Dan McClellan

Daniel J. McClellan
(Danny)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 5", Weight 168 lb.

• Born June 11, 1878 in Norfolk, VA USA
• Died March 10, 1962 in Philadelphia, PA USA

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Dan McClellan was a Negro League pitcher of the Deadball Era. He later managed. In addition to pitching, he sometimes played first base or the outfield. McClellan threw a fastball and several curves.

McClellan debuted in 1902 with the Philadelphia Giants. In 1903, he moved to the Cuban X-Giants. That year, he is credited with the first perfect game of the Negro Leagues, but the contest was against the York, PA Penn Park Athletic Club, hardly a top-caliber opponent. McClellan was 1-2 with a 3.24 RA against the Philadelphia Giants, his only major competition among top black teams that year. He went 0-2 in a tour of Cuba. Danny remained with the X-Giants in 1904, going 0-2 with a 6.00 RA against Philadelphia.

McClellan went 2-0 in the winter of 1904-1905 while facing Cuban squads. He returned to Philly in 1905 and went 1-0, beating the Brooklyn Royal Giants. That winter, he beat Club Fe in Cuba. He was 2-2 in 1906 and hit .311. In an exhibition, he lost 5-0 to Rube Waddell and the Athletics. In 1907, he went 2-1 vs. Habana while Philadelphia toured the island of Cuba. He also played for Habana in the Cuban Winter League, but lost both decisions and went 6 for 42 with a triple at the plate.

Dan was 0-1 in 1908 and went 2 for 21 against the Leland Giants. He improved to 2-2 in 1909 and hit .400. He ranked third among the top black eastern clubs in average. In 1910, he was 1-1 for Philadelphia. Moving to the New York Lincoln Giants, he was 1-1 in 1911, his last major year. He lost a 5-0 game to the Jersey City Skeeters. He also faced off with Walter Johnson, who was backed by a combination of major leaguers (Honus Wagner, Gabby Street, Jack Bliss and Earle Mack) and minor leaguers. He lost 5-3 to Johnson and went 0 for 4 at the plate. He held Wagner to one hit, a triple.

McClellan spent the remainder of his pitching career with lesser teams. He resurfaced as Philadelphia's manager in 1923. He remained a skipper in 1924 then piloted the Wilmington Potomacs in 1925 to wrap up his managerial career. He made the 2006 Special Committee on the Negro Leagues Election's preliminary ballot.

Sources

• Cuban Baseball: A Statistical History by Jorge Figueredo
• The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues by James Riley
• The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues by John Holway

Related Sites

• Dan McClellan at the SABR Bio Project