John Galligan

During the eight-season existence of the major league American Association, no team posted a worse record than the 27-111-2 (.196) of the 1889 Louisville Colonels 1889.1 Joining this hapless club late in the campaign was journeyman minor league outfielder John Galligan, inserted into the lineup as a replacement for the suspended Pete Browning. The newcomer proved a seamless fit, batting a harmless .167 in 31 games. Released at year-end, Galligan finished his professional career with a final season back in the bushes. He then receded into the anonymity of private life, living and working quietly in New York City until his death in a Bronx hospital in 1937. A fuller account of his life follows.

John T. Galligan was born on an undetermined date in 18612 in Easton, Pennsylvania, a bustling county seat and railroad hub situated on the Delaware River about 50 miles north of Philadelphia. He was the second of nine children3 born to river boatman James Galligan, a Pennsylvania native of Irish descent, and his Irish immigrant wife, the former Sarah Montague. Little is known of young John’s early life except that he appears to have received the elementary school education then customarily afforded the children of the working class. Thereafter, he entered the Easton work force as a collarmaker.4

Galligan reportedly first began playing baseball for the Union club of Easton in 1879.5 But he did not attract newspaper attention until playing left field for Easton’s amateur club four summers later.6 Modern baseball reference works list Galligan’s batting and throwing as unknown, but the probabilities and circumstantial evidence suggest that he did both right-handed. Whatever the case, Galligan (5-foot-10, 160 pounds) was among the local players engaged late in 1883 by an independent club formed in nearby Allentown.7 He entered the professional ranks the following spring when the Allentown Dukes were admitted to the minor Eastern League.

Galligan’s career path was set in his maiden pro season. As became customary, he was a member of a bad (31-44, .413) ball club; did not hit much (a soft .214 batting average, with only six extra-base hits in 74 games) – but his defensive play drew raves in the press. “Galligan covered left field excellently,” observed the Allentown Critic in reporting on a 5-4 loss to the Reading (Pennsylvania) Actives.8 The following day, when the Dukes turned the tables with a 9-5 victory, the paper raved that “the outfielding of Galligan was the best ever seen in Reading.”9 Unhappily for our subject, the Allentown club folded after the season, requiring Galligan to place an advertisement in Sporting Life seeking an engagement for the 1885 season.10

Galligan began the new year playing for a new, unaffiliated professional nine based in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Unusually, he was a “terror with a piece of hemlock in his hand” during an early season 27-0 trouncing of a rival from Arlington.11 But he left Wilkes-Barre in late May to return to the Eastern League, signed by the Norfolk (Virginia) club.12 Assuming the everyday center field post, Galligan batted a meek .206 (46-for-223), but hit the only two home runs of his professional career with the club. And again, he drew press plaudits for his defensive work.13 When non-competitive (32-44, .421) Norfolk disbanded in late August, Galligan finished the campaign with another EL club, the Richmond Virginians, playing center field and going 7-for-35 (.200) in nine games.

Released during the offseason, Galligan landed his next berth with the Portland (Maine) club of the fledgling six-team minor New England League.14 There, for the first and only time in his pro career, he played for a pennant winner (66-36, .647). John contributed to the club’s success by raising his batting average to .243 (99-for-407) and providing decent barehanded outfield defense (.891 fielding percentage) in 97 games.15 That performance, in turn, earned him a promotion to the faster International Association, being signed by the Buffalo Bisons for the 1887 season.16

Galligan’s training camp work impressed Buffalo manager Jack Chapman, who installed him as the everyday right fielder. Some surprising early-season offense from Galligan rewarded Chapman’s confidence. For example, in late April, there was “some good work with the bat, making three safe hits” during a 5-4 loss to Portland.17 He kept up the solid stickwork as the season continued, batting .333 (97-for-291) through 63 games.18 However, that figure was inflated by the peculiar walk-equals-base hit scoring rule of 1887. Galligan also supplied first-rate defensive work (.918 fielding percentage).19

In mid-June, concern arose when Galligan and infielders Jim Purvis and Frank Grant (the future Hall of Famer) engaged in an undescribed but likely drunken Saturday night “escapade” that led the club to take disciplinary action. Purvis was fined $50 and indefinitely suspended; Galligan and Grant got off with $25 fines.20 The event that brought Galligan’s time in Buffalo to a close, however, was not this isolated and out-of-character incident. Rather, it was the Bisons’ acquisition of one-time New York Giants outfielder Sandy Griffin in mid-July.21 Griffin’s arrival promptly deposited Galligan on the Buffalo bench. Although manager Chapman was anxious to retain him as a reserve, Galligan “wished to play ball and not draw a salary from the benches.”22 He therefore requested and received his release from Buffalo. The departure of Galligan –“one of the surest catchers and throwers in the out-field” – was announced with regret in the local press.23 He finished the season back in Portland ,where he fattened his batting average to a lofty .409 in 33 games facing inferior New England League pitching.

The 1888 season found Galligan in yet another new venue, contracted by the Scranton (Pennsylvania) Miners of the newly formed Central League.24 Today, a Scranton team photo that included the dark-haired, mustachioed Galligan is the only image of him known to exist. Meanwhile, younger brother Jim Galligan, a pitcher with whom our subject is sometimes confused, signed with the Central League entry from their hometown, Easton.25 In the only inter-club matchup discovered by the writer, Jim was victorious, setting down Scranton, 9-3, on July 10. Sidelined by illness, John was not the Miners lineup that afternoon.26

For the season, John Galligan’s batting returned to pre-1887 form. In 98 games for fourth-place (55-51, .519) Scranton, he hit a soft .226 but scored 64 runs and stole 40 bases.27 And he was his customary steady self in the outfield, posting a .907 fielding percentage, respectable for the era.28

Over the winter, the demise of the Scranton club left Galligan in search of new employment once again. His first stop in 1889 was the New Haven (Connecticut) team in yet another freshly organized minor league circuit, the Atlantic Association.29 There, his hitting revived (.272 BA in 65 games) but his defense deteriorated (.872 FA).30 New Haven was a sub-.500 non-contender, yet curiously, the club released the reasonably productive Galligan in mid-August.31 Shortly thereafter, he was engaged by Norwalk, a recently admitted Atlantic Association replacement franchise.32

In a brief run as an Atlantic Association member, the Norwalks posted a 2-17 (.105) record; they disbanded in early September. As his tenure with this dismal club came to an end, Galligan received an unexpected contract offer from a major league team, the Louisville Colonels of the American Association.33

The cellar-dwelling Colonels (then 23-86, .211) were playing out the schedule. They needed a replacement for unproductive – and suspended – team stalwart Pete Browning. Club management settled upon Galligan, an available free agent. Colonels fans were informed that the new addition was a defensive standout: “so far as field work is concerned, [Galligan] ranks with the best of them. A prettier thrower can not be found,” declared the Louisville Courier-Journal.34 “If he has a weakness, it is at the bat,” the newspaper added, prophetically.35 Galligan’s performance in Louisville livery soon bore out that assessment.

At age 28 (or soon to be), John Galligan made his belated major league debut on September 2, 1889. He went 0-for-4 at the plate against Baltimore Orioles left-hander Matt Kilroy but played errorless left field defense in a 10-2 Louisville defeat. Galligan broke into the base hit column the following day with a single off righty Wild Bill Widner in a 7-3 loss to the Columbus Solons. A day later, he added another single off right-hander Mark Baldwin. But thereafter, hits became hard for him to come by.

Standout defensive work mitigated the weak batting. “Galligan covered left field in a style which any fielder in the Association would be proud of,” observed the Courier-Journal in coverage of an extra-inning, 4-3 loss to Cincinnati on September 18.36 “Galligan is a great fielder,” the newspaper added.37 More praise came the next day in reportage of a rare Louisville triumph. Behind the pitching of Red Ehret, the Colonels shut out Cincinnati, 6-0. Galligan chipped in two singles and “again played a brilliant field in left.”38

In its next outing Louisville defeated Kansas City, 7-5, but concluded the 1889 season by winning only one of its final 16 games. That placed the Colonels’ record at a dismal 4-25-2 (.105) for the 31 contests with Galligan in the lineup. It also cinched Louisville’s position as the worst team in American Association history. Galligan could not replace potent batsman Browning (.343 BA in 10 seasons for Louisville). In fact, he was a bust at the plate, posting a .167 batting average (20-for-120) with only two extra-base hits. Galligan’s defensive play in left field (.915 fielding percentage), however, had been a decided upgrade over that of his stationary predecessor (.882 in 83 games). And Galligan – a quiet, reliable man – had been much easier for club management to handle than the hard-drinking, undisciplined Browning. Accordingly, at season’s end Galligan was placed on the Louisville reserve list for the 1890 season.39

Club brass overhauled the Colonels’ roster during the offseason – with new personnel, Louisville would go from worst to first in AA standings in 1890. In the process, Galligan was cut loose. In announcing his unconditional release, the Courier-Journal had kind words for the departed player. “As a fielder, Galligan had few superiors. He covered as much ground as any left fielder the Louisville Club ever had, but his weakness was with the stick. Galligan’s hits were few and far between, but it is due him to say that he was a hard-working, conscientious player, who always played ball to the best of his ability.”40

Galligan completed his professional career back in the Atlantic Association, playing outfield for the Wilmington (Delaware) Peach Growers.41 There, he was soon joined by his younger brother, pitcher Jim Galligan, recently released after a preseason trial with the National League’s New York Giants.42 Unhappily, the sibling reunion was short-lived; Jim failed to register a victory in 10 outings and was released by Wilmington in late May.43 Meanwhile, John Galligan was his usual good field/soft bat self, as typified by a news report of Wilmington’s 15-5 defeat of the Baltimore Orioles on July 8: “Galligan … atoned for his weakness at the bat by his fine fielding.”44

Batting .233 in 78 games, John was released by Wilmington in late August.45 As far as has been discovered, he finished his ballplaying days with a few late-season games for a semipro team in Somerville, New Jersey.46 Thereafter, he withdrew from the spotlight, his name rarely appearing in newsprint from then on.47 A bachelor, Galligan worked various jobs and took up residence with his mother and/or married sisters Sarah Fine and Rebecca Van Pelt, first in Staten Island, thereafter in Manhattan.

On July 17, 1901, tragedy visited the family when Jim Galligan, drinking heavily and despondent over a recent separation from his wife, committed suicide at the Van Pelt residence in Manhattan.48 Sowing the seeds of modern-day confusion were wire service reports that indicated that the deceased was John (rather than Jim) Galligan.49 At the time, our subject was alive, well, and employed as a leather collarmaker in New York City.50 He later clerked at a hardware store and served briefly as an NYC fireman.51 Thereafter he identified himself, improbably, to census takers as a civil engineer in the employ of the US government.52 Into the early 1930s, he mostly lived with his sister Rebecca and her family in Manhattan. Galligan subsequently relocated to an apartment in the Bronx and spent the remainder of his working life as a night watchman.

In early September 1937, he was admitted to Morrisania Hospital, suffering from an enlarged prostate. In time, complications and finally pneumonia set in. John T. Galligan died in his hospital bed on the morning of September 22.53 He was about 76. His remains were returned to his birthplace and interred in Easton Cemetery. Never married and without issue, the deceased was survived by his sisters Sarah and Rebecca.

Acknowledgments

This story was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Paul Proia.

Sources

Sources for the biographical detail imparted herein include the Galligan profile in David Nemec, The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2012); US and New York State Census reports and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Unless otherwise specified, statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 This excludes the 1884 AA Washington Nationals (12-51, .190) which disbanded in early August and did not complete the season.

2 Modern reference works that place Galligan’s birth on an unknown date in June 1865 are in error. Such a birth date is biologically impossible. First, it places John’s birth within five months of that of his younger brother James, a minor league pitcher born on November 30, 1865, according to government records including a sworn US passport application. John being born in June 1865 also irreconcilably conflicts with the April 11, 1863, birth date of his younger sister Sarah, the Galligan sibling born between John and James.

3 The other identifiable Galligan children were Thomas (born 1859), Sarah (1863), James (1865), Rebecca (1869), and Paul (1879). Three others, names unknown, appear not to have survived infancy.

4 Per his listings in the 1883 and 1884 Easton city directories. Galligan’s off-season occupation as a collarmaker was also reported in “Notes and Comment,” Sporting Life, March 26, 1884: 3, and “Base Ball Notes,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Critic, March 24, 1884: 4.

5 See “The New Baseball Club,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Daily News-Leader, April 22, 1885: 1.

6 As mentioned in various eastern Pennsylvania newspapers.

7 See “Baseball,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Daily Intelligencer, September 26, 1883: 2; “The New Nine,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Democrat, September 25, 1883: 3.

8 “Allentown vs. Active,” Allentown Critic, May 21, 1884: 1.

9 “Reading Squelched,” Allentown Critic, May 22, 1884: 1.

10 The “open for engagement” notice was published in Sporting Life, December 31, 1884: 11. See also, “On the Ball Field,” Lancaster Daily Intelligencer, December 23, 1884: 4.

11 “The Arlingtons Scooped,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Record, April 23, 1885: 1.

12 As reported in “The Base Ball Club,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Evening Leader, May 28, 1885: 1, and “The Same Luck,” Wilkes-Barre Record, May 28, 1885: 4. The departure of Galligan and several other members of the Wilkes-Barre club was unexpected and drew harsh rebukes in the area press. See e.g., “Traitors and Sneaks,” Scranton (Pennsylvania) Republican, June 1, 1885: 4.

13 See e.g., “The National Game,” Norfolk Virginian, August 1, 1885: 1: The fielding of “Galligan should come in for a share of praise.” In 69 Eastern League games overall, Galligan posted an .880 FA which placed him 18th among 49 EL gardeners listed in statistics published in the 1886 Reach Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 58.

14 The Galligan signing was reported in “Base Ball,” Portland (Maine) Daily Press, February 16, 1886: 2.

15 Per New England League stats published in the 1887 Reach Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 69, 72.

16 As reported in “The World of Sport,” Buffalo Express, November 7, 1886: 14; “Base Ball and Other Sports,” Buffalo Commercial, November 6, 1887: 3.

17 “Base Ball,” Portland Daily Press, April 26, 1887: 2.

18 Per International Association batting statistics published in the 1888 Reach Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 72. For the stats-inflated 1887 season, the Buffalo Bisons posted a robust .335 team batting average.

19 1888 Reach Guide, 77.

20 As reported in “Sunday’s Spree,” Buffalo Times, June 14, 1887: 3.

21 Griffin had become available shortly after the IA’s Utica Pent-Ups franchise was transferred to Wilkes-Barre. See “Notes,” Portland Daily Press, August 2, 1887: 2.

22 “Sports of All Sorts,” Buffalo Commercial, July 30, 1887: 3.

23 Same as above. See also, “Baseball Chat,” Buffalo Express, July 31, 1887: 8.

24 The John Galligan signing was reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Wilkes-Barre Evening Leader, April 10, 1888: 4; and “Base Ball Notes,” Scranton Republican, April 8, 1888: 1.

25 The Jim Galligan signing was reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Sunday Morning Leader, April 1, 1888: 4.

26 Per the box score published in Sporting Life, July 18, 1888: 4. Three weeks later, Jim Galligan was fined $75 and suspended without pay for the balance of the season by Easton club management for “indifferent ball playing.” See “Easton Events,” Sporting Life, August 1, 1888: 1.

27 Per Central League stats published in the 1889 Reach Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 87.

28 1889 Reach Guide, 93. Galligan’s .907 fielding percentage ranked fourth-highest among ten Central League left fielders.

29 As reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 4, 1889: 6; “Signed by the New Havens,” Boston Herald, March 2, 1889: 8; “Three More for New Haven,” Worcester Daily Telegram, March 2, 1889: 4.

30 Per Atlantic Association statistics published in the 1890 Reach Official American Association Base Ball Guide, 77, 82.

31 Galligan’s release was reported in “Notes,” Providence Evening Bulletin, August 14, 1889: 1; “Sporting Matters,” Worcester Evening Gazette, August 14, 1889: 8; and elsewhere. The only reason management offered for the dismissal of Galligan and pitcher Bill Swarback was that newly acquired players were “better than those who have been released.” See “With the Ash and Sphere,” Worcester Daily Telegram, August 15, 1889: 4.

32 Per “Local Affairs,” Stamford (Connecticut) Advocate, August 23, 1889: 3; “Double Plays,” Boston Herald, August 20, 1889: 5.

33 As reported in “World of Sport,” Waterbury (Connecticut) Evening Democrat, September 2, 1889: 5.

34 “Rank Robbery,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 9, 1889: 2.

35 “Rank Robbery.”

36 “Ten Innings Required,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 19, 1889: 5.

37 “Notes,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 19, 1889: 5.

38 “Shut Out the Reds,” Louisville Courier-Journal, September 20, 1889: 5.

39 Per “Association Reserves,” Louisville Courier-Journal, October 20, 1889: 5.

40 “Two Louisville Players Released,” Louisville Courier-Journal, December 27, 1889: 8. Colonels team captain Dan Shannon also received his walking papers.

41 Galligan’s inclusion on the Wilmington roster was noted in “The Atlantic,” Sporting Life, April 5, 1890: 7.

42 Wilmington’s engagement of both Galligan brothers was reported in “Notes and Gossip,” Sporting Life, May 3, 1890: 4; “Base Ball Meeting,” Wilmington (Delaware) Morning News, May 1, 1890: 4; “New Men Signed,” Wilmington (Delaware) Daily Republican, April 28, 1890: 4; and elsewhere.

43 Per “Dots,” Wilmington Daily Republican, May 27, 1890: 1; “Base Ball Notes,” Wilmington (Delaware) Evening Journal, May 27, 1890: 3.

44 “Baltimore Not in It,” Wilmington Morning News, July 9, 1890: 4.

45 As reported in “Base Ball Notes,” Wilmington Morning News, August 22, 1890: 4.

46 According to “Bitter Rivalry,” Sporting Life, October 4, 1890: 6.

47 The only discovered exception to this was a January 1893 report that “outfielder John Galligan is going to return to the diamond next season if he can secure an engagement” in “Personal Mention,” Sporting Life, January 21, 1893: 2.

48 Taking a straight razor in hand, James Galligan slashed his throat in the bathroom of his sister Rebecca’s home. See “James Galligan,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 18, 1901: 4; “Old Ball Player Kills Himself,” New York Tribune, July 18, 1901: 7; “Baseball Man Kills Himself,” New York Evening World, July 17, 1890: 4.

49 See e.g., “Suicide Known Here,” Wilmington Daily Republican, July 19, 1901: 3: “City News in Brief,” Wilmington Evening Journal, July 19, 1901: 6.

50 Per the 1900 US Census, also the likely source of the erroneous June 1865 birth year ascribed to Galligan by modern baseball reference works.

51 According to the 1900 US Census and 1905 New York State Census.

52 Per the 1930 US Census. Galligan claimed this same occupation when he registered (as a Democrat) in Manhattan to vote in the 1928 and 1932 elections.

53 The Galligan death certificate lists the cause of death as bronchopneumonia resulting from complications of prostatic hypertrophy (an enlarged prostate). The deceased also suffered from prostate ulcers and bilateral epididymitis.