19 Facts About Kid Gleason

William Jethro "Kid" Gleason was an American Major League Baseball player and manager.

Kid Gleason acquired the nickname "Kid" early in life, not only because of his short stature but because of his quite energetic, youthful nature.

Kid Gleason played two seasons in the minor leagues of northern Pennsylvania.

Kid Gleason debuted as a pitcher with the Philadelphia Quakers on April 20,1888, after impressing Hall of Fame manager Harry Wright during an exhibition game against the University of Pennsylvania.

Kid Gleason was sold to the St Louis Browns for the 1892 season, where he played for two and a half seasons as a starting pitcher and reserve fielder.

Related searches

In New York, Kid Gleason played five seasons as the regular second baseman, hitting a respectable.

Kid Gleason served as a team captain, and in that capacity may have invented the intentional walk during an 1897 game by advising his pitcher to walk a strong hitter to face a weaker one.

Kid Gleason earned local fame on April 26,1900, for helping New York firemen rescue residents from an apartment fire.

Kid Gleason joined the new American League in 1901, starting at second base for two years with the Detroit Tigers.

Kid Gleason retired as a player after the 1908 season at the age of 42, having appeared as a player in just two games for the Phillies that year.

However, four years later, Kid Gleason would make an unlikely return to the big leagues as a player, with his two at-bats in one game at second base for the White Sox in 1912 making Kid Gleason one of only 29 MLB players to have played in four different decades.

Kid Gleason led the league in putouts and assists three times each, though he led in errors four times.

Kid Gleason began his coaching career in 1908 with the Phillies as a player-coach.

Kid Gleason became manager of the White Sox on December 31,1918, following the dismissal of Pants Rowland.

Kid Gleason was not involved in the gambling, and some sources noted he was among those who alerted White Sox owner Charles Comiskey of the fix.

Kid Gleason died due to a heart ailment in 1933, at the age of 66, in Philadelphia.

Kid Gleason's funeral was attended by an estimated 5,000 people, including baseball luminaries such as Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis and Hall of Fame manager John McGraw.

Kid Gleason has been referenced in pop culture in several books, and is a prominent supporting character in Ring Lardner's 1916 novel You Know Me Al.

Kid Gleason is portrayed by actor John Mahoney in the 1988 film Eight Men Out, based on Eliot Asinof's book of the same name.