A Thousand Words—Deacon McGuire’s Left Hand

14 Jun

mcguirehand

 

James “Deacon” McGuire caught more than 1600 games in a career that spanned parts of 26 seasons between 1884 and 1912.  He broke every finger on both hands and suffered thirty-six separate injuries to his left hand.  In 1906, his x-ray was acquired by the New York papers after yet another injury.

The New York World said doctors were “amazed to see the knots, like gnarled places on an old oak tree, around the joints, and numerous spots showing old breaks.”

Deacon McGuire

Deacon McGuire

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7 Responses to “A Thousand Words—Deacon McGuire’s Left Hand”

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  1. When Men Were Men and Catchers Were Ground to Bloody Stumps | the Hall of Miller and Eric - September 13, 2013

    […] An x-ray is worth 1,000 words. The one to the right (the left hand of longtime 1800s catcher Deacon McGuire) may lead us to information that support the case of Charlie Bennett for the HoME. Howard has carefully sifted through Bennett’s case and asked me, as Bennett’s advocate: Just how tough was it to catch back then? […]
  2. “Three or four Men who looked like Wonders in the Big Leagues Disappeared” | Baseball History Daily - January 13, 2014

    […] and James “Deacon” McGuire were the team’s two primary catchers, each playing 41 games behind the plate.  Mullane was 36-26 […]
  3. Baseball’s “Fountain of Youth” | Baseball History Daily - April 16, 2014

    […] A. C. (Cap) Anson has played longer than Wallace in the major leagues (Sheridan didn’t mention Deacon McGuire who also had Wallace beaten in years of service with 26—but he only played a total of 20 games in […]
  4. Things I Learned on the Way to Looking up other Things #9 | Baseball History Daily - June 18, 2014

    […] only player the paper named was catcher James “Deacon” McGuire who, at one point during the game was ahead $56.  The Herald quoted an unnamed team […]
  5. Kid Nichols | Baseball History Daily - June 25, 2014

    […]  Ed McFarland and (Billy) Sullivan are two right good men, and then there was reliable old Jim McGuire and Charles Zimmer, both of whom were cracker […]
  6. “It will be a Local Patriotic Game for Blood” | Baseball History Daily - August 4, 2014

    […] Philadelphia team for four years without men being changed.  All we had were (Jack) Clements and (Deacon) McGuire as catchers, (Charlie) Ferguson, (Charlie) Buffington and (Dan) Casey as pitchers, (Joe) Mulvey, […]
  7. Grantland Rice’s “All-Time All-Star Round up” | Baseball History Daily - August 10, 2015

    […] we come to a long array—Frank (Silver) Flint, Charley Bennett, (Charles “Chief”) Zimmer, (James “Deacon”) McGuire, (Wilbert) Robinson, (Marty) Bergen, (Johnny) Kling, (Roger) Bresnahan and various […]

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