Mike Slattery

Michael J. Slattery

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.

• Debut April 17, 1884
• Final Game July 23, 1891
• Born November 26, 1866 in Boston, MA USA
• Died October 16, 1904 in Boston, MA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Mike Slattery played five major league seasons, appearing in four different major leagues.

Slattery, born in Boston, MA, made his debut in the 1884 Union Association at age 17. He was the youngest player, and a regular outfielder, on the 1884 Boston Reds, a team which also featured Tommy McCarthy and was managed by Tim Murnane.

He didn't come back to the majors until 1888, playing in the interim for various New England teams and for Toronto. At age 21 he broke into the 1888 National League as a regular outfielder for the pennant-winning 1888 New York Giants, a team which featured future Hall of Famers Buck Ewing, Roger Connor, Monte Ward Jim O'Rourke, Mickey Welch and Tim Keefe.

He appeared in only 12 games with the 1889 Giants (the book Baseball in 1889: Players vs. Owners indicates that he was injured most of the year), but the next year was reunited with a number of his National League teammates on the 1890 New York Giants (PL), a team in the 1890 Players League. Slattery hit .307, above the team average but below the averages of the team stars.

Mike spent part of the 1891 season with the 1891 Cincinnati Reds but also made his debut in a fourth major league, the 1891 American Association, in its last season.

Thereafter, Slattery continued to play in the minors for a number of years in the Eastern League and the New England League. Years later, he also managed in the New England League.

An article by Ernest Lanigan in the October 1946 issue of Baseball Digest remembered Slattery as someone who stole 134 bases for Toronto in 1887. Lanigan wrote about Wilbert Robinson, remembering him, Slattery, McCarthy and others as part of the 1885 Haverhill team.

After baseball he was in the clothing business.

"Slattery! What memories arise at the name! Slat was the particular bright star of the team last season. His name will be handed down as the only International player who in a regular League game stole home from third base while the ball was being passed from catcher to pitcher." - Sporting Life's Toronto correspondent in the March 7, 1888 issue