John McMullin

In the aftermath of the American Civil War, the sport of baseball returned to the spotlight bigger than ever with hundreds of new clubs featuring a new generation of players. Such a man was versatile John F. McMullin1, the first regularly used left-handed pitcher in the major leagues.

McMullin was born in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia on April 1, 1849, the third eldest of nine brothers and sisters born to Irish natives who arrived in the US during Ireland’s potato famine. His father was James McMullin, a carpenter; his mother, Mary McMullin (née Hunter), ran the household until her death in 1869.

McMullin stood 5-feet-10, weighed about 160 pounds, and had dark hair and gray eyes.2 Although he was left-handed, he batted right-handed, which may have favored fair-foul hitting, a sanctioned practice at that time and a skill that McMullin frequently used to his advantage.3

In 1867, when McMullin was 18 years old, he appeared in 13 known games for the amateur Keystone Club of Philadelphia, one of several clubs in and around the city. He played the outfield, first base, and behind the plate as the need arose.4

McMullin left Philadelphia and the Keystones, journeying west to join the semi-professional Buckeyes of Cincinnati in 1868. This notable bunch won 21 of 26 games and included future major leaguers such as Charlie Sweasy, Andy Leonard, and Cherokee Fisher.5 As the Buckeyes’ all-purpose man, McMullin pitched and fielded four distinct positions.

Having lost a game to the nationally famous Red Stockings of Cincinnati on May 23, 18686, the Buckeyes slyly ignored the rules of the National Association of Baseball Players by hiring two players from Washington, DC to take part in a rematch on September 2.7 Even with two additional professional players, the Buckeyes suffered another humbling defeat at the Union Cricket Club Grounds, home of the Red Stockings, before 5,000 patrons.8

The Buckeyes folded at the end of the year, and McMullin returned to the City of Brotherly Love.9

For the 1869 campaign, McMullin performed for the Athletic Club of Philadelphia, appearing in 49 games. He shared pitching duties with Levi Meyerle and Dick McBride in the six-foot-square box with all its restraints – underhanded “pitching” was required and “jerking” or “throwing” the ball was specifically forbidden. However, he also caught and played shortstop, and sometimes patrolled right field.10 Normally batting sixth in the order, he amassed 222 at-bats and 352 total bases.11

On June 21 in Philadelphia, with much fanfare and wagering, McMullin went to the box against the mighty Cincinnati Red Stockings at the Athletic Grounds at Seventeenth Street and Columbia Avenue, losing 27-18 before 15,000 fans. It was Cincinnati’s 16th consecutive victory.12 At one point in the game, McMullin reached third base and, while taking his lead, was chatting with friends in the stands. Not paying attention to the game, McMullin was picked off.  A rematch bs took place at the Union Grounds in Cincinnati on October 18 with McMullin playing shortstop in a losing effort, 17-12.13 The Athletics were 42-7 against all comers in 1869.14

McMullin played left field and sometimes right with the Athletics for 12 early games in 1870.15 The club opened the season on April 16 against a picked nine, cruising to a 16-1 victory.16 They followed with lopsided victories against the Intrepids and the Marylands, donning their new fawn-colored uniforms with red trim.17 The club took the morning train on April 28 to meet the Marylands at their home grounds in Baltimore, winning handily, 21-9. They followed by defeating Pastime, 34-12, before returning to Philadelphia, crumpling the Keystones on May 5, 12-1. Two days later they trounced the Experts of Philadelphia, 47-6.

The Athletics’ first loss came against the Unions of Morrisania on May 13 in what is now the Bronx. Aided by an error by McMullin, the Unions scored four runs in the ninth inning and won 7-6.

McMullin’s last game with the Athletics was against Tri-Mountain in Boston on May 25. Thereafter he joined the Haymakers of Troy, New York,18 becoming with Cherokee Fisher one of two starting pitchers. In 33 games with the bat, he averaged 2.12 hits per game.19

Even though McMullin was with Troy, he was selected to umpire an eagerly anticipated game between the Athletics and the Cincinnati Red Stockings at Philadelphia on June 22, won by the Reds, 27-25. There was a protracted discussion as to whom should umpire the game before they settled on McMullin. However, McMullin was the right man for the job. There was no notice of any kicking by either team against his decisions – impressive given the closeness of the final score.20

Known as the Collar City, Troy had a relatively small population, then 47,130,21 However, it was close to Albany, the area was supported by a growing iron industry; Troy served as a major transportation hub along the Erie Canal. About 6,000 fans were on hand to see McMullin’s first game with the Haymakers on June 27, a 25-21 loss to Chicago. McMullin started in the box before moving to second base. The Haymakers finished with 30 victories, 15 defeats, and one tie.22

In 1871, the Haymakers paid the 10-dollar entrance fee and joined the nine-team National Association of Professional Baseball Players. McMullin was the only regularly used left-handed pitcher in the first season of the Association. And he was the first left-hander to win a decision. He got the win when Troy beat Boston 29-14 in Boston, defeating future sporting goods magnate Al Spalding on May 16, 1871. One of only three left-handed professional pitchers at that time,23 McMullin’s final record that year was 12-15 with an ERA of 5.53 – the highest among regular pitchers in the NA, because he allowed the most hits and walks in the league. With the bat, he averaged 1.31 hits over 29 games.24 His modern batting average was .279 with a .319 on-base percentage. The Haymakers finished with a 13-16-1 record.25

McMullin departed Troy after the season. For 1872, he joined Bill Cammeyer’s Mutuals of New York, which staged their home games at Union Grounds in Brooklyn. The “Mutes” won 34 and lost 20 with two ties in championship play, finishing in third place, 8½ games behind the Boston Red Stockings. Primarily a left fielder and batting seventh, McMullin contributed a .254 batting average.26 However, he also substituted for Candy Cummings in three games in the pitcher’s box, winning once, 11-7, against the Washington Nationals on April 24, 1872.27

The Athletics secured McMullin for the 1873 season as their left fielder and change pitcher. The National Association then consisted of nine clubs from Baltimore to Boston, including two representing Philadelphia, the Athletics and White Stockings.28 The Athletics’ first match was against their crosstown rivals on April 21; the Whites blistered the A’s, 11-3, with McMullin batting ninth and singling. Discounting the two teams that dropped out along the way, the Athletics finished fifth among the remaining seven and second best in Philadelphia.29

On a bleak chilly day before a small crowd on October 29, McMullin made his only appearance in the box. He defeated Jim Britt and the Brooklyn Atlantics, 17-5, on the last day of the season. In 52 games overall, he batted .273, a paltry figure next to 21-year-old teammate Adrian Anson, who swatted .398.

On November 6, the first exhibition game under a proposed rule calling for 10 men on each side and 10-inning games took place between the two Philadelphia clubs at 25th and Jefferson Street. McMullin pitched,and Anson caught. It was also a benefit game for Philadelphian Ned Cuthbert, who had suffered a “severe domestic affliction.” The Athletics won the game 14-13.30

Athletics manager Dick McBride shifted McMullin to center field for the 1874 season, flanked by Count Gedney in left and a variety of 10 different players in right field. Normally “Mack” would lead off, but he occasionally hit ninth in the order. Having his finest year, McMullin was initially credited with a league-leading .387 average based on 105 hits in 271 at-bats.31 The Athletics compiled a record of 33-22 for the season and finished in third place behind Boston and the Mutuals.32

After the July 15 game, both the Athletics and the Red Stockings departed Philadelphia on the steamship Ohio, sailing about 4,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, arriving at Liverpool, England, on July 27. The journey was meant to showcase the game of baseball to the English people. Boston and the Athletics played 15 games against each other between July 30 and August 25 in eight different cities, ending up in Dublin, Ireland. The Red Stockings took the series, winning nine of the 15 games played. McMullin pitched in five of the matches and batted .367. His record in the box was an ineffective 1-4, losing all his matches against the great Al Spalding but winning the finale, 15-4, on August 25 against Harry Wright. 33

The Americans also took part in cricket matches, winning all six games that went a full four innings and drawing in the two unfinished games. However, the British gave certain advantages to the visitors by allowing them to use as many as 18 to 22 players in the field against an English 11. The clubs departed Liverpool on August 27, returning to Philadelphia with 195 passengers aboard the SS Abbotsford on September 9.34

The trip was a financial failure as poor marketing and an English indifference to the American sport contributed to smaller crowds than hoped.

In 1875, McMullin switched from the Athletics to their city rivals, the Philadelphia club by then known as the Pearls.35 Both clubs shared Jefferson Street Grounds with a capacity of 5,000 fans. The Pearls won 37, lost 31, and tied two others. McMullin played in 54 games, patrolling left field through the first half of the season and center field thereafter. He normally led off in the batting order through May 31, but ended the season hitting ninth. His batting average sank significantly to .257.36  Four weak relief performances contributed to a 7.94 ERA.

When the National League formed in 1876, McMullin retired to amateur clubs, having appeared in 244 National Association games, getting 307 hits in 1,081 at-bats, good for a .284 batting average. As a pitcher, he compiled a 14-15 record with a 5.43 ERA in his career. McMullin managed to play every position on the diamond at one time or another. While he was known as a swift but sometimes erratic pitcher37, he was described as an energetic and earnest player, friendly with good humor.38 He was also the earliest southpaw hurler to whom the nickname “Lefty” was ascribed.39

He was not completely gone from the professional game, however, umpiring three National League games in Philadelphia during the 1876 season.40 He also played for and managed a Philadelphia-based team in the League Alliance, baseball’s first semi-affiliated minor league in 1877. However, that team ran into internal problems, including hiring a banned player, and was removed from the circuit by National League secretary N. E. “Nick” Young.  By this time, McMullin had other personal and private interests, so his baseball days came to an end.

Away from the field, McMullin operated a haberdashery.  He also turned to politics, running for state legislature as the Republican candidate in the Fourth District, Fourth Ward of Philadelphia but losing.41 He instead served as Republican Party secretary of the Fourth Ward.42

On April 11, 1881, after an illness of but two weeks, McMullin died of pneumonia in Philadelphia.43 He was 32 and survived by his wife, Emerene (Emma) Eliza Cobb.44 He was interred at Old Cathedral Cemetery in Philadelphia. Emma continued with the hat business for several years and survived John by almost 60 years.45

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

Sources

Sources for the biographical information provided herein include the John F. McMullin file maintained at the Baseball Hall of Fame Library; U.S. Censuses of 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880; Ancestry.com; and various newspaper articles cited below. Statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference and Retrosheet, with references to the Spalding, Reach, and other guides.

Notes

1 His name was often misspelled as “McMullen” and “McMullan.”

2 U.S. Passport, June 26, 1874.

3 “John F. McMullin (obit),” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 22, 1881: 5.  Also, “In Memoriam,” New York Clipper, April 23, 1881: 5.

4 Marshall D. Wright, The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland (2000): 147.

5 “Base-Ball,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 22, 1881: 5.

6 Wright, 195-196.

7 According to the National Association’s Rules of Organized Baseball for 1868, teams were not allowed to pay players and they could not use players in a match who had appeared on another team in the previous 30 days.  By bringing in two players from the Olympics of Washington and paying them for their appearance, the Buckeyes were skirting both rules.  The next year, of course, the Cincinnati Red Stockings were openly professional and in 1871 the professional clubs set up their own “major league.”

8 “Ohio,” (Louisville) Courier Journal, September 3, 1868: 1.  Also, “Base Ball,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 3, 1868: 8.

9 Smyrna (Delaware) Times, April 28, 1869: 1.

10 “Baseball,” New York Clipper, March 12, 1870: 3.

11 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, 1870, 73.

12 “Tour of the Red Stockings,” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, June 22, 1869: 8.

13 “Base Ball,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 19, 1869: 1.

14 “Base Ball,” New York Clipper, March 5, 1870: 5.

15 The author reviewed game descriptions in the 1871 Beadle’s Dime Base Ball Player Guide and counted 12 games in which McMullin appeared.

16 “Base Ball,” New York Clipper, April 23, 1870: 2.

17 “Base Ball,” New York Clipper, April 30, 1870: 3.

18 “The Haymakers,” New York Clipper, June 25, 1870: 3. The team was also known as the Unions of Lansingburgh.

19 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, 1871: 77.

20 “Base Ball,” New York Clipper, July 2, 1870: 5. Also, “The Athletic Vanquished,” Philadelphia Daily Evening Telegraph, June 23, 1870: 6

21 “Census Items,” Clinton (Illinois) Public, September 22, 1870: 2.

22 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, 1871: 49-50.

23 Left-handed third baseman Ed Pinkham pitched three games in relief for Chicago. Charlie Pabor, an outfielder, pitched in seven games for Cleveland, making just one start.

24 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, 1872, 80.

25 Depending on sources, the Haymakers finished with a 12-15, 13-15, or 15-15 record in sixth place.

26 New York Clipper, December 14, 1872: 2, records 22 hits and 0.78 hits per game.

27 New York Clipper, May 4, 1872: 5.

28 Also called the Quakers or Whites.

29 The Resolute and Maryland clubs did not finish the season.

30 “Baseball,” New York Clipper, November 15, 1873:. 3.

31 Records printed in the New York Clipper on December 12, 1874 show McMullin with a .387 average.  Statistics on Baseball-Reference.com show McMullin as having batted .346, which is fifth best in the league. Baseball-Reference.com  “https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATH/1874.shtml” accessed on May 14, 2024.

32 Beadle’s Dime Base-Ball Player, 1875, Page 49, records a 33-23 record.

33 Spalding’s Official Baseball Guide, 1890: 124-126. Also see John Bauer, “Summer 1874: New Game in the Old Country: U.S. Teams Tour England,” https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/summer-1874-new-game-in-the-old-country-u-s-teams-tour-england/, accessed February 23, 2023.

34 “Port of Philadelphia,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 10, 1874: 6.

35 New York Clipper, July 11, 1874, 3. See also, Threads of Our Game.com: “When Chicago rejoined the NA in 1874, the Philadelphia club gave up the White Stocking name and was instead called the Pearls, for the new color of their stockings.”

36 Baseball-Reference. McMullin went 56-for-225 for an average of .248, according to the New York Clipper, November 27, 1875: 3.

37 “In Memoriam,” New York Clipper, April 23, 1881: 5.

38 The Cincinnati Enquirer, John F. McMullin (obituary), April 22, 1881: 5.

39 The nickname “Lefty” does not appear in the Turkin and Thompson Encyclopedia as part of McMullin’s record, but it does appear in the Big Mac and future encyclopedias and, as of this writing, it is listed with his profile on Baseball-Reference.com.  However, in researching this topic, the term Lefty was not specifically seen in an article where McMullin is referenced while an active player.

40 Philadelphia Times, June 15, 1876; June 16, 1876; and July 22, 1876.

41 “Political,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 18, 1876: 2.

42 “Special Notices,” Philadelphia Times, April 30, 1878: 3.

43 “In Memoriam,” New York Clipper, April 23, 1881: 5.

44 John McMullin’s Pennsylvania Death Certificate. FHL No children were mentioned in McMullin’s obituaries, no children were listed in the 1880 US Census, and Emma McMullin’s death certificate notes a distant relative was responsible for providing details for the document, and her obituary listed no next of kin.  Emma Cobb’s full first name is the same as that of her mother,  per the 1870 US Census.

45 Emma McMullin’s Pennsylvania Death Certificate.