Jim Boyle

One might say that Jim Boyle went into the family business – recruited by no less than Hall-of-Fame manager John McGraw himself1 – but ultimately he chose his own path after being the first Boyle to attend college.

Jim Boyle followed his uncles Jack Boyle and Eddie Boyle as a catcher into the major leagues. He made the jump directly from college ball after his graduation from St. Xavier College (now Xavier University) in Cincinnati to an appearance for the New York Giants in June 1926. Boyle was one of the rare ballplayers to make the leap directly from college ball to a major-league debut behind the plate.

However, the tools of ignorance matched poorly with the career aspirations of the Xavier class president and philosophy major.2 His professional playing career lasted for a single inning, the ninth, on June 20. Boyle did not get an opportunity at the plate in the game. He left the Giants on August 2 to pursue a career in business in Cincinnati, his native city.

James John Boyle was born on January 19, 1904. He was the third of four children of James F. Boyle and Emma Boyle (née Hook). Jim’s younger brother was Ralph “Buzz” Boyle, who played five years in the majors (1929-30; 1933-35). Their father was a captain in the fire department in Cincinnati; Emma was a homemaker for the family, which included older siblings Helen and Edward.

Growing up, Boyle had the advantage of learning the finer points of catching from Uncle Eddie. Eddie previously had benefited from Jack’s instruction. Jack, seven years older than Eddie, passed away when Jim was only eight years old.

Boyle attended Ohio Mechanics Institute in Cincinnati.3 He caught for the Price Hill Knights of Columbus team at age 17, then earned accolades catching for the Fenwick Athletic Club team before enrolling at St. Xavier College in the fall of 1922.4 The Fenwicks were consistently one of the top amateur teams in Cincinnati.5

Jim made the most of his college experience. The popular student-athlete was elected president of his Xavier class for his sophomore, junior, and senior years.6 He played on both the football and baseball teams for three years.7 He captained the Xavier baseball team as a junior.8 Boyle typically batted cleanup, and his catching for the Musketeers earned rave reviews.9 Between his junior and senior years, he managed and caught for the Cincinnati amateur champion Shevlin team.10 He reportedly batted over .400 his senior year with the Musketeers.11 As one would expect of a catcher, he threw right-handed; he also was a righty batter.

McGraw, manager of the Giants, was noted for his willingness to take on players with no or little minor-league experience and work with (or on) them until they became outstanding players.12 Boyle’s play caught the eye of the feisty manager. He met with Boyle in May 1926 when the Giants visited the Reds.13 McGraw asked Boyle if he was ready to join the Giants when they left town. Perhaps tipping his hand regarding his priorities, Boyle declined in favor of completing his degree at Xavier.14 McGraw respected the decision and let Boyle know he had a spot on the team after graduation.15

Despite the open offer to join the Giants, Boyle expressed some ambivalence about pursuing a career in baseball. When he turned down McGraw’s offer to leave with the Giants, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Boyle had not quite made up his mind about pursuing a career in baseball because he had “several business opportunities in view.”16 Boyle’s attitude reflected that of his Uncle Eddie, who also questioned the wisdom of committing to a career in baseball at the going rate of pay for a backup catcher. Eddie had sat out a year of major-league baseball after his rookie season over this issue.17

Despite his reservations, the 22-year-old Jim Boyle signed with the Giants for $250 a month after graduation on June 15.18 Only five days later, at the Polo Grounds, the 6-foot 180-pound rookie made his sole major-league appearance. Boyle replaced Paul Florence, the Giants’ primary catcher, behind the plate in the top of the ninth inning. Florence was another college man (Georgetown University), but with some minor-league experience. Like Boyle, Florence’s major-league career ended after his rookie season with the Giants – but unlike Boyle he went on to a long career in baseball, including 10 years in the high minors as the general manager of the Birmingham Barons of the Southern Association, assistant GM and player personnel director for the Reds, and one of the organizers of the Houston Astros franchise for their inaugural season.19

As Boyle entered, New York trailed the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-0. On the mound for the Giants was veteran righty Chick Davies. Pittsburgh sent four men to the plate; Boyle was not involved in any fielding plays but recorded a putout on a strikeout and handled all of Davies’ other deliveries cleanly. In the bottom of the ninth, the Giants would have had to bat around for Boyle’s turn at bat to come up, but Vic Aldridge retired the side in order to complete his shutout.

According to Sports Collectors Digest, Boyle’s father encouraged him to try professional baseball, and Boyle had promised his father he would give it one year but that he would give it up if he wasn’t an established player by the end of the season.20 Brother Buzz followed their father’s advice more enthusiastically. He made his career in professional baseball as an outfielder (1929-42) and minor-league manager (1941-42; 1947). He also served as a full-time scout for the Reds, Expos, and Royals.

Signing with the Giants had its upside and downside for Jim Boyle. He got an opportunity to play in the majors, but it was for McGraw, a manager known for respecting his established veterans but generally abusing everyone else. As former major-league player and Giants coach Arlie Latham put it, “McGraw eats gunpowder every morning for breakfast and washes it down with warm blood.”21

Sports Collectors Digest reported an incident that occurred during the Giants’ first swing through Cincinnati after Boyle joined the team (a series that started July 9). Boyle thought of asking McGraw if he could stay with his parents when the team was in town. He did not know that McGraw strictly forbade this. Evidently several of the veterans on the team suggested to Boyle that he pose the question to McGraw, and they positioned themselves outside of the manager’s office to hear the expected fireworks when Boyle walked in to make the request. McGraw, perhaps noticing his veterans milling about, responded, “Why sure,” suggesting the joke was on them.22

Boyle did not care for McGraw23 or riding the bench when other opportunities were open to him. The Giants used a total of seven catchers that season, three of whom – Florence, Frank Snyder, and Hugh McMullen – appeared during Boyle’s time with the club. On June 19, the day before Boyle’s appearance, Snyder got into a fight with Pittsburgh coach Jack Onslow and broke his right hand on the top of Onslow’s head.24 As it developed, Snyder returned to action on August 3 – the day after Boyle quit.

Boyle’s lack of appreciation for McGraw’s approach to rookies was common among younger players. Hall of Famer Edd Roush, for example, noted how happy he was to get out of New York and away from McGraw when he was traded to Cincinnati as a 23-year-old after just 39 games under “The Little Napoleon.”25 Roush returned to the Giants at age 34, by which time McGraw respected him as a player. The two managed to get along once the matter of compensation was resolved to Roush’s satisfaction.26

After a month with the ballclub, Boyle noted that Uncle Jack had made good money in his years as a ballplayer, but none of it had stuck until he opened his saloon in Cincinnati. Boyle recognized, “I’ll have to make my money on the diamond, or in law or business or something. Haven’t had much of a chance with this club to find out whether I inherited any of my late uncle’s ability or not. Still, it’s nice just to be trailing around with the Giants and seeing the country and some of the towns where the ‘Unk’ was really some pumpkins.”27

Not long after, Boyle decided that he’d had enough of the majors and McGraw.28 Anxious to get on with his life outside of baseball and return to Cincinnati to be close to his family, he asked for his release, and it was granted August 2, 1926.29 When Boyle told McGraw he was quitting, McGraw responded that if he did, he would never play another game in the majors.30 That suited Boyle just fine.

Though Boyle left professional baseball behind, he continued to play in amateur and semipro leagues around Cincinnati.31 He joined Aluminum Industries, Inc. in the sales department shortly after leaving the Giants and served as the company’s sales manager by 1930.32 He married Clare Wellinghoff not long thereafter. He and Clare had two daughters (Jane and Anne) and a son (Patrick).

During World War II, Boyle served on the War Production Board. He remained with Aluminum Industries as sales manager until 1953, then joined Zollner Machine Works in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That company’s co-owner, Fred Zollner, also founded the Zollner Pistons, which at that time represented Fort Wayne in the National Basketball Association.

Soon, Jim Boyle fell ill with leukemia.33 He died December 24, 1958, just a few weeks short of his 55th birthday. He was buried at St. Joseph New Cemetery in Cincinnati.

Jim Boyle’s memory was honored by his grandson, sportswriter Steve Rushin. Rushin was born eight years after his grandfather died, so he never knew him – but Boyle’s presence was felt. A photograph of Boyle in a Giants uniform, in a catcher’s crouch, hung in the Rushin family home as Steve grew up. In an evocative passage from his book, The 34-Ton Bat, Rushin described receiving Boyle memorabilia. His Uncle Pat passed on Boyle’s scrapbook and Giants contract – and best of all, the caramel-colored mitt that the catcher had worn during his sole big-league outing.

“Eighty-five years later, I remove the mitt from its box and instinctively secure it over my nose and mouth, like supplemental oxygen, I take a deep drag – of leather, sweat, and smoke, of a hot Sunday in Harlem, of late-afternoon shadows slanting across the infield, and forty thousand dry-throated spectators lamenting Prohibition.

“And then I slide my fingers into the mitt – its pocket molded by the palm of a dead man – and shake hands for the first time with the grandfather I never knew.”34

Acknowledgments

The author is a great-nephew of the subject (Edward Boyle, brother of Jim and Buzz, was his grandfather).

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Mike Eisenbath, and fact-checked by Paul Proia. The author would like to express his appreciation for the additions suggested by Rory Costello and Paul Proia.

Sources

In addition to the sources included in the Notes, the author relied on Baseball-Reference.com, Baseball-Almanac.com, and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1“Offer Turned Down by Boyle,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 19, 1926: 17.

2 “Red Club Signs Musketeer Star,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 3, 1926: 15. The article primarily focuses on Boyle’s teammate Harry Albers, who signed with the Reds. It incorrectly states that Boyle had already signed with the Giants.

3 “Red Club Signs Musketeer Star.”

4 “Ludlow K of C 8, Price Hill 5,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 25, 1921: 9. Boyle grew up in the Price Hill area of Cincinnati. “Fenwick 19, St. Rose, 5,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 12, 1922: 10, Fenwick 14, Pleasant Ridge 1, Cincinnati Enquirer, May 22, 1922: 13.

5 “Churchmen and Fenwick Lose Title Games,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 7, 1922: 11. The Fenwicks were city amateur champions in 1921. “Triple A 10, Fenwick 3,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 8, 1922: 11.

6 “Red Club Signs Musketeer Star.”

7 “James Boyle of Covedale Dies at 55,” Cincinnati Post, December 26, 1958: 20.

8 “Musketeers to Travel,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 15, 1926: 16.

9 “Boyle’s Catching Feature,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 21, 1926: 15; “New Red,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 9, 1926: 18.

10 “St. Xavier Furnishes Backbone of Both Class A Ameateur Championship Teams,” Cincinnati Post, September 21, 1925: 6.

11 “College Players Move Up, Boyle and Albers, of St. Xavier, to Join Big League Clubs,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 6, 1926: 22.

12 Charles Johnson, “The General Managers: John McGraw, 1902-12,” Elysian Fielders https://www.elysianfielders.com/the-general-mnagers-john-mcgraw-1902-12/, retrieved 6/8/2023. The article generally references Bill James’ book, The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers from 1870 to Today.

13 “Giants Are Released, Manager McGraw May Sign Jimmy Boyle of St. Xavier,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 18, 1926: 16.

14 “Offer Turned Down by Boyle.”

15 “Giants Are Released, Manager McGraw May Sign Jimmy Boyle of St. Xavier.”

16 “Offer Turned Down by Boyle.”

17 See Eddie Boyle’s SABR biography.

18 “Ring Gives Only Three Hits as Home Boys Win, 3-2,” Daily News (New York), June 16, 1926: 77. With respect to Boyle’s pay, see Steve Rushin, “A Bottomless Cup of Coffee,” originally published on April 16, 2006 in Sports Illustrated and available at https://vault.si.com/vault/2006/04/17/a-bottomless-cup-of-coffee, retrieved June 10, 2023).

19 “Obituaries: Paul R. Florence,” The Sporting News, July 7, 1986: 47.

20Jim Kreuz, “Jimmie Boyle Only had a Cup of Coffee in the Bigs…but his son managed to find an autographed NY Giants ball,” Sports Collectors Digest, December 9, 1994: 148.

21 See John McGraw’s SABR Biography at endnote 2.

22 “Jimmie Boyle Only had a Cup of Coffee in the Bigs …”

23 “Jimmie Boyle Only had a Cup of Coffee in the Bigs …”

24 Joe Vila, “New York Yankees Can Hear Stomping of the Mob in Pursuit,” The Sporting News, July 22, 1926: 1.

25 Lawrence S. Ritter, The Glory of Their Times [The Enlarged Edition], New York, Harper Perennial Modern Classics (2010). Roush was signed at age 22 by the Giants after appearing in the Federal League.

26 Ritter, The Glory of Their Times: 228-230.

27 “John McGraw Tells All About His ‘Jints’,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, July 23, 1926: 24.

28 “Jimmie Boyle Only had a Cup of Coffee in the Bigs …”

29 “Giants Release Boyle,” Times Union (Brooklyn), August 3, 1926: 12.

30 “Jimmie Boyle Only had a Cup of Coffee in the Bigs …”

31 “James Boyle of Covedale Dies at 55.”

32 “James Boyle of Covedale Dies at 55.” The 1930 US Census lists his occupation as sales manager in the aluminum industry.

33 “James Boyle of Covedale Dies at 55.”

34 Steve Rushin, The 34-Ton Bat, Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown (2013): 3-6.