William George McCloskey (May 1854 – July 9, 1924) officially played two years of

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 ...

, in for the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, debuting on May 25, and in for the

Wilmington Quicksteps The Wilmington Quicksteps (also known as the Quickstep Club of Wilmington) were an 1884 late-season replacement baseball team in the Union Association. They finished with a 2–16 record and were managed by Joe Simmons. The team played their home ...

of the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

Biography

McCloskey played eleven games for the Washington Nationals in 1875 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 ...

, batting .175 (7-for-40) with one run and four RBI. He played nine games in the 1884 season, splitting time between the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

and

. In thirty at bats, he had three

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

for a .100

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 ...

. Baseball historian David Nemec has argued that the evidence is "fairly persuasive" that the "

McCloskey McCloskey () is an Irish surname. The MacCloskeys were the foremost sept of the O'Cahan, O'Cahans, Lords of Keenaght (barony), Keenaght, one of the leading clans of Cenél nEógain before the Plantation of Ulster, 16th century Scottish plantation. ...

" who pitched for Washington in 1875 is Bill McCloskey.

Death and interment

McCloskey died at the age of seventy in his hometown of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

on July 9, 1924, and was interred at the

Arlington Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, an increase over 28,043 in 2010, and accounting for over one-third of Up ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCloskey, Bill 1854 births 1924 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Philadelphia Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball catchers Wilmington Quicksteps players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Harrisburg (minor league baseball) players Wilmington Quicksteps (minor league) players Trenton Trentonians players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Reading (minor league baseball) players Binghamton Crickets (1880s) players Bradford (minor league baseball) players Sunbury (minor league baseball) players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Portland (minor league baseball) players Burials at Arlington Cemetery (Pennsylvania)