Jimmy Slagle, who was the Cubs’ center fielder on their first three pennant-winning teams of the 20th Century (1906, 1907, 1908), was acquired by the Cubs from Boston in a bit of subterfuge, as noted in his SABR biography:
In Boston he impressed Frank Selee, the Hall of Fame manager who won 1,000 games with the Beaneaters before leaving Boston for the Chicago Orphans (soon to be the Cubs) in 1902. In 1901, when Jimmy had suffered a broken finger, Selee released him outright, but anticipating becoming
Chicago’s manager in 1902, he told him not to sign with anyone for the next year. As planned, Selee convinced Cubs’ co-owner James Hart to sign Jimmy. He would play for Chicago for the rest of his major league career, batting leadoff and playing center field.
Almost immediately, Slagle became a star player, playing a strong center field and drawing tons of walks in the leadoff spot — 53 in 1902, good for a .386 on-base percentage, and maxed out at 97 walks in 1905. The 454 walks he drew in only seven Cubs seasons ranks 25th in franchise history.
In addition, Slagle was a good base-stealer, stealing 41 in his first Cubs season in 1902, the first of six straight years with at least 25 steals. In the fourth game of the 1907 World Series, Slagle stole home in the seventh inning, the third run in a key rally that broke open a tight 2-1 game to that point; the Cubs eventually won 6-1.
Arm injuries limited Slagle’s playing time in 1908, his last major league season. After playing two years for the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles, Slagle retired from baseball and settled in Chicago, where he died May 10, 1956, aged 82.
More than 50 years later, Slagle was remembered in his hometown of Worthville, Pennsylvania. From the SABR bio:
On October 19, 2007, a century after Chicago swept the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, a memorial to Jimmy Slagle was erected in his home town of Worthville. A bronze plaque mounted on a 600-pound sandstone rock, the memorial listed his accomplishments and noted that it was “dedicated to the memory of a country boy who made his mark on the world.”
Jimmy Slagle posted 14.4 bWAR in his seven years with the Cubs. This series will continue on Monday.
