Bid McPhee

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John Alexander "Bid" McPhee (November 1, 1859 - January 3, 1943) was a 19th century Major League Baseball player. He was the last second baseman to play without a glove.

Born in Massena, New York, McPhee entered the American Association in 1882 with the Cincinnati Red Stockings. Renamed the Reds in 1890, it was the team for which he would play his entire career. Over 18 years, McPhee batted .271, hit 53 home runs, hit 188 triples, scored 1678 runs, had 1067 RBI, and stole upwards of 600 bases. He had ten 100-plus run seasons and regularly led the league in many defensive categories despite playing without a glove for the first 14 years of his career. Without the benefit of the padding provided by fielding gloves, McPhee toughened his hands by soaking them in salt water.

Bid McPhee
is a member of
the Baseball
Hall of Fame

Shortly after retiring as a player in 1899, McPhee rejoined the Reds as a manager. At the team's helm for 1901 and part of 1902, he posted only 79 wins to 124 losses for a .389 winning percentage.

Bid McPhee died in 1943. McPhee was cremated and his ashes were placed in the mausoleum at Cypress View Memorial Gardens in San Diego, California.

McPhee was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000 and is one of two Baseball Hall of Famers that played their entire career in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench being the other. McPhee is also the only Hall of Famer that played on the 1882 pennant winning Cincinnati Red Stockings team.

Two years after his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, McPhee was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. An honor that was long over due.