Jean Dubuc

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean Dubuc baseball card
Jean Dubuc baseball card

Jean Joseph Octave Arthur Dubuc (September 15, 1888 – August 28, 1958), nicknamed "Chauncey," [1], was a Major League Baseball pitcher.

Contents

[edit] Early Career at St. Michael's and Notre Dame and Loss of Eligibility for Playing Semi-Pro Baseball

Born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, he played with the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Giants during his nine year career. Dubuc had an overall record of 85 – 76 with a 3.04 ERA.

Dubuc began his baseball career at St. Michael's College in Vermont. Dubuc, who attended Saint Michael's as a high school student and threw a no-hitter for the Purple Knights' college team against the University of Vermont in 1906, was elected to the St. Michael's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006. [2]

After one year at St. Michael's, Dubuc transferred to the University of Notre Dame, where he was 14-2 in the 1907 and 1908 seasons. During the early summer of 1908, Dubuc was caught playing a semi-pro game under an assumed name and was declared ineligible to continue his baseball career at Notre Dame. He quickly signed with the Cincinnati Reds and debuted in the Major Leagues on June 25, 1908.

[edit] Major League Career

After compiling a 7-13 record in two seasons with the Reds, Dubuc was sent to the minor leagues. During the 1910 and 1911 seasons, Dubuc played with minor league teams in Buffalo and Montreal. He compiled a 21-11 record with Montreal in 1911, which caught the attention of Detroit Tigers owner, Frank Navin. Dubuc signed with the Tigers and was part of the Tigers' starting rotation for five consecutive years from 1912-1916. In five seasons with Detroit, Dubuc was 72-60 with 90 complete games.

His best season was 1912, when his 17-10 record put him among the AL leaders in winning percentage (.630), complete games (23), games started (33), and shutouts (2).

In 1917 and 1918, Dubuc played for Salt Lake in the Pacific Coast League. His 22-16 record with Salt Lake in 1917 got the attention of the Boston Red Sox. After the PCL season finished in 1918, Dubuc joined the [[Boston Red Sox on July 25, 1918. He pithced only two games for the Red Sox and saw a single pinch-hitting at bat for the Sox in Game 2 of the 1918 World Series.

Dubuc played for the New York Giants in 1919, playing in 36 games -- 33 as a relief pitcher. Dubuc was 6-4 for the Giants with a career low ERA of 2.66. Despite the strong performance, Dubuc was released by John McGraw of the Giants after the 1919 season. McGraw later stated publicly that he released Dubuc because he "constantly associated" with Sleepy Bill Burns, a gambler who played with Dubuc on the 1912 Tigers and was a central figure in the Chicago Black Sox Scandal. [3]

[edit] Implicated in the Chicago Black Sox Scandal

After playing with Toledo in 1920, Dubuc was implicated in the Black Sox scandal during grand jury testimony in September 1920. Pitcher Rube Benton testified that he had seen a telegram addressed to Dubuc, believed to be from Dubuc's former teammate Sleepy Bill Burns advising Dubuc: "Bet on the Cincinnati team today."

After being linked to the scandal, Dubuc went to Canada. Though reported in some articles to have been banned from baseball [4] [5] for his "guilty knowledge" [6], more reliable sources indicate that he was not banned. [7] [8] Indeed, he continued to play minor league baseball for Syracuse in 1922 and 1923.

[edit] Scout for the Detroit Tigers: Signing of Hank Greenberg

After his playing career was over, Dubuc coached the Brown University baseball and hockey teams. He also scouted the East Coast for his former boss, Frank Navin, of the Detroit Tigers. As a scout he signed catcher Birdie Tebbetts, but his greatest scouting accomplishment was signing Hall of Famer first baseman Hank Greenberg. Greenberg, a New Yorker, was also recrutited by the Yankees, but Dubuc was able to persuade Greenberg he could start sooner in Detroit, as Lou Gehrig was firmly entrenched with the Yankees.

[edit] Life After Baseball

Eventually, Dubuc left baseball and worked for 20 years as a printer's ink salesman, before his death in Fort Myers, Florida in 1958. [9]

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Boston Red Sox 1918 World Series roster