John Conkey

John Adams Conkey

• School Boston English High School

• Born 1839 in Roxbury, MA USA
• Died March 17, 1908 in Brookline, MA USA

Biographical Information

John Conkey was the President of the Boston Red Stockings of the National Association in 1872. The team won the league championship that season, but the on-field success did not result into a profit, and as a result Conkey was ousted from his position at the end of the season.

Growing up in a well-to-do family in Boston, MA, Conkey became a customs broker, working for a company specializing in importing tea from China. He became a close associate of Ivers Adams, who became the first president of the Boston Base Ball Association in 1871; he had Conkey elected vice-president. When Adams declined to run for re-election after a year, Conkey stepped up to take over.

At the end of the 1872 season, the club registered a financial loss. Conkey was blamed for staging a series of late-season exhibition games that drew only small crowds. He gave up the job of president, but remained as one of the club's directors for two more years. He then returned to his regular business, eventually starting his own customs brokerage firm.

Related Sites

• John Conkey at the SABR Bio Project