Joe Mulvey

Joseph Henry Mulvey

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11½", Weight 178 lb.

• Debut May 31, 1883
• Final Game May 14, 1895
• Born October 27, 1858 in Providence, RI USA
• Died August 21, 1928 in Philadelphia, PA USA

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Biographical Information

Joe Mulvey played 12 years in the majors, mostly for teams in Philadelphia, with whom he played in three different major leagues. Not normally a strong batter, in his best year he was perhaps the top hitter on the 1885 Philadelphia Quakers, an above-.500 team.

Mulvey played almost exclusively at third base during his years in the majors. The book Irish in Pennsylvania states that he was a hero to thousands of Irish-American youngsters due to his Irish heritage.

Mulvey, while a rookie, was shot in the shoulder by a man after a game who mistakenly thought he was teammate Cliff Carroll. Apparently the man was a crazed fan who wanted to try out for the team before the game started, and when he went to warm up, Carroll sprayed him with a hose to be funny, causing the unstable man to fly into a rage and he apparently waited outside the ballpark waiting for Carroll with a gun.

He was an umpire for one National League game in 1895.

For over 100 years he was the only Mulvey to come to the majors, but in 2009 Kevin Mulvey came up.

"Joe Mulvey has won the admiration of the Rochester cranks by his gilt-edged fielding." - Sporting Life, May 9, 1896

Related Sites

• Joe Mulvey at the SABR Bio Project