Jack Ness

John Charles Ness

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut May 9, 1911
• Final Game September 30, 1916
• Born November 11, 1884 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died December 4, 1957 in DeLand, FL USA

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Biographical Information

"Jack Ness Establishes a New Record for Safe Hitting in Consecutive Games . . . The wonderful batting streak of Jess Ness, of the Oakland Club, of the Pacific Coast League, was brought to an end . . . after Ness had hit safety for 49 consecutive games. . . Ness broke the world's record . . . which was held by Ty Cobb. . . so much publicity was given Ness' effort that he was under a terrific strain and lost over 10 pounds in the last ten days . . ." - Sporting Life of July 31, 1915

First baseman Jack Ness played parts of two seasons in the majors.

Ness got his first taste of big league ball with the Detroit Tigers in 1911, hitting just .154 in a dozen games before being sent to the New Bedford Whalers of the New England League for Paddy Baumann. He moved on to the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in 1913, and in 1915, he set the record for longest hitting streak in the PCL with 49 games, a record that stood until Joe DiMaggio broke it in 1933.

Most of Ness' major league at-bats were with the 1916 White Sox. On the Sox, he platooned at first base with Jack Fournier. Fournier, who had been a big star in 1914-15 with the White Sox, slumped in 1916 to .240 while Ness hit .267, albeit with a lower OBP and SLG.

Ness managed at Hammond in 1918.

Related Sites

• Jack Ness at the SABR Bio Project