James Arthur "Cotton" Tierney (February 10, 1894 – April 18, 1953) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

second baseman and

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 scoring system us ...

. He played 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), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

, and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

between 1920 and 1925. Tierney was born in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of the ...

."Cotton Tierney Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved on 2017-05-14.

Career

Tierney began his professional career in minor league baseball in 1912. The

acquired Tierney after he played for the Tulsa Oilers of the Class A Western League. Tierney and teammates Charley Grimm,

Rabbit Maranville Walter James Vincent "Rabbit" Maranville (November 11, 1891 – January 6, 1954) was an American professional baseball shortstop, second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ch ...

, and George Whitted, became known as the "Banjo Boys". On October 2, 1920, he played every inning in all three games of modern baseball's only tripleheader; he is the only player to play three complete major league games in one day. (

Morrie Rath Morris Charles Rath (December 25, 1887 – November 18, 1945) was an American baseball player. He played second base in Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox, and Cincinnati Reds. Rath was the ...

is the only other player to have played in each of that day's 3 games, but Rath left the third game after two innings, before making a plate appearance.) Tierney had a .345 batting average during the 1922 season, finishing fifth 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 s ...

, and a .515

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, good for fourth. He also finished fifth in

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

with fourteen, tied with Rogers Hornsby. His performance earned him a $5,000 contract for the next season. However, the Pirates traded Tierney with

Whitey Glazner Charles Franklin "Whitey" Glazner (September 17, 1893 – June 6, 1989) was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of five seasons (1920–24) with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies. For his c ...

and $50,000 to the

for

Lee Meadows Henry Lee "Specs" Meadows (July 12, 1894 – January 29, 1963) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher over parts of 15 seasons (1915–1929) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadel ...

and

Johnny Rawlings John William Rawlings '' ed' (August 17, 1892 – October 16, 1972) was a second baseman and shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for six different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 158 lb., he batted and threw right-han ...

in May 1923. In 1923, Tierney tied

George Grantham George Grantham may refer to: * George Grantham (baseball) * George Grantham (musician) George Grantham (born January 20, 1947) is an American drummer and vocalist best known for his work with pioneering country rock band Poco. Grantham and p ...

for second in the NL in doubles with 36, trailing only

Edd Roush Edd J. Roush (May 8, 1893 – March 21, 1988) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a center fielder from 1913 to 1931, most prominently as a member of the Cincinnati Reds where he was a two ...

, and finished seventh in

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 with 13. On December 15, 1923, the Phillies traded Tierney to the

for

Hod Ford Horace Hills "Hod" Ford (July 23, 1897 – January 29, 1977) was an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnat ...

and Ray Powell. On February 4, 1925, the Braves traded Tierney to the

for

Bernie Neis Bernard Edmund Neis (September 26, 1895 – November 29, 1972) was an American professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Brooklyn Robins, Boston Braves, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox between 1920 ...

. Before the 1926 season, in what was considered "one of the most remarkable deals ever made between a major and a minor league club", the Robins traded Tierney to the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

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 ...

with Ford, Dick Loftus,

Bonnie Hollingsworth John Burnette Hollingsworth (December 26, 1895 in Jacksboro, Tennessee – January 4, 1990 in Knoxville, Tennessee) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest ma ...

, and their choice of Del Bissonette,

Babe Herman Floyd Caves "Babe" Herman (June 26, 1903 – November 27, 1987) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder between and , most prominently as a member of the Brooklyn Dodg ...

, and Chuck Corgan in order to acquire

Johnny Butler John Stephen Butler (March 20, 1893 in Fall River, Kansas – April 29, 1967 in Seal Beach, California), was a professional baseball player who played shortstop from 1926 to 1929. After his playing career ended, he was a coach for the Chicago ...

. Tierney managed the Pueblo Steelworkers of the Western League in 1929. He managed the

Joplin Miners The Joplin Miners was the primary name of the minor league baseball team in Joplin, Missouri that played for 49 seasons between 1901 and 1954. Baseball Hall of Fame Inductees Mickey Mantle and Whitey Herzog played for Joplin. Professional baseba ...

of the Class A

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Western ...

in 1930.

Legacy

Tierney returned to Kansas City, where he operated a bowling alley with

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

member Zack Wheat. He died in his home at the age of 59. In 2005, Jeff Euston, Tierney's great-great-nephew, created a website tracking all salaries of MLB players, naming it "Cot's Baseball Contracts", after his baseball ancestor. Considered "the unofficial clearinghouse for MLB contracts", the website had 4 million page views by the end of 2008. In 2010, ''

Baseball Prospectus Baseball Prospectus (BP) is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well as player and team perf ...

'' purchased Cot's Contracts, and began hosting the site.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Cotton Major League Baseball infielders Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Minor league baseball managers Ardmore Indians players Dallas Giants players Hollywood Stars players Joplin Miners players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players McAlester Miners players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Mobile Bears players Pueblo Steelworkers players San Antonio Bronchos players Shawnee Robins players Texarkana Tigers players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Tyler Elbertas players Baseball players from Kansas Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas 1894 births 1953 deaths