Leo Christopher "Lee" Magee (born Leopold Christopher Hoernschemeyer; June 4, 1889 – March 14, 1966) 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 ...

player and manager between 1911 and 1919. While he played the majority of his professional games in the outfield, he also played the infield frequently. In 1915, he was a player/manager for the

Brooklyn Tip-Tops The Brooklyn Tip-Tops were a team in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915. The team's name came from Tip Top Bread, a product of Ward Baking Company Building, Ward Baking Company, which was also owned by team ...

of the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

for most of the season. The team was 53–64 under his management. Magee was later banned from baseball for his ties to gamblers and

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing (also known as game fixing, race fixing, throwing, rigging, hippodroming, or more generally sports fixing) is the act of playing or officiating a contest with the intention of achieving a predetermined result, v ...

, but would later be posthumously reinstated in 2025.

Professional career

Magee signed with the

Seattle Turks The Seattle Turks were a minor league baseball team based in Seattle, Seattle, Washington that played in the 1909 Northwestern League (1905-1917), Northwestern League season. In their only year with the Turks name, the team won the league title w ...

of the

Northwestern League The Northwestern League was a sports league that operated in the Central United States during the early years of professional baseball for six seasons: 1879, 1883–1884, 1886–1887, and 1891. After the 1887 season, the league was replaced by t ...

for the 1909 season. ''The Oregonian'' noted "To provide against a possible loss of ugBennett, anDugdale signed Lee Magee, a fast youngster, who so far has justified the advance press dope of his touters that he handles himself in the field like

Johnny Evers John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager (baseball), manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves (baseba ...

." On August 19, 1909, Magee was sold to the

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 ...

by the Seattle Turks of the Northwestern League. In 1915, Magee was sued by the St. Louis Cardinals after he jumped to the

in the

James A. Gilmore James Alexander Gilmore (March 2, 1876 – March 19, 1947) was an American businessman who served as president of baseball's Federal League when it attempted to become a third major league, alongside the American League and National League, i ...

, president of the Federal League, instructed Magee to ignore the suit. In 1015 games over nine seasons, Magee posted a .276

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1031-for-3741) with 467 runs, 133 doubles, 54

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 12

home runs 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 ...

, 277 RBI, 186

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

and 265

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

. Defensively, he finished his career with an overall .962

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 ...

Banishment

As a ballplayer with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, Magee and

Hal Chase Harold Homer Chase (February 13, 1883 – May 18, 1947), nicknamed "Prince Hal", was an American professional baseball first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball, widely viewed as the best fielder at his position. During his career, he ...

of 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 ...

were accused of fixing a game on August 31, 1919, by the

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the List of counties in Illinois, most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the List of the most populous counties in the United States, second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, C ...

grand jury investigating the

Black Sox scandal The Black Sox Scandal was a match fixing, game-fixing scandal in Major League Baseball (MLB) in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for p ...

. In response Cubs president

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill" and "Wild Bill" was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indian ...

released Magee. Magee filed suit against the Cubs for $9,500 in lost wages and bonuses in 1920. He claimed to have damning evidence which would be the "biggest bomb in baseball history". The jury ruled in favor of the Cubs on June 9, 1920. Magee was reinstated by Commissioner

Rob Manfred Robert Dean Manfred Jr. (born September 28, 1958) is an American lawyer and business executive who is serving as the tenth commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as MLB's chief operating officer. Manfred succeeded Bud S ...

on May 13, 2025, along with other deceased players who were on the ineligible list.

Personal life

Magee was accused by Fred W. Kleine of

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in a reply to his wife Harriet Kleine's petition for divorce, with a charge that Harriet would meet Magee and other baseball players at

Robison Field Robison Field is the best-known of several names given to a former Major League Baseball park in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis Cardinals of the National League from April 27, 1893 until June 6, 1920. History Today' ...

and bring them home. In one instance in May 1910, Fred W. Kleine claimed he found his wife drinking beer with Magee,

Jack Bliss John Joseph Albert Bliss (January 9, 1882 – October 23, 1968) was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1908 until 1912, for the St. Louis Cardinals, primarily as a catcher Catc ...

and Kitty Knight. Another instance, according to Fred W. Kleine, his wife had to assist an inebriated Magee down their stairs. All of the players denied wrongdoing, but said they had been guests at the Kleine's house, which was across the street from the ballpark. Magee responded that it was a leg injury that made him require assistance down the Kleine's stairs. ''The Oregonian'' noted that "Magee's name in a divorce suit along with other ball players, is not much of a surprise. Lee was a handsome boy and women admired him. He had an escapade on a sleeping car when he was playing first

ase ASE may refer to: Organisations * Academia de Studii Economice (the Economic Sciences Academy), in Bucharest, Romania * Admiralty Signal Establishment, a former defense research organization in the UK * ASE Group (Advanced Semiconductor Engineeri ...

for Seattle, that took diplomacy on the part of president Dugdale to smooth over." Magee married Beatrice Rogers in 1917 and during this time Magee petitioned the court in Cincinnati to legally change his name from Leopold Christopher Hoernschemeyer to Lee Magee. According to ''The Oregonian'' this was done so his wife would be known as Mrs. Magee following their marriage.

References

External links

Joe Magee
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) {{DEFAULTSORT:Magee, Lee 1889 births 1966 deaths Baseball players from Cincinnati Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball second basemen St. Louis Cardinals players Brooklyn Tip-Tops players 20th-century American sportsmen Brooklyn Tip-Tops managers New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players Cincinnati Reds players Brooklyn Robins players Chicago Cubs players Burlington Pathfinders players Waterloo Cubs players Waterloo Lulus players Seattle Turks players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball player-managers

Professional career

Banishment

Personal life

See also

References

External links