Jake Plummer

Irvin Mollineaux Plummer

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.

• Born February 7, 1909 in Somerville, MA USA
• Died May 13, 1962 in Stoneham, MA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Jake Plummer played 13 seasons in the minor leagues, briefly reaching the top level of the minors but never taking the final step to the major leagues. He started his career in 1929 for the Brockton Shoemakers of the New England League, batting .299 in 91 games at age 20. Complete statistics are not available, but he batted .325 and .303 in back-to-back seasons for the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the New York-Penn League in 1932 and 1933, with 19 homers the first year.

In 1934, he is listed with four different teams, including two in the International League, the Buffalo Bisons and the Montreal Royals. On May 15th, he was beaned by pitcher Art Jones of the Albany Senators after his Buffalo teammates had hit a record five homers in one inning. According to (later) reports "a promising career was ruined" and Plummer "soon drifted out of baseball", although this seems to be a myth along the lines of Pete Rose bowling over Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star Game and supposedly ruining the young catcher's career. If there were deleterious effects on Plummer, they are hard to document, as he played at least 101 games that season (stats are incomplete), and would continue to play in the minors until 1941. He played over 100 games in both 1935 and 1936, and was a regular for most of the ensuing seasons. He was already 25 when he first played in the International League, so it's hard to call him an up-and-coming prospect; he was more of a minor league veteran who got a brief chance to play at the top level, but never managed to establish himself there.

He did appear in a few more games in the International League in 1935, with Albany, but the remainder of his career was at lower levels of the minors, mainly in the New-York Penn League, the Texas League, the Western League and the Piedmont League. He had some good years with the Rocky Mount Red Sox of the Piedmont League from 1938-1940, hitting .353 in a partial season the first year, and banging 21 and 18 homers the next two, with some good batting averages as well. By then he was in his early 30s.