Batting average .250 Name Jack Graney Runs batted in 420 | Home runs 18 Hits 1,178 Role Baseball player | |
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Died April 20, 1978, Louisiana, Missouri, United States | ||
Jack and larry jack graney and larry the cleveland baseball dog
John Gladstone Graney (June 10, 1886 – April 20, 1978) was a Canadian left fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career with the Cleveland Indians.
Contents
- Jack and larry jack graney and larry the cleveland baseball dog
- Playing career
- Broadcasting
- Legacy
- References
Following his playing days, Graney became a baseball radio broadcaster, providing play-by-play, for the Indians in 1932–53.
Graney was inducted into the Cleveland Indians Distinguished Hall of Fame for non-uniformed personnel on August 11, 2012, prior to a game at Progressive Field.
Playing career
Graney was the first batter to face Babe Ruth in a Major League Baseball game on Saturday, July 11, 1914.
On June 26, 1916, the Indians used numbers on their uniforms on an experimental basis in a home game against the White Sox, a major league first. The numbers, which were worn on the players' uniform sleeves, corresponded with information in the scorecards.
Graney led the American League with 41 doubles in 1916, scoring a career-high 106 runs. He led the league in walks in both 1917 and 1919.
On August 17, 1920, Indians shortstop Ray Chapman, Graney's roommate and best friend, died after being struck in the head by a Carl Mays pitch the day before. Graney was devastated, suffering a breakdown upon viewing Chapman's body, having to be forcibly removed from the hospital room. Two days later during the casket viewing, Graney fainted. He was too distraught to attend the funeral and never forgave Mays for what he believed was an intentional beaning. The Indians went on to win the pennant and 1920 World Series against Brooklyn, with Graney going hitless in his only three postseason at-bats.
Broadcasting
After retiring from playing, Graney became a play-by-play broadcaster for the team, thus being the first former Major League Baseball player to become a radio broadcaster in the United States.
He died at age 91 in Louisiana, Missouri on Thursday, April 20, 1978.
He was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, its second year of operation.
Legacy
In 1987 the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame instituted an award in the name of Jack Graney, presented periodically to journalists deemed to have made notable contributions to promoting baseball within Canada in their lifetime.