Jack McCarthy

Note: This page is for outfielder Jack McCarthy who played in the 1890s and 1900s; for umpire Jack McCarthy, click here.

1903 E107

John Arthur McCarthy

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 155 lb.
• School College of the Holy Cross
• Debut August 3, 1893
• Final Game May 25, 1907
• Born March 26, 1869 in Hardwick, MA USA
• Died June 5, 1948 in Chicago, IL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Jack McCarthy played major league baseball for 12 seasons, primarily as a left fielder. His batting average of .287 was accomplished partly in the high-hitting era of the 1890s and partly in the low-hitting era of the 1900s. His .321 average with the Cleveland Blues in 1901 was ninth best in the American League.

He attended College of the Holy Cross and made his major league debut the same year that he left Holy Cross. However, he had already been playing minor league ball as early as 1891.

Jack also managed four years in the minors. After his retirement as a player, he settled down in Chicago, IL where he was a tailor. Yet somehow, the baseball world lost track of him some time around 1920, and when a former minor league player of the same name died in San Francisco, CA in 1931, his death details were attached to the major league player. That mistake found its way into numerous reference books. Meanwhile, McCarthy was still alive in Chicago, and even took part in an old timers game in 1933, then was photographed with a group of former players in the Chicago Tribune in 1937. He was again listed as a resident of Chicago in the 1940 Census. His trail was harder to put together after that, although graves for a Jack and Jenny McCarthy were found in the Queen of Heaven cemetery near Chicago, with Jack having been interred in 1948 and his wife in 1951 (the ballplayer had married Jessie Halpin in 1899, and the couple had no children). However, no death notice had been published in any newspapers at the time, so more proof of Jack's identity was needed. This was found in an update to historical Chicago death listings published in 2015, confirming that the person was indeed the former ballplayer.

He had a younger brother named Frank who played in the minors.

Further Reading

• "Jack McCarthy" in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, September/October 2007. pp. 1-2.
• "Jack McCarthy Found", In Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, January/February 2016, p. 1.