Paddy Mayes

A rich lineage lies behind Adair Bushyhead Mayes’ memorable baseball name. His grandfather, Samuel Mayes (of Scots-Irish descent), married Nancy Adair (granddaughter of a full-blooded Cherokee woman) and was recognized as a Cherokee. In early 1838, the young couple joined a group of Treaty Party Cherokees (tribal members aligned with leaders who had signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, that led to an often-tragic Western resettlement) in a voluntary journey to Indian Territory. Samuel grew wealthy in the cattle business, held many slaves, and with Nancy raised 14 children.

The first-born was George Washington Mayes. In 1846 George married Charlotte Bushyhead, a daughter of the Baptist minister and esteemed Cherokee leader Jesse Bushyhead. The Reverend Bushyhead had opposed the Treaty of New Echota but volunteered to lead a large group of Cherokees westward and arrived in Indian Territory in 1839.

George and Charlotte’s marriage produced eight children. Three years after her death in 1878, George married Sarah Taylor (of no apparent Cherokee descent), with their union producing three sons. The middle son, Adair Bushyhead, was born on March 17, 1885, in Locust Grove, a hamlet within the Cherokee Nation lands of Indian Territory. Today the town lies within Mayes County in northeastern Oklahoma.

Adair grew up in a prominent family. Two of his uncles, Joel B. Mayes and Samuel Houston Mayes, were chiefs of the Indian Territory’s Cherokee Nation, as was his step-uncle Dennis Bushyhead. His father, George, served as superintendent of the Cherokee Male Seminary in Tahlequah, then as a district sheriff.1

Adair attended the Cherokee Male Seminary, making the first baseball team in March 1903 as a left fielder.2 Later his classmates elected him president of their literary society, and he captained the school’s football team.3 The nickname Paddy found him in his youth and stuck.

Mayes played semipro ball with the Cherokee Indian team in 1907.4 He made his professional debut in 1908 with the Class-D Oklahoma-Kansas League’s Muskogee Redskins. Noting his speed in the outfield and on the basepaths, locals considered him “undoubtedly the best man on the payroll of the club.”5

For the 1909 season, Mayes returned to Muskogee, although the renamed Navigators now played in the Class-C Western Association. In July he was sold to the Portland Beavers of the Class-A Pacific Coast League but hit only .114 in 16 games and was released.6 Mayes returned to Muskogee. In 81 Western Association games, he hit .261 with 31 stolen bases.7

In 1910 Mayes began another campaign with Muskogee but in May was sold again, this time to the Shreveport Pirates of the Class-C Texas League.8 “Mayes is fast as lightning,” a local sportswriter soon noted. “He beats more scratch hits than anybody.”9 Mayes finished the season in Louisiana, mostly batting at the top of the order and hitting .260 (some 40 points over the league average) with 19 stolen bases.10 A left-handed hitter, he was reportedly “helpless before left-hand pitchers.”11 Playing 55 games in center field, 18 in right, and 13 in left, the right-hander had only seven assists while his .922 fielding percentage was not particularly impressive.12 Yet, with at least a sliver of justification, Shreveport manager Dale Gear marketed Mayes as showing greater potential than Zach Wheat, then one of the National League’s brightest young outfielders, had shown in Shreveport two years earlier.13

This was enough to entice the Philadelphia Phillies, who purchased Mayes in August 1910.14 He reportedly left Shreveport to head east on September 7, but somehow never arrived in Philadelphia, and a week later was playing amateur ball in Muskogee.15 His failure to arrive was inconsequential. Philadelphia was out of the race, playing .500 ball, and its veteran outfield of Sherry Magee (in left), Johnny Bates (center), and John Titus (right) was performing well. In December the Phillies sent Mayes a contract for 1911. Mayes promptly returned it signed.16

Phillies skipper Red Dooin engineered a multiplayer trade with Cincinnati during the offseason that replaced Bates with Dode Paskert in center field. As 1911 spring training loomed, there was little belief that any of the ensconced flycatchers might be dislodged. Still, three outfield recruits hoped to make the team as a reserve: Mayes, Joe Mowry, a Texas Leaguer like Mayes, and Harry Welchonce, who hit .315 in South Bend the season before.

Mayes’ speed impressed the Phillies at their Birmingham, Alabama, spring-training grounds while he made several fine plays in center field for the yanigan squad.17 Nonetheless, a Philadelphia correspondent concluded that “[a]nother season in the ‘bushes’will properly polish the Indian, Mayes, for major company.”18

Yet Dooin and team President Horace Fogel sought a deep bench and kept the maximum league roster of 25 players (plus Dooin as a player-manager).19 Mayes and Welchonce made the team. “I am glad the Phillies have decided to keep me,” Mayes said, “for I believe I can make good. This is my first trip to the east and I am not yet used to the climate. When the weather is warmer I’ll be right for work.”20

Titus turned an ankle on May 3. Dooin plugged Welchonce into the breach. On May 16 NL President Tom Lynch told the Phillies (who had added a couple more players since the season began) that they needed to trim their roster to 25 men.21 Two days later, Fogel sent Mayes back to the Texas League, this time to Galveston.22 Philadelphia was in first place with a 22-7 record. Leading the way was another 1910 purchase, Pete Alexander, on his way to one of the greatest rookie pitching seasons in baseball history.23

Mayes appeared in one game with the Galveston Sand Crabs, playing in left field and leading off in a loss at Fort Worth on May 23.24 He then left the team, having found the club’s salary offer unagreeable.25 On the same day, the luckless Titus broke a bone in his ankle vs. St. Louis, forcing Welchonce back into the fray.26

After the Phillies lost their sixth game in a row on May 24, Fogel reportedly wired Mayes to return to Philadelphia immediately.27 Yet when the squad embarked on a four-week road trip two days later, Mayes was not with them. Only after Dooin wired Mayes on June 8 to join the team in St. Louis, where the Phillies opened a four-game series two days after that, did the rookie return.28 To that point, Welchonce and Jimmy Walsh, one of the better utility players in the league, had subbed for Titus. 

In the series opener, Welchonce misplayed a fly ball in the ninth, enabling the Cardinals to rally in the ninth and snatch a 9-8 victory.29 Dooin promptly announced Mayes would replace Welchonce in right field. Fogel then traded Welchonce to Nashville. Both Fogel and Dooin said Welchonce’s poor play during the road trip had cost the Phils a handful of games.30

With temperatures rising into the upper 80s, Mayes had the warm weather he desired as he entered Robison Field on June 11 for his major-league debut. With Fogel having just announced that Philadelphia was after another outfielder, Mayes must have known that his opportunity to prove himself was limited. A raucous Sunday crowd of 17,000 was present.

Mayes did not distinguish himself, going 0-for-3. Dooin sent Walsh in to pinch-hit for him in the top of the eighth as the Phillies filled the bases with one out. Walsh grounded into a double play. St. Louis went on to win, 6-5.

The next day, with his team trailing and Mayes due up during a rally, Dooin again turned to Walsh. This time the move paid off. Walsh doubled to tie the score and Philadelphia triumphed, 8-4.

Walsh remained in right field for the next three weeks. Mayes pinch-hit for Phillies pitchers three times in the next five games, getting to base twice via a walk and being hit by a pitch. After a four-game series in Chicago ended on June 18, Philadelphia released him. His brief major-league line: 0-for-5 with one run scored, while successfully handling two chances in right field. Philadelphia sportswriter James Isaminger wrote of Mayes, “[w]hile he was an improvement over Welchonce, his inability to hit placed him at a disadvantage.”31

Mayes’ cup of coffee would live in some fame, thanks an anecdote his fellow Cherokee Nation citizen, humorist Will Rogers, told for decades to come:

“I used to know an Indian ballplayer down my way in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by the name of Paddy Mayes. A few years ago, John Titus of the Phillies broke his leg and Dooin gave Mayes a chance. The first pitcher he faced was Slim Sallee of the Cards. [Mayes faced Bill Steele, not Slim Sallee, in his first at-bat.] Sallee struck him out on three pitched balls at which Mayes never lifted his bat from his shoulder and when he went back to the bench he asked Dooin what he should do next.

“‘Sit on the bench,’ yelled Dooin, ‘before Sallee knocks the bat out of your hand.’

“A week later I asked Mayes what he thought of the big league.

“‘Wall, Mr. Rogers,’ he drawled. ‘I heared a lot about how fast the big league was before I comed up here and by criminy, I wants to tell you it hain’t been overexaggerated none.’”32

After his release from Philadelphia, the Class-A Southern Association’s Mobile Sea Gulls purchased Mayes. Several weeks later he was hitting only .109 in 17 games and Mobile released him. Galveston repurchased Mayes, then traded him to their Texas League counterparts, the Oklahoma City Indians. Closer to home, Mayes hit .236 in 46 games.33

In 1912 Mayes played for his fourth Texas League team, the Beaumont Oilers, hitting .217 in 134 games, with only 10 extra-base hits. He began the 1913 campaign with the Class-D Cotton States League’s Selma Centralites, but the circuit went under in late July.34 The Class-C South Atlantic League’s Macon Peaches then purchased Mayes, but there is no indication he played for them. Mayes concluded his professional career in 1914, playing for Augusta and Albany of the South Atlantic League, then with the Western Association’s Muskogee Mets. For the next several years he played semipro ball with several Oklahoma teams.

As his baseball days faded, Mayes turned to farming in Locust Grove as a full-time career. In 1920 he married Estella DeMoss; a year later their sole child, Stella Marie, arrived. Mayes bought a butcher shop in town. Several years later the family moved some 140 miles northwest to Ponca City, Oklahoma, where Mayes began a lengthy career with Continental Oil as a refinery worker. Upon retiring in 1952, he and Stella moved to Fayetteville, Arkansas. On May 28, 1963, Adair Bushyhead Mayes died of coronary thrombosis. Survived by Estella, Stella Marie, and a grandson, he was buried several miles west of Fayetteville in Farmington Cemetery.35

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball and the following sites: genealogybank.com, newspapers.com, and texashistory.unt.edu.

Photo credit

Paddy Mayes, Philadelphia Evening Times, March 28, 1911.

Notes

1 For family history, see John Barlett Meserve, “The Mayes,” Chronicles of Oklahoma, Volume 15, No. 1 (March 1937): 56-65. Available online at: http://digital.library.okstate.edu/Chronicles/v015/v015p056.html. Ancestry.com also provides useful information.

2 “Male Seminary,” Vinita (Indian Territory) Leader, March 19, 1903: 5.

3 Jack N. Leerskov, “Male Seminary News,” the Arrow (Tahlequah, Indian Territory), October 26, 1907: 4; “Tahlequah Wins,” Vinita (Oklahoma) Daily Chieftain, November 29, 1907: 1.

4 “Martins Win from Cherokees,” Little Rock Gazette, May 8, 1907: 8; the Clipper (Pryor Creek, Oklahoma), June 21, 1907: 5.

5 “Carr’s Breezy Bingles of the Leaguers,” Muskogee (Oklahoma) Times-Democrat, August 19, 1908: 3.

6 “Additional Local,” Clipper, July 15, 1909: 3. For his Portland statistics, see Francis C. Richter, ed., Reach’s Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1910 (Philadelphia: A.J. Reach Co., 1910), 307.

7 1911 Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1910, 383.

8 “Tull Purchases Kahn’s Stock in Ball Club,” Muskogee Daily Phoenix, May 25, 1910: 1.

9 “Pirates Toyed with Dallas Yesterday,” Shreveport Journal, June 3, 1910: 8.

10 For Texas League batting statistics, see Francis C. Richter, ed., Reach’s Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1911 (Philadelphia: A.J. Reach Co., 1911): 421-425.

11 “Short Talks with the Sporting Editor,” Muskogee Daily Phoenix, August 5, 1910: 3.

12 For Texas League outfielder fielding statistics, see Reach’s Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1911, 425-427.

13 “More Players Have Been Sold,” Shreveport Times, August 18, 1910: 6. Wheat, with Shreveport in 1908, hit .268 (considerably over the Texas League average) while posting less than impressive defensive statistics. See 1909 Spalding Official Baseball Record (New York: American Sports Publishing, 1909), 134-137.

14 “Shake-Up for Phillies,” Brooklyn Citizen, August 20, 1910: 3.

15 Jim Nasium [Edgar Wolfe], “Mike Doolan’s Clout Won Game,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 8, 1910: 13; “Phils and Cubs Double Up Today,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 14, 1910: 10; “Prior Creek Here Sunday,” Muskogee Times-Democrat, September 21, 1910: 7.

16 “Phillies Sign Injun,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 17, 1910: 10.

17 “Three Missing Phils to Join Dooin Team,” Philadelphia North American, March 13, 1911: 13.

18 “Manager Dooin Will Send Five Pitchers to Minors,” Philadelphia North American, March 20, 1911: 13.

19 “Local Ball Teams Announce Rosters, Philadelphia Press, April 9, 1911: Sporting Section 1.

20 James C. Isaminger, “Athletics and Phils Lop Many Juveniles Off Lists; Mack Back,” Philadelphia North American, April 9, 1911: Seventh Section 1.

21 James C. Isaminger, “Phils Score 21 Runs on Reds; A Season’s Record,” Philadelphia North American, May 16, 1911: 14.

22 “After Donahue as Crab Boss,” Galveston Tribune, May 18, 1911: 7.

23 See Thomas E. Merrick’s account of Alexander’s one-hitter against Cy Young, “September 7, 1911: Rookie Pete Alexander Pitches One-Hitter, Tops Cy Young,” SABR Games Project. https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/september-7-1911-rookie-pete-alexander-pitches-one-hitter-tops-cy-young/.

24 “Ritter May Go to Cleburne as Manager; Robinson Today,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, May 24, 1911: 8.

25 “Hotly Contested Ten-Inning Game,” Galveston Daily News, May 26, 1911: 8.

26 James C. Isaminger, “Still Slumping, Phils Lose to St. Looey, 12-4,” Philadelphia North American, May 24, 1911: 12.

27 James C. Isaminger, “St. Looey Pulls Phillies Out of First Place; 4-2,” Piladelphia North American, May 25, 1911: 12.

28 “Notes of the Game,” Philadelphia North American, June 10, 1911: 14.

29 “Bresnahan Hits in Winning Run in Ninth Round,” St. Louis Post Dispatch, June 11, 1911: Part Three 9.

30 “Fogel Releases Three; To Make Trade,” Philadelphia North American, June 12, 1911: 12; James C. Isaminger, “Tips from the Sporting Ticker,” Philadelphia North American, June 18, 1911: Second Section 16.

31 James C. Isaminger, “Tips from the Sporting Ticker,” Philadelphia North American, June 25, 1911: Second Section 16.

32 The first telling found by the author: “Mixed Pickles,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 11, 1914: 11.

33 For his Oklahoma City statistics, see “Averages of Texas League Players for Season 1911,” Galveston Daily News, December 3, 1911: 8.

34 “High Loves Gets a Try-Out with Atlanta Bunch, Selma (Alabama) Journal, July 27, 1913: 1.

35 For his post-baseball life, see Locust Grove (Oklahoma) Times, November 17, 1921: 1; “Rites in Arkansas for Adair Mayes,” Pryor (Oklahoma) Jeffersonian, June 6, 1963: 17; “Former Resident Dies in Arkansas,” Ponca City (Oklahoma) News, May 29, 1963: 2; and Ancestry.com.