John F. "Denny" Driscoll (November 19, 1855 – July 11, 1886) 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

from 1880 to 1884. Driscoll played for the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s–1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association An early mention of "base ball" in the region is found in an issue of t ...

(the modern-day

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), and

Louisville Eclipse The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

. While playing for Pittsburgh, he led the American Association in

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in 1882, at 1.21. He went 13-9 that season. In 1883, he was the primary pitcher for the Alleghenys' for most of the season with an 18–21 record, and was the opening day starting pitcher.

Personal life

Driscoll was playing baseball professionally for local teams in Lowell and

Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua () is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. It is on ...

by the age of 15. In November, 1882, he married 18-year old Mary Driscoll of

Westford, Massachusetts Westford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was at 24,643 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. History Westford began as 'West Chelmsford,' a villag ...

. Soon afterwards he moved to Westford, most likely in the village of Graniteville, as the Casey family members were employed in the local granite quarries and mills. After the death of his father-in-law, Driscoll supported the Casey family with his baseball salary. In vital records of the early 1880s, he alternately listed his occupation as 'ball player' or 'machinist'. Denny Driscoll had two children with Mary, John William, born September 17, 1883, and Lizzie, born April 21, 1885. Driscoll died in his hometown of

Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...

at the age of 30 of

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

(tuberculosis). He is interred at St. Patrick Cemetery.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Driscoll, Denny 1855 births 1886 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Buffalo Bisons (NL) players Pittsburgh Alleghenys (AA) players Louisville Colonels players Baseball players from Lowell, Massachusetts 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Albany (minor league baseball) players New York Metropolitans (minor league) players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Brooklyn Atlantics (minor league) players Newark Domestics players Binghamton Crickets (1880s) players Tuberculosis deaths in Massachusetts