William H. Craver (June 1844 – June 17, 1901) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player from

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

who played mainly as a middle infielder, but did play many games at

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

as well during his seven-year career. He played for seven different teams, in two leagues. He was later expelled from the Major Leagues in the infamous Louisville gambling scandal in .

Early life

Before his baseball career, Craver had served in the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

with the 13th Heavy Artillery Regiment out of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He enlisted on January 21, 1864, as a

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in Company K, and mustered out on June 28 in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. When the war, and his military career were over, he began his organized baseball career as a

in 1866 with the Union Baseball Club of Rensselaer County, which became the Unions of Lansingburgh. The Unions gained the nickname of Haymakers in August of that year after a visit to the Capitoline Grounds and the Elysian Fields. Later, in 1870, while playing for a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

team, he was accused of breaking his contract with the team.

Major League Baseball career

In , Craver joined the Troy Haymakers, who entered the

National Association of Professional Base Ball Players The National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NAPBBP), often known simply as the National Association (NA), was the first fully- professional sports league in baseball. The NA was founded in 1871 and continued through the 1875 se ...

in the league's first season. He played

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

, and after just four games, he replaced Lip Pike as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He played well, batting .322, but the team finished in seventh place. For the next two seasons, he joined the

Baltimore Canaries The Baltimore Canaries were a professional baseball club in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, National Association from 1872 to 1874. History The team was usually listed as Lord Baltimore in the box scores of the day, and ...

, the first of which he was

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. He was replaced at manager later in the year by Everett Mills, but stayed with the team through the season. Playing for the

Philadelphia White Stockings The Philadelphia White Stockings were an early professional baseball team. They were a member of the National Association from 1873 to 1875. Their home games were played at the Jefferson Street Grounds. They were managed by Fergy Malone, Jimm ...

in , he led the league in

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

, and as a second baseman, he led the league in

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

s and errors. Craver had his best offensive season that year, batting .343 and leading the league in

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s. In , he moved over the Philadelphia Centennials. He played in just 13 games for them when, together with George Bechtel, he was traded to the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

to replace injured players Dave Eggler and Wes Fisler in exchange for $1,500. He led the NA in triples in 1875 with 13. The National Association folded following the season, and Craver joined the

New York Mutuals The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was an American baseball club established in 1857, the year of the first baseball convention. The Mutuals just missed out on being a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players that yea ...

, a team that he also managed. It was his only season in New York, as the Mutuals were expelled from the league for not making the required western trip. It was during this season that Craver was reputedly savagely beaten by a gambler for doublecrossing him on a fix. He gained infamy the following season, his final season, when playing for the

Louisville Grays The Louisville Grays were a 19th-century United States baseball team and charter member of the National League, based in Louisville, Kentucky. They played two seasons, 1876 and 1877, and compiled a record of 65–61. Their home games were at ...

Expulsion

In , the Grays were ahead in the league standings, with a 27–13 record with only 15 games left to play, but then lost their lead through horrible play, losing eight straight games at one point. The trouble reportedly began when

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Bill Hague was injured and needed to be replaced. George Hall suggested that the team pick up his former Mutuals teammate

Al Nichols Alfred Henry Nichols (born as Alfred Henry Williams; February 14, 1852 – June 18, 1936) was an English Major League Baseball player for three seasons. Born in Worcester, England, he played for three different teams, and mainly played as ...

. The errors by Nichols, Hall, and Craver began to accumulate, and owner Charles Chase became suspicious when he noticed that Nichols was still in the lineup, even though Hague was fully healthy. The players were soon seen around town with new clothes and jewelry. Chase confronted pitcher

Jim Devlin James Alexander Devlin (June 6, 1849 – October 10, 1883) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player who played mainly as a first baseman early in his career, then later as a pitcher. Devlin played for three teams during his five-ye ...

and did not receive a confession, but Hall thought Devlin had confessed. Hall claimed that Nichols was the person in contact with the gamblers and all three had thrown games. Chase requested from each member of the team permission to see all the

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telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

s sent and received. Craver was the only man on the team to refuse, which caused him to be suspended. The telegrams proved the three were in open communication with the gamblers. The

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

subsequently expelled all four players "for conduct in contravention of the objects of this League." Craver was banned even though it was not proven that he participated in throwing any games, but there were reports of his gambling and insubordination in his past, along with his refusal to cooperate with this investigation.

Later life

After his forced retirement from baseball, Craver became a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, along with fellow "criminal" Devlin. He began to receive military

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...

on July 1, 1892, as a result of time as a

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

, which would continue on to his widow, Catherine C. Craver. Craver died at the age of 57 of

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...

in his hometown of Troy, and is interred at Oakwood Cemetery.

References

External links