Harry Lumley (baseball)

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Harry Garfield Lumley (September 29, 1880 - May 22, 1938) was a right fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Nicknamed "Judge", Lumley spent his entire career with the Brooklyn Superbas in the National League. He batted and threw left handed.

Lumley was one of the most feared sluggers in the first decade of the 20th century. In addition to his power, he also was a fast runner and a competent outfielder with a fine throwing arm. But he also had a tendency to gain weight, and a lethany of injuries cut short his majors career after only seven seasons.

A native of Forest City, Pennsylvania, Lumley started his professional career in 1901 batting .350 for the New York State League franchise in Rome.

In 1902 Lumley hit a league-leading 18 home runs in for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. He jumped to the Western League in 1903, playing for Colorado and Seattle. After led the Western League with a .387 average, Lumley was drafted by the Brooklyn Superbas. He played with Brooklyn for seven years, coming out to the club in 1904 and serving until the 1910 midseason.

In his rookie season, Lumley hit .279 with career-bests 150 games and 78 RBI, and led the National League with 18 triples and nine home runs. Eighty-two year later, those numbers would earn him Sabermetrics’s hypothetical NL Rookie of the Year Award, but his best was yet to come.

Lumley improved his average to .293 in 1905 and posted a career year in 1906, when he finished at .324, third behind Honus Wagner (.339) and Harry Steinfeldt (.327) in the NL batting race. Although rheumatism and a split finger limited him to 133 games, Lumley led the league with a .477 slugging percentage, hit 12 triples –third in the league, and his nine home runs were second only to Brooklyn teammate Tim Jordan's 12. Lumley became Brooklyn’s most popular player, as the Superbas refused lucrative offers for their prized player from six of the seven other NL clubs.

Injuries combined with a "tendency to embonpoint," as one reporter described Lumley's proclivity for gaining weight, caused the hard-hitting outfielder's career to go steadily downhill after his stellar 1906 season. In 1907 he broke an ankle while sliding, ending his season after only 127 games. At that point, his nine home runs were enough to rank second again in the NL, and his .425 slugging was the third-best in the league, but his batting average plummeted 57 points to .267. Named Brooklyn’s captain in 1908, Lumley succeeded Patsy Donovan as manager at the close of the season, but his ankle injury prevented him from getting down to playing weight, finishing out the year with a dismal .216 average and only four homers.

In 1909 Lumley struggled through a season-long slump, appearing in only 55 games as a player, and batting .250 without a single home run, but he guided the Superbas to a 55-98 record, an improvement of 2.5 games and one place in the standings. Nonetheless, he was replaced by Bill Dahlen before the 1910 season, appearing in only eight games that year before drawing his release in the midseason.

In a seven-season career, Lumley was a .274 hitter with 38 home runs and 305 RBI in 730 games. As a manager, he posted a 55-98 (.359) in 153 games.

Following his major league career, Lumley settled in Binghamton, New York, serving as player-manager for the New York State League's "Bingoes" through 1912. Later he operated the Terminal Cafe, a tavern that stood near the current site of Binghamton Municipal Stadium where the Eastern League's Mets play. After that, he appeared in an old-timers' day at Ebbets Field in 1936, but failing health forced him to give up his restaurant the following year.

Lumley died in Binghamton after a long illness, at age of 57.

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Preceded by
Jimmy Sheckard		 National League Home Run Champion
1904		 Succeeded by
Fred Odwell
Preceded by
Patsy Donovan		 Brooklyn Superbas Manager
1909		 Succeeded by
Bill Dahlen
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