27 Facts About John McGraw

1. In that first year John McGraw bought the contract of African American player Charlie Grant from the Negro league Columbia Giants.

2. John McGraw was at the helm at the New York Giants for 31 years, leading them to 10 National League pennants and three World Championships.

3. John McGraw outlived John McGraw by nearly 30 years, dying on November 4, 1962.

4. Less than two years after retiring, John McGraw died of uremic poisoning at age 60 and is interred in New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore, Maryland.

5. John McGraw was reactivated briefly when he accepted the invitation to manage the National League team in the 1933 All-Star Game.

6. John McGraw stepped down as manager of the New York Giants in the middle of the 1932 season.

7. In 1923, only nine years before he retired, John McGraw reflected on his life inside the game he loved in his memoir My Thirty Years in Baseball.

8. John McGraw married his second wife, Blanche Sindall, on January 8, 1902.

9. John McGraw became the third of three managers for the New York Giants in 1902, and held the position until 1924.

10. John McGraw wrote an autobiography of his years in baseball, published in 1923, in which he expressed grudging respect for several opposing players.

11. In 1919, John McGraw became a part-owner of the Giants when Charles Stoneham bought the club.

12. John McGraw led the Giants to first place each year from 1921 to 1924, becoming the only National League manager to win four consecutive pennants.

13. John McGraw pitched Claude Elliott in relief eight times in his ten appearances in 1905.

14. John McGraw took a risk in signing famed athlete Jim Thorpe in 1913.

15. John McGraw made his major league debut in 1891 in the American Association with the Baltimore Orioles.

16. John McGraw arrived at Camden Station in Baltimore on August 24, 1891, still only 18 years old, but now a major league baseball player.

17. John McGraw scored half his team's six runs, crossing the plate three times.

18. John McGraw could not bear the thought of going home a failure, as both his father and Mary Goddard had urged him to stay home and take a regular job, instead of chasing his dream of being a ballplayer.

19. John McGraw was given his release from the team, but Kenney loaned him $70 and wished him luck if he wanted to try to catch on with another squad.

20. John McGraw signed his first contract to play professional baseball on April 1, 1890.

21. When John McGraw heard the news, he immediately went to visit his former coach, begging him for a chance to play on the new team.

22. From that day onward, young John McGraw was raised by a kindly neighbor, Mary Goddard, under whose care he did quite well.

23. John McGraw quickly became the best player on his school team.

24. John McGraw held the MLB record for most ejections by a manager until Bobby Cox broke the record in 2007.

25. John McGraw is widely held to be "the best player to become a great manager" in the history of baseball.

26. John McGraw was known for his quick temper and for bending the rules, but he stood out as a great baseball mind.

27. John McGraw was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937.