John Kirby Is No Jack Kirby-

Among all ML pitcher who have worked 600-plus innings, Jack Kirby has the worst winning percentage, with the exception of John Coleman, who did most of his work for the woebegone 1883 Philadelphia NL club that won only 17 games all season.  Kirby earned his mark pitching for a succession of wretched clubs over five years and losing 50 of 68 career decisions.  He would not have lasted long enough to achieve this unenviable record, however, had he lacked talent.  By some accounts Kirby was loaded with it actually, and the explanation for his failure to take advantage of it is not readily apparent.  Some contended he was too stubborn ever to take coaching, yet there are also indications that his prospects were damaged when inept managers handled him poorly.  His drastic 1887 falloff was due in large measure to arm trouble and also perhaps to difficulty adjusting to major revisions in the pitching rules.. 

Like many pitchers of that day, Kirby's career was finished by the time he reached his midtwenties.  He had married Jessie Hooper, a native of England, in 1885 when she was only about 17.  They had three daughters.  To support his family after his playing career was over, Kirby first walked a beat in St. Louis and later served as a prison guard and as police property custodian in St. Louis for forty years.  He died of diabetes in St. Louis in 1931.

-Major League Baseball Profiles, 1871-1900, Volume 1


Kirby was born and raised in St. Louis and was a native of the city for his entire life.  He also played for the Maroons in 1885 and 1886.

David Nemec wrote a fantastic piece on him for Major League Baseball Profiles, a portion of which I quoted above.  If you'd like to read the whole thing, pick up the book.  Seriously, you can get both volumes of Major League Baseball Profiles at a great price and, while you're treating yourself, you should pick up The Rank and File of 19th Century Baseball, which is, essentially, volume three of this project.

Now, David mentioned that John Kirby was also known as Jack but, let's be honest here, there is only one Jack Kirby.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, Jack Kirby is this guy:

When you think of Marvel Comics, you're probably thinking of something that Kirby came up with.  That Avengers movie you all just saw, those characters were all pretty much invented by Kirby (and Stan Lee, of course).  Kirby helped come up with the original, Golden Age Captain America.  Thor- that was Kirby.  The Hulk - that was Kirby.  Iron Man - Jack Kirby.  The Avengers - Kirby.  As if that wasn't enough, he also came up with the Fantastic Four and the Kirby/Lee run on FF may be the greatest comic book run of all-time.  If it's not that, I'd argue for the Lee/Ditko run on Spiderman, a character which Kirby had a hand in coming up with.

And this:

Yeah, that's Jack Kirby's artwork.  And he also came up with the X-Men.  And the New Gods.  And Doctor Doom and Magneto and the Silver Surfer and Galactus and hundreds of other characters that I don't have time to name.

On top of all of that, he was an extraordinary artist who had a major impact on how comics are drawn.  Kirby's artwork is unbelievably fantastic and, for the time, it was unique and radical.  The man came up with a completely new way of visually telling a story.  Just google Jack Kirby and check it out.  He's arguably the most influential comic book artist of all-time and probably my favorite (although I have a soft spot in my heart for Mike Mignola, John Romita, Sr., Mark Bagley and, of course, Steve Ditko).  When I was really getting into comics in the late seventies and early eighties, Marvel was reissuing all those old comic runs and I grew up reading Kirby's work on the X-Men and the Avengers.  While I had always read comics as a kid, Kirby is one of the major reasons that I've been a lifelong comic fan and I'm sure that there is a lot of people out there that can say the same thing.

So, John Kirby may be an interesting fellow but he's no Jack Kirby.        

And to all may comic book geek friends, I love you guys but please don't bother commenting and trying to correct my brief, short-hand history of Marvel Comics.  I know how muddled the history is and how complicated it is trying to figure out who gets credit for coming up with what.  Let's just leave it at the fact that Kirby had a major hand in creating all the characters I mentioned.  But I am willing to debate the fact that Lee/Ditko's Spiderman is better than Lee/Kirby's FF or Claremont/Byrne's X-Men or Gaiman's Sandman or anything else you want to name.     

        

The 1884 Maroons: A Battery Equal To Any In The Country

The second game at Union Park between the St. Louis and Kansas City Unions resulted in a victory for the home nine in a very pretty game.  Sweeny made his first appearance with the Unions and pitched in great form, not a hit being made off his delivery in the first five innings.  In the sixth Oberbeck scored a safe one to center.  In the eighth Shafer sent a slow one toward third, and by good running beat the ball to first, scoring the second hit.  The third was made in the same inning by Kirby.  In the ninth Davis made a single and Turbidy a two-bagger.  His effectiveness is shown by the fact that he struck out ten men.  The ease with which Baker handled his delivery was pleasing to behold and the general verdict is that no catcher is doing better work.  That the Unions now have a battery equal to any in the country can hardly be denied.  The Kansas Citys were short of a pitcher, McLaughlin having failed to arrive, and they secured the services of Kirby, of the Wedge House nine.  The latter was quite a surprise to all but his immediate friends, for he not only held the sluggers down below anything that was anticipated, but showed good qualities as a batsman, facing Sweeny like a veteran, and making one of the hits credited to the visitors.  The fielding was sharp on both sides, Strief carrying off the honors with five put-outs and six assists.  Baker and Quinn put out twenty-one of the visitors, and Baldwin, Cudworth and Strief put out twenty of the twenty-four of the local players that were retired.  Oberbeck made a fine catch of a long fly by Dunlap, taking the ball close to the left field fence.  Boyle led at the bat, scoring two two-base hits, one a drive to the screen over the left fence.  Sweeny made a single and a two-bagger, and Geo. Shafer made two singles. 

-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 2, 1884


So Sweeney's finally in the fold and pitching for the Black Diamonds.  But, to me, the most interesting thing here is the major league debut of John Kirby.  David Nemec has a nice right-up on Kirby in Major League Baseball Profiles and I'll pass that along in the next day or so.

A First-Class Police Officer

Long John Healey makes a first-class police officer. Captain O'Malley shows his confidence in him by keeping him on the toughest beat in the city and the Egyptian makes the evil-doers keep in line, or treats them to a ride in the patrol wagon. John is in splendid condition physically. He says that he is satisfied with his position, but his friends declare that he is growing restive as reporting time approaches and that they will be surprised if he does not return to the game. He spends an hour or more each day in the gymnasium at the Four Courts and he is considered one of the best athletes on the force. His arm is all right and in two weeks preparation he could pitch as good ball as he ever did. Jack Kirby, another old Maroon pitcher, is walking a West End beat. Sergeant Cal Watson, who has charge of the district in which Healey is stationed, was once a professional ball player. It is announced that there will be a game in the spring between teams representing the police and fire departments. Tom Dolan, Jack and Bill Gleason and other retired ball players are firemen, and good ones too. The proceeds of the game will be devoted to charity.

-From Sporting Life, February 6, 1897

Person Tom Dolan

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John Kirby

John Kirby, who was born in St. Louis in 1865, was one of the worst pitchers of the 19th century. Over the course of his five year major league career, Kirby appeared in 76 games and posted a career record of 18-50 with an ERA+ of 80. Among 19th century pitchers with at least 45 decisions, Kirby's .265 winning percentage is the seventh worst. He also happened to be a terrible hitter with a career batting average of .105 and a career OPS+ of -20.

In 1886, Kirby and John Healy were the top two pitchers for the Maroons, which says a lot about the fortunes of the Black Diamonds. With an 11-26 record and an ERA+ of 97, Kirby enjoyed his finest season.

On June 14, 1886, the Maroons, with Kirby on the mound, took on the Detroit Wolverines. The Sporting News wrote that "(the) Black Diamonds tried hard to beat (Detroit)...but Kirby's errors were many and costly, and their good playing could not square with his poor work." In the Maroons' 11-6 loss, Kirby walked ten men, had six wild pitches, committed four throwing errors, and gave up nine unearned runs.