Roger Bresnahan (1945)


Date of Birth: 6/11/1879
Date of Death: 12/4/1944
Birthplace: Toledo, Ohio

Roger Bresnahan started playing baseball as a child and by the age of 16, he was playing semi-pro ball. He started as a pitcher in the minor leagues. In 1897, the Washington Senators of the National League, a team that folded after the 1899 season, purchased Bresnahan's contract. He pitched for the Senators in six games before being released at the end of the 1897 season over a salary dispute.

Bresnahan spent the 1898 and 1899 seasons in the minor leagues before joining the Chicago Orphans/Cubs in 1900. He played in just two games with Chicago before moving to the Baltimore Orioles (not the modern day Orioles) in 1901. Bresnahan was a catcher and outfielder with the Orioles and he batted .268 with 79 hits in 86 games in 1901.

New York Giants

The Orioles released Bresnahan in July, 1902, and he was signed by the New York Giants. For his first few seasons with the Giants, Bresnahan played various positions until he was made their catcher in 1905.

Bresnahan played in 116 games with the Giants in 1902. He finished the season with 115 hits, 17 doubles, 18 stolen bases, and a .278 batting average. The next year, his average went up to .350 and he had career highs in hits (142), doubles (30), and stolen bases (34). He played in 113 games in 1903.

In 1904, Bresnahan's batting average dropped to .284. He had 114 hits and 22 doubles in 109 games. He had a slightly better season offensively in 1905, batting .302 with 100 hits and 18 doubles in 104 games. Defensively, he caught players trying to steal 55% of the time, the best record in the NL that year.

Bresnahan had a .281 batting average in 124 games in 1906. The next year, his batting average dropped to .253 in 110 games. He led the NL in walks in 1908 with 83. He finished that season with 127 hits, 25 doubles, and a .283 batting average in a career high 140 games. Defensively, he led all NL catchers in putouts with 657.

St. Louis Cardinals

After the 1908 season, the Giants traded Bresnahan to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was made player-manager. In his first season with the Cardinals, he batted .244 with 57 hits in 72 games. He fared better in 1910 and 1911, batting .278 each of those seasons. He played in 88 games in 1910 and in 81 games the following year. He played in just 48 games in 1912, his last year with the Cardinals.

Bresnahan's record as the manager of the Cardinals from 1909 through 1912 was 255 wins to 352 losses.

Chicago Cubs

Bresnahan was fired by the Cardinals after the 1912 season. He then signed with the Chicago Cubs on a three-year contract. In his first season with them, he had a .228 batting average in 69 games. He played in 101 games in 1914, and he batted .278 with 69 hits.

In 1915, his last season in the major leagues, Bresnahan was player-manager for the Cubs. He batted .204 in 77 games that year. As manager, he led the team to 73 wins and 80 losses.

Career Statistics

Career batting statistics for Bresnahan include:

  • 1,446 games played
  • 1,252 hits
  • 218 doubles
  • 212 stolen bases
  • .279 batting average
  • .386 on-base percentage
  • .763 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Bresnahan as a catcher include:

  • 974 games played
  • 1,195 assists
  • 4,309 putouts
  • 167 errors
  • .470 caught stealing percentage
  • .971 fielding percentage

Post Playing Career

After finishing his playing career in the major leagues, Bresnahan bought and played for a minor league team from 1916 through 1918. From the mid-1920s through 1931, Bresnahan returned to the major leagues as a coach for the Giants and the Detroit Tigers.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Roger Bresnahan
ESPN - Roger Bresnahan
Baseball Reference - Roger Bresnahan

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