Edward Sebastian McDonough (September 11, 1886 – September 2, 1926) was a

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 ...

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 ...

. He attended Notre Dame, and played his first major league game on August 3, 1909 with the

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

Biography

McDonough was born in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

. He started his baseball career joining the

Jersey City Skeeters The Jersey City Skeeters were a minor league baseball team which operated in Jersey City, New Jersey. The club started in the 1860s and by 1870 joined the National Association of Base Ball Players. By 1885, Jersey City had joined the Eastern Le ...

of the Eastern League in 1909 at the age of 23. McDonough then transferred up to their MLB affiliate

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

the same year, making his debut on August 3, 1909, in a Phillies 5–1 loss to the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

. It was the only game McDonough played that season, as he had one unsuccessful at-bat while playing catcher. The next year McDonough played with the

Scranton Miners The Scranton Miners, known as the Scranton Apollos from 1970 to 1977, were a professional basketball team based in Scranton, Pennsylvania that was a member of the American Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association. Arthur Pachter ...

of the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eigh ...

. He went back to the Philadelphia and played just 5 games for the Phillies. He had a .111 batting average in 9 at-bats that year a hit and a run. His final game came on October 11, 1910, also the final game of the season for the Phillies, when they played the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in a 6–1 win. McDonough went back to the Miners for the remainder of the 1911 season. The following year in 1912, McDonough signed with the

Chicago Green Sox The Chicago Green Sox were a short-lived franchise of the United States Baseball League The United States Baseball League was a short-lived prospective third major professional baseball league that was established in New York City in 1912 and ...

of the "outlaw"

United States Baseball League The United States Baseball League was a short-lived prospective third major professional baseball league that was established in New York City in 1912 and lasted only one partial season. History In March 1912, organizers of the proposed league ...

. It was a league that folded after just over a month of play. In the same year, McDonough went to the

Memphis Chickasaws Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memph ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...

. In 11 games there, he batted .212 with 7 hits. He then went to the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

and finished the season there. McDonough was done with the Southern Association, and in 1913 he went back the New York State League where he had previously been with the Scranton Miners. With the

Albany Senators The Albany Senators was a name used by multiple minor league baseball teams representing Albany, New York, that existed between 1885 and 1959. The mid-20th century club played at Hawkins Stadium. The various editions of the Senators generally pl ...

he played 109 games, batting .268 with 93 hits. The following year he went to the Utica Utes, batting .273 in 99 games in 1914. His final year playing baseball would be with Utica the next year, where McDonough had a .235 average in 90 games.

Death

McDonough died on September 2, 1926, in his hometown of Elgin. He was 39 years of age, and it was only 11 years after he had finished his career with the Utica Utes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonough, Ed 1886 births 1926 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Philadelphia Phillies players Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball players Jersey City Skeeters players Scranton Miners players Chicago Green Sox players Memphis Chickasaws players Chattanooga Lookouts players Albany Senators players Utica Utes players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Elgin, Illinois