Jocko Fields

John Joseph Fields

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 160 lb.

• Debut May 31, 1887
• Final Game June 11, 1892
• Born October 20, 1864 in Cork, Ireland
• Died October 14, 1950 in Jersey City, NJ USA

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Biographical Information

Jocko Fields, who played six big-league seasons, was sometimes a good hitter, had an ERA of 0.00 in one inning of work, and appeared at all nine positions in the majors.

Fields was mostly a left fielder, appearing at 160 games there, and also played a lot of catcher, appearing at 92 games there. He was also in 30 games at second base and lesser numbers of games at the other field positions.

As a hitter, his best year was 1889 when he hit .311 with 22 doubles in 75 games for the 1889 Pittsburgh Alleghenys, a team whose overall batting average was .253. The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball has a photo of the 1889 team.

Jocko was born in Ireland in 1864, the only major leaguer born in Ireland that year other than Pete Daniels. Fields, whose real name was John, was playing in the minors as early as age 20 with Jersey City.

An 1887 baseball card of him catching a ball exists.

The Baseball Digest of January 1952 had an article about him, calling him J.J. (Jocko) Fields, and saying he was a "big husky". He had a reputation as a drinker and a smoker.

When a monument was placed in 1946 to commemorate the first baseball game at the Elysian Fields, Fields was on hand. He lived four more years, dying at the age of nearly 86 in 1950.

Related Sites

• Jocko Fields at the SABR Bio Project