John McCallister (January 19, 1879 – October 18, 1946) was manager of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

during the 1927 season after

Tris Speaker Tristram Edgar Speaker (April 4, 1888 – December 8, 1958), nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player. Considered one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he compiled a career ba ...

abruptly resigned. He would lead the Indians to a sixth-place finish and a 66-87 record. He began his professional career in his native

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Ohio, United States. It is located in southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, Ma ...

. In 1902, he was playing for the Hartford Senators in the

Connecticut League The Connecticut League, also known as the Connecticut State League, was a professional baseball association of teams in the state of Connecticut. The league began as offshoot of the original Connecticut State League, which dates back as far as 1884 ...

, and was expected to play for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

of the

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the following year. However, in the fall of 1902 his knee was severely injured during a benefit game in Marietta, and he was unable to play for two years. After working as an umpire in 1905, he became a manager of the Portsmouth Cobblers of the

Ohio State League The Ohio State League was a minor league baseball league that operated in numerous seasons between 1887 and 1947, predominantly as a Class D level league. League franchises were based in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Histo ...

in 1909; he later managed the Akron team in the Ohio–Pennsylvania and Central leagues. In 1913, the Indians hired him as a coach and scout. McCallister was Tris Speaker's primary assistant during his years as player-manager (1919–1926). McCallister became manager after Speaker's sudden resignation in late 1926. A second-place team in 1926, the Indians entered the 1927 season with a largely unchanged roster, except that Hall of Fame center fielder Speaker now played in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

; the team won twenty-two fewer games in 1927. When asked about the reasons for the Indians' disappointing performance, McCallister replied, "I guess it is that I just can't play centerfield." Following a change of ownership at the end of the season, McCallister's contract was not renewed. After spending the 1928 season as a coach and scout for the Detroit Tigers, he worked as a scout for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(1929–33), the Cincinnati Reds (1934), and the Boston Braves (1936–46). He died in Columbus, Ohio.

References

External links

Jack McCallister page at Baseball-reference.com
1879 births 1946 deaths Cleveland Indians managers Cleveland Indians coaches Boston Braves scouts Boston Red Sox coaches Boston Red Sox scouts Baseball coaches from Ohio Sportspeople from Marietta, Ohio Hartford Senators players Portsmouth Cobblers players {{Baseball-manager-stub