John Reilly (baseball)
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John Good Reilly (October 5, 1858 – May 31, 1937), nicknamed "Long John", was an American
first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...
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), ...
who played for the
Cincinnati Stars The Cincinnati Stars were a Major League Baseball team that played in the National League for the 1880 season and were managed by John Clapp. The club finished their only season in 8th place with a record of 21–59. Following the 1880 campai ...
(1880) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings/Reds (–). In
1888 In Germany, 1888 is known as the Year of the Three Emperors. Currently, it is the year that, when written in Roman numerals, has the most digits (13). The next year that also has 13 digits is the year 2388. The record will be surpassed as late ...
, he hit 13 home runs with 103 RBI and a .321 batting average. During and after his baseball career, Reilly was a commercial artist for the Strobridge Lithographing Company.


Early life

Born in 1858, Reilly was the son of a Civil War gunboat captain for the Union named Frank A. Reilly. When his father was killed at the
Battle of Fort Donelson The Battle of Fort Donelson was fought from February 11–16, 1862, in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The Union capture of the Confederate fort near the Tennessee–Kentucky border opened the Cumberland River, an important ave ...
in 1862, Reilly was sent by his mother to live with some of her relatives in Illinois, and he spent the next several years there. When he was about 14 years old, Reilly returned to his native Cincinnati to take a course in
lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
at a design school. He apprenticed at the Strobridge Lithographing Company, and he played his first organized baseball for the company team. Reilly showed early ability as a catcher, but by 1877, having become a professional artist with Strobridge, he began playing in the infield to avoid hand injuries that might threaten his lithography career.


Career

Reilly played one season for the Cincinnati Stars in 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 ...
(NL) and was out of the major leagues for the following two seasons, playing for the
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 York ...
in 1882 when it was an independent team. From 1883 to 1891, he played for the Cincinnati Red Stockings/Reds of 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 NL. He hit 69
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 and batted .289 during his ten-year career. Reilly was among the top ten of the all-time home run list from 1888 to 1892. His career highs in a season were 135 games played, 553 at bats, 112  runs, 170 hits, 35 doubles, 26 triples, 13 home runs, 103 RBI, 82 stolen bases, 34  walks, a .339 average, a .366 on-base percentage, a .551 slugging percentage, and 264
total bases In baseball statistics, total bases is the number of bases a player gains with hits. It is a weighted sum with values of 1 for a single, 2 for a double, 3 for a triple and 4 for a home run. For example, three singles is three total bases, whil ...
. He was also the first player to
hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...
on three occasions during his career, doing so twice in the American Association and once in the National League. He accomplished the feat twice in 1883 — the first on September 12 and the second exactly one week later on September 19, setting the major league record for the shortest time between cycles. His third cycle came on August 6, 1890.


Later life

Ren Mulford, a writer for '' Sporting Life'', reported in 1914 that Reilly was "a rare old bachelor devoted to his art, and seldom goes to the ball yard where he once reigned a ruling favorite." Reilly remained employed with Strobridge until 1932, according at at least one source. Reilly died in 1937. He was inducted into the
Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is an entity established by Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise that pays homage to the team's past through displays, photographs and multimedia. It was instituted in 1958 to recognize th ...
on June 23, 2012.


See also

* List of Major League Baseball annual home run leaders *
List of Major League Baseball annual runs batted in leaders In baseball, a run batted in (RBI) is awarded to a Batting (baseball), batter for each Baserunning, runner who Run (baseball), scores as a result of the batter's action, including a Hit (baseball), hit, fielder's choice, sacrifice fly, bases loade ...
* List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders * List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders *
List of Major League Baseball players to hit for the cycle In baseball, completing the cycle is the accomplishment of hitting a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. In terms of frequency, the cycle is roughly as common as a no-hitter; '' Baseball Digest'' calls it "one of th ...
*
List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders In baseball, a hit is credited to a batter when he reaches first base – or any subsequent base – safely after hitting a fair ball, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice. One hundred seventeen different players have record ...


References


External links

, o
Retrosheet
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Long John Major League Baseball first basemen Cincinnati Reds (1876–1879) players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Cincinnati Reds players New York Metropolitans (minor league) players Baseball players from Cincinnati 19th-century baseball players 1858 births 1937 deaths Shipwreck survivors Explosion survivors American lithographers