"Magnet"
A brief introduction and hello to the first Canuck in the Big Leagues....
We have wrapped up 2022 and now it’s time to kick off the Deuce Trey with a little Canadian content. Today we are going to go all the way back to the beginning. To the arrival of Canadians playing in major league baseball. Grab yourself a back-bacon sandwich or two, a jelly doughnut, wash it down with an Elsinore and let’s meet the first Canadian major leaguer - Bob Addy.
Full name: Robert Edward Addy
Born: February 1842, Port Hope ON. There was a question on this as there had been evidence that he was actually born in Rochester NY. The Canadian Census in 1861 showed he was 19 with an Upper Canada, Ontario birthplace.
Died: April 9/1910, Pocatello, Idaho.
LF/RF/2B
Bats: L Throws: L
5ft 8in, 160 lbs
Nickname: Magnet
MLB DEBUT: MAY 6/1871, 38th player in major league history
Last Game: OCT 6/1877
Career Stats:
Teams Played For: Forest City Club of Rockford, Philadelphia Whites, Boston Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Chicago White Stockings, Cincinnati Reds
Teams Managed: Philadelphia Whites, Cincinnati Reds
Career Manager Stats:
🍁⚾Member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame ⚾🍁
There are some that have claimed that Bob was the first player to have ever intentionally slid into a base. A G Spalding, a multiple time teammate, depicted Addy as doing a diving slide into second base in June 1866, where the claim seems to have originated1. Negro League player Frank Grant is also closely linked to not only the invention of the slide but being the first to use shin guards in the field2.
Addy had a deadpan and dry humour where another former teammate, Fred Cone, stated that Addy would joke and say the funniest things without cracking a smile. Spalding called him a celebrated character. Sense Of Humour/Character scouting grade: 60, definitely a plus character.
Author George Wright writes “a thorough ball-player, and a most earnest worker; a splendid base runner, a good batter, and a lively fielder. He is a valuable member of any organization from the fact of his steady play having [a] tendency to infuse confidence into the minds of his fellow-players”3. So let's call it 60 Run, 55 Hit, 50 Field? 😆😁
As I was reading about Bob Addy there was a story about his time in Philadelphia during the 1875 season that really describes the type of person and player he was -
“in one game eight of the players were fixed to lose. The one true man was Bob Addy … It was thought by those who were engineering the ‘skin’ that it would not be necessary to buy Addy, and besides he had the reputation of being a square player.” Throughout the contest, Addy did “great work in the field and was striving to win, covering a wonderful amount of ground,” even while his teammates were conspiring to lose. Finally, at a pivotal moment Addy made a long run and saved the game by catching a ball that a teammate intended to let drop. When the teammate realized what had happened, “his disgust was supreme, and in a tone of contempt and scorn he remarked: ‘Look here, Bob Addy, do you want to play the whole game?"’4
Don’t think you grade that less than a 80 for playing hard, fair and square. Definitely someone to have on your team.
Overall I think it would be fair to say that the first player from the Great White North was a solid contributor and their effect on the game was a positive one.
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about the first Hoser to hit the major’s. It’s almost too stereotypically Canadian to be a hardworking player that couldn’t be bribed to lose a game. Tip of the cap to you Bob Addy for bringing that Northern Touch to baseball. Speaking of Northern Touch…worst segue ever…Here’s some Northern Touch on the old school Canadian hip hop front -
…Ain't nobody can bang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair coming down with that northern touch…
Thank you for checking in and stopping by. I’ll be talking with you in a while. Until then, as always, Keep It 80 Grade.
Links:
https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/bob-addy/
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-addy/
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/addybo01.shtml
Peter Morris, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-addy/
Brian McKenna, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/frank-grant/
George Wright, Record of the Boston Base Ball Club, Since Its Organization: With a Sketch of All Its Players for 1871, 72, 73 and 74, and Other Items of Interest, 15
Philadelphia Times; reprinted in St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 25, 1886: 5