Jack McCandless

Much like it had some 30 years earlier, the world of major league baseball was about to splinter yet again into three factions during the second decade of the 20th century. The Federal League, which began life as a minor league during the 1913 season playing outside of the National Agreement, declared itself a major league in 1914 with eight teams competing for the hearts, minds, and wallets of baseball fans. One of those teams, the Baltimore Terrapins, had a large number of players from the Pittsburgh area on their roster, including player/manager Otto Knabe, Enos Kirkpatrick, Frank Lobert, Vern Hughes, Jimmy Smith, and Frank Smith.1

Also on the Baltimore team was a rookie from the “Smoky City” named Scott Cook “Jack” McCandless. Fresh off the sandlots of Pittsburgh, McCandless was a strong prospect and an overall well-rounded player. Yet he only played two seasons in the majors before a two-season stint in the Class B Texas League and a final season in the Class A Western League. Unlike fellow players Knabe and Frank Smith, McCandless was not featured in the E145-2 Cracker Jack baseball card set.2 Also unlike the previously mentioned players, McCandless’s career has gone unresearched. The ensuing paragraphs provide that missing biography.

Born in Pittsburgh on May 5, 1891, McCandless’s pedigree was far more distinguished than that of the average Deadball Era ballplayer. His father, Edward V. McCandless (1842-1903) was the son of a wealthy businessman, David McCandless (1818-1879), who was not only a well-respected public figure but also an early business partner of Andrew Carnegie. In addition, he was one of the originators of the J. Edgar Thomson Steel Company in Braddock, Pennsylvania,  eventually becoming chairman of the board.3 Jack’s mother, Lucy Cook McCandless (1851-1902), was the granddaughter of Ohio’s first governor, Edward Tiffin.4 She was also the first cousin of Lucy Webb Hayes, wife of the 19th President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes The former president and Mrs. Hayes were in attendance when McCandless’s parents were married in April 1888.5

Sadly, the untimely death of his parents during the early 1900s left young Scott to be raised by a step-grandmother. Little else is known of his formative years.

The name of McCandless the ballplayer first appears in newsprint in late May 1913, when the Pittsburgh Gazette Times observed that “Strobel and McCandless are two promising ‘kids’ on the Pittsburgh Independents.”6 In early June, McCandless patrolled left field for one of Pittsburgh’s most prominent amateur teams, the Collegians, during a game in Morgantown against the West Virginia University varsity.7 He scored one run and was also hit by a pitch in a 12-11 setback. In a rematch the following day, McCandless’s sacrifice fly drove in the Collegians’ only run in a rain-shortened 2-1 loss.8

The origins of Scott Cook McCandless’s baseball nickname trace to a July 6, 1913, blurb in the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, which inexplicably gave his name as “John McCandless.”9 By 1915, this misnomer had become Jack, the name by which McCandless was known for the remainder of his playing days.10 Whatever the name, the Gazette Times praised McCandless’s “work with the stick” – he went 4-for-5 at bat while contributing two runs – in a Collegians win late in the 1913 season over a ball club from Franklin, Pennsylvania, 5-0.11

The following year, McCandless again took to the diamond for both the Collegians and the Independents, toggling between both clubs for the majority of the season.12 Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 170 pounds, with black hair, gray eyes, and a clean-shaven face, McCandless was described by the Baltimore Sun as “big, fast, strong and a fine hitter.”13 Throwing right and batting left, McCandless was also a solid defender whose ability to play all three outfield positions earned him a shot to play major league baseball for a team stocked with other players from his hometown.

On July 16, 1914, the Baltimore Sun revealed that McCandless had been acquired by the Federal League’s Baltimore Terrapins. He and fellow Pittsburgh sandlotter Joe Thompson had recently been scouted and thereafter were signed by Terrapins manager Otto Knabe and directed to report in September.14

McCandless made his major league debut at Terrapin Park on September 10, 1914 – an unsuccessful pinch-hitting appearance in a 5-3 loss to the FL pennant-bound Indianapolis Hoosiers.15 Thereafter, he saw little action until September 24, when he ineffectively pinch-hit for Snipe Conley.16  McCandless rode the bench until replacing ejected Baltimore center fielder Johnny Bates during an October 5 home doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Rebels.17 A ninth-inning infield single off right-hander Elmer Knetzer put McCandless in the major league hit column. The following day McCandless scored his first run. He finished the final week of the season auditioning in the leadoff spot of the batting order and playing right field.18 Appearing in 11 late-season games overall, McCandless posted a .258 batting average (8-for-31) and collected three walks. He also handled 11 defensive chances in the outfield flawlessly.

Prior to the start of the 1915 season, the Dallas Giants of the Class B Texas League expressed interest in McCandless, likely on behalf of New York Giants manager John McGraw. The overtures, however, were rejected and McCandless remained on the Baltimore roster.

The 1915 season was three games old when McCandless made his first appearance, getting a ninth inning pinch-hit single in a 3-1 loss to the Newark Peppers. He did not get a starting assignment until May 3, when he went 0-for-2 but drew two walks in a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Packers. The following day, the Baltimore Evening Sun praised his abilities in the field.19 Thereafter, McCandless’s performance was inconsistent until the end of June, when his “stick work” finally started to improve.20 Rotating between left (23 games), center (58 games), and right field (28 games), he thereafter became a near-everyday player. But McCandless’s bat failed to keep pace. By season’s end, his batting average stood at a meager .214, with a Federal League-high 99 strikeouts in 117 games played.

The dissolution of the Federal League over the winter of 1915-1916 brought the brief major league career of Jack McCandless to an end. In 128 games overall, he posted an underwhelming .217/.299/.302 slash line, with five home runs among his 19 extra-base hits. McCandless also scored 52 runs, drove in 35 more, and stole six bases. As a defender, his stats ranged from good in center field (.986 fielding percentage) to substandard in right (.914) to poor in left (.864).

At the beginning of the 1916 season, McCandless was still under contract with the Terrapins.21 However, on February 3 the Baltimore Sun announced that all players under contract, including McCandless, were to seek employment elsewhere.22 McCandless was subsequently picked up by the Dallas Giants of the Class B Texas League.23 Appearing in 119 games, he batted a respectable .282, with 18 extra-base hits, sparking late-season talk of him going to the Boston Braves.24 But Boston canceled the draft of McCandless just a few days later, leaving him with Dallas for the remainder of the season.25

In 1917, the baseball season was imperiled by the entry of the United States into World War I. Over the short term, however, most of Organized Baseball began scheduled play. On April 15, the Texas League began its season. Still with Dallas, McCandless was in center field on opening day against Waco, going 0-for-5 at bat in a 3-2 loss.26 The last box score to contain his name covered a game played on May 19 against Beaumont. McCandless was positioned on first, scored two runs, and hit a double.27 Days later, the Beaumont Enterprise stated that McCandless “is a grand ball player, who is simply in a rut and has been slow in starting.”28 But by then, he had left the club, finishing his 28-game Dallas stint with a.228 batting average (37-for-162), a noticeable drop from the previous season.29

Following his departure from Dallas, McCandless trained as a US Army radio mechanic, stationed stateside until discharged in December 1919.30 He then returned to minor league baseball, playing 27 games during the 1920 season with the Sioux City (Iowa) Packers of the Class A Western League. He played his final professional game on June 7, going 1-for-5 at bat and participating in a double play from his left field post during a 13-inning, 3-2 win over Des Moines.31

McCandless’ s life after baseball was unremarkable. The 1920 census placed him living with his brother David and step-grandmother in the Pittsburgh house in which he grew up; it listed his occupation as a broker in the oil industry.32 By 1930, McCandless was working as a salesman for an investment security company and living as a lodger in a Pittsburgh boarding house. On July 9, 1931, he married Nancy Shinkle. The couple remained together until his death, but their union was childless. In the 1950 census, McCandless was listed as a photographer.33

On August 17, 1961, Scott Cook “Jack” McCandless died from heart disease at Presbyterian University Hospital in Pittsburgh.34 He was 70. Following funeral services, his cremated remains were given to his wife.35

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Jeff Findley.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet, and the following:

Ancestry.com

Findagrave.com

Newspapers.com

US Census Bureau, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920, 1950 US Census.

Notes

1 Two other Pittsburgh players would join in 1915, John Gallagher and Wally Reinecker.

2 Baseball Cards1915 Cracker Jack- PSA Card Facts, accessed December 15, 2024.

3 Edward V. McCandless (1842-1903) – Find A Grave memorial; David McCandless (1818-1879) – Find A Grave memorial, accessed December 15, 2024.

4 Lucy Cook McCandless (1851-1902) – Find A Grave memorial, accessed December 15, 2024.

5 “Society,” Pittsburg Press, April 11, 1888: 3; Lucy Cook McCandless (1851-1902) – Find A Grave memorial, accessed December 15, 2024.

6 “On Independent Baseball Circuit,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, May 25, 1913: 23; “United States Circuit Revived, Will Invade Pittsburgh This Year,” Pittsburgh Post, January 3, 1913: 11. The Independents were a local Pittsburgh team that played in the local Independent Circuit.

7 “Collegians Drop Another,” Pittsburgh Post, June 7, 1913: 16.

8 “Rain Stops a Hot Game in West Virginia,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, June 8, 1913: 19.

9 “On Independent Baseball Circuit,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, July 6, 1913: 20.

10 Scott Cook McCandless: Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1971 – Ancestry.com, accessed December 15, 2024

11 “Franklin Is Shut Out by Smith of Collegians,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, July 11, 1913: 10.

12 “Vandergrift Conquered,” Pittsburg Press, May 3, 1914: 26; “Collegians Lose,” Pittsburg Press, June 7, 1914: 21.

13 Scott Cook McCandless WWI draft registration card lists his height as “medium” and build as “slender.”

14 “Two New Terrapins,” Baltimore Sun, July 16, 1914: 5.

15 “Teams Divided Again,” Baltimore Sun, September 11, 1914: 9; “McCandless’ Pinch Hits,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 11, 1914: 11.  

16 “Chifeds Take Rubber” Baltimore Sun, September 25, 1914: 8.

17 “Terrapins Lose and Tie,” Baltimore Sun, October 6, 1914: 9.

18 “Terrapins Lose and Win,” Baltimore Sun, October 11, 1914: 28.

19 “League Leaders Here for Series,” Baltimore Evening Sun, May 4, 1915: 9.

20 “Meyer Out of Line-Up,” Baltimore Sun, May 22, 1915: 7; “Terps Trim Packers,” Baltimore Sun, May 30, 1915: 21; “Up to George Suggs to Defeat Peppers,” Baltimore Evening Sun, July 8, 1915: 11.     

21 “Terps Ignored in Peace Pact,” Baltimore Evening Sun, January 8, 1916: 9.    

22  “Suit Still Worrying Them,” Baltimore Evening Sun, February 3, 1916: 5.    

23  “Dallas Team Begins Its Spring Training,” Austin (Texas) Statesman and Tribune, February 24, 1916: 4.    

24 “Causey and Hill Drafted by Big League Clubs,” Waco (Texas) Daily Times-Herald, September 15, 1916: 4.

25 “Boston Cancels Draft of Dallas Center Fielder,” Waco Daily Times-Herald, September 19, 1916: 9; “Tigers Must Take Brace,” Baltimore Sun, September 20, 1916: 9.

26 “Wins In Fifteenth,” San Antonio (Texas) Light, April 16, 1917: 7.

27 “Beaux Defeat Giants,” San Antonio Light, May 19, 1917: 5.

28 “Baseball Is Square; So Is Clayton Perry,” Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise, May 22, 1917: 8.

29 “Leslie, James and Clay Perry Setting Pace” Beaumont Enterprise, June 3, 1917: 12.

30 Scott Cook McCandless World War I Veterans Service and Compensation Files: Pennsylvania, U.S., World War I Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948 – Ancestry.com, accessed December 15, 2024.

31 “Des Moines Wins Extra Inning Game from Sioux,” Omaha (Nebraska) Bee, June 8, 1920: 12.    

32 1920 U.S. Census.

33 1950 U.S. Census.

34 McCandless Death Certificate.

35 McCandless Death Certificate. John Bauer, telephone interview with the author, December 15, 2024. John works for the Elmer L. Herman Funeral Home where both Jack and Nancy McCandless were cremated and was able to verify that Nancy took possession of her husband’s ashes, but what became of hers is unknown.