Bob O'Farrell
| Bob O'Farrell | |||
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| Catcher | |||
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Born: October 19, 1896 Waukegan, Illinois |
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Died: February 20, 1988 (aged 91) Waukegan, Illinois |
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| MLB debut | |||
| September 5, 1915, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 23, 1935, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .273 | ||
| Home runs | 51 | ||
| Runs batted in | 549 | ||
| Managerial record | 122–121 | ||
| Winning % | .502 | ||
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As player
As manager |
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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As player
As manager
Robert Arthur O'Farrell (October 19, 1896 – February 20, 1988) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for 21 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Giants. O'Farrell also played for the Cincinnati Reds, albeit briefly. He was considered as one of the greatest defensive catchers of his generation.
O'Farrell was born in Waukegan, Illinois where he grew up a Chicago White Sox fan. He signed with the Cubs in 1915 after playing an exhibition game for his local semi-professional team. His first manager was former catcher, Roger Bresnahan, who helped O'Farrell develop his catching skills. After a season on the bench, O'Farrell was sent to Three-I League where he spent two years before returning to the Cubs for the 1918 season. He served as backup catcher working behind Bill Killefer as the Cubs went on to claim the 1918 National League pennant before losing to the Boston Red Sox in the 1918 World Series. O'Farrell went hitless in three at bats during the series.
In 1920 O'Farrell caught the majority of the Cubs' games and posting a .248 batting average as, Killefer was injured during the season. He began the 1921 season as backup catcher until August when, Killefer was named the Cubs new manager. O'Farrell had a breakout season in 1922 when he hit for a .322 average along with 4 home runs, 60 runs batted in and a .439 on-base percentage. He also became one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, leading National League catchers in games caught, putouts, assists, baserunners caught stealing and in caught stealing percentage. He became skillful at framing pitches by moving his catcher's mitt towards the strike zone after having caught a pitch, in an effort to influence the umpire to call a strike. O'Farrell had an even better year offensively in 1923, producing career-highs in home runs (12), runs batted in (80), stolen bases (10) along with a .319 batting average.
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Wikipedia