Charlie Morton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the 21st century baseball pitcher, see Charlie Morton (pitcher).
Charlie Morton

Morton as President of Ohio-Penn League
Born (October 12, 1854
Kingston, Ohio
Died December 9, 1921
Massillon, Ohio

Charles Hazen Morton (October 12, 1854 – December 9, 1921) was a 19th century major league baseball player-manager born in Kingston, Ohio. As a manager, he led a team whose members included the first African-American players in major-league history.[1]

After retiring from the major leagues, Morton served intermittently as an official and went on to become a minor league baseball executive.

[edit] Major league career

Morton played for and managed in the American Association for the Toledo Blue Stockings in 1884 and the Detroit Wolverines in 1885. He did play one season prior to managing, 1882, and did manage the 1890 Toledo Maumees after his playing career was over.[2] He compiled a career managerial record of 121 wins and 153 losses.[3]

He was the manager for the 1884 Toledo Blue Stockings, who had transferred into the American Association from the Northwestern League after the 1883 season.[4] It was this team that included Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Welday Walker, who are now considered the first black players to participate in major league baseball. On August 10, 1883 before a scheduled exhibition game, Cap Anson and his Chicago White Stockings had told Morton that his team would not play on the same field as Walker. Even though he had initially given Walker the day off due to injuries, he then re-inserted him in the game, to force Anson to either play or lose his portion of the gate receipts. Anson decided to play that day, but when Chicago came to town the following year, they had already signed an agreement that the Walker brothers would not play.[1]

[edit] Later years

After his playing career, Morton spent much of his time as an executive, most notably as the founder and president of the Ohio-Pennsylvania League during its existence from 1905 through 1912.[5] He even umpired a few games during the 1886 season. Charlie died in Massillon, Ohio at the age of of 67, and was buried at Glendale Cemetery in Akron, Ohio.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Cap's Great Shame. CapAnson.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  2. ^ Player Page. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  3. ^ Manager Page. Baseball Reference. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  4. ^ A Fleeting Ambition. The Michigan Daily. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  5. ^ Ohio-Pennsylvania League. SABR. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  6. ^ Player Page. Baseball Almanac. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
Preceded by
Jack Chapman		 Detroit Wolverines Managers
1885		 Succeeded by
Bill Watkins