Harry Colliflower

James Harry Colliflower
(Collie)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut July 21, 1899
• Final Game October 12, 1899
• Born March 11, 1869 in Petersville, MD USA
• Died August 14, 1961 in Washington, DC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"Colliflower possesses every quality that is required in a major league twirler. He has fine control of the ball, good speed, and, the requisite amount of nerve." - Washington Post, 1899

Harry Colliflower was a resident of Washington, DC who worked as a carpenter and pitched semipro ball. He received some minor league offers, but when the Viking death ship that was the 1899 Cleveland Spiders came into town, they signed him up. Colliflower finished 1-11 with an 8.17 ERA in 14 games, but he did hit well enough (.303 with 9 RBI in 76 at bats) that the Spiders sometimes used him in the field to take advantage of his bat. After 1899, he played some more semipro ball, played in the minors, refereed professional basketball games, did some high school umpiring, coached at Georgetown, and worked for the D.C. Highway Department. Eventually he became a minor league and then a major league umpire in the American League in 1910. The players made fun of his name. Later, he became a scout and worked for a relative's fuel company.

Source: [1]

Related Sites

• Harry Colliflower on mlb.com
• Harry Colliflower at Retrosheet.org