Customer Reviews

Harry Wright: The Father of Professional Base Ball

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It seems impossible that in the rich history of baseball writing, never before had anyone written a biography on Harry Wright, a man whose contribution to the game prompted his admirers to call him the father of professional baseball. Christopher Devine provides the most in-depth factual account of his life to date, and in doing so, re-introduces us to one of the first great baseball men in America.

As the author of the July 2003 Cap Anson 1: When Captaining a Team Meant Something: Leadership in Baseball's Early Years (Tile Books), I was excited about recently coming across a copy of Mr. Devine's book. Anson and Wright were parallel figures in 19th-century baseball. Wright was a captain (player)-manager and later a bench manager, while Anson was almost entirely a captain (player)-manager. The difference was big, as the captain but not the bench manager, into the early 20th century, had the power to argue with the usually lone umpire. If you were a captain-manager, you pretty much had free reins. Because of that, and the existence of some original correspondence in the 1870s but not the 1880s, the first half of Wright's career is presented more authoritatively than is his second half.

Wright was someone people could like (and Devine presents him accordingly) while Anson liked to stir things up such as by making bold assertions. Devine's book is like a nice walk in the park, with lots of pretty scenery ('Arry even does some bicycling). Devine uncovered some new details about Wright's family, including some new photographs, apparently with the help of a direct descendant.

Wright also was an early innovator, such as in seeing that his players had good off-the-field habits and worked on physical conditioning. Anglophiles will appreciate his Victorian gentlemanliness.