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Bid McPhee Stats & Facts

Hall of Fame, Player

 

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Bid McPhee

Position: Second Baseman
Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right
5-8, 152lb (173cm, 68kg)
Born: November 1, 1859 in Massena, NY
Died: January 3, 1943  in San Diego, CA
Buried: Cypress View Mausoleum, San Diego, CA
Debut: May 2, 1882 (519th in major league history)
Last Game: October 15, 1899
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 2000. (Voted by Veteran’s Committee)
View Bid McPhee’s Page at the Baseball Hall of Fame (plaque, photos, videos).
Full Name: John Alexander McPhee
View Player Info from the B-R Bullpen
View Player Bio from the SABR BioProject

 

Notable Events and Chronology 

Bid McPhee hit an inside-the-park home run however he was out on appeal for failing to touch 2B.

Bid McPhee hit an inside-the-park home run however he was out on appeal for failing to touch 2B.

In American Association action, St. Louis Browns player-manager Charles Comiskey prevents a double play by running full tilt into Red Stockings second baseman Bid McPhee, enabling the Browns to win, 2 – 1. The Cincinnati fans are infuriated, but the umpire certifies the play.

Bid McPhee hits a grand slam‚ off Paul Swartzel‚ and a 2-run homer to pace the Reds to an 11-3 win over visiting Kansas City. Bid will total 5 homers this year.

Against first place (NL) Cincinnati‚ New York’s Mike Tiernan cycles for the 2nd time in his career. He did on August 25‚ 1888. It’s not enough as the Giants fall‚ 12-3. Bid McPhee has 3 triples for the Reds.

The first Sunday game in NL history features the hometown Cincinnati Reds defeating the St. Louis Browns 5-1. Bid McPhee contributes a HR.

After a day off, Cincinnati starts matters off by scoring 14 runs in the first inning‚ then cruises to a 30-12 victory over Louisville. Farmer Vaughn and James “Bug” Holliday lead the attack with 9 hits‚ including 5 extra-base hits‚ between them. Piggy Ward‚ with 2 singles‚ 5 walks‚ and a hit by pitch goes into the record books as the only man in major league history to reach base 8 times in a 9-inning game. He has now reached base safely 12 straight times. Bid McPhee and Arlie Latham have a record 8 plate appearances. The Reds tally 19 singles‚ 4 doubles‚ 5 triples‚ and 3 homers off Bill “Dusty” Rhodes‚ pitching in his only ML season.

Reds 2B Bid McPhee makes 3 errors in one inning as Cincinnati loses the opener of 2 to Brooklyn‚ 10-9. Tom Parrott‚ scheduled to start game 1‚ doesn’t arrive until the 5th inning. He gets the start in game 2 (as noted by Rhodes and Snyder)‚ but walks off the mound in the 2nd inning after Arlie Latham criticises him for a lack of effort.

Sporting Life erroneously claims that “Bid McPhee will hardly discard the glove next season now that he is accustomed to wearing it.”

1894 – Veteran manager Jack Chapman expresses his support of a proposed rule change forbidding all but catchers and first basemen from wearing gloves. Citing Cincinnati’s Bid McPhee as an example of one of the few remaining outstanding gloveless fielders, Chapman remarks that “as it is now, inferior players with big gloves can get into the game and force good men out.”

Veteran Cincinnati Reds 2B Bid McPhee opens the season wearing a glove for the first time‚ and survives several weeks of good-natured ribbing by opponents. He is the last to convert.

Baltimore’s Hughie Jennings knocks down Reds 3B Charlie Irwin before he can catch Bid McPhee’s throw. Jennings scores afterward to give the Orioles a controversial 6-5‚ 10-inning win over Cincinnati. Umpire Bob Emslie is escorted out of the ballpark by Cincinnati police.

Today is Bid McPhee Day at Cincinnati. The Reds lose the game‚ but the veteran 2B‚ playing in his 16th season‚ receives a check for $1‚800.

Rookie Harry Steinfeldt, the “wonder from Wonderville,” replaces injured Bid McPhee at second base for the Cincinnati Reds, gets three hits against Louisville, and handles nine chances afield.

Cincinnati closes out the season with 16-1 and 19-3 home victories over the hapless Cleveland Spiders. Sam Crawford has 5 hits for the day for the Reds. The Spider starter for game 2‚ Jack Harper‚ is understandably ill and Cleveland starts 19-year-old Eddie Kolb in his place. He gives up all the runs. Kolb runs the cigar stand at the Gibson House‚ and he became acquainted with manager Quinn during the team’s visits to the hotel. When he heard last night of Harper’s illness he volunteered. This will be his only appearance in the majors‚ but he will play and manage in the minors after this. Bid McPhee‚ considered the best 2B of the 19th century‚ plays in both games‚ which ends his long career. Cleveland ?nishes deep in the cellar with 20 wins and 134 losses‚ 84 games out. They also conclude a 36 game road trip (1-35) after setting a mark earlier this year with a 50-game road trip.

Bid McPhee‚ 2B for the Reds for 18 years‚ retires. ending a career equaled in the 19th century only by Buck Ewing and Cap Anson. His lifetime record of 6‚545 putouts is still untopped. McPhee is the last position player to go gloveless.

Bid McPhee‚ 2B for the Reds for 18 years‚ retires. ending a career equaled in the 19th century only by Buck Ewing and Cap Anson. His lifetime record of 6‚545 putouts is still untopped. McPhee is the last position player to go gloveless.

Bid McPhee resigns as Reds manager and is replaced by interim manager Frank Bancroft.

Bid McPhee resigns as Reds manager and is replaced by interim manager Frank Bancroft.

Bid McPhee smacks 4 hits‚ including a HR and a double‚ to support Gus Shallix’s one-hit pitching and give Cincinnati (AA) a 16-1 romp over Washington.

Manager Sparky Anderson, 19th century star Bid McPhee, and Negro League slugger Norman (Turkey) Stearnes are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

The Big Red Machine rolls into Cooperstown, delivering first baseman Tony Perez, manager Sparky Anderson and Reds announcer Marty Brennaman into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with 1975 Red Sox World Seriesrival Carlton Fisk. Also enshrined are 19th Century Cincinnati second baseman Bid McPhee and Negro League star “Turkey” Stearnes.

Over a career of 18 years, played entirely for Cincinnati teams in the 19th century, Bid McPhee was the best second baseman in the game. He was deservedly called King Bid. Only four men have played more games at 2B. Only Eddie Collins made more career putouts or handled more chances; only Frankie Frisch topped his record for total chances in a season, and no one has yet exceeded the 529 putouts he achieved in 1886. In an era when fine fielding was highly prized, he led his league in double plays in 11 seasons and had the best fielding average in nine. His .978 mark in 1897 was the highest of any second baseman in his time. And he did it all barehanded. Gloves were in general use by 1886, but McPhee resisted their use until 1897, when his career was winding down.
The righthanded leadoff batter was a consistent run producer, scoring more than 100 runs a season ten times. He hit with fair power, leading the league with seven HR in 1886, and he had 189 career triples, including a league-high 19 in 1887. That was impressive long-ball hitting for the dead-ball era. In his rookie year in the American Association (1882), color-coded uniforms were introduced to help new fans learn the players’ positions (the players called them “clown suits”). McPhee wore orange and black, the designation for second base. Throughout his career, fundamental changes were made in baseball’s rules. Pitchers threw underhand from 45′ when he broke in, and it took seven balls to earn a walk. He adjusted to overhand pitching for the next nine seasons, and to the modern distance of 60’6″ thereafter.

McPhee was a sober and sedate man, never fined or ejected from a game, and always in condition. He performed without flair, but his excellence thrilled the fans. He retired as a player while still commanding respect

Biography

 

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