James J. Mutrie (June 13, 1851 – January 24, 1938) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

pioneer who was the co-founder and first

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 ...

of both the original

New York Metropolitans The Metropolitan Club (New York Metropolitans or the Mets) was a 19th-century professional baseball team that played in New York City from 1880 to 1887. (The ''New York Metropolitan Baseball Club'' was the name chosen in 1961 for the New Yor ...

and 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 ...

. He had a winning percentage of .611, the highest for the 19th century for managers. It remains the third highest by any major league manager with at least 600 wins, trailing only

Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarth ...

's mark of .615 and Dave Roberts.

Life

Mutrie, nicknamed "Smilin' Jeems" and "Truthful Jim", was born in

Chelsea, Massachusetts Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. As of the 2020 census, Chelsea had a population of 40,787. With a total area of just 2.46 square miles, Chelsea is the ...

, and grew up playing

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

, first playing baseball at age 16. He played in the minor leagues from 1877 to 1879."Jim Mutrie Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved April 16, 2012. In 1880 he moved from New England to New York, where he obtained financial backing from

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He wa ...

and

John B. Day John Bailey Day (September 23, 1847 – January 25, 1925) was an American tobacco merchant who became an owner and manager in professional baseball of the late 19th century. He was the first owner of the franchise now known as the San Francisco ...

to start the independent New York Metropolitans. At the end of the 1882 season, Day and Mutrie accepted offers from both the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

and 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 ...

to enter a New York team; they met their double commitment by entering the Mets in the American Association, and acquiring most of the players from the

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. Troy Unive ...

to form the New York Gothams for the National League. Mutrie managed the New York Metropolitans from 1880-1882 in the Eastern Championship Association and League Alliance, and winning both of those leagues in 1881 and 1882 respectively. The Metropolitans' record in 1882 was 101-57-3 and they easily won the League Alliance pennant. From 1880-1882, Mutrie managed the New York Metropolitans to a 201-136-7 record. Mutrie managed the Metropolitans in 1883 and 1884, leading them to the 1884 World Series the latter year. In the 1884 World Series, Mutrie faced off against his former manager Frank Bancroft. Bancroft was the manager of the New Bedford Whalers of the New England League in 1878 when Mutrie played for the Whalers. The Whalers won the New England League pennant in 1878. In 1885, Mutrie switched to managing the Gothams, and is credited with giving them their nickname, the Giants. With star players such as Buck Ewing,

Tim Keefe Timothy John Keefe (January 1, 1857 – April 23, 1933), nicknamed "Smiling Tim" and "Sir Timothy", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He stood tall and weighed . He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and po ...

and

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 ', ' ( ...

, the Giants won National League pennants and World Series titles under Mutrie in 1888 and 1889. Ewing, Keefe and many other players defected 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 ...

's New York Giants in 1890, and the National League Giants under Mutrie slumped to sixth and then third place. When the Giants were reorganized after the 1891 season under new ownership, Mutrie was not retained as manager.

Personal life

After leaving baseball, Mutrie operated a hotel in

Elmira, New York Elmira () is a city and the county seat of Chemung County, New York, United States. It is the principal city of the Elmira, New York, metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses Chemung County. The population was 26,523 at the 2020 censu ...

and a newsstand on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey b ...

. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. Running from the equivalent of East 46th to ...

in New York City at age 86. He was buried at the

Moravian Cemetery The Moravian Cemetery is a cemetery in the New Dorp neighborhood of Staten Island, New York City. Location Located at 2205 Richmond Road, the Moravian Cemetery is the largest and oldest active cemetery on Staten Island, having opened in 1740. ...

on Staten Island.

Managerial record

References

Notes

External links

Baseball-Reference.com
– managerial record
Minor League playing stats''New York Times'' obituary, January 25, 1938 (subscription required)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mutrie, Jim 1851 births 1938 deaths New York Metropolitans managers New York Giants (NL) managers Minor league baseball managers Fall River Casscade players New Bedford (minor league baseball) players New Haven (minor league baseball) players Hartford (minor league baseball) players Worcester Grays players New York Metropolitans (minor league) players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Massachusetts Sportspeople from Chelsea, Massachusetts Burials at Moravian Cemetery