Egyptian Healy

When it comes to nicknames, there is no shortage in baseball. While there are plenty of “Kids” and “Rubes” such as Kid Baldwin or Rube Foster, other nicknames are more baseball specific like Home Run Baker or Lefty Williams. Still others are based on the player’s geographic place of birth like “California” William Brown or “Big Florida” Ted Trent. It’s this latter trend where John J. “Egyptian” Healy derives his unusual nickname. Hailing from the town of Cairo, Illinois, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, Healy received this unusual moniker because of the town’s shared name with the Egyptian capital. Though largely forgotten today, Healy was a popular pitcher in his eight seasons of major league baseball. Because of his popularity and pitching ability, he was chosen to accompany Al Spalding on his world tour between 1888-1889.1 He was also captured in five poses for the 1887 Old Judge Tobacco card series.2 Sadly though, his life was cut short by a disease that plagued the human population since time immemorial. Let’s take a look back at this intriguing old-time pitcher.

John J. Healy was born on October 27, 1866, in Cairo, Illinois to Irish immigrant parents, Thomas and Bridget Healy.3 Depending on the source, Thomas Healy was born in Ireland sometime between 1815-1820.4 The exact date of his immigration to the United States is unknown. In addition, the exact date of his passing also cannot be positively identified at this time. While he is missing from the 1880 census, he turns up in 1887 running a grocery store, where Healy worked in the off season.5 This is the last mention of him in any documentation.

Bridget Healy was born sometime between 1822-1832.6 Much like her husband, the exact date she immigrated from the “Emerald Isle” has been lost to time. However, unlike her husband, the date of her passing can be narrowed down to within two weeks prior to the passing of her son, the baseball player.7 The 1860 census has the Healys and their children Francis and daughter Bridget living in St. Louis, Missouri. The census lists Thomas’ occupation as “Laborer.”8 Just a decade later the Healys and children Bridget, Kate, and John are living in Cairo with the elder Healy’s occupation listed as “Drayman.” His eldest son Francis “Frank” is absent from the document.9  The answers to a lot of these questions concerning Healy’s family may never be known with any degree of certainty. There is not much known about John’s early life. It wouldn’t be until 1885 when he makes his first appearance in baseball’s historic record.

The earliest appearance of Healy playing baseball that can positively pinpointed occurred on July 30, 1885, when he took the mound for a team from Fulton (Kentucky). An article in the National Pastime: Premiere Edition (1982) states he pitched a game for Peoria, Illinois in 1885, though the author does not give a date for the game and subsequent searches for it have not uncovered any information.10 Healy continued to pitch for Fulton, until September when it was announced that he was going to pitch for the St. Louis Maroons of the National League.11

Standing 6-feet-2, weighing 158 pounds, batting and throwing right, the clean-shaven Healy was also branded with the nickname “Long John,” most likely due to his height and build.12 Playing alongside Jack Glasscock, Fred Dunlap and Dick Phelan, Healy pitched eight games for the team in 1885 winning only one. In a game on September 26, Boston got eight hits off the rookie pitcher with a total of 13 bases.13 In the fourth inning of that game they “bunched three singles, a double, and a triple, earning 4 runs.”14  Later that month in a game against Philadelphia on September 30, Healy’s wild delivery cost St. Louis the win.15 At the end of his first season he went 1-7 with a 3.00 ERA.

In 1886, Healy was back with St. Louis. In an early pre-season game, he led the Maroons to a 11-3 victory over St. Joseph of the Western League.16 Less than a month later, the May 18th edition of the St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat opines “Healy pitched in his usual good style…” in a game against Philadelphia, though the team lost 4-3.17 Healy had an interesting first full season in the majors. On June 21 he was hit on the head with the ball and was taken out of the game.18 In a write up on July 10, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recounted an incident where Healy was part of a unique play against what was believed to be the Boston club. “Anyhow, Healy was pitching and Dunlap caught the ball, which was thrown in from the outfield. He made a quick motion as though he had actually thrown it to Healy, and the Egyptian, who is blessed with a trifle of brains himself, caught on immediately. Assuming his wonted position preparatory to delivery he pretended to fumble the sphere on his hip, the batsman making ready to strike. ‘Low ball’, called Johnnie [Morrilland he fixed his eyes on Healy. Meanwhile the man at first ran down a bit, and before he was aware of it [AlexMcKinnon touched him out with the ball which Dunlap had in his hand all the time.”19 As the season wound down, the papers took notice of his ability on the hill. “He never pitched a better game in his life…” wrote the St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat about Healy’s ability to confound the “Quaker City boys.” 20 “Healy pitched in magnificent style,” the same paper wrote about an exhibition held on Halloween.21 At the end of the 1886 season, Healy was 17-23, starting 41 games with a 2.88 ERA. As the year came to a close, Healy returned to Cairo to prepare for the next season.22 However, he would not be returning to St. Louis the following spring.

It was announced in the January 14 edition of the St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat that the Maroons had disbanded.23 There was initial talk of Healy heading to Washington, however, on March 8, the Indianapolis Hoosiers purchased Healy along with Glasscock, Henry Boyle, Jerry Denny, Jack McGeachey, John Kirby, George Myers,  Otto Schomberg , John Cahill ,  and Emmett Seery.24 On April 1, the Indianapolis Journal wrote about the teams newest acquisitions, including Healy. In the short paragraph on the hurler the writer mentioned that he was a “druggist” and was known as the “’Egyptian Wonder,” in compliment to his marvelous dexterity.”25 While the article was correct regarding his sobriquet, they were incorrect attributing the occupation of “druggist” to the pitcher. That career belonged to his brother, Francis (Frank), who supported the family in the absence of the patriarch.26

Healy got off to a rocky start with Indianapolis. In his first game against Cincinnati held on April 4, he “lacked confidence” and pitched wildly, resulting in a 20-11 defeat.27 Just a few days, later on April 6, he was retired after three innings in a game against St. Louis.28 As the spring rolled on, his slump continued. One article wrote that he “seemed to be all at sea with himself and couldn’t get the ball over the plate once in a dozen times trying,” in a contest against Detroit.29 It wasn’t until May 13 against Pittsburgh that the hurler finally found his groove and helped his team to a 3-2 win.30 However he fell back into a series of bad games filled with wild pitches.31 It wasn’t until Healy pitched against Pittsburgh again that he made the headlines with a 12-0 shutout against the team from the “Smoky City.”32  Later in the season on August 19, Healy made his debut as an umpire in a game between Indianapolis and Detroit.33 He last umpired a game on September 4, 1890.34 As the season finished up, the stats showcased Healy’s lackluster performance. He went 12-29 over 41 games, leading the National Leagues in losses, while raising his ERA to 5.17. The blame cannot be solely laid at his feet. Indianapolis came in last place with a record of 37-89.

The following season Healy was back with Indianapolis.35 He again turned in a losing season, which included a fistfight with teammate Con Daily and a $300 fine by management.36 Though he finished the season with a 12-24 record, Healy was chosen to accompany Albert Spalding on his world tour pitching for the All-Americans against the Chicago White Stockings. With the purpose of promoting the sport of baseball, Healy along with players like John Montgomery Ward, Cap Anson, and Ned Hanlon  traveled to the Kingdom of Hawaii, Australia, Colombo (Sri Lanka), Italy, France, England, Scotland, Ireland, and Egypt, where Spalding “with his acute sense of publicity” started Healy in the game played on the plain of Giza within site of the Great Pyramid.37 With his world tour wrapping up and a new season on the horizon, Healy found himself up for trade.

On March 29, 1889, while Healy was still out of the country, he was traded to the Washington Nationals for Jim Whitney. Suiting up for Washington, Healy lost game after game, only winning 1 out of 12. Dissatisfied with Washington, he was released on July 6 and picked up by Cap Anson and Chicago.38 On July 15, in a game against the New York Giants, Healy pitched wildly in the seventh inning, walking three players and forcing in one run. Then two more hits sent in two more runs. Though he pitched well for the rest of the game, New York defeated Chicago 7-4.39 By the end of the season, Healy again was on the losing end and went 1-4 over 5 games, though as the Daily Inter Ocean wrote “John can pitch good ball if he is supported by live men.”40

In 1890, Healy was slated to go to the Kansas City (Missouri) Blues of the Western Association. He refused to go and sent back the money advanced to him by the team.41 In April, his contract was bought from Kansas City by the Toledo (Ohio) Maumees of the American Association.42 Besides being fined $25 dollars for disagreeing with an umpire, his time with Toledo yielded him his only winning season of his career where he went 22-21 over 46 games.43 On his return home to Cairo, he was greeted with a welcome reception that included a brass band. He wintered in his hometown, getting ready for the following season.44

It was announced in January of 1891 that Baltimore signed Healy calling him a “terror to the batsmen.”45 In a pre-season exhibition game against the Philadelphia Athletics Healy sprained his right knee.46 This injury plagued him in the early part of the season. Trying to heal up, he went to a Turkish bath in Baltimore where one of the “manipulators” who was working on him rubbed the injured limb too hard and as one article states his leg was “twisted out of shape and he will probably not be able to pitch again this season.”47 Though he was out for some time, he did return and finished out the season going 8-10 over 23 games.48 That same year, on November 25, 1891, Healy married Maggie Griffin. The couple would have two daughters.49

The 1892 season was Healy’s last in major league baseball. He began the season back with Baltimore before being let go in mid-June. He was picked up by the Louisville Colonels where he only got to ply his trade in two games before being given his ten-day walking papers.50 Healy finished his major league career with a record of 78-136 over 227 games and a 3.84 ERA.

Though he left the majors, Healy wasn’t done with baseball. Absent from the game during the 1893 season, he resurfaced the following season pitching for the Erie (Pennsylvania) Black Birds.51 The following two seasons he pitched for Minneapolis in 1895 and St. Paul in 1896 in the Northwestern League before leaving professional baseball forever.52

Still a young man, Healy returned to St. Louis and became a detective with the police force where he continued to pitch for the departments’ baseball team, though he didn’t have time to enjoy his new career for long. Like many Irish Americans, including fellow baseballer, California Brown, he contracted tuberculosis in 1898 and had to leave the force.  Tuberculosis, also called the “wasting disease” lived up to its grim reputation and ravaged his body. When he died at age 32 at his home in St. Louis on March 16, 1899, he weighed only 70 lbs.53 Healy’s body rests in Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis.54 While he might not be a household name today, he will always be remembered by baseball historians and fans as the man who pitched a historic game under the ever-watchful gaze of the Sphinx.

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Kim Juhase and fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo.

Photo credit: Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and the following. Ancestry.com, findagrave.com, Newspapers.com, US Census Bureau, 1860, 1870, 1880.

Miller, Jay, Gonsowski, Joe, Masson, Richard. The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company 1886-1890 (‎Self-published, 2008).

Lamster, Mark: Spaulding’s World Tour-The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around The Globe-and Made It America’s Game (New York, Public Affairs, 2006).

Nemec, David. Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 1: The Ball Players Who Built the Game. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2011).

Notes

1 Mark Lamster, Spaulding’s World Tour-The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around The Globe-and Made It America’s Game (New York, Public Affairs, New York, 2006), 335.

2 Jay Miller Joe Gonsowski, and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company 1886-1890 (‎Self-published, 2008), 263.

3 1870 U.S. Census. The author was not able to uncover Healy’s middle name.

4 1860 U.S. Census; 1870 U.S. Census; “Obsequies of John Healy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 18, 1899: 5

5 1880 U.S. Census; “Base Ball Notes”, The Indianapolis Journal, December 11, 1887: 12.

6 1860 U.S. Census; 1870 U.S. Census.

7 “Obsequies of John Healy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 18, 1899: 5.

8 1860 Census. The census spells the surname “Haley.”

9 1870 U.S. Census.  A Drayman is a person who delivers beer for a brewery. To confuse matters even more, there is a “Ellen Healy” listed in the 1880 born in Ireland. This may be a mistake on the part of the census taker, as the daughter is previously listed as Bridget who was born in Missouri. What’s even more curious is that in the 1870 census, Bridget is labeled as being “idiotic” under disabled condition, with Ellen Healy is not so listed in the 1880 census.

10 Lew Lipset, “The Egyptian and the Greyhound,” The National Pastime: Premiere Edition, 1982: https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-egyptian-and-the-greyhounds

11 “Jackson, Tenn vs. Fulton, Ky” Daily Memphis Appeal, September 2, 1885: 1; “The Maroons New Pitcher” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, September 11, 1885: 5.

12  His height is given as 6 foot 2 ¾. “The Maroons New Pitcher.” 

13 “Sporting” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, September 27, 1885: 10.

14 “Sporting” 

15 “Philadelphias 8; St. Louis Leagues, 3.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, October 1, 1885: 4.

16 “Maroons, 11; St. Joe, 3.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, April 19, 1886: 6.

17 “Philadelphias, 4; St. Louis, 3.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, May 18, 1886: 8.

18 “St. Louis Maroons, 6; Kansas City, 2.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, June 22, 1886: 8.

19 “Tricks of the Game.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 10, 1886: 12.

20 “Maroons, 4; Philadelphias, 3.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, September 7, 1886: 5.

21 “Maroons 2; Browns, 1.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, November 1, 1886: 6.

22 “World of Sports.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 11, 1887: 8

23 “The Maroons Deserted by Munson” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, January 14, 1887: 8.

24 “The Maroons Deserted by Munson.” 

25 “The Coming Champions.” Indianapolis Journal, April 1, 1887: 5.

26 David Nemec, Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 1: The Ball Players Who Built the Game. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 86.

27 “The Game At Cincinnati.” Indianapolis Journal, April 5, 1887: 5

28 “Base-Ball And Sprinting.” Indianapolis Journal, April 7, 1887: 5.

29 “The Detroits Win Again.” Indianapolis Journal, May 01, 1887: 9.

30 “Won By Brilliant Playing.” Indianapolis Journal, May 14, 1887: 3

31 “Outbatted By New York.” Indianapolis Journal, May 17, 1887: 3; “Won In The Tenth Inning.” Indianapolis Journal, May 24, 1887: 3; “A Slip At The Wrong Time.” Indianapolis Journal, May 27, 1887: 3.

32 “Healy’s Great Pitching.” Indianapolis Journal, June 4, 1887: 5.

33 “A Game Skillfully Played.” Indianapolis Journal, August 20, 1887: 3.

34 “Toledo 8; Baltimore 2.” The Sun (Baltimore), September 5, 1890: 3.

35 “Healy Signed and Mr. Brush Gone.” Indianapolis Journal, February 25, 1888: 8.

36 David Nemec, Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 1: The Ball Players Who Built the Game. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 86

37 Mark Lamster, Spaulding’s World Tour-The Epic Adventure That Took Baseball Around The Globe-and Made It America’s Game (New York, Public Affairs, 2006), 178.

38  “Behind the Bat.” Washington Post, June 16, 1889: 7; “Anson Gets Picture Healy.” Chicago Tribune, July 12, 1889: 6.

39 “Richardsons Long Hit” The Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago), July 16, 1889: 2.

40 “Chicago’s Hard Luck” The Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago), July 23, 1889: 2

41 “Diamond Dashes” The Saint Paul Daily Globe (Minnesota), February 2, 1890: 6

42 “Base Ball Notes” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 4, 1890: 5

43 “Base Ball Notes” Pittsburgh Post, August 29, 1890: 6.

44 “Notes of the Diamond Field” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 26, 1890: 3.

45 “New Players For Baltimore” New York Daily Tribune, January 31, 1891: 12.

46 “Captain Van Haltren” Courier-Journal: Louisville, June 7, 1891: 7.

47 “Around the Bases” Buffalo Courier, June 22, 1891: 8.

48 “Browns Demoralized.” Washington Post, August 11, 1891: 6

49 “Pitcher Healy’s Nuptials.” St. Louis Daily Global-Democrat, November 24, 1891: 9; David Nemec, Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 1: The Ball Players Who Built the Game. (Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 86.

50 “Healy Pitches Well,” The Sun (Baltimore), July 4, 1892: 6; “Gone to Pieces” Courier-Journal: Louisville, July 15, 1892: 8.

51 Frank Russo and Gene Racz: Bury My Heart in Cooperstown-Salacious, Sad, and Sureal Deaths in the History of Baseball (Chicago, Triumph, 2006), 159; “Play Ball!”, The Irish Standard (Minneapolis), March 2, 1895; 2.

52 “Baseball” Duluth News Tribune, May 4, 1895; 1 

53 Russo and Racz: Bury My Heart in Cooperstown…

54 John J. “Egyptian” Healy, Findagrave.com, Calvary Cemetery and Mausoleum, St. Louis, Missouri, memorial i.d. 22710: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/22710/john-j-healy.