Steve O'Neill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page is about the USA baseball player. For the Irish gaelic footabller see Stephen O'Neill.
Stephen Francis O'Neill in 1920
Stephen Francis O'Neill in 1920

Stephen Francis O'Neill (July 6, 1891 – January 26, 1962) was an American catcher, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball.

A native of Minooka, Pennsylvania (now a part of Scranton), O'Neill was one of four brothers who escaped a life in the coal mines by playing in the major leagues. The others were Jack, a catcher in the National League (1902-06); Mike, a right-handed pitcher in the NL (1901-04, 1907); and Jim, an infielder with the American League Washington Senators (1920, 1923). Two of Steve O'Neill’s daughters married baseball players, one of whom was Skeeter Webb, who worked for O'Neill when he managed the Detroit Tigers during the 1940s.

Steve had by far the most successful playing career of the O'Neill brothers. He was a catcher for 17 years in the AL, with the Cleveland Indians (1911-23), Boston Red Sox (1924), New York Yankees (1925), and St. Louis Browns (1927-28). His playing career curtailed by an injury sustained in a car accident, O'Neill compiled a batting average of .263 in 1,586 games, and, in his only World Series appearance in 1920, hit .333 in seven games as the backstop for the world champion Indians.

O'Neill managed the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League from 1929 to 1931. As a major league manager with four teams—the Indians (1935-37), Tigers (1943-48), Red Sox (1950-51) and Philadelphia Phillies (1952-54)—O'Neill never had a losing record. His Tigers won the 1945 World Series (when they defeated the Chicago Cubs in the Cubs’ last Fall Classic appearance) and O’Neill was known for turning around under-performing teams, often in mid-season. His career winning percentage over 14 seasons was a stalwart .559 (1,040 victories against 821 lost). He also served as a coach for Cleveland, Detroit and Boston. O'Neill was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame.

O'Neill died at age 70 in Cleveland, Ohio, after suffering a heart attack. He is buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery in Minooka.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources

Preceded by
Walter Johnson		 Cleveland Indians Manager
1935-1937		 Succeeded by
Ossie Vitt
Preceded by
Del Baker		 Detroit Tigers Manager
1943-1948		 Succeeded by
Red Rolfe
Preceded by
Joe McCarthy		 Boston Red Sox Manager
1950-1951		 Succeeded by
Lou Boudreau
Preceded by
Eddie Sawyer		 Philadelphia Phillies Manager
1952-1954		 Succeeded by
Terry Moore
v • d • e
Cleveland Indians managers

Cleveland Blues (1901)
McAleer

Cleveland Bronchos (1902–1904)
Armour

Cleveland Naps (1905–1914)
Lajoie • McGuire • Stovall • Davis • Birmingham

Cleveland Indians (1915–present)
Birmingham • Fohl • Speaker • McCallister • Peckinpaugh • Johnson • O'Neill • Vitt • Boudreau • Lopez • Farrell • Bragan • Gordon • Dykes • McGaha • Tebbetts • Strickland • Adcock • Dark • Lipon • Aspromonte • Robinson • Torborg • Garcia • Ferraro • Corrales • Edwards • Hart • McNamara • Hargrove • Manuel • Skinner • Wedge
v • d • e
Detroit Tigers managers

Stallings (1901) • Dwyer (1902) • Barrow (1903–04) • Lowe (1904) • Armour (1905–06) • Jennings (1907–20) • Cobb (1921–26) • Moriarty (1927–28) • Harris (1929–33, 1955–56) • Baker (1933, 1936–42) • Cochrane (1934–38) • Perkins (1937) • O'Neill (1943–48) • Rolfe (1949–52) • Hutchinson (1952–54) • Tighe (1957–58) • Norman (1958–59) • Dykes (1959–60) • Hitchcock (1960) • Gordon (1960) • Scheffing (1961–63) • Dressen (1963–66) • Swift (1965–66) • Skaff (1966) • Smith (1967–70) • Martin (1971–73) • Schultz (1973) • Houk (1974–78) • Moss (1979) • Tracewski (1972) • Anderson (1979–95) • Bell (1996–98) • Parrish (1998–99) • Garner (2000–02) • Pujols (2002) • Trammell (2003–05) • Leyland (2006–present)
v • d • e
Boston Red Sox managers

Boston Americans (1901-1907)
Collins, J. • Stahl, C. • Young • Huff • Unglaub • McGuire

Boston Red Sox (1908-present)
McGuire • Lake • Donovan • Stahl, J. • Carrigan • Barry • Barrow • Duffy • Chance • Fohl • Carrigan • Wagner • Collins, S. • McManus • Harris • Cronin • McCarthy • O'Neill • Boudreau • Higgins • York • Jurges • Baker • Higgins • Pesky • Herman • Runnels • Williams, D. • Popowski • Kasko • Popowski • Johnson • Zimmer • Pesky • Houk • McNamara • Morgan • Hobson • Kennedy • Williams, J. • Kerrigan • Little • Francona
v • d • e
Philadelphia Phillies managers
Ferguson • Purcell • Reach • Allen • Wright • Irwin • Nash • Stallings • Shettsline • Zimmer • Duffy • Murray • Dooin • Moran • Coombs • Cravath • Donovan • Wilhelm • Fletcher • McInnis • Shotton • Wilson • Prothro • Lobert • Harris • Fitzsimmons • Chapman • Sawyer • O'Neill • Moore • Smith • Sawyer • Mauch • Skinner • Myatt • Lucchesi • Owens • Ozark • Green • Corrales • Owens • Felske • Elia • Vukovich • Leyva • Fregosi • Francona • Bowa • Varsho • Manuel
v • d • e
Cleveland Indians 1920 World Series roster
v • d • e
Detroit Tigers 1945 World Series roster
Languages