| Jeremiah Peter "Jerry" Harrington |
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| An interesting figure and Keokuk native, Jeremiah
Peter "Jerry" Harrington, played in the major leagues.
His father was manager of the Keokuk Western Association team in 1885.
Keeping baseball in the family, Harrington played youth baseball in
Keokuk and semi-pro baseball in Bonaparte when he was 16. In 1887, at
the age of 18, he signed with Creston in the Iowa League. For the following
two years he played in the Interstate League with Decatur and Danville
in Illinois, and Davenport in Iowa. |
| Harrington made it to the major leagues as the catcher
for the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1890. In 1891 he was fined for unknown
reasons and left the team. He played part of the season in Butte, Montana
then Cincinnati took him back at the end of the season. In 1893, Harrington
was traded and played his final year for the Louisville Colonels in
1893. He then moved back to Keokuk, played semi-pro baseball, and also
become assistant chief of police. At the age of 44 he was killed when
hit on the head with a can of beer by a thug in 1913. Harrington was
noted for being the first catcher in baseball to throw to second base
from the squatting position. |
Harrington's story was told in "The Cincinnati Reds," a
book by Lee Allen, published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1948. If anyone
has a copy, knows the location of a copy, please contact us, or Shane
Etter.
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