Jack Farrell

For many years, “Hartford” Jack Farrell’s baseball record showed him making three appearances as an 18-year-old for his hometown club in the National Association in 1874. Eventually it emerged that the remainder of his big-league career consisted of two games in 1882. And when one looks under the surface, one finds that Farrell enjoyed 15-plus years as a versatile player who appeared alongside multiple baseball Hall of Famers and suited up for over 30 minor-league and semipro clubs across the country and even in Cuba.

John “Jack” Farrell was born on January 2, 1856, in Hartford, Connecticut. He was the eighth of nine children in the family of John and Ellen (Shortell) Farrell, who had emigrated from Ireland. Jack’s father worked as a mason; the 1860 census shows that he owned a home worth $5,000. When Jack was 11 years old, his father passed away, leaving Ellen to care for the children. The 1870 census shows Jack attending school, while his mother was listed as a housekeeper.

Farrell’s baseball career appears to have started with the Hartford Amateurs in 1874. This team played against other clubs locally and throughout New England. On June 24, 1874, Farrell appeared at second base and had two hits in four at-bats, as his club fell, 22-8, to the National Association’s Hartford Dark Blues.1 The Dark Blues had struggled in 1874 under the management of hard-hitting outfielder Lip Pike. The club entered the final week of the season with a 13-37 record, holding down seventh place amidst a 10-game losing streak. Owing to the sudden departure of the club’s change pitcher and spare outfielder, Bill Stearns, Farrell was recruited from the Amateurs club to appear as the season wound down. Suiting up for the club’s last three contests, Farrell proved to be a find in center field.

The 18-year-old made his debut on October 27, 1874, against the strong Philadelphia Athletics, who were on their way to a third-place finish. Dick McBride, one of the finest pitchers in the country, was in the box for the Athletics. For the 1874 season, McBride went 33-22, with a league-leading 1.64 ERA and 139 ERA+. Farrell, batting eighth, was unfazed – he went 1-for-3, scoring a run, and playing errorless ball in the outfield. The result was a surprising 10-3 victory for the underdog Hartfords.2

Farrell made his second appearance on October 28 against the Philadelphia Whites, who would finish in fourth place with a 29-29 record. The Whites used their promising change pitcher, George Bechtel, but Farrell had his number. Hartford Jack improved upon his debut, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, and playing another errorless game in the field. Farrell’s strong play paced the club to a 9-4 victory.3

Farrell played in an exhibition game on October 29, between two picked nines helmed by Hartford’s pitcher Cherokee Fisher and second baseman Bob Addy. Farrell appeared at second base for the Fishers and went 1-for-4, scoring a run in a 15-7 loss.

For the season’s final game on October 30, Hartford traveled to Worcester to face the pennant-winning Red Stockings (52-18-1), one of the greatest clubs of the 19th century. Led by Harry Wright, the club featured five Hall of Famers. Al Spalding was the pitcher in what was essentially a meaningless game, since the pennant had long been decided. The visitors enjoyed a surprising 17-11 victory.4 Farrell went 1-for-4 and was again errorless. In all, he hit .385/.429/.385 and scored three runs to go with his 1.000 fielding percentage on six chances handled.

One would think that his strong performance in the three games, all Hartford victories, would garner him a spot on the club in 1875. This did not prove to be the case. On October 31, Hartford announced their lineup for the coming season and Farrell’s name was not included. The belief was that Hartford had already signed players for 1875 while the 1874 season was still ongoing.5

Farrell spent 1875 with the Hartford Amateurs, appearing in the outfield and at second base and even umpiring occasionally. The Amateurs were the strongest club in the city and several of their players appeared in the major leagues, including catcher Michael “Fancy” O’Neil and Bill Tobin.

In 1876, Farrell left home for the first time to play ball, going south to join a team in Memphis, Tennessee. Two of his teammates had major-league experience: pitcher Jim Clinton and infielder Harry Luff.6

The Memphis club was short-lived, disbanding by the start of June. Farrell traveled to St. Louis in early June, joining a club called the Stocks, which featured a young Pud Galvin, and the Gleason brothers, Jack and Bill.7 The Stocks seem to have disbanded after Galvin was signed by the St. Louis Brown Stockings; thus, Farrell continued his baseball journey. In August, he headed north to Detroit to join the semipro Aetnas club and be their shortstop.8 In October, he went to St. Paul to play for the local Red Caps club.9 Hartford Jack spent the remainder of the season there.

In 1877, Farrell returned to Detroit, starting that season with the city’s newly formed professional independent club.10 He was the team’s shortstop through May but decamped for Clinton, Iowa to play for its newly formed Active club in July.11 That outfit disbanded a few weeks later and Farrell joined a team in Bloomington, Illinois, which featured a young Charles “Old Hoss” Radbourn.12

To start the 1878 season, Farrell captained the Blues of Prescott, Arkansas.13 He then joined the Dubuque, Iowa, club in August, playing alongside a young Charles Comiskey.14 Farrell also appeared for the Peoria Reds on at least one occasion during his time in Dubuque.15

Farrell began the 1879 season playing third base for the Council Bluffs, Iowa, club.16 He then journeyed west to California in July, where he started appearing at catcher for the first time.17 Hartford Jack was part of the first wave of eastern ballplayers who recognized that abundant professional opportunities had arisen in the Golden State. The journeyman ballplayer earned a favorable reputation behind the plate with the Blue Stockings club of Sacramento. He joined the Oroville Riversides in October.18

In spring 1880, Farrell joined the Bay City club of San Francisco, where he was joined by a number of outstanding eastern players, including Jack Leary, Billy Taylor, Cal McVey, and Fred Lewis. In early June, Leary, Lewis, and Farrell were expelled from the club for drunkenness.19 Leary and Lewis had well-earned reputations for intemperance, and Farrell would have his own issues later in his career. The Bloomington Pantagraph offered an alternative version of his release, stating that Farrell and teammate Cliff Carroll had each been released after overdrawing their accounts with the Bay City organization.20

The group of rogues soon found work with various Sacramento squads and eventually made their way to Reno, Nevada, to play in a series of games. Farrell was noted to be one of the best shortstops in the country.21

From this point, however, Farrell’s career becomes hard to fully track, as the number of players with the same last name began to proliferate. Starting in 1879, the Providence Grays of the National League began to employ a player also named Jack Farrell. This namesake would go on to an excellent career as a middle infielder, and his accomplishments overshadowed those of the well-traveled man from Hartford. For the rest of his career, Hartford Jack’s pursuits would sometimes be conflated or confused with those of the Providence star. In addition, another player named Joe Farrell began his major league career in 1882.

Our Jack Farrell can be found in the 1880 Census as a resident of his mother’s home in Hartford, with his avocation listed as ballplayer. Since Hartford Jack was still in California at the time the census was enumerated in June, it seems likely that he used his mother’s home as his permanent residence.

It seems most likely that Hartford Jack Farrell stayed in California in 1881, but a number of his teammates in 1880 went back east for 1881, so it’s possible that he played for an eastern club. The situation is muddled by his common last name. There were two Farrells playing in the Eastern Championship Association, who are currently listed as James and Joe Farrell, a pair of Brooklyn natives. The situation gets even more confusing with the Detroit club, which in August 1881 was in negotiation with a third baseman named Jack Farrell of the Albanys.22 This player did not appear for Detroit that year; to add to the mess, the Brooklyn-born Joe Farrell became Detroit’s third baseman in 1882 and may have been the Jack Farrell they were pursuing the year before.

This confusion carries forth into 1882. Hartford Jack was signed by the Philadelphia Athletics of the newly formed American Association to act as their change catcher and spare outfielder. For many years, his records from this season were credited to a player named Bill Farrell, but recent discoveries have confirmed that it was really Hartford Jack. On April 23, 1882, the Philadelphia City Item noted that “the Athletics last evening signed John Farrell of San Francisco, for change catcher.”23 Farrell made his debut in an exhibition contest against the Atlantic club of Brooklyn and it was noted that “the new California man, caught for the Athletics in excellent style.”24

There was some confusion, however; the Philadelphia Times noted that Farrell had “distinguished himself as a catcher on the Pacific slope and [had] played with Detroit last season.”25 This could be proof that Jack Farrell was the Albany player who negotiated with Detroit, or it could be a case of the sportswriter being confused. Regardless, multiple sources posit that the Athletics’ catcher was named John Farrell and had come from San Francisco –compelling evidence that it was Hartford Jack.

The well-traveled catcher made his season’s debut in the Athletics’ second-ever contest on May 3, 1882, against Baltimore. Farrell went 2-for-4, including a double, and scored two runs, but he allowed two passed balls in the first inning and was moved to right field to finish the game. The final score was 7-6, Athletics.26 He made his second appearance for the club on May 4, positioned in center field and batting ninth. He was held hitless for the first time in his major league career, going 0-for-3, but drawing a walk. He made a bad misplay on a fly ball, which allowed three Baltimore runs to score, crucial to their 6-4 victory.27

Strangely for a player who had arrived with such fanfare, he was quietly dropped from the roster; his release was never mentioned in the local papers. Farrell’s whereabouts for the remainder of 1882 remain a mystery.

The following year showed the continuation of his cross-country travels and a few more question marks. In mid-May 1883, the Baltimore Orioles employed a shortstop named Farrell for two contests. The games are currently credited to Bill Farrell, a player of unknown origin. One note posited the player was from Philadelphia, which would seem to discount Jack, but one cannot rule him out, particularly since he had played in Philadelphia the year before. Farrell can be found as captain of the Dayton, Ohio, club in July.28 He briefly jumped to Grand Rapids of the Northwestern League in mid-July, but soon returned to Dayton.29 At the end of August, Hartford Jack jumped to the Leadville Blues of Colorado, one of the strongest independent clubs in the country.30 He finished the season in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, playing alongside his old pal Jack Leary.31

Farrell joined Harrisburg of the Eastern League for 1884, hitting .288 in 38 games. That summer, his mother Ellen fell ill; in July, Farrell left the club, purportedly to be at her bedside.32 He also took the time to negotiate with several clubs, including Hartford, Fort Wayne, and Norfolk. “Old Reliable” (as he came to be known) agreed to terms with Fort Wayne for a salary of $125 a month, but soon reneged on the deal, opting to sign with Hartford of the Connecticut State League.33 Hartford Jack was threatened with a blacklist, but claimed that he could not leave his mother’s side. Nothing came of the blacklist threat, and Ellen Farrell passed away on August 26, 1884.

Farrell was released by Hartford at the end of September and traveled south to Texas to play alongside his old friend Billy Taylor for the National club of Galveston in November.34 Taylor and Farrell then joined an aggregation called the Chicagos and played in New Orleans before they ventured down to Havana, Cuba, over the winter.35

Hartford Jack returned to his home state in 1885, plying his trade in June with Bridgeport and Waterbury of the Southern New England League, though he appears to have played in only six games. It seems likely that Farrell played elsewhere in 1885, possibly returning to New Orleans, where a shortstop named Farrell can be found playing later in the year. His 1886 whereabouts are a mystery – there is no confirmed record of him appearing in professional baseball.

Farrell returned to Hartford to begin the 1887 season. A preseason note listed his weight as 180 and stated that he had appeared for Jersey City and St. Paul in 1885.36 There is no record of him appearing for either team, but given his nomadic ways, there is always the possibility that he made token appearances that have not been documented. Farrell hit a modest .268 in 60 games for Hartford before the team disbanded in early August. He briefly joined clubs in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Lynn, Massachusetts, in mid-August.37 The veteran then made the journey to coal country to play a handful of games for Sunbury and Minersville of the Central Pennsylvania League in September.38

In 1888, Farrell returned to Bloomington to captain the Reds, the same club he had appeared for in 1877 alongside “Old Hoss” Radbourn. He would be joined on the 1888 squad by another young future Hall of Fame pitcher, Clark Griffith, who was just entering pro ball. A preseason writeup noted that Farrell was 30 years old and weighed 168 pounds. It added, “he is a safe hitter, covers his position in good shape and has the reputation of a daring base runner.”39 The article failed to mention his height, or which way he batted and threw, and to date these facts have not been uncovered.

Farrell was a popular figure in Bloomington and returned to it multiple times throughout his career, often drawing fond reminiscences from the local scribes. By this point, Farrell was the epitome of a journeyman for hire, with enough ability to find work, but also living the ballplayer’s life of drinking and carousing. When the Reds’ manager stepped down in mid-June, Farrell was enlisted to replace him, but just one day after taking the role, he was fired for drunkenness. There seemed to be no hard feelings, as the Bloomington Pantagraph noted that he would be missed by his many friends.40

The aging ballplayer made his way south once again, signing with Birmingham of the Southern League for a modest salary of $80 a month for the 1889 season.41 The club moved to Mobile early that season and Farrell appeared in 26 games, notching 24 hits in 110 at-bats for a weak .218 average. This marks his last confirmed appearance in pro ball, though a second baseman named Jack Farrell played a couple of games for the Sterling, Illinois, club in May 1890. This Farrell was released for “poor playing and looking upon wine when it is red.”42 This could certainly be him, given his previous troubles with the bottle. He can be found listed in the Hartford city directories with the occupation of ballplayer through 1892.

Hartford Jack remained involved in the game, even when he was not playing, acting as an umpire throughout the 1890s in his hometown. He operated a saloon and married a woman named Mary in 1898. The 1900 census has the couple living at 131 Babcock Street in Hartford, with a 12-year-old girl named Effie Harris, who is listed as their daughter. Since the couple was married in 1898, it seems likely that Effie was the daughter of a prior relationship for either Jack or Mary.

Farrell was a popular figure in Hartford and his name appeared regularly in the city’s papers in articles reminiscing about old-time baseball there. He marched in an old-timer’s parade in September 1909. Per the 1910 census, Farrell was the proprietor of a liquor store. He remained an avid baseball fan and frequently attended the World Series. In October 1916, Farrell traveled to Boston one last time to watch the Red Sox face the Brooklyn Dodgers.43 On November 15, 1916, he passed away in his home after a short illness. John “Hartford Jack” Farrell was interred at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in Bloomfield, Connecticut.

In an irony, Farrell’s obituary noted his long service in baseball, but mistakenly described the career of his better-known namesake who had starred for Providence. Even in death, he was hard to track down.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by David Kritzler.

Photo credit: Baseball-Reference.com.

Sources

ancestry.com

baseball-reference.com

Clinton Public Library

familysearch.org

findagrave.com

genealogybank.com

newspapers.com

newspapers.google.com

newspaperarchive.com

retrosheet.org

Sporting Life Collection, LA84.org

Notes

1 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, June 25, 1874: 4.

2 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, October 28, 1874: 2.

3 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, October 29, 1874: 2.

4 “The National Game,” New York Herald, October 31, 1874: 5.

5 “Base Ball,” The Boston Post, October 31, 1874: 2.

6 “Base Ball Notes,” New York Clipper, March 25, 1876: 411.

7 “St. Louis Reds vs. Stocks,” New York Clipper, June 17, 1876: 91.

8 “The City,” Detroit News, August 3, 1876: 4.

9 “Base Ball,” Detroit Free Press, October 3, 1876: 1.

10 “The Game Today,” Detroit Free Press, May 10, 1877: 1.

11 “Base Ball,” Clinton (Iowa) Daily Herald, July 17, 1877: 4.

12 “Base Ball,” Bloomington (Illinois) Pantagraph, September 13, 1877: 3.

13 “Local News,” Memphis Daily Appeal, May 19, 1878: 5.

14 “Personal,” Bloomington Pantagraph, August 12, 1878: 4.

15 “Notes,” Buffalo Morning Express, August 22, 1878: 4.

16 “Base Ball,” Council Bluffs (Iowa) Daily Nonpareil, June 8, 1879: 4.

17 “Brief Reference,” Sacramento Daily Union, July 22, 1879: 3.

18 “Games of Base Ball,” Sacramento Daily Union, October 17, 1879: 2.

19 “Diamond Dust,” Cleveland Leader, June 4, 1880: 8.

20 “The City,” Bloomington Pantagraph, July 12, 1880: 3.

21 “Base Ball,” Reno (Nevada) Gazette Journal, June 25, 1880: 3.

22 “Sporting Matters,” Detroit Free Press, August 20, 1881: 1.

23 “Base Ball Gossip,” Philadelphia City Item, April 23, 1882: 7.

24 “Base Ball,” Philadelphia Inquirer, April 24, 1882: 2.

25 “The Atlantics’ Fourth Defeat,” Philadelphia Times, April 23, 1882: 2.

26 “The Second Victory,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 4, 1882: 3.

27 “Deserted by Luck,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 5, 1882: 3.

28 “Notes,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 7, 1883: 2.

29 “6 to 2,” Springfield (Illinois) Register, July 18, 1883: 3.

30 “At Last,” Cincinnati Enquirer, September 1, 1883: 2.

31 “Sweet, Sweet Violets,” Carlisle (Pennsylvania) Sentinel, September 26, 1883: 4.

32 “Sickness at Home,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Daily Independent, June 13, 1884: 4.

33 “Base Ball Briefs,” Harrisburg Patriot, July 9, 1884: 1.

34 “Base Ball,” Galveston (Texas) News, November 2, 1884: 2.

35 “Wochner’s Ball Tossers,” Bloomington Daily Leader, April 9, 1888: 4.

36 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, March 15, 1887: 2.

37 “The National Game,” New Haven (Connecticut) Morning Journal and Courier, August 19, 1887: 4.

38 “The National Game,” Hazleton (Pennsylvania) Sentinel, September 3, 1887: 4.

39 “Wochner’s Ball Tossers,” Bloomington Daily Leader, April 9, 1888: 4.

40 “Base Ball,” Bloomington Pantagraph, August 22, 1887: 3.

41 “Special News,” Chattanooga (Tennessee) Daily Tribune, April 5, 1889: 1.

42 “Wednesday,” Sterling (Illinois) Gazette, May 9, 1890: 7.

43 “Obituary,” Hartford Courant, November 16, 1916: 2.