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Bats
The
Jack Barry, Ed Walsh, & Connie Mack
Story
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"Jack Barry, Ed Walsh, and Connie Mack, now all dead, gave Meriden baseball prominence in the first quarter of the 20th century far beyond what might be expected of an industrial community with a population then of about 30,000. It was a baseball town that spawned men who went to the top of the sport."
Quote from Edward Barthelems, Record Journal 1976

Jack Barry

Ed Walsh

Connie Mack

Bats

Jack Barry
Jack Barry, 1916 with the Red Sox Jack Barry, 1905 with the A's

Barry, John Joseph

  • Born: April 26,1887, Meriden, Connecticut
  • Died: April 23,1961, Shrewsbury, Mass
  • Bats: right, Throws: right
  • Major League Debut: 7/13/08
  • HT/WT, 5' 9", 158 lbs

Jack Barry, was a native of Meriden Connecticut who found fame and fortune as one of the greatest shortstops in the history of the American League. Barry was born April 26,1887, the son of Patrick Barry and Mary Doohan Barry. His father was a native of Ireland and a storekeeper in Meriden. During most of his childhood years in Meriden, Barry lived at 24 Hillside Ave. He lived with his parents in Meriden until the early 1900's when he married Margaret McDonough of Worcester, Mass. While his parents were still alive and living in Meriden, he visited them regularly. In later years he made the trip to Meriden to visit his relatives whenever his Holy Cross team played Yale.

Barry was an all-around sports star at Meriden High School, then attended Holy Cross College where he was signed directly off the campus during his sophomore year by the late great Connie Mack, owner-manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. Barry broke into the majors on July 13, 1908 with the Philadelphia Athletics. Barry was always known as a glove man, smart, fast, with great range and a powerful arm. He was a popular ballplayer and known as a fine team man. Mack called him the best shortstop he ever managed.

Jack Barry was a defensive wizard at shortstop and could also hold his own with the bat. He was in the majors for a decade playing for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox. While with the A's, he was a member of the famous "$100,000 infield" with "Stuffy" McInnis at first, Eddie Collins at second, and "Home Run" Baker at third. Baker and Collins later made the Hall of Fame. Collins and Barry still rank in the memories of baseball men as one of the all-time great keystone combinations along with Tinker and Evers, Lazzeri and Crosseti.

Barry let the A's to four World Series championships in 1910, 1911, 1913, and 1914. Then Connie Mack, in need of money, sold Barry to the Boston Red Sox, where he was shortstop in pennant winners in 1915 and 1916. In his only season as manager, he adapted himself to the role of player-manager in 1917, Jack - with the aid of a young southpaw named "Babe" Ruth who saw occasional service in the outfield - piloted the Red Sox to a second place finish in the American League pennant race. Jack also assisted in converting a young "Babe" Ruth from a star pitcher to the 'Sultan of Swat'.

Barry never lost his love for Holy Cross, or Holy Cross for him. He returned to Worcester as a coach in 1921, where he established an enviable winning record. Jack's baseball teams during the next four decades chalked up a record which, in all probability, will never be surpassed. Of 783 games, the Crusader nines won 627, lost only 151 and tied five. Discounting the five stalemates, they boasted an incredible .8057 percentage - good enough to top any league, anytime, anywhere. His teams was Eastern Champions 10 times, regional titlists in 1952 and 1958 and NCAA national champions in 1952 - the only Eastern nine ever to win that distinction - the Crusaders also earned Barry the reputation of sending more players to the majors than any college coach in the country.

In 1950, on year after its inaugural year, Meriden named its little league divisions the "Jack Barry Division" and the "Big Ed Walsh Division". That year, the league consisted of eight-teams. The "Connie Mack Division" was added for the 1953 season and consisted of four teams, bringing the 1953 Meriden Little League to 12 teams.

Both Ed Walsh and Connie Mack became Hall of Famers however, many people believe Jack Barry deserved enshrinement in Cooperstown even though he didn't make it. Jack Barry was inducted into the Meriden Sports Hall of Fame on May 22,1979.

Jack Barry died on April 23,1961 at the age of 73 but, his memory still lives on through this web site and the Jack Barry Little League.

Jack Barry's Major League Batting Statistics

YEAR TM/L G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1908 Phi-A 40 135 13 30 4 3 0 8 10 .222
1909 Phi-A 124 409 56 88 11 2 1 23 44 .215
1910 *Phi-A 145 487 64 126 19 5 3 60 52 .259
1911 *Phi-A 127 442 73 117 18 7 1 63 38 .265
1912 Phi-A 140 483 75 126 19 9 0 55 47 .261
1913 *Phi-A 134 455 62 125 20 6 3 85 44 32 .275
1914 *Phi-A 140 467 57 113 12 0 0 42 53 34 .242
1915 Phi-A 54 194 16 43 6 2 0 15 15 9 .222
**Bos-A 78 248 30 65 13 2 0 26 24 11 .262
Yr 132 442 46 108 19 4 0 41 39 20 .244
1916 **Bos-A 94 330 28 67 6 1 0 20 17 24 .203
1917 Bos-A 116 388 45 83 9 0 2 30 47 27 .214
1919 Bos-A 31 108 13 26 5 1 0 2 5 5 .241
Total 11 1223 4146 532 1009 142 38 10 429 396 142 .243
* World Series Winner, ** American League Pennant Winner

  • 1913: .275 BA, 85 RBI's
  • 1917: Manager of the Boston Red Sox
  • 1911 World Series: .368 BA, 7 hits (4 Doubles)

    Bats

    Big Ed Walsh
    Big Ed in a Boston Braves uniform, 1917

    Edward Augustine Walsh

    • Born: May 14, 1881, Plains, Pennsylvania
    • Died: May 26, 1959, Pompano Beach, Florida
    • Bats: right, Throws: right
    • Height: 6'1", Weight: 193 lbs
    • Major League Debut: 1904
    • Elected to Hall of Fame by Committee on Baseball Veterans: 1946

    One of the first spitball pitchers, "Big Ed" Walsh averaged 25 victories a season and 228 strikeouts a year over a six-year span for the Chicago White Sox. Ed Walsh had a blazing fastball, 4 variations of the spitball, and impeccable control. The strong right-hander twice hurled over 400 innings in a season and led the AL in saves 5 times. His 464 frames in 1908 set a post-1900 record as he won 40 games and tossed 12 shutouts. Also in 1908 he led the AL in nearly every pitching category including wins (40), winning percentage (.727 on 40-15), games pitched (66), games started (49), games completed (42), innings pitched (464), hits allowed (343), strikeouts (269), shutouts (12), and saves (6). He also led the American league in games pitched 5 times. Twice he pitched and won two games in one day, including allowing only one run over both ends of a doubleheader against Boston on September 29, 1908. His amazing 1.82 lifetime ERA is the best of all time. Walsh pitched 5 one-hitters before closing the door on the Red Sox with a no-hitter on August 27,1911 striking out 8 and walking only one, as Chicago won 5-0.

    "Big Ed" Walsh who died in 1959 at age 78, was born in Plains Pennsylvania in 1881. He later played baseball in Meriden in 1902, for the Silver City entry in the Connecticut League. His first year, 1902, saw him compile a 15-5 record. This mark attracted the attention of Newark in the International League. He won 9 and lost 3 for the club in 1903. This prompted the Chicago White Sox to buy his contract for $750, then a large sum of money.

    After a 6-3 season with the White Sox in 1904, Walsh was on his way. He had a startling 40-win, 15-loss record in 1908. He worked in 464 innings that year, struck out 269, and walked only 56.

    Walsh won two games against Pittsburgh in the 1906 World Series, captured by the White Sox 5 games to 3. On September 29,1908, he pitched both ends of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, allowing only one run all day. He was elected to the Hall of Fame after pitching for the White Sox (1904-1916) until 1916, and then a year with the Boston Braves of the National League (1917). During his 13 years in the majors, Walsh won 195 games, lost 126, with a lifetime ERA of 1.82.

    The story is told that the biggest salary Walsh ever drew for a year was $2,500. By today's standards, baseball was primitive in Walsh's day. A pitcher wasn't relieved if he gave up 7 or 8 runs. Relief pitching had hardly been heard of then.

    With his big league days over, he returned to Connecticut to work in New Haven and then got back into baseball as an American League Umpire. He also was a pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox in 1928. Walsh returned to Meriden in 1937, and was employed by the City of Meriden at the water filtration plant at Broad Brook Reservoir. After 17 years at the plant he retired in 1953. He died of cancer at Pompano, Florida in 1958.

    For a man of his build, Walsh had an unusual hobby. It was gilding milk weed, golden rod, and lily pods.

    Ed Walsh was a Hall of Fame major-leaguer and a city resident who was always willing to help local organizations. Ed Walsh threw out the first pitch during the city's Connie Mack Day celebration in 1947 and for the Meriden Little League in 1950 when a division was named in his honor. He also attended opening day ceremonies for the Meriden Little League in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1956.

    The memory of Ed Walsh still lives on today in Meriden through this web site and the "Big Ed" Walsh Little League.

    Big Ed Walsh's Major League Pitching Statistics

    YEAR TM/L G IP CG H SO BB W L ERA
    1904 Chi-A 18 111 6 90 57 32 6 3 2.60
    1905 Chi-A 22 137 9 121 71 29 8 3 2.17
    1906 *Chi-A 41 278 24 215 171 58 17 13 1.88
    1907 Chi-A 56 422 37 341 206 87 24 18 1.60
    1908 Chi-A 66 464 42 343 269 56 40 15 1.42
    1909 Chi-A 31 230 20 166 127 50 15 11 1.41
    1910 Chi-A 45 370 33 242 258 61 18 20 1.27
    1911 Chi-A 56 368 33 327 255 72 27 18 2.22
    1912 Chi-A 62 393 32 332 254 94 27 17 2.15
    1913 Chi-A 16 98 7 91 34 39 8 3 2.58
    1914 Chi-A 8 45 3 33 15 20 2 3 2.82
    1915 Chi-A 3 27 3 19 12 7 3 0 1.33
    1916 Chi-A 2 3 0 4 3 3 0 1 2.70
    1917 Bos-N 4 8 1 22 4 9 0 1 3.50
    Total 14 430 2964 250 2346 1736 617 195 126 1.82

    Big Ed Walsh's World Series Pitching Statistics

    YEAR TEAM LEAGUE G W L SO
    *1906 Chicago American 2 2 0 17
    *1906 World Series captured by the White Sox 5 games to 3

    Bats

    Connie Mack
    Connie Mack

    Cornelius Alexander Mack

    • Born: December 22, 1862 at East Brookfield, Massachusetts
    • Died: February 8, 1956 at Germantown, Pennsylvania
    • Bats: right, Throws: right
    • Height: 6'1", Weight: 150 lbs
    • Major League Debut: 9/11/1886
    • Elected to Hall of Fame by Committee on Baseball Veterans: 1937

    Connie Mack began his career as a catcher but made his mark as a manager. After brief stints at the helm at Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, he assumed control of the Athletics in 1901 and continued for 50 years until retirement at the age of 88. Tall in stature and sharp of mind, he is remembered as a dignified, scorecard-waving tactician in a business suit, who built two championship dynasties in Philadelphia. The first great A's team won four flags in five years from 1910-1914, while the second Athletic powerhouse garnered three pennants in a row from 1929-1931.

    In 1884, a 21-year-old young man, whose legs were almost as long as his name, Cornelius McGillicuddy, arrived in Meriden from East Brookfield, Mass., to be the catcher on the Resolutes, the local entry in the Connecticut State Baseball League. At the end of the season, catcher McGillicuddy was presented with a gold watch inscribed "To Connie Mack from the fans of Meriden." Thereafter, he was known to the baseball world and the world at large as "Connie Mack."

    Connie Mack's Meriden stay was brief. He played here in 1884, when league games were played at what was known as the trotting park off Kensington Avenue. He moved on to the Hartford club and then to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and a date with destiny.

    Connie Mack never forgot Meriden and over the years paid a number of visits to this city. In 1947 he brought his Philadelphia Athletics to Meriden to play an exhibition game with the Insilco's on Insilco Field, the occasion being the 100th anniversary of the 1947 Rogers Bros, Silver Plate produced by the International Silver Company. It was a gala day in Meriden from the time when Connie and his A's stepped off the train to be welcomed by a colossal crowd, and to be photographed by MGM Fox and newsreel cameras in scenes later shown throughout the country, in the days before television. That evening, Connie Mack was presented with a full service of International Silver Flatware at a dinner presided over by Evarts C. Stevens, president of International. A crowd of 10,000 spectators watched the game, won by the A's, 7 to 3. The game raised $5,281.78 for the building fund of the Meriden Boys' Club.

    Connie Mack attained baseball immorality while managing the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League from its founding in 1901 to 1950, he had previously managed Pittsburgh in the National League from 1894 to 1896. With Philadelphia, he won nine pennants and five World Series. Mack was involved in baseball for 62 years, 50 as a manager of the American League A's.

    Connie Mack returned to Meriden in 1951 and attended opening day ceremonies for the founding of the Meriden Intermediate League. Over 1,000 spectators witnessed the dedication of a new flag pole at Legion Park Field in his honor. The flag pole was presented to the city by Captain Higgins and a plaque was placed on a monument, which still stands today, reading, "Erected in Honor of Connie Mack, June 17, 1951." His last visit was in June, 1953 when the Meriden Little League named one of its pee-wee loops in his honor and he appeared at Little League Stadium along with Ira Thomas, former A's baseball star and a coach and scout for the Philadelphia club. This events drew over 1,500 spectators. The venerable Connie Mack died in 1956 at the age of 93.

    The Connie Mack Little League folded in 1996 after 43 consecutive years of operation, however, the memory of Connie Mack still lives on today through this web site and within the History of Meriden Little League.

    Connie Mack's Major League Batting Statistics
    Eleven years in the National League, three years with Washington and eight years with Pittsburgh.

    TOTAL YEARS G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB AVG
    Total 11 723 2695 391 659 79 28 5 265 127 .245

    Connie Mack's Record as a Manager

    YEARS G W L PCT
    53 years 7755 3731 3948 .486
    Best Season 1931, 107 wins -45 losses

    Connie Mack Monument
    American Legion Post 45 Club
    Meriden, CT

    Please send comments to Fred Bucchieri<fbucchieri@snet.net>


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