More On George Tebeau

After George Tebeau died on February 4, 1923, several articles appeared in The Sporting News chronicling his life. His obituary, which was published in the February 8, 1923 issue of TSN, was interestingly headlined "Former Enemies To Honor Dead Tebeau" and is quoted below:

Tebeau had a notable career in baseball as player, manager, and magnate and as the latter, he became famous for his quarrels with fellow magnates. He was born in St. Louis in 1861 and began his career in Denver twenty years later. He soon advanced to the majors as a player, then returned to the minors as an organizer and club owner. He had owned the Denver, Louisville, and Kansas City Clubs, and had been interested in several others. His last venture was the organization of an independent league known as the Mid-Western in Colorado and Wyoming in 1921...

His last appearance in baseball was at the meeting of the minors in Louisville at which time he had two deals on hand. One was the sale of his ball park in Kansas City and the other a claim against the Denver Club for an alleged repudiation of a lease of his park in that city.

John B. Foster, in the February 15, 1923 issue of TSN, had a long piece about George and Patsy Tebeau:

(The Tebeau brothers) were fighters. Pat did most of his fighting on the ball field. George did a great deal of his on the ball field but much more as an owner of a baseball club when he began to meet with other owners and learned something of the politics of a league...

When George played with the Cincinnatis years ago he was called "White Wings." Odd name for a ball player who was one day to be recognized as one of the shrewdest of schemers in the minor leagues. They called him "White Wings" about the time that well known ballad floated from the open windows of every Western boarding house...Tebeau may have been called "White Wings" because he never grew weary but more likely it was because of the splendid figure that he made when running for a fly ball...

As a ball player George gave great promise but he never quite arrived...The first year he appeared in fast company as a player it was predicted that he would make one of the league's best batters. He never did. The first year that he appeared as an owner it was predicted that he would make a failure, but he nearly owned the league before he finished and dominated it thoroughly...

The Federal League broke him as a power in baseball. He bore the brunt of the fight in Kansas City and suffered greater reverse than any other man in the game and yet such was the enmity that he had aroused by the forcefulness of his nature and the fight that he had made for control that he found few sympathize with him.

According to The New York Times, Tebeau was involved in the organization of the American Association in 1901 and owned the Kansas City club in that league. Tebeau expanded his American Association empire the next year when he was involved in the reorganization of the Louisville club. In 1904, he purchased the Denver club in the Western League. Tebeau's entry into the Western League was a complicated venture that involved the elimination of the Western League's Kansas City team, which was a direct competitor of Tebeau's American Association Kansas City team. It appears that Tebeau owned and operated all three clubs from 1902 until he sold the Louisville club in 1909.

George Tebeau

George Tebeau, who played in the field for the old Cleveland, Cincinnati and other major league clubs, is today one of the wealthiest and most influential men connected with the National game.

At one time, Mr. Tebeau was charged with running syndicate baseball, it being alleged that he owned the Denver, Kansas City, and Louisville Clubs.

Today, however, it is generally admitted that Mr. Tebeau controls only one club in the American Association-the Kansas City.

George Tebeau is sure enough a self-made man.

He began his baseball career on the lots in North St. Louis where the Water Tower stands now.

He first gained prominence locally when he played with the Shamrocks of North St. Louis in 1885. While with them he proved himself a great all around player, filling all the positions on the team, pitching when a pitcher was needed and catching when the regular receiver was down and out, but his home position was left field. He was so alert and plucky in his work that in 1886 he received a call from Denver and he did so well out West that Denver clung to him for (several) years.

...(His) fame as a player spread and he came into major league company playing in turn with the Cincinnati, Columbus, Grand Rapids, and Cleveland Clubs.

In the three last named organizations he was associated with (Tom) Loftus and from the latter Tebeau perhaps learned those rudiments of the game that in later years made him the most successful and wealthy of minor league managers.

Tebeau, although a most aggressive and pushing player and manager, had many fine traits, his reputation for honesty and square dealing being always above par.

Tebeau comes of a family of ball players in St. Louis, his brother, Oliver (Pat) Tebeau, being famous as the third baseman of the great Cleveland Club.

Tebeau, who played right field under his brother Pat at Cleveland some fifteen years ago and who was much pleased with his $1,200 salary, is rated a millionaire.

Tebeau earned a little money out of the old Western League and is getting good money out of the American Association. Two years ago he ran three clubs. First of all he sold Denver. Last August he disposed of Louisville for $100,00. He can get $175,000 for his Kansas City Club, it is said. Incidentally he will probably make $60,000 out of the latter club this year, as he evidently has an improved team, and Kansas City, just like every other town in the land, is baseball enthusiastic, and anything like a winning article will get the fans out in force.

Some seven or eight years ago Tebeau leased a hole in the ground, a poor bit of real estate, for an annual rental of $900. He likewise got an option to purchase it for $65,000 at any time during a period of ten years. Now Kansas City is going to have its new railroad station. Tebeau's ball park is so located that it must be grabbed up. The railway people have kept on increasing their bid until now there is a chance of Tebeau getting a million or so out of the ground and he deserves every penny he can get.

From The National Game

Note: The above picture shows the old brick water tower at Bissell Point that Al Spink mentioned in his piece on George Tebeau.

Oliver Wendell Tebeau

Patsy Tebeau, described by Al Spink as "the champion first baseman," was a St. Louis native who played in the National League from 1887 to 1900 for Chicago, Cleveland, and St. Louis.

In The National Game, Spink wrote the following:

Tebeau learned to play ball in North St. Louis.

There was a large family of Tebeau's and they all loved the game, loved it so well that two of the boys, Oliver and George became famous in its annals.

They learned to play on the prairie near the old Water Tower on Grand Avenue.

"Pat" Tebeau, the name Oliver was best known by, and his brother George, were the star players of the Peach Pie team of North St. Louis and later were the brightest on the Shamrock nine, which held forth in the same neighborhood.

Pat's first professional work was with the St. Joe team of the Western League in the early eighties and then he came into the limelight as the captain, manager and first baseman of the Cleveland League team.

It was Tom Loftus, then manager of the Clevelands, that saw in "Pat" Tebeau the sort of spirit needed to make a good commander, and when Loftus gave up the reins he put them in the hands of "Pat." That they were well handled goes without saying.

Tebeau was not only a fine first baseman, but a hitter of the first flight.

Tim Hurst, who was an umpire in the League in the 1890's and managed the Browns in 1898, told the following story about Tebeau:

I have been asked to tell of the hardest decision that I ever made...The most important, I think, occurred several years ago during a game between Cleveland and Baltimore at Cleveland.

It was the ninth inning, and the score was tied. Childs was on second base for Cleveland, with but one out, and Pat Tebeau was at the bat. Hoffer was pitching for Baltimore and Robinson was catching. Hoffer was using a dinky outcurve that broke some distance from the plate and Tebeau was having great trouble in meeting squarely. On several occasions he walked out of the box to hit the ball and I had repeatedly warned him about it.

Finally when Childs reached second, Tebeau saw an outcurve coming and ran ten feet out of the box to hit it. He met the ball squarely before it "broke" and drove it to the center-field fence for two bases. Childs easily scored, making the game 3 to 2 in favor of Cleveland. The crowd was whooping and yelling over the victory.

Robinson ran up to me and called my attention to the fact that Tebeau had run out of the batter's box. I knew he was right, and during the tumult I called Tebeau out and sent Childs back to second. The crowd was absolutely stunned.

Tebeau came running in from second with tears in his eyes. "You didn't call me out for that?" inquired Patsy.

"Sure, I did. You know that you stepped out of the box, and you are only getting what is coming to you."

"Well, I might have stepped out a few feet," he wailed. "But you ought not to give a decision like that in the presence of this home crowd."

That tied up the game and it went along until the twelfth inning, when Baltimore won. You can imagine that I was a very popular guy in Cleveland that night.