Tom Carey was a glove-first middle infielder who hit .269 for a series of teams throughout the 1870s. In my universe, he's 30 years old and has defended quite well at shortstop, though he gets almost no walks or extra-base hits. He played for the Fort Wayne Kekiongas in 1871, then spent three years with Baltimore and is now in his third year at Hartford. As one of the players who's had a solid career in the 1870s, I thought it'd be worthwhile to see what his story was in reality. SABR doesn't have a bio for him, and Nemec only has a short entry. However, his Wikipedia entry links to a newspaper account that I find baffling for reasons I will explain.
First, Nemec in his entirety on Carey:
Quote:
Tom Carey served with the 17th New York Infantry in the Civil War. On October 11, 1905, he was discharged from a veteran's home in Napa, California, after being under care there for some time, and disappeared. It was recently learned that he died in San Francisco the following August.
While with Fort Wayne in 1871, Carey appears to have attached himself to the team's star pitcher, Bobby Mathews. The two moved as a unit to Baltimore in 1872 after the Kekiongas disbanded and then switched to the New York Mutuals in 1874 once the Baltimore club dissolved. Carey began 1874 as the Mutuals captain but was replaced by Dick Higham on June 27. He then played in Hartford in 1875 and remained with Hartford through 1877 while it played its home games in Brooklyn. His final two major league campaigns, with Providence and Cleveland, were colored by a marked decline in hitting but otherwise might appear to be as nondescript as the rest of his career. However, a closer examination reveals that Carey had one extraordinary distinction: he was almost impossible to walk. In 2,426 plate appearances Carey drew only 16 bases on balls. Even allowing for the infrequency with which hitters walked in the 1870s, Carey stands out as the all-time anti-walk king. Upon departing Cleveland, Carey played in the California League through 1880. Later he umpired 29 games in the AA in 1882, its fledgling season.
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There's not a lot of other information out there on Carey - maybe he really was as "nondescript" as Nemec seems to think. However, his Wikipedia page has a link to a
strange newspaper story. This is from the
San Francisco Call on May 24, 1906:
Quote:
Tom Carey, the famous old-time shortstop who played with the invincible Chicago White Stockings in the early 80s, is in the bread line at the park, down and out. Carey says his baseball days are over and cheerfully remarks that the sore-arm liniment, as he terms our fog, has put his "wing on the bum." The old fans will remember the days when Carey was regarded as the greatest shortstop in the baseball world. "Them were 'appy days," and old Tom Carey, one of the highest-priced ballplayers of his time, stands with the rest, in line, waiting for his daily handout.
Carey signed with the most famous aggregation of ball twirlers that played during the 80s. He was shortstop for the White Stockings when that team sold Mike Kelly, the famous pitcher, to the Bostons and later parted with $10,000 to get him back. In 1882 the Chicagos came west and played a series of games, defeating the Knickerbockers, Sam Rainey's great bunch of firemen players.
Carey sadly recalls the joyful moments when he used to draw $5,000 a season for five months' playing with the Chicagos. Then he was with the crown of spheroid throwers that held the championship over the Bostons and the Cincinnati "Reds." Adrian Anson was captain and first baseman, "Silver" Flint catcher, Ed Williamson and Joe Rueft on third and second base and Dalrymple, Kelly and George Gore in the field. George McCormick, Mike Kelly and Larry Cochran twirled the horsehide for the team.
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This seems to fit with what's known of Carey's bio from the Nemec entry but of course there's one big problem: Tom Carey never played for Chicago. Tom Burns, who died in 1902, was the shortstop on those Chicago clubs. I honestly have no idea what to make of this.