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John Thomas Tobin (May 4, 1892 – December 10, 1969) was an American
Tobin signed with the St. Louis Terriers in 1913, a year before the FL was considered a major league. He remained with the Terriers through the 1915 season, when he led the league in hits. Tobin then spent most of his major league career with the St. Louis Browns. He had been one of eleven players the Browns purchased from the Terriers in the spring of 1916. After playing in 77 games for the Browns in 1916 and not appearing in the major leagues in 1917, Tobin was a regular starter for the Browns from 1918 to 1924.
Tobin was 5'8" tall and weighed less than 150 pounds. He had good speed and became known for his ability to bunt. "I was a .330 hitter most of my career. I'd bat .030 and bunt .300," Tobin once joked. Baseball Hall of Famer
right fielder
A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...
in 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), ...
. He played in the Federal League
The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...
(FL) for the St. Louis Terriers (1914–1915), and for the 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 ...
(1916, 1918–1925), Washington Senators (1926), and 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 ...
(1926–1927) of 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 ...
(AL). He led the FL in hits in 1915, and he led the AL in triples in 1921.
A native of St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Tobin batted and threw left-handed. While modern sources often use the common name Jack, he was mostly known as Johnny to his friends and in contemporary coverage.
Early life
Tobin was born in St. Louis to John Tobin, an Irish immigrant, and the former Louise Schiffner, a native of Missouri. He attended a Catholic primary school in St. Louis and played amateur baseball in the city as he got older.Baseball career
Tobin signed with the St. Louis Terriers in 1913, a year before the FL was considered a major league. He remained with the Terriers through the 1915 season, when he led the league in hits. Tobin then spent most of his major league career with the St. Louis Browns. He had been one of eleven players the Browns purchased from the Terriers in the spring of 1916. After playing in 77 games for the Browns in 1916 and not appearing in the major leagues in 1917, Tobin was a regular starter for the Browns from 1918 to 1924.
Tobin was 5'8" tall and weighed less than 150 pounds. He had good speed and became known for his ability to bunt. "I was a .330 hitter most of my career. I'd bat .030 and bunt .300," Tobin once joked. Baseball Hall of Famer George Sisler
George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. From 1915 through 1930, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis B ...
, player-manager for the Browns in the mid-1920s, later said that Tobin was "the best drag-bunter anyone ever saw."
As Tobin became a starter in right field for the Browns, he was joining one of the best outfields in baseball. Tobin, left fielder Ken Williams, and center fielder Baby Doll Jacobson all hit over .300 each year between 1919 and 1923. Tobin himself set a career best with a .352 batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
in 1921, the second of four consecutive seasons in which he collected more than 200 hits. That year he led both leagues with 671 at-bats and tied for the league lead with 18 triples. His 236 hits and 132 runs scored that year were both the second-highest totals in the major leagues as well as career highs.
The 1922 Browns led the major leagues with a .313 combined batting average while winning 93 games. That season, Tobin batted .331 and scored 122 runs with a career-high 13 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 ...
s. The Browns lost a September pennant race to the New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...
by one game.
Before the 1926 season, Tobin and Bullet Joe Bush
Leslie Ambrose "Bullet Joe" Bush (November 27, 1892 – November 1, 1974) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Pittsburgh Pirate ...
were traded from the Browns to the Washington Senators. By June of that season, the Senators released Tobin, and he was signed by the Boston Red Sox, with whom he finished his major league career in 1927. In a 13-season career, Tobin posted a .309 batting average (1906-for-6174) with 64 home runs and 585 runs batted in
A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...
along with 936 runs scored, 294 doubles, 99 triples, 147 stolen bases, and 508 bases on balls in 1619 games played.
In the 2001 book ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract
''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...
'', writer Bill James ranked Tobin as the 92nd greatest right fielder of all-time.James, Bill (2001). ''The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract''. p. 839.
Personal life
Tobin married the former Loretta Sack in 1914, and they had a daughter, Dorothy, in 1916. Tobin was involved in auto sales when not on the baseball field, and in 1925 he became co-owner of the Hildebrand-Tobin Motor Company in St. Louis. After his professional baseball career ended, Tobin had some involvement in American Legion baseball, serving as a coach and arbitration board member for the St. Louis Legion League. He died ofpneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
at St. John's Mercy Hospital in St. Louis in 1969.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball annual triples leadersReferences
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Jack 1892 births 1969 deaths Major League Baseball right fielders St. Louis Terriers players St. Louis Browns players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Boston Red Sox players St. Louis Browns coaches Minor league baseball managers Salt Lake City Bees players Columbus Senators players Wichita Falls Spudders players Bloomington Cubs players Baseball players from St. Louis Burials at Calvary Cemetery (St. Louis)