John Woolf Beall (March 12, 1882 – June 14, 1926) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 for the

Cleveland Naps The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

Career

Beall was born in

Beltsville, Maryland Beltsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in northern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The community was named for Truman Belt, a local landowner. The 2020 census counted 20,133 residents. Beltsville includes the unincorporate ...

. On September 16, , he was drafted by the Cleveland Naps in the Denver (Western) rule 5 draft. He signed to play in the Naps organization. He made his major league debut on April 17, with the Naps at age 31. On May 29, he was traded to

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

( American Association) to complete an earlier trade. However, in June 1913 the trade was voided, and Beall returned to the Naps. On June 6, he was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox. After only about one month with Chicago, he was traded back to Milwaukee. This time, the trade didn't void. In 1913, Beall batted .258 in 66

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. He did not play in the major leagues in 1914. On September 15, , Beall was claimed by the Cincinnati Reds in the

rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. In 1915, he hit .235 in 34 at-bats; in 1916, he hit .333 in 21 at-bats and on April 20 he hit the first ever

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

. In April of that year, the Milwaukee team purchased Beall from the Reds. He did not play in the major leagues in 1917. It is unknown how Beall got to the Cardinals, but in 1918 he hit .224 in 49 at-bats in St. Louis. His final major league game was on July 16 of that year. At the time of his retirement, Beall had a career batting average of .253. He finished with 170 at bats in 58 games. He drove in 17 runs during his career. Beall hit three

s over the course of his career. His lifetime

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

was .972. Beall died at age 44 in his hometown of Beltsville.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beall, Johnny 1882 births 1926 deaths Baseball players from Prince George's County, Maryland Major League Baseball outfielders Cleveland Naps players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players St. Louis Cardinals players People from Beltsville, Maryland Minor league baseball managers Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players 20th-century American sportsmen