dwyer Stats"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved November 7, 2021. In 12 major league seasons, Dwyer had a 177–151 record. He had 366 games pitched, 318 games started, 2,819 innings pitched, 271 complete games, 12 shutouts, 6 saves, 565 strikeouts, 764 walks, and a 3.84 ERA. Dwyer was the second manager of the Detroit Tigers, managing for one season in 1902. He led the team to a 52–83 record. Dwyer briefly umpired in the National League in 1899 and 1901, and in the

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 ...

in 1904, during which he umpired

Cy Young's perfect game Cy Young, pitcher for the Boston Americans, pitched a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics by retiring all 27 batters he faced on Thursday, May 5, 1904. This event took place in the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

Later life

In 1915, Dwyer, then living in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake; all land portions of the city are within Ontario County; the water portions are in Seneca County. The population was 13, ...

, was appointed to the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

by Governor Charles Seymour Whitman. His term expired in 1924 and Governor Al Smith chose to appoint

James Farley James Aloysius Farley (May 30, 1888 – June 9, 1976) was an American politician and Knight of Malta who simultaneously served as chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Postmaste ...

instead. That same year, Dwyer became the pitching coach of the New York Giants. On February 4, 1943, Dwyer died while visiting relatives in

Pittsfield, Massachusetts Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

. He was 74 years old.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Frank 1868 births 1943 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Stockings players Chicago Pirates players Cincinnati Kelly's Killers players Milwaukee Brewers (AA) players St. Louis Browns players Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers managers Chicago Maroons players Hobart Statesmen baseball players Baseball players from Massachusetts People from Lee, Massachusetts People from Geneva, New York New York State Athletic Commissioners Sportspeople from Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Baseball career

Later life

See also

References

External links