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Nixey Callahan

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Jimmy Callahan
Pitcher / Left fielder
Born: (1874-03-18)March 18, 1874
Fitchburg, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died: October 4, 1934(1934-10-04) (aged 60)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 12, 1894, for the Philadelphia Phillies
Last MLB appearance
July 29, 1913, for the Chicago White Sox
MLB statistics
Batting average.273
Home runs11
Runs batted in394
Win–loss record99–73
Earned run average3.39
Strikeouts445
Teams
As player
As manager
Career highlights and awards

James Joseph Callahan (March 18, 1874 – October 4, 1934) was an American pitcher and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Colts/Orphans, and Chicago White Sox. He also managed the White Sox, as well as the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1902, he pitched the first no-hitter in American League history.

Though best known today by his childhood nickname "Nixey", in reality, he was seldom ever referred to by that name in contemporary sources during his playing days, as he instead preferred to go by Jimmy (or James) Callahan.[1]

Early life

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Callahan was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts on March 18, 1874. He played amateur baseball throughout Massachusetts.[2]

Professional baseball

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As a player

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Callahan made his debut for the 1894 Philadelphia Phillies, the National League team run by Arthur Irwin. Callahan pitched in nine games that year, giving up more than an earned run per inning, so he was sent to the minor leagues for the 1895 season. He came back up to the major leagues in 1897 with the Chicago Cubs, where he stayed for four seasons.[2]

On September 20, 1902, Callahan pitched the first no-hitter in American League history.[3] Remarkably, only two years earlier, in the other extreme of his career, he had given up 48 hits in two consecutive starts in 1900, yielding 23 on September 11 and 25 in the game before.[4]

Callahan is also the only pitcher to have collected five hits in a game three times: June 29, 1897; May 18, 1902; and May 18, 1903.[5]

Callahan finished his major league career with 901 hits and 99 wins. Since then, no player has matched both these numbers, although Babe Ruth came close. Three nineteenth-century pitcher/infielders beat these numbers: John Montgomery Ward, Kid Gleason and Dave Foutz.

As a manager

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Callahan managed the Chicago White Sox on two separate occasions and also managed the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
CWS 1903 137 60 77 .438 7th in AL – – – –
CWS 1904 41 23 18 .561 fired* – – – –
CWS 1912 154 78 76 .506 4th in AL – – – –
CWS 1913 152 78 74 .513 5th in AL – – – –
CWS 1914 154 70 84 .455 7th in AL – – – –
CWS total 638 309 329 .484 0 0 –
PIT 1916 154 65 89 .422 6th in NL – – – –
PIT 1917 60 20 40 .333 fired – – – –
PIT total 214 85 129 .397 0 0 –
Total 852 394 458 .462 0 0 –

* Callahan was "asked" to step down as manager, he remained as a player only.

As an owner

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Callahan took a five-year break from playing in the American League to run his own semi-pro team, "Callahan's Logan Squares". He said that he did this for financial reasons, but he returned when his team's attendances fell.

Later life

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Callahan died at age 60 in Boston on October 4, 1934.[6][7][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Nixey Callahan". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Armstrong, Richard C.; Healy, Martin (March 10, 2020). George "Mooney" Gibson: Canadian Catcher for the Deadball Era Pirates. McFarland. p. 140. ISBN 978-1-4766-7969-3.
  3. ^ "American League No Hitters" Archived 2008-08-04 at the Wayback Machine, Baseball-Almanac.com
  4. ^ Baseball Digest (February 1998), p34
  5. ^ "Charlton's Baseball Chronology" Archived 2007-05-31 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ John McCollister -The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Pittsburgh Pirates 2008 - 1572439823 Jimmy “Nixey” Callahan. Years Managed: 1916–1917 Record: 85–129 League Titles: 0 World Championships: 0 Of Interest: Following their poor record in Jimmy Callahan's first season as manager in 1916, the Pirates were even worse the next year. Eventually, the situation became too much for this strict disciplinarian to bear, and he mysteriously disappeared from the team 185
  7. ^ John Thorn Base Ball: A Journal of the Early Game, Vol. 7: - Volume 7 2014 -- Page 45 0786479019 "His name was Jimmy Callahan. James Joseph Callahan was born at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on March 18, 1874, to Irish immigrants James and Margaret (Glynn) Callahan.1 In boyhood, his mother nicknamed him “Nixey” for reasons long since lost to history. He received his primary education at the local public school, where he presumably practiced baseball in the playground during recess and after class. But at age 14, Jimmy lost his father and had to abandon further schooling to support his mother. He first worked at a cotton mill and was later trained as a plumber's apprentice, neither of which he especially enjoyed.2 It was while employed at the cotton mill that Jimmy emerged as a talented pitcher for the company team. His next stop was the semi-professional team of Pepperell, one of the best in Massachusetts. Reportedly, he won 28 games for Pepperell in 1891.
  8. ^ Brian McKenna - Clark Griffith: Baseball's Statesman 2010- Page 68 0557472954 "A forever-disputed milestone occurred on June 18 when Cap Anson notched his 3,000th hit.136 Chicago set the still-standing record for runs scored in a game in support of pitcher Jimmy Callahan, nicknamed Nixey, on June 29. On thirty hits, the Colts tallied 36 runs against only seven for Louisville. Callahan first drew interest as a pitcher on a Massachusetts textile team and, later, in semi-pro ball. In 1895, he led the Eastern League with a 30-9 record for Springfield."
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by No-hitter pitcher
September 20, 1902 		Succeeded by
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