Johnny Ryan

Johnny Ryan was a light-hitting outfielder who wore the uniform of some of 19th-century baseball’s worst major league clubs. Particularly pitiful were the 1874 Baltimore Canaries (9-38, .170) and 1875 New Haven Elm Citys (7-40, .149) of the National Association. Ryan fit right in, batting well below .200 and posting statistically mediocre fielding percentages – although his defensive work sometimes drew praise in the press. He did, however, turn in decent numbers for the 1876 Louisville Grays during the National League’s inaugural campaign, his third and last season as a lineup fixture. After his playing career was over, Ryan stayed close to the game, serving for eight years as groundskeeper of the Jefferson Street Grounds, an American Association ballpark situated in his native Philadelphia. He spent the remainder of his working life as a member of the Philadelphia Police Department, dying on the job in March 1902. His story follows.

Reliable biographical data about our subject are few. But according to current baseball authority, John Joseph Ryan was born in Philadelphia on an undetermined date in October 1853.1 He was the elder of two sons2 born to Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad Company oiler/car inspector Patrick J. Ryan (1821-1893), and his wife Ellen, both Irish Catholic immigrants. When Johnny was still a boy, the family relocated to Port Carbon, a town located about 90 miles northwest of Philadelphia, and later to nearby Palo Alto. He attended school through at least age 15,3 and thereafter found work as a carpenter.4

The precise origins of Johnny Ryan’s baseball career are unknown, but Philadelphia, like other Northeastern cities, had a thriving post-Civil War baseball scene. Nineteenth Century baseball scholar David Nemec states that Ryan began his ballplaying career on the reserve nine of the 1872 National Association champion Boston Red Stockings “but did not appear in any official games, acting as scorekeeper all season.”5 The following year, he hooked on with the NA’s Philadelphia Whites but saw no game action until late in the season. Ryan made his debut on August 19, 1873 filling in at first base for Denny Mack.6 Standing a shade over 5-feet-7 and then weighing about 150 pounds, the newcomer did not present a daunting figure to Boston hurler Al Spalding, then on his way to posting a 41-14 (.745) record. But Ryan (who likely batted and threw right-handed7) chipped in an RBI single and scored a run in Philadelphia’s 9-4 triumph over the formidable Spalding. Ryan also made three errors playing barehanded first base.

In late August, Ryan made a second official game appearance, going 1-for-4 at the plate and handling two chances cleanly in right field during an 11-3 loss to Baltimore.8 Overall during his brief maiden season, he went 2-for-8 (.250) while posting a cumulative .769 fielding percentage in his two games for a second-place (36-17, .679) Philadelphia club. It was the only good major league team that Ryan ever played on.

The first sad sack that Ryan suited up for was the Baltimore Canaries, headed for a last-place finish in final 1874 National Association standings. Appearing in every one of the club’s 47 games, he posted a team-worst .193 BA (35-for-181) and led the NA in strikeouts (13). Yet Ryan was far from the club’s weakest member. Among hitting-challenged teammates, Ryan was a team leader in various offensive categories: first in RBIs (19) and walks (5); tied for first in stolen bases (3); and tied for second in extra-base hits (9) and runs scored (29). Stationed in left field, he excelled on defense, leading NA outfielders in putouts (174) and range factor (3.85), and posting a fielding percentage (.863) that far exceeded those registered by pasture mates Harry Deane (.809) and Oscar Bielaski (.804). Ryan even made an appearance in the pitcher’s box, albeit with underwhelming results: 13 base hits and six earned runs surrendered in 3 1/3 innings of relief work.

After the campaign, the Baltimore franchise disbanded, leaving Ryan at liberty to join another National Association ballclub for the 1875 season. The one that he selected, the newly organized New Haven Elm Citys, managed the difficult feat of being even worse than the late Baltimore Canaries. New Haven opened the campaign by dropping its first 15 contests, including an 8-5 complete-game loss pitched by Ryan against the New York Mutuals. Only one Mutuals run was earned as the New Haven defense undermined Ryan by committing a staggering 21 errors in the field.9 The Elm Citys record stood at 1-20 when Johnny retook the box June 12 against the Hartford Dark Blues. Nine innings later, New Haven had doubled its season wins total, courtesy of a two-hit 3-2 victory spun by Ryan – his only major league pitching triumph.10

Hoping for an encore, New Haven first baseman-manager Charlie Gould handed Johnny the ball again two days later, but Hartford was now on to “Ryan’s pitching – or swift underhand throwing … and punished him” to the tune of a 10-0 thrashing.”11 Days later, Ryan dropped a respectable 6-4 verdict to the Philadelphia Athletics. He then returned to the outfield. Non-competitive in the field and a poor draw at the gate, New Haven declined to make a scheduled Western road trip in mid-August and played only seven more official NA games thereafter before the season ended in late October. The Elm Citys’ 7-40 (.149) record was dismal – the club could not register two consecutive victories all season – but far from the National Association’s worst. That unhappy distinction belonged to the Brooklyn Atlantics (2-42, .045).12

Like his club’s record, Ryan’s batting performance was lousy, but others were worse. An anemic .158 BA (23-for-146) made Johnny one of three New Haven regulars to bat less than .200, but he was nosed out for the club’s bottom batting mark by fellow outfielder Jim Tipper (.157).13 As for defense, 10 games pitching, four behind the plate, and one at shortstop likely skewed his overall .743 fielding average downward;14 Ryan’s outfield play even elicited occasional commendation from the press.15 In the box, he posted a 1-5 (.167) record with a tolerable 3.19 ERA in 59 1/3 innings pitched. But Ryan struck out only a single opposition batsman (as compared to walking nine and throwing 10 wild pitches).

Over the winter, the National Association dissolved, superseded by the newly organized National League. New Haven’s application to join the circuit was rejected and the franchise disbanded, placing Ryan on the market once again. Given his 1875 stats, employment prospects seemed dim. But against the odds, Ryan succeeded in landing a berth with the NL’s Louisville Grays. He then solidified his position on the roster with a four-hit outburst in a preseason exhibition game rout of an independent pro club from Memphis.16

Regularly stationed in left field and usually batting ninth in the lineup, Ryan turned in solid work for the Grays. His performance, particularly on defense, was extolled by the local press, the Louisville Courier-Journal informing readers that “Ryan and [Scott] Hastings played the out-field brilliantly, both making pretty catches and playing without errors” during an early season 6-2 loss to St. Louis.17 And “Ryan made some beautiful catches in left” during a July defeat by the Mutuals.18 His baserunning also earned plaudits, a wire dispatch declaring that “[Ross] Barnes, [Tim] Murnane and Johnnie Ryan of the Louisville club are recognized this season as the best base runners in the business.”19

But the true revelation was Ryan’s stick work. During a mid-July contest against the Philadelphia Athletics, he smashed “a magnificent hit between left and center” far beyond outfielders’ reach and good for a three-run homer,20 the only four-bagger of Ryan’s major league career. And on defense, “Ryan again delighted every one by his work in left, and one of his catches, on a long run from the outfield to a short distance behind the infield, was a perfect beauty.”21 As was too often the case, however, Ryan’s efforts were for naught, as the Grays dropped an 8-5 decision.

And the following week, Ryan plummeted to likely the low point of his career. With Louisville trailing 10-1 to Chicago after one inning, Grays manager Jack Chapman derricked staff ace Jim Devlin and backstop Pop Snyder, inserting Johnny and fellow outfielder Scott Hastings in their places. The results were grim. Over the ensuing eight innings, Ryan was tagged for 22 base hits, threw 10 wild pitches, and allowed 20 runs, while Hastings contributed six passed balls. The replacement battery was also cited for 21 of the astonishing 37 errors charged to Louisville in the 30-7 shellacking.22 Although critical of the “slipshod work” of their teammates, the Chicago Tribune commiserated with “Ryan and Hastings who were put in strange places in a pinch … [and had] some excuse” for their performance.23

Days later, the Grays redeemed themselves with a 7-4 win in St. Louis in which “Johnnie Ryan made the natives open their eyes, and gave them several points in base running, and he also did good service with the stick in the fifth inning when he sent two men home on a drive over short stop.”24 The remainder of the season was largely uneventful for Ryan. Appearing in 64 games for the fifth-place (30-36-3, .455) Louisville Grays, he posted a career-best.253 batting average (61-for-241), slightly above the team norm (.249), and led club batsmen in walks (6). But he was also the National League leader in strikeouts (23). Thereafter, Ryan was signed by Louisville for the coming season.

He never made it back, being released by the Grays in late March 1877 following a dispute with club management about travel money.25 By May, however, he was back in harness, playing for the Philadelphia club of the independent League Alliance. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati franchise in the National League was undergoing an overhaul. Ryan was among the nine new players engaged by the Reds in late June. “The Cincinnati Base-ball Association Directors have engaged Johnny Ryan, the left-fielder of last year’s Louisville club,” the Cincinnati Daily Star announced. “He will be put on trial for a month, and if proven satisfactory will be retained permanently.”26

Ryan lasted barely two weeks with his new club. In his first five appearances in Cincinnati livery, he went 2-for-22 at the plate and was charged with two defensive miscues in left field. Yet he almost redeemed himself when inserted into a July 12 game against Hartford as a second-inning substitute. Ryan registered two base hits, scored two runs, and knocked in two more. But he ended a 15-9 defeat by striking out.27 Shortly thereafter, his release brought the five-season major league career of Johnny Ryan to an end.

In 156 games played for five different major league teams, Ryan batted a meek .208 (125-for-602), with little extra-base power. He also struck out 53 times, or about once every 12 at-bats – a high whiff rate for an era when batters were allotted four strikes and foul balls did not count. Despite press raves, Ryan’s outfield defense (.860 fielding percentage) had been no more than adequate from a statistical standpoint, while his pitching (1-5 in 12 appearances, with a 4.08 ERA in 70 2/3 innings pitched) had been useful only for stopgap purposes. Still, Ryan – a sober, quiet but friendly man – had been a positive playing force on at least one of his major league clubs, and well-liked by teammates on all of them.

Ryan finished his professional ballplaying days with a brief turn with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the International Association, going 1-for-6 (.167) in two late-season appearances. After that, he appears to have given up playing, returning to the Philadelphia residence of his parents and earning his living as a carpenter. But in 1882 the advent of the major league American Association ushered in Ryan’s return to the game. With the Jefferson Street Grounds, home field of the AA Philadelphia Athletics, situated only blocks away from the Ryan residence, Johnny found employment as the ballpark groundskeeper. He held that position for the ensuing eight years.28

Long a bachelor, John Joseph Ryan took fellow Philadelphian Mary V. Clement as his bride in 1890.29 The union endured for the remainder of Ryan’s life but was childless. In March 1891, Ryan switched occupations, having been appointed to the Philadelphia Police Department by Mayor Edwin H. Fitler.30 For the next 11 years, Patrolman Ryan walked a neighborhood beat, charged with deterring petty street crime and keeping the peace. And it was discharge of that responsibility that occasioned his unexpected death in March 1902.

On the evening of March 22, Patrolman Ryan was summoned to a neighborhood saloon to eject an unruly patron. Initial press reports alleged that Ryan struggled to remove Joseph Hemple, “strong, athletic, and a professional contortionist … apt to be quarrelsome when drinking,” from the premises.31 Once on the street, Hemple allegedly delivered a swift and powerful savate kick to Ryan’s abdomen and made his escape.32 Those responding to the scene removed the prostrate and unconscious officer to the residence of a local physician, who subsequently pronounced Ryan dead.33 He was 48.34

The death of an officer popular with both neighborhood residents and precinct companions greatly angered the community.35 Hemple, who was quickly captured, bore the hallmarks of a fearsome police beating when hauled before a magistrate the following day. But the accused’s protestations of innocence quickly gathered support. First, autopsy of the deceased officer’s remains revealed no trace of an injury to his stomach. But the body – and friends informed authorities that Ryan “once the possessor of a splendid physique … did not make any effort to keep in that superb condition” after he joined the force – revealed telltale evidence that the deceased had been suffering from heart disease.36

At the ensuing coroner’s inquest, Hemple maintained that he had had not assaulted Patrolman Ryan, a man whom he had known since boyhood and had always been friendly with.37 Rather, once outside the saloon Ryan had released him with the direction to go home. An eyewitness named Hammond supported Hemple’s account, testifying that when he approached the two men outside the saloon, Ryan “complained of pain and remarked, ‘I’ll let the man go now, as I cannot go any farther.’ After doing so, he sat down on the doorstep.” When Hammond asked “if he was hurt,” Ryan replied, “No, I am not hurt. All I want is plenty of air. Kindly loosen my belt.” Ryan then gasped and lapsed unconscious.38 Clinching the matter was the testimony of the autopsy physician. His determination was unequivocal. Ryan had not suffered any injury to the torso. His sudden death was a consequence of “valvular heart disease.”39 In other words, Ryan had suffered a fatal heart attack. At the conclusion of the proceedings, Hemple was released without charge.

A day later, “the entire [police] force of his district massed in front of the [Ryan] house” for the procession to St. Elizabeth Church, where a Requiem Mass was said for the deceased. Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery in nearby Yeadon, Pennsylvania followed.40 The only immediate survivor was widow Mary Ryan.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Sources

Sources for the biographical info imparted herein include the Johnny Ryan file at the Giamatti Research Center, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, New York; the Ryan profile in Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 2, David Nemec, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011); US Census and other government records accessed via Ancestry.com; and certain of the newspaper articles cited in the endnotes. Statistics have been taken from Baseball-Reference.

Notes

1 The Ryan birth date is evidently predicated on the 1900 US Census. Other census reports and news accounts of Ryan’s death conflict with the October 1853 birth designation.

2 Younger brother William (born 1857) did not survive childhood.

3 According to the 1870 US Census, enumerated July 22, 1870.

4 The Ryan occupation noted in the 1880 US Census.

5 Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Vol. 2, David Nemec, ed. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2011), 407.

6 As reported in ‘Sporting,” Chicago Tribune, August 20, 1873: 6.

7 Modern baseball reference works list Ryan as bats and throws unknown but statistical circumstantial evidence (like the directionality of rare Ryan extra-base hits) and statistical probabilities strongly suggest that he batted and threw righty.

8 See “Philadelphia vs. Baltimore,” Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch, August 31, 1873: 3. During the late season, Ryan also played in three Philadelphia exhibition games, going a cumulative 2-for-10 at the bat according to box scores published in the New York Clipper.

9 See the box score accompanying “Base Ball: The New Havens Defeated by the Mutuals,” New York World, May 28, 1875: 8.

10 See “Hartford vs. New Haven,” New York Clipper, June 19, 1875: 90.

11 “Base Ball,” Hartford Courant, June 15, 1875: 2. That evening, the New Haven club trained home, forfeiting the next day’s game against the Dark Blues.

12 The dreadful Elm City .149 winning percentage was worsted by two short-lived NA members: the Philadelphia Centennials (2-12, .143) and Keokuk (Iowa) Westerns (1-12, .077).

13 The other member of the hapless trio was shortstop Sam Wright (.189 BA). Meanwhile, utilityman Studs Bancker posted a .153 BA in 19 games.

14 Adding in Ryan’s 30 games in New Haven, his combined stats were 61 putouts/17 assists/27 errors = .743 FA.

15 See e.g., “The Game at New Haven,” Hartford Courant, May 18, 1875: 2: “Ryan did some very handsome work in the field.”

16 See “Kings of Diamonds,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 11, 1876: 4. Louisville won the game, 31-5.

17 “Recapitulation,” Louisville Courier-Journal, April 30, 1876: 1.

18 “Thirty-One Innings,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 11, 1876: 4.

19 See “Base Ball,” Middletown (Connecticut) Daily Constitution, July 20, 1876: 2.

20 “More Elbow-Room!” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 16, 1876: 1.

21 Same as above.

22 Per the box score published in “Pastimes,” Chicago Tribune, July 23, 1876: 7. The suspicion here, however, is that Ryan’s 10 wild pitches and Hastings’ six passed balls were double-counted as fielding errors as only nine Chicago batsmen reached “first base on errors.” In any case, just five of the 20 runs surrendered by Ryan were deemed earned.

23 “Pastimes,” above.

24 “Over Their Scare,” Louisville Courier-Journal, July 26, 1876: 4.

25 See “The Louisville Club,” Chicago Tribune, April 1, 1877: 7: “Ryan, engaged to play left field has been released. … Ryan was furnished $25 to come on with, but demanding $50, was refused, and asked for his release, which he got.” The Ryan release was also reported in “Caught on the Fly,” Indianapolis Sentinel, April 7, 1877: 8; “Notes, News and Personals,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 4, 1877: 2; and elsewhere.

26 “Sporting News: Base-ball,” Cincinnati Daily Star, June 29, 1877: 4. See also, “Base-Ball,” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 29, 1877: 2: Ryan “is engaged for one month on trial, and will be retained should he give satisfaction.”

27 See “Base-Ball,” Cincinnati Daily Gazette, July 13, 1877: 8.

28 As subsequently noted in “Quaker Quips,” Sporting Life, March 29, 1902: 5.

29 Per State of Pennsylvania marriage records.

30 Ryan was appointed to the force on March 1, 1891.

31 “Sam Hemple’s Son Kills a Policeman,” Philadelphia Times, March 23, 1902: 1. The late Sam Hemple was a well-known Philadelphia actor and comedian.

32 Same as above. See also, “Met Death While Making an Arrest,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 23, 1902: 1. Savate is a French martial art that combines principles of boxing with a variety of kicking techniques.

33 Per “Sam Hemple’s Son Kills a Policeman,” above. See also, “Policeman Killed,” Lancaster (Pennsylvania) Daily Intelligencer, March 24, 1902: 5; “Say the ‘Savate’ Killed Policeman,” Philadelphia Times, March 24, 1902: 3.

34 According to Baseball-Reference, Retrosheet, and current baseball authority. Contemporary news accounts placed the deceased officer’s age at 50. See e.g., “Met Death,” and “Policeman Killed,” above.

35 See “Citizens Indignant Over Ryan’s Murder,” Philadelphia Press, March 24, 1902: 3.

36 “Say the ‘Savate’ Killed Policeman,” above. In addition to the “silent killer,” Ryan was also found to be suffering from Bright’s (kidney) disease, per “Hemple Released by the Coroner,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 24, 1902: 2.

37 “Hemple Released” above. See also, “Hemple Discharged by Coroner Dugan,” Philadelphia Times, March 26, 1902: 5, and “Joseph Hemple Committed,” Philadelphia Times, March 25, 1902: 5.

38 “Hemple Released,” above. See also, “Ryan’s Death Due to Heart Failure,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 25, 1902: 2.

39 “Hemple Released,” above.

40 “Funeral of Patrolman Ryan,” Philadelphia Times, March 27, 1902: 7.