| Bob O'Farrell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Catcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1896-10-19)October 19, 1896 Waukegan, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: February 20, 1988(1988-02-20) (aged 91) Waukegan, Illinois, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 5, 1915, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 23, 1935, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .273 |
| Home runs | 51 |
| Runs batted in | 549 |
| Managerial record | 122–121 |
| Winning % | .502 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Robert Arthur O'Farrell (October 19, 1896 – February 20, 1988) was an Americanprofessionalbaseball player andmanager.[1] He played inMajor League Baseball as acatcher for 21 seasons with theChicago Cubs,St. Louis Cardinals and theNew York Giants.[1] O'Farrell also played for theCincinnati Reds, albeit briefly. He was considered one of the greatest defensive catchers of his generation.[2]
O'Farrell was born inWaukegan, Illinois where he grew up aChicago White Sox fan. He signed with the Cubs in1915 after playing an exhibition game for his local semi-professional team.[3] His first manager was former catcher,Roger Bresnahan, who helped O'Farrell develop his catching skills.[4] After a season on the bench, O'Farrell was sent toThree-I League where he spent two years before returning to the Cubs for the1918 season.[5] He served as backup catcher working behindBill Killefer as the Cubs went on to claim the1918National League pennant before losing to theBoston Red Sox in the1918 World Series.[6] O'Farrell went hitless in three at bats during the series.[7]
In1920 O'Farrell caught the majority of the Cubs' games and posting a .248batting average as, Killefer was injured during the season.[1] He began the1921 season as backup catcher until August when, Killefer was named the Cubs new manager.[8][9]
O'Farrell had a breakout season in1922 when he hit for a .322 average along with 4home runs, 60runs batted in and a .439on-base percentage.[1] He became one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, leading National League catchers in games caught,putouts,assists, baserunnerscaught stealing and in caught stealing percentage.[10] He became skillful at framing pitches by moving hiscatcher's mitt towards the strike zone after having caught a pitch, in an effort to influence the umpire to call a strike.[11] He had an even better year offensively in1923, producing career-highs in home runs (12), runs batted in (80),stolen bases (10) along with a .319 batting average.[1]
In July1924, O'Farrell suffered a fractured skull when afoul ball broke his catcher's mask.[12] He had asked a club house attendant to bring him a newer mask however, not wanting to delay the game, decided to continue to play with the older mask when he was struck in the head.[12]
He missed most of the season, and lost his job when futureBaseball Hall of Fame member,Gabby Hartnett, played well in his absence.[13] The Cubs decided to keep Hartnett as their starting catcher and traded O'Farrell to the St. Louis Cardinals at the start of the1925 season forMike González andHoward Freigau.O'Farrell experienced the highlight of his career in1926 when he hit for a .293 average with a career-high 30doubles, 7 home runs and 68 runs batted in as he helped the Cardinals clinch the National Leaguepennant.[1][14] He also led National League catchers in games caught and in putouts.[15]
In the1926 World Series against theNew York Yankees, O'Farrell produced a .301 batting average, but is remembered for throwing outBabe Ruth trying to steal second base for the lastout of the seven-game series as the Cardinals claimed their first-ever world championship.[16][17]
In November, he was voted the winner of the1926 National LeagueMost Valuable Player Award with 79 out of the possible 80 votes.[18][19] He was the first catcher to win a Most Valuable Player Award.[19]
In December1926, the Cardinals traded their managerRogers Hornsby to theNew York Giants forFrankie Frisch andJimmy Ring while O'Farrell was namedplayer-manager.[20] He led the Cardinals to a second-place finish, behind thePittsburgh Pirates even though the Cardinals won three more games than the previous season.[21] He only played in 61 games that season because of a sore arm.[21]
The owner of the Cardinals at that time,Sam Breadon was unhappy that the Cardinals did not win the pennant, and that O'Farrell was leaving his pitchers in too long during games.[22] He was given a $5,000 bonus to step down and replaced byBill McKechnie.[23] O'Farrell was traded to the New York Giants forGeorge Harper in May1928.[24] The trade caught many observers by surprise as, it left the Cardinals without an experienced catcher while the Giants had a surplus of catchers.[25]
O'Farrell played as a part-time catcher for the Giants, sharing catching duties withShanty Hogan duringJohn McGraw's final four years as manager of the club.[26] He hit for a .306 batting average in1929 and followed that with a .301 average in1930. By the1931 season, the 34-year-old O'Farrell was past his prime as his batting average dipped to .224.[1]
In October1932, O'Farrell was traded back to the St. Louis Cardinals for catcherGus Mancuso as part of new Giants managerBill Terry's rebuilding campaign.[27] He spent one season serving as backup catcher toJimmie Wilson before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds in January1934.[1]
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The General Manager of the Reds,Larry MacPhail, named O'Farrell as the team's player-manager.[28] By July, the Reds had fallen to last place in the National League standings and, on July 27, O'Farrell requested his unconditional release from the team.[29]
It was later reported that after the Reds had lost nine consecutive games, O'Farrell was engaged in a conversation with MacPhail when he quipped, "Well, you can't win 'em all." A supposedly infuriated MacPhail hiredCharlie Dressen as the new Reds manager the following day.[30] In August, he returned to the Chicago Cubs where he worked as a backup catcher to Gabby Hartnett.[31] O'Farrell was released by the Cubs at the end of the year and signed to play with the Cardinals for the1935 season. He appeared in only 14 games for the Cardinals, playing his final major league game on September 23 at the age of 38, and was released by the Cardinals in December1935.[1][32] O'Farrell played two more seasons in theminor leagues with theRochester Red Wings. In1938 he managed theBloomington Bloomers before retiring from professional baseball at the age of 41.[1]
In a 21-year major league career, O'Farrell played in 1,492games, accumulating 1,120hits in 4,101at bats for a .273 career batting average along with 51 home runs, 549runs batted in and a .360 on-base percentage. He finished his career with a .976fielding percentage. He led the National League three times in putouts and twice in assists.[1]
While with the Giants, O'Farrell caughtCarl Hubbell'sno-hitter on May 8, 1929.[33] He caught for six pitchers who would eventually be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.[34]
After retirement he ran a bowling alley in Waukegan which was open for over 30 years. O'Farrell died in Waukegan at the age of 91.[35]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help) · Baseball Almanac