George Twombly

It can rarely be said that a major leaguer has more success with homers after his playing days than during them, but the careers of George Twombly provide an example. Though he lacked for homers in baseball’s Deadball Era, he later found success in raising homing and fancy pigeons and as an author and publisher of pigeon-related texts.

George Frederick Twombly was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 4, 1892. His parents met while employed at a stationers in Boston; his mother, Florence Isabel Brannen, worked as a bookkeeper and his father, Clarence Edward Twombly, was then a salesman.1 Shortly after George was born, the family moved north of Boston to Medford.2 There he and elder brother John Edward (Ed) were joined by two further siblings: a brother, Clarence Edward Jr.—better known as future major leaguer Babe Twombly—and a sister, Mabel.3

George’s father operated a feed and pet store in Boston, and George grew up around animals. The family owned horses, goats, dogs, and many kinds of birds, from chickens and pigeons to turkeys and peacocks.4 C. E. Twombly Sr. raced horses at local clubs; the children raced their pet goats “Nip” and “Tuck” around the neighborhood.5 George’s father’s passion was pigeons. He formed the American Pigeon Club and in 1895 founded The Pigeon News, a fancy pigeon newsletter that he continued to publish until his death.6 A fire at the family home in 1905 claimed the lives of several animals and hundreds of the family’s birds and caused the Twomblys to move to a street in Medford now known as Fellsway, which consisted largely of fields at the time.7

George describes his father as working in the morning and going to ballgames in the afternoon. An early memory of George’s was seeing Jack Dunn—his mother’s cousin—play at the South End Grounds.8 Dunn became an important figure in Twombly’s professional baseball career.

At Medford High school, Twombly was an “all-round athlete of unusual ability.”9 He ran track, played basketball and football (captaining all three in his senior year), and was the starting shortstop for the baseball team.10 In between school years he played summer ball in New Hampshire’s semiprofessional Twin Mountain League. According to Twombly, after being denied permission from his father to play in the league, he packed a bag, snuck out of the house with 10 dollars borrowed from his grandfather, and caught a train north.11

By Twombly’s own admission he wasn’t the greatest scholar— “I can truthfully say that I never did any homework in high school”—though he claimed to excel in algebra, English, bookkeeping, shorthand, and typing.12 In his final two years of high school he switched to a commercial course in anticipation of going into his father’s business.13 In his first winter after graduating high school in 1910, he worked for his father’s pigeon and pet store.14

Baseball beckoned, though, and the following spring Twombly was signed by cousin Jack Dunn, by then the owner of the Eastern League’s Baltimore Orioles, after the 18-year-old had sent his relative records of his amateur baseball career.15 Twombly was full of youthful confidence— “I was the Great Twombly… who could hit, field, and run better than anyone else.” But he was in for a surprise when he found himself training with an Orioles team filled with former major leaguers, including several players who had appeared for the Athletics’ World Series winners of 1910, as well as earlier stars such as shortstop Freddy Parent (who joined the club in May) and 1905 National League batting champion Cy Seymour.16

Although he had been a shortstop in high school, reviews of his defense as an early professional were not glowing. One assessment called him “as bad a [shortstop] as could be found” and he rarely played there in organized baseball.17 He was not an overpowering presence either. Later in his career he was described as “one of the smallest outfielders in the NL” and weighing “not over 150 lbs.”18 His speed was frequently described as an asset, however.19 20

Twombly was most often stationed at third base in 1911. The right-handed hitter made his Baltimore debut off the bench on May 6, playing in right field and garnering a hit in two at-bats,21 before being sent to the Scranton (Pennsylvania) Miners of the Class B New York State League for seasoning. After 15 games with Scranton, Twombly returned to Baltimore and made a handful of appearances as a substitute before being farmed out once more to the Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Ponies of the Class B Tri-State League.22

In 1912 Twombly returned to the Tri-State League as the starting second baseman for the Altoona (Pennsylvania) Rams (which transferred to Reading in June). The year was a great one for the young infielder: Twombly finished the season with a .352 average—good for third best in the league among those who played 10 or more games—and 32 stolen bases, which was sixth best in the circuit. His defense proved an issue, however; a .928 fielding percentage at second base was the lowest among regulars.23

His performances with Altoona/Reading proved enough for Twombly to crack the Baltimore squad for the 1913 season. “Cousin George” (a moniker used by sportswriters at the time to nod to Twombly’s relationship to Jack Dunn)24 played 15 games at second base in the early part of the season, but made 10 errors in those games.25 That precipitated a move to the outfield, which would be his primary position for the rest of his career. Twombly batted .255 for the year—a sharp dropoff from 1912—but his 26 stolen bases put him once again among the top 10 speedsters in the International League.

Twombly re-signed with Baltimore in 1914, and was joined in spring training in Fayetteville, North Carolina by another George: George Herman Ruth. Babe—a nickname Ruth acquired that spring—made his debut in organized baseball with the Orioles on April 22.26 Twombly started the game in left field and went 1-for-4 with a run scored while the Babe threw a shutout. Twombly was proud of his performances that year in comparison to greats such as Ruth. Years later, when the Baltimore Sun ran an article on the 1914 Orioles, Twombly wrote to the publication bristling at the perceived categorization of himself as just “an additional member” of the team.27

The Orioles found success on the field in the early part of the season, but competition from the newly formed Baltimore Terrapins of the renegade major Federal League put financial pressure on Jack Dunn’s ballclub. On July 8, Twombly and shortstop Claud Derrick were sold to the Cincinnati Reds of the National League for a reported price of approximately $15,000.28 Ruth, who filled Twombly’s spot in left field for one game, was sold to the Red Sox the next day.29

Twombly made his major league debut at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field) on July 9, 1914, and promptly demonstrated his famed speed. In the seventh inning Twombly drew a pinch-hit walk and stole second base; in the bottom of the ninth he hit a leadoff triple and scored. Twombly settled in as Cincinnati’s left fielder (starting 54 of the next 56 games), but he could not live up to his explosive debut. He did not record another extra-base hit for over a month.

Fans back home in Medford quickly earmarked the Reds’ early-August road trip to the Northeast as a chance to celebrate the hometown star. They set about organizing a “Twombly Day” for the 22-year-old. The Boston Braves, hosts for the August 8 game, were on a hot streak and to accommodate the expected large crowd, proceedings were shifted from the Walpole Street Grounds to Fenway Park.30 In attendance were Twombly’s parents, his sister. younger brother Babe (then a ballplayer at Lehigh University), two aunts, and more than 1,000 residents of Medford.

Twombly started in left field for the Reds and batted third in the order. Before his first plate appearance he was presented with five $20 gold coins by the mayor of Medford and a committee of businessmen and local dignitaries who had organized the event.31 (Twombly later said he used the money on a new body for his father’s automobile, which the young ballplayer had crashed into a trolley car.)32 After the ceremony Twombly stepped into the box and hit a single down the third base line, waving to the Medford delegation as he reached first to the great appreciation of the crowd. In the third, Twombly singled again but twisted his ankle on a slide later in the inning. He attempted to stay in the game but eventually had to come out in the seventh inning.33

Twombly finished the season with a disappointing .233 batting average across 240 at-bats in 68 games. There was little power to go with the low batting average: the left fielder’s five triples comprised all his extra-base hits, giving him the unusual distinction of holding the major league record for the most triples in a season of zero doubles and homers.34

That offseason, rumors floated that Twombly would be traded to the Cubs35 or released to Louisville.36 However, he was retained by the Reds, though he was restricted to appearances off the bench in the early part of 1915. His bat remained the biggest concern; Sporting Life reported that “International Leaguers who had major league experience contend that [Twombly] will never make good as a hitter.”37 Through the end of May, Twombly had started only a handful of games. In June the Pittsburg Press dryly referred to Twombly as the “well-known golfer and pinch runner.”38 Reds manager Buck Herzog initially rebuffed any trade talk, pointing to the need for Twombly as both a pinch-hitter and cover for his outfielders, but on July 27, Twombly was released to Richmond of the International League.39 All but 11 of his 46 appearances had been as a substitute, and he had once again shown limited power: a solitary triple made up all his extra- base hits.

In Richmond, Twombly was reunited with Jack Dunn, who had moved the Orioles to that city owing to the competition from the Federal League in Baltimore. Twombly had a resurgence at the plate and ended the season second on the team in hitting with a .298 batting average. When the Federal League collapsed that winter, Dunn returned his International League team to Baltimore—taking up residence in Terrapin Park (later renamed Oriole Park). Twombly joined him after the Reds sold his contract in February 1916.40 Showing versatility, Twombly shifted around the diamond in 1916, playing at first and second base as well as in center.

Twombly continued his good hitting, and sported a. 400 batting average through mid-June.41 His final season batting average was an impressive .313—and, more remarkably, he led the league in home runs with 12. The Reds took notice of Twombly’s great year and re-signed him in late September, but the reunion was to be short-lived. In the Reds’ penultimate series of the season versus Philadelphia, Twombly went hitless in two pinch-hitting appearances and was 0-for-4 in his only start. He was returned to Baltimore in the offseason.42

The following year provided another major league opportunity for Twombly. The Boston Braves had been after him “for some time”43 and the National League club secured his services in February 1917 for a reported $2,500.44 Twombly’s pleasure at the signing was twofold: he was  back in the big leagues and he would be able to live at home during the season.45 He was expected to compete for the outfield spots, but did not impress with the bat in training camp in Miami.46 He started 28 of the Braves’ first 38 games of the season but failed to hit for average or power. Thus, he was released on June 11 to Louisville. Manager George Stallings was reported to have been disappointed in Twombly, from whom he expected more than other outfielders on the team.47 Twombly later related that his manager felt that he “never tried to play well for him, even though he thought I had the ability.”48

Perhaps having become accustomed to playing near his home, the 24-year-old refused to report to Louisville. He announced that if he was not good enough for the major leagues, then he would retire from the sport.49 (He had already hinted at quitting the game in the previous offseason.50) Twombly was not without a fallback plan: in 1916 he started a business selling tires.51 

In early July the Braves arranged for Twombly to be traded to the IL Providence Grays instead. Louisville relinquished their claim on the player and, given the proximity of Providence to his home in Medford, Twombly agreed to report.52 After hitting a middling .269 that season, it appeared that Twombly would soon retire and settle into a career outside of baseball for good.

By May 1918, however, Twombly was playing ball again, this time at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts.53 The United States had entered World War I the previous year and many shipyards hired ballplayers to work during the morning and play baseball in the afternoon. Detractors claimed that these leagues allowed ballplayers — fit, draft-age men — to avoid military service.54 George worked as a machinist55 and played in the outfield for Fore River in the Bethlehem Steel League; his brother Babe played for Bethlehem in the same league.56

Twombly did not spend long at Fore River, though: in early June he was drafted into the Army and traveled to Fort Slocum in New Rochelle, New York.57 Per Twombly’s account there was a mixup on exemption status, and though he was eligible to return to the shipyard, he chose instead to accept assignment to the Army.58

Also at Fort Slocum were big leaguers Ray Fisher and Charles Bender, as well as future major leaguer and “Clown Prince of Baseball” Al Schacht. In July, Twombly put in for a transfer to the Signal Corps so he could work in the pigeon section, though his transfer didn’t come through until after the baseball season had finished in October.59 In his memoir, Twombly wrote that his contingent was due to catch a train to New York on November 11 ahead of sailing to England when word reached them that the war had ended.60

After his discharge from the Army in 1919, Twombly caught on with the New Haven club and spent the last few weeks of the Class A Eastern League season there, batting .309 in 17 games. He was given one more shot in the major leagues when he was sold to the American League’s Washington Senators on August 28. His only game for Washington was the first half of a doubleheader versus the Red Sox. Twombly started in left and went 0-for-4 against his old teammate Babe Ruth. It was Twombly’s final game in Organized Baseball—and, incidentally, the final win of Ruth’s Red Sox tenure.

The Washington Evening Star was critical of Twombly’s fitness, writing that, despite recently being in the Army, he was “about twenty pounds overweight … slow of foot, and far from impressive looking at the bat.”61 Twombly’s major league career consisted of 150 games spread across five seasons. He posted a .211 batting average, one double, seven triples, and no homers, plus 21 stolen bases.

Twombly felt he was being underpaid as a professional athlete. “[Washington club boss] Clark Griffith paid me the same fee I was getting in New Haven, which was $20 for the double-header… I had had enough. I could make $100 a week playing four twilight games … and $100 per game on Saturdays and Sundays.”62

For the next 10 years Twombly instead played in Greater Boston’s semiprofessional Twilight League in the evenings and worked during the day. In his first years in the circuit, he represented Salem, Haverhill, Revere, and Medford. One 1922 profile noted that the ex-major leaguer needed little introduction to Medford fans. Perhaps not surprisingly, the former professional’s batting average was “nearly 100 points above his team mates” that season.63

In 1923 he represented the Reading Town team and then spent the next two seasons with the Lynn Cornets. On June 12, 1925, he got the only hit against ex-major leaguer Cy Twombly (no relation).64 The next season, he and Cy were teammates on the Lynn General Electric ballclub. Cy had previously been a teammate of Babe Twombly at Lehigh University and was often mistakenly identified as a brother of the Medford Twomblys.

Lynn ended the 1926 season as champions after winning a three-team round robin playoff. By one account, George’s hitting had “not fallen off a bit” since his days as a professional and he could “throw and run the bases as he did in the past.”65 Twombly repeated as a league champion in 1927, this time with Malden. He concluded his part-time ballplayer career at the age of 37 with Dorchester in 1929.

Twombly’s day job for much of this time was as a dealer of automobiles. After retiring from professional baseball following the 1919 season, Twombly became a partner in a car agency on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston66 and continued in this role into 1926. That year, though, he left the car industry to take over his father’s company.

The C.E. Twombly Company was formed in 190967 by George’s father Clarence Edward (C.E.) and older brother Ed. It manufactured paper containers for various products, such as finger bowl liners and glassine candy cups.68 Ed moved to Miami in the mid-1920s, and C.E., then in his late fifties, decided to step away from the business.69

George took charge of the company and, though there were some initial struggles, soon made a large deal to provide fluted cups for packaging cookies to the National Biscuit Company.70 Eventually the company grew to manufacture a wide array of paper goods, including hot dog cases, toothpick frills, dental bibs, soda straws, and waste basket liners.71 Twombly was president until he sold the business to a competitor, the Sherman Paper Products Corporation, in the late 1950s.72

Outside of business, Twombly was immersed in the world of pigeons, another interest he inherited from his father. George started his first loft in 1919 and competed in shows and races throughout his life.73 After his father died in 1940, George took over publication of The Pigeon News newsletter and published several books on pigeons, including a re-edited version of his father’s The Pigeon Standard. Among roles that Twombly took on in this community were director of the American Pigeon Club, president of the Greater Boston Homing Pigeon Concourse—and, naturally, president of the Medford Pigeon Club.74

Twombly married Aida Taylor75 on September 30, 1925. They lived together for over 40 years in the same house in Medford that George grew up in, which became known as “Pigeon Haven.”76 The couple enjoyed spending time with friends and family in Miami and taking cruises to Europe and the Caribbean, with George often conducting business on these trips.77 They had no children.

In 1966, Twombly self-published a memoir titled The All American Dropout: And How to Succeed (if Necessary) without a Ph.D. The Boston Globe highlighted its amateur quality and unusual candidness, calling it a “disorganized, whimsical, unprofessional, refreshing, ungrammatical, spicy autobiography.” In drawing a contrast between it and the “carefully manufactured story” of Sandy Koufax’s recently published autobiography, the Globe called it “100 percent Twombly.”

In closing his memoir, Twombly wrote.

“I’ve relived my life. I am happy in semi-retirement and recommend to any senior citizen with time to spare to consider setting forth his memories. It will take up more time than you think but I believe you will be well rewarded in knowing that you have not only stated the facts of your own life—but have remembered the many fine people who have helped you along the uncertain road of life… and have remained fast friends. May the grace of our Lord be with you always.”

George Twombly died at the Fairlawn Nursing Home in Lexington, Massachusetts, on February 17, 1975, at the age of 82. His wife Aida had died in August 1973. Both are buried at Puritan Lawn Memorial Park in Peabody, Massachusetts.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Sources

Sources for the biographical information provided above include family and military data accessed via Familysearch.org; George Twombly file maintained at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; statistics from Baseball-Reference.com; George Twombly’s memoir The All American Dropout: And How to Succeed (if Necessary) without a Ph.D.; and various newspaper articles listed in the endnotes.

Notes

1 George Twombly, The All American Dropout: And How to Succeed (if Necessary) without a Ph.D. (self-published, 1966), 1.

2 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 1.

3 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 4-6.

4 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 261-262.

5 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 1-2.

6 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 1.

7 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 2-4.

8 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 1.

9 “Medford High Boasts Three Able Captains,” Boston Globe, January 5, 1909: 9.

10 “Medford High Boasts.”

11 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 10.

12 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 1.

13 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 8.

14 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 10.

15 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 23.

16 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 23.

17 “Jack Dunn Proves Master Salesman in $150,000 Deals,” Buffalo Courier, August 13, 1917: 8.

18 “George Twombly to Be Seen Here,” Wilmington (North Carolina) Dispatch, March 19, 1917: 5.

19 “Twombly for Braves,” Boston Globe, January 30, 1917: 6.

20 “George Twombly to Be Seen Here,” Wilmington Dispatch, March 19, 1917: 5.

21 “Birds Take Both Games from the Montreal Team,” Baltimore Sun, May 7, 1911: 13.

22 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 24.

23 “The Tri-State League,” Sporting Life, November 9, 1912: 16.

24 James H. Bready, Baseball in Baltimore: The First Hundred Years (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, 1998), 121.

25 “The International League,” Sporting Life, November 29, 1913: 10.

26 Jesse A. Linthicum, “Ruth Scores Shutout,” Baltimore Sun, April 23, 1914: 11.

27 Jesse A. Linthicum, “Sunlight on Sports,” Baltimore Sun, February 2, 1936: 22.

28 C. Starr Matthews, “Two Oriole Stars Sold to Cincinnati,” Baltimore Sun, July 8, 1914: 5.

29 C. Starr Matthews, “3 More Orioles Sold,” Baltimore Sun, July 10, 1914: 5.

30 “Braves vs. Reds Today,” Boston Globe, August 8, 1914: 5.

31 “$100 in Gold for Twombly,” Boston Globe, August 9, 1914: 17.

32 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 30-31.

33 “$100 in Gold for Twombly,” Boston Globe, August 9, 1914: 17.

34 Stathead Baseball Player Batting Season & Career Stats Finder, accessed: December 21, 2025, https://www.sports-reference.com/stathead/tiny/NN09G.

35 “Reds May Trade Twombly to Cubs,” Baltimore Sun, December 29, 1914: 8.

36 Chandler D. Richter, “Side-Lights on Base Ball,” Sporting Life, February 6, 1915: 15.

37 Chandler D. Richter, “Side-Lights on Base Ball,” Sporting Life, March 13, 1915: 11.

38 “Twombly is Desired by Local Team,” Pittsburg Press, June 3, 1915: 28.

39 George B. Newland, “Boston Here with Full Steam Ahead; Phils Wins Five of Eight,” Cincinnati Post, July 28, 1915: 6.

40 “Dunn Gets Twombly,” Richmond Times-Dispatch, February 9, 1916: 8.

41 “Twombly is Batting .400,” Portsmouth (Virginia) Daily Times, June 17, 1916: 10.

42 Jack Veiock, “National League Not Given Liberties of American,” Asbury Park (New Jersey) Evening Press, December 22, 1916: 15.

43 “Braves Get Twombly, a Medford Boy of Promise,” Boston Globe, January 30, 1917: 5.

44 “Jack Dunn Proves Master Salesman in $150,000 Deals,” Buffalo Courier, August 13, 1917: 8.

45 H.H. Williamson, “Comments on Sport,” New Bedford (Massachusetts) Standard-Times, February 2, 1917: 12.

46 Ed M’Grath, “Braves to Play Yanks Tomorrow,” Boston Sunday Post, March 25: 1917: 21.

47 Morris Miller, “Sport Snap Shots,” Janesville (Wisconsin) Weekly Gazette, June 26, 1917: 10.

48 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 68.

49 “Twombly Retires,” New Bedford Evening Standard, June 11, 1917: 9.

50 J.C. O’Leary, “Twombly May Quit Game,” Boston Globe, December 21, 1916: 7.

51 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 66.

52 “Shakeup in the Braves,” Boston Globe, July 11, 1917: 5.

53 “Bethlehem Steel League as Good as Best,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) New Era, May 2: 1918: 6.

54 Wendi Maloney, “Baseball and World War I,” Library of Congress Blogs, September 27, 2018, accessed: December 21, 2025, https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/09/baseball-and-world-war-i/.

55 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 68.

56 “Some Old Tri-State Favorites in Bethlehem Steel League Lineup,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Democrat, May 3, 1918: 13.

57 “Medford Fireman Heads Draftees of that City,” Boston Globe, May 31, 1918: 11.

58 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 68.

59 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 72.

60 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 72.

61 Denman Thompson, “Griffs to Open with Macks Today,” Washington (DC) Evening Star, September 2, 1919: 19.

62 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 74.

63 Gene Mack, “Twilight Stars,” Boston Globe, August 10, 1922: 17.

64 “Twombly Holds Cornets to One Hit Last Night,” Lynn (Massachusetts) Daily Evening Item, June 13, 1925: 4.

65 Albert J. Woodlock, “Twombley [sic] Having a Big Year with General Electric Nine,” Boston Globe, August 4, 1926: 18.

66 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 75.

67 “C.E. Twombly Company,” Biddeford (Maine) Daily Journal, March 23, 1934: 7.

68 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 4.

69 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 101-102.

70 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 102-103.

71 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 115.

72 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 115.

73 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 91-92.

74 Twombly, The All American Dropout, vi.

75 Official documents such as the census records and the Twomblys’ marriage license give the first name as Ada but George spells his wife’s name Aida in his memoir.

76 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 252.

77 Twombly, The All American Dropout, 103, 140, 193-199.