Harry Cooper Blake (June 16, 1874 – October 14, 1919), sometimes known by the nickname "Dude", was an American

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

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 ...

who played in the late 19th century. He played for the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

(1894–1898) and for the St. Louis Perfectos in 1899.

Early life

Blake was born in

Portsmouth, Ohio Portsmouth is a city in Scioto County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southern Ohio south of Chillicothe, Ohio, Chillicothe, it lies on the north bank of the Ohio River, across from Kentucky and just east of the mouth of th ...

. His father owned a butcher shop in Portsmouth, and Blake returned to work there even during his major-league offseasons.

Career

Blake debuted in the major leagues in 1894, becoming the first major league player from Portsmouth. He had been playing for the Atlanta Atlantas of the Southern League when the Cleveland Spiders sent injured outfielder Jimmy McAleer to find some promising players. Blake and McAleer had several similarities – both were Ohio natives and light-hitting outfielders with strong defensive skills – and Blake was signed by the Spiders. He was a member of the Cleveland team that defeated the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

four games to one to win the 1895 Temple Cup. In May 1896, the Spiders had farmed Blake out to a team in

Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...

. While he was there, he married Viola Barber. Blake returned to the Spiders shortly after his wedding. The next year, he again split the season between the Spiders and a farm team. In 1898, he finished fourth in the league in

sacrifice hits In baseball, a sacrifice bunt (also called a sacrifice hit) is a batter's act of deliberately bunting the ball, before there are two outs, in a manner that allows a baserunner to advance to another base. The batter is almost always put out, an ...

with 23. The owners of the Spiders, brothers Frank Robison and Stanley Robison, purchased another team, the St. Louis Perfectos, while maintaining their ownership of the Spiders. The Robison brothers sent most of the Spiders players to the Perfectos because they felt the team would draw better crowds in St. Louis. The 1899 Perfectos finished 84–67 (fifth place), while the Spiders had a disastrous 20–134 record and folded after the season. Trying to improve his hitting, Blake had given up cigarette smoking when a teammate suggested that it might improve his ability to see the baseball; his hitting did not get better. After the 1899 season, Blake returned to the minor leagues as a player for about a decade. This time included a brief stint as a player-manager for the Houston Buffaloes of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 1908.

Death

Blake was in a Chicago rooming-house on October 14, 1919, when a fire broke out. Blake died when he was unable to escape from the building.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Harry 1874 births 1919 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Ohio Cleveland Spiders players St. Louis Perfectos players Sportspeople from Portsmouth, Ohio Accidental deaths in Illinois 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Atlanta Atlantas players Fort Wayne Farmers players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Worcester Farmers players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Rochester Bronchos players Colorado Springs Millionaires players Austin Senators players Houston Buffaloes managers Houston Buffaloes players Portsmouth Cobblers players Deaths from fire in the United States