Samuel E. Barkley (May 24, 1858 – April 20, 1912) 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 ...

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 ...

. Born in Wheeling,

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he played for four teams in six seasons from to .

Career

Barkley began his career with the

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American As ...

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 ...

, and was a member of their championship team in . He was still with the team when they joined the American Association for the season, and was the everyday second baseman. He batted .306 that season and led the league in doubles with 39. Following the season, Toledo and the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

made an arrangement in the off-season for a trade involving several players, but the trade broke down after the waiting period and only Barkley and one other player actually played with St. Louis. After a lawsuit it was estimated that Barkley had been valued for $800. Chris von der Ahe later claimed that Barkley's value was $1,000, but that may have been the asking price. In March

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

, Browns owner Chris von der Ahe offered Barkley for $1000 to the first team to pay the money.

Billy Barnie William Harrison Barnie (January 26, 1853 – July 15, 1900), nicknamed "Bald Billy", was an American manager and catcher in Major League Baseball. Born in New York City, he played as a right fielder in the National Association in 1874–75. In ...

was able to have Barkley sign an undated contract with 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 ...

and wired the asking price to Von der Ahe, but he had already secured a deal with owner of the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s–1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association An early mention of "base ball" in the region is found in an issue of t ...

Denny McKnight Harmar Denny McKnight (April 29, 1848 – May 5, 1900) was an early baseball manager and executive. On October 15, he founded the Allegheny Base Ball Club of Pittsburgh in anticipation of playing in the new American Association. The club then ...

, and Sam was convinced to play for the Allegheny club instead. The American Association suspended and fined Barkley for signing with Pittsburgh this action. Barkley sued the Association, but they settled out of court with suspension being lifted although the fine stayed in place. Baltimore was offered and accepted Milt Scott as payment. That first season with Pittsburgh, the season, he hit .266 with 31 doubles, and he also stole 22 bases, while playing in 122 games. His stats declined significantly in , only playing in 89 games, hitting only .224. After the season was over, Pittsburgh sold him to the

Kansas City Cowboys Several sports team in Kansas City, Missouri have used the name Cowboys: *Kansas City Cowboys (Union Association), a major league baseball team in the Union Association in 1884 *Kansas City Cowboys (National League), a major league baseball team in ...

of the American Association. He was given good playing time in by the Cowboys, playing in 116 games, but his batting average slid further down, to .216, but the season was not uneventful. On June 13, he

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, and he was given the managerial reins, which lasted 58 games and 21 wins. A

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injury Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with ...

ended his baseball career.

Post-baseball career

After his career in baseball ended, Barkley opened a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

shop in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. After the cigar shop closed, Barkley and his wife Dora moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. In Chicago he opened a saloon. Barkley died at the age of 53 in his hometown of Wheeling, and was buried in Peninsula Cemetery.

Personal life

Barkley married Flora "Dora" Feldman, who took the name Dora Feldman Barkley after marriage. She was a young woman who he had met while playing in Kansas City. Dora, at the age of 18, grew infatuated with Barlkey and ran away from home to pursue him. Feldman

stalked Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance or contact by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring th ...

Barkley, and, at a Kansas City

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

room where he was staying, confronted him and threatened to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

if he did not marry her. While he initially believed the young woman to be

insane Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors caused by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to other ...

, he ultimately wed her, and they soon after had a child named Harold Barkley together. When they lived in Chicago, Dora, working as an

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, began a public

affair An affair is a relationship typically between two people, one or both of whom are either married or in a long-term Monogamy, monogamous or emotionally-exclusive relationship with someone else. The affair can be solely sexual, solely physical or ...

with

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, and former

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Michael Cassius McDonald Michael Cassius McDonald (c. 1839 – August 9, 1907) was a crime boss, political boss, and businessman based out of Chicago. He is considered to have introduced organized crime to the city, and to have also established its first political machin ...

, who she had known in her childhood. It is believed that Barkley was paid $30,000 by McDonald to divorce his wife. The two divorced, and she wed McDonald, who also adopted the son he had with Dora, who would become known as Harold McDonald.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barkley, Sam 1858 births 1912 deaths Baseball players from Wheeling, West Virginia 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball second basemen Toledo Blue Stockings players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Pittsburgh Alleghenys (AA) players Kansas City Cowboys (AA) players Kansas City Cowboys (AA) managers Toledo Blue Stockings (minor league) players Toledo Black Pirates players Major League Baseball player-managers Pittsburgh Alleghenys (NL) players

Career

Post-baseball career

Personal life

See also

References

External links