Samuel Washington Wise (August 18, 1857 – January 22, 1910) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He played all or part of twelve seasons in

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 ...

from 1881 to 1893, most often as either a

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 ...

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 ...

. He played for the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the ...

Boston Red Caps The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

(and later Beaneaters), and Washington Senators in the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, 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 ...

in the American Association, and the

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

Early life

Wise was born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...

, to two Pennsylvania natives, Samuel Wise and the former Sarah Weary.

Career

Wise played semi-pro baseball in 1880 and 1881 for an Akron team organized by Charlie Morton, where his teammates included future major-league stars such as Bid McPhee and

Tony Mullane Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "the Apollo of the Box", was an Irish professional baseball player who pitched for seven major-league teams during 1881–1894. He is best known as a switch pitch ...

. He played in a single NL game for the 1881

. In 1882, Wise ended up signing with both the NL's Boston Red Caps and the American Association's

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...

. When the Red Stockings unsuccessfully sued the Red Caps, it marked the first American court case involving professional baseball. Playing for Boston through 1888, Wise was mostly a left-handed hitter, but he sometimes batted right-handed on a whim. He became the first 100-strikeout hitter in the major leagues in 1884, and he was often erratic on defense, especially when throwing to first base. He sustained an injury in 1886, requiring a move to first base, and he had off-and-on arm difficulties for the rest of his career. Still, he had a stellar offensive season in 1887, hitting .334. Wise spent 1889 with the Washington Nationals, but that team left the NL after the season, and most of its players went to the Buffalo Bisons of the

(PL) in 1890. The PL lasted only one year and Wise was only in the major leagues until 1893. Wise concluded his playing career by spending six seasons in the minor leagues, mostly with the Eastern League's team in Buffalo; the squad was managed by Morton. After retiring as a player, Wise worked for the Diamond Tire and Rubber Company and was a businessman in Buffalo for a short time before coming home to Akron. He umpired in the

Ohio–Pennsylvania League The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1905–1912) was a Class C (baseball), Class C and Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded b ...

, a minor league run by Morton.

Personal life

In 1885 Samuel W. Wise fathered a son in Boston, MA with Irish-born Ellen McKenna. The child was named Samuel Henry Wise, but his name was revised on the birth record to John Francis Wise. John F. Wise became a Boston policeman in 1913 and participated in the 1919 Boston Police Strike. In 1887, Wise married the former Lizzie O'Neill of

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

. He was known as a womanizer even after his marriage. Wise and Lizzie O'Neill had one child.

Death

Wise was said to have sought medical treatments for

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the Appendix (anatomy), appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever and anorexia (symptom), decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these t ...

"for a long time". In January 1910, he became so ill that physicians recommended that he come to the hospital for surgery. The procedure was described as successful, but the ''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon Jo ...

'' said that "the after effects were worse than expected." Wise died at home on January 22 shortly after telling his wife that he had tried to be brave in fighting the illness.

References

External links