Jim Stanley

James Francis Stanley
born Stanislaus Francis Ciolek

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 6", Weight 148 lb.

• Debut April 19, 1914
• Final Game September 29, 1914
• Born December 1, 1888 in Plymouth, PA USA
• Died February 11, 1947 in Michigan City, IN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Jim Stanley played 54 games for the Chicago Chi-Feds of the Federal League in 1914, hitting .194. He then seemingly disappeared off the map for over a century.

He was at one point the most recent player for which a death date was missing. What was known was that he had been a steelworker in Chicago, IL, but no records of any kind relative to a person of that name could be found. The only clue was that there was a firm birth date for him. In desperation, SABR researcher Bruce Allardice decided to look up all men who had registered for the World War I draft with that birth date and a connection to Chicago. That's how he came upon one Stanley F. Ciolek of Michigan City, IN. A man called James F. Stanley was listed in a 1916 Michigan City city directory as a ballplayer and married to a woman named Celia, then in the 1920 and 1930 census, Stanley Ciolek is listed as being married to a Celia (a rare name that was not found anywhere else in the city).

Researching Ciolek's life further, Allardice found a 1941 article about his son, Gene Ciolek, which mentioned that his father had played in the Federal League as James Stanley. Then, Ciolek's obituary in the Michigan City News in 1947 states that he was once a ballplayer in the Federal League. This made it clear that Ciolek had simply played under an assumed name, but had lived the remainder of his life with his true identity.

Further Reading

• "Mr. Stanley, I Presume?", in Bill Carle, ed.: Biographical Research Committee Report, SABR, September/October 2015. p. 1.

Related Sites

• Jim Stanley at the SABR Bio Project