Thomas Joseph Loftus (November 15, 1856 – April 16, 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 and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He had a brief major-league playing career, appearing as an

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 ...

in parts of the 1877 and 1883 seasons. As a manager, he led major-league teams in the

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

, American Association,

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 ...

, and

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

Career

Loftus' playing career began in 1877 with the St. Louis Brown Stockings of the

, but he only played in nine career games, in 1877 and 1883, as an

. Loftus' first managerial job came in 1884 with the minor-league

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. That team also played 12 games as a replacement team in the short-lived

, compiling an 8–4 record. Loftus returned to manage the minor-league Brewers in 1885, until their league folded mid-season. Loftus later took over as manager of the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followe ...

, then known as the Blues, partway through the 1888 season after Jimmy Williams resigned. In 1890, Loftus was hired to manage the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, who had recently made the jump from the American Association to the National League. He left baseball after the 1891 season, but in 1900 he came back to manage the Chicago Orphans for two seasons and then the Washington Senators for two seasons. In each of his managerial stops, Loftus had part ownership of the team. He died in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

, at the age of 53.

References

External links

Baseball-Reference.com Manager page
1856 births 1910 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from Missouri Major League Baseball outfielders St. Louis Brown Stockings players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Milwaukee Brewers (UA) managers Cleveland Blues (1887–1888) managers Cleveland Spiders managers Cincinnati Reds managers Chicago Orphans managers Washington Senators (1901–1960) managers Minor league baseball managers Memphis Reds (League Alliance) players Dubuque Red Stockings players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players {{Baseball-manager-stub