Ten Million (October 14, 1889 – June 18, 1964) was an American minor league

baseball player 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 ...

who played for various teams in 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 ...

in the years prior to World War I. He is best known for his unusual name.

Baseball career

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 ...

acquired Million's contract in 1911 but he never got to play a major league game due to a knee injury. Million played for the

Tacoma Tigers Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mou ...

from 1912 to 1914, where in the last two season he played under

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Joe McGinnity Joseph Jerome McGinnity (March 20, 1871 – November 14, 1929) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the late 19th and early 20th century. McGinnity played in MLB for ten years, pitching for the National League's ...

. Million also played with the Seattle, Victoria, and Spokane teams of the Northwestern League. His career was brought to an end by a knee injury.

The Obak

Between 1909 and 1911, Obak cigarettes issued a series of baseball cards in order to promote their product. The card series, identified by

The American Card Catalog ''The American Card Catalog: The Standard Guide on All Collected Cards and Their Values'' is a reference book for American trading cards produced before 1951, compiled by Jefferson Burdick. Some collectors regard the book as the most important in ...

as T212, was printed and distributed in a manner similar to that of the American Tobacco Companies' T206 set. Million appeared in the 1911 issue while playing for the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

baseball team. The T212 issue was one of only two series to feature Million on one of its cards. The other series, T4, was a

cabinet card The cabinet card was a style of photograph that was widely used for Portrait photography, photographic portraiture after 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph mounted on a card typically measuring 108 by 165 mm ( by inches). History The ...

also printed by Obak Cigarettes.

Personal life

Million was born in

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

(UW). Million's paternal grandmother wanted her grandson's name to stand out, and suggested the name ''Ten''. She was a persuasive figure in his life, as she convinced his wife to name their daughter "Decillian," by bribing her with 50 dollars. Ten Million

Million attended Broadway High School, and graduated in 1908. He went on to college at UW. After his playing days, he stayed close to home and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. There, he worked for the city as a

claims adjuster Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

. After leaving that position, he began working for the local Spalding Sporting Goods store, where he met his future wife, Christine. During his downtime, Million

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

d in games for high school

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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Million, Ten 1889 births 1964 deaths Broadway High School (Seattle) alumni Tacoma Tigers players Sportspeople from Mount Vernon, Washington Baseball players from Washington (state) University of Washington alumni 20th-century American sportsmen