George Frederick "Peaches" Graham (March 23, 1877 – July 25, 1939) was a baseball

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 ...

for the Cleveland Bronchos,

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 ...

, Boston Doves/Rustlers, and

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 ...

. Born in

Aledo, Illinois Aledo is a city and the county seat of Mercer County, Illinois, United States. The population was 3,633 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Aledo was established in the 1850s when the railroad was extended to that point. It ...

, Graham played seven seasons of

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 ...

over the span of eleven years. He debuted in with the Bronchos as a second baseman, and came back in with the Cubs as a

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, ...

, but only pitched in one game, a loss. After a five-year hiatus, Graham returned in 1908 as a utility player with the Braves. He started games as a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

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 ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

, and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, but was predominantly a catcher. Graham was traded mid-season to the Cubs, but only played there for three months before being traded for

Dick Cotter Richard D. Cotter (September 17, 1842 – March 12, 1927), also known as Dick Cotter and R. D. Cotter, was an Irish-born American member of the first California Geological Survey. Biography Richard D Cotter was orphaned at a young age and emi ...

to Philadelphia, where he would finish his major league career after the season at the age of thirty-five. He had a son,

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...

, born in 1916, who would go on to play professional baseball. Graham died in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

at the age of sixty-two.

References

External links

Peaches Graham
at Baseball Almanac 1877 births 1939 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Cleveland Bronchos players Chicago Cubs players Boston Doves players Boston Rustlers players Philadelphia Phillies players Rock Island Islanders players Colorado Springs Millionaires players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Scranton Miners players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Wichita Witches players Des Moines Boosters players Davenport Blue Sox players Hannibal Mules players Baseball players from Mercer County, Illinois People from Aledo, Illinois {{US-baseball-catcher-1870s-stub