Pa Rourke

William Rourke

• Born Columbus, OH
• Died 1932

Pa Rourke was the third baseman for the 1887 Omaha Omahogs. When he was hit by a pitch later, he could not see well enough to play and became a manager. He managed the Grand Island, NE team in the 1892 Nebraska State League. He guided Bloomington in the minor 1895 Western Inter-State League and later that season the Cedar Rapids team in the Eastern Iowa League, as well as the 1896 Birmingham Bluebirds. In 1899 he helped re-form an Omaha team in the Western League and became full owner in 1901. He managed Omaha in 1898, 1900-1910, 1912-1915 and 1917 and the club was known as the Omaha Rourkes from 1905 through 1920. Pa signed Three-Finger Brown, Jimmy Austin, Jack Pfiester and Del Howard and sold them to the major leagues, generally making a good living and maintaining a strong team through this route. The Cincinnati Reds hired him as a scout in 1927, a position he held the rest of his life.