Background
Rabbit Maranville was born on November 11, 1891 in Springfield, Massachussets, and was the son of Ward E. and Catherine Nolan Maranville.
Rabbit Maranville was born on November 11, 1891 in Springfield, Massachussets, and was the son of Ward E. and Catherine Nolan Maranville.
He attended Springfield Technical High School but at the age of fifteen left school to learn the trades of tinsmithing and pipe fitting.
Over the objection of his father, a sergeant on the Springfield police force, Maranville decided to play professional baseball. After playing on several semiprofessional teams, Maranville signed his first professional contract in 1911 with New Bedford, in the New England league, for $125 a month. A man of slight stature (about five feet, five inches tall and weighing approximately 150 pounds), he became renowned for his fielding ability. Near the end of the 1912 season he was brought up to the major leagues, playing in twenty-six games with the Boston Braves. The following year he became the regular shortstop for the Braves and continued to play in the major leagues for twenty-two seasons. He played shortstop for most of his career, moving to second base when age and ailing legs made him less agile. The highlight of his early career came in 1914 when he and second baseman Johnny Evers formed a double-play combination that led the Boston Braves to the National League championship. On July 6 they were in last place, fourteen games behind the league leader. Then, winning thirty-five of thirty-eight games, they swept to the championship in September. In the World Series the Braves defeated the Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games. Maranville batted . 308 in the series. In 1918, after playing in only eleven games, he joined the United States Navy for one year. Maranville continued to play for the Braves until 1921, when he was traded to Pittsburgh. In 1925 Pittsburgh traded him to the Chicago Cubs. In July of that year he was made manager of the team, but because of his drinking exploits and his participation in a melee outside the Hotel Astor, he was dismissed and traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1926 he was dropped by the Dodgers after playing in seventy-eight games, and, apparently at the end of his major league career, joined Rochester of the International League. Maranville's career entered a new phase on May 24, 1927, when he vowed to give up drinking. He was recalled to the majors by the St. Louis Cardinals as a substitute infielder. In 1928 he became the regular shortstop and led the team to the National League pennant. They lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in four games. In 1929 he returned to the Boston Braves. Maranville's twenty-three-year career in the majors ended when he broke his leg for either the third or fourth time, while playing in an exhibition game before the start of the 1934 season. After retiring as a ballplayer, Maranville was a successful minor league manager. He served at Elmira (1936), Montreal (1937 - 1938), Albany (1939), and Springfield (1941). In 1942, at the age of fifty, he again joined the navy, assisting in physical education classes. After World War II, Maranville became director of the New York Journal-American sandlot baseball program. His work with the project was outstanding; two of his more noted pupils were Whitey Ford of the Yankees and Billy Loes of the Dodgers. Maranville died in New York City.
Maranville was a Major League Baseball shortstop. At the time of his retirement in 1935, he had played in a record 23 seasons in the National League, a mark which wasn't broken until 1986 by Pete Rose. He was known as one of "baseball's most famous clowns" due to his practical jokes and lack of inhibitions. Maranville was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954, after 13 failed attempts. He has the lowest batting average of any shortstop in the Hall of Fame. Although he compiled a lifetime batting average of only . 258, Maranville at his death held six major-league records, including most chances accepted at shortstop (12, 471), most put-outs at shortstop (5, 133), and longest errorless game at shortstop (twenty-six innings on May 1, 1920). Among the five records he set in the National League were longest career (twenty-three years), most games at shortstop (2, 153), and most chances accepted in a single season at shortstop (407 in 156 games in 1914).
Quotations:
"I've lost a lot of teeth and square yards of hide. But I've never lost my self-respect, and I've kept what I find in few men of my age - my enthusiasm. "
"I've spent more time in hospitals than some fellows ever spend in church. "
"For a quarter of a century, I've been playing baseball for pay. It has been pretty good pay, most of the time. The work has been hard, but what of it? It's been risky. I've broken both my legs. I've sprained everything I've got between my ankles and my disposition. I've dislocated my joints and fractured my pride. "
"Nobody gets any fun out of baseball any more. I guess a kid's crazy not to be serious about it when he's drawing down $20, 000 or $30, 000 a year, and any smart-aleck gag you try may be your last. But what's life without a laugh?"
"The fall of 1912 my fielding was above the average, but my hitting was not so good. However, I was the talk of the town because of my peculiar way of catching a fly ball. They later named it the Vest-Pocket Catch. "
His large ears and agility earned him the nickname Rabbit. It is said that this name was given to him by a seven-year-old youngster while he was a member of the New Bedford team. Maranville's career was marked by flamboyance. His many escapades were always good copy for baseball writers and he became popular with the press. Such stunts as walking on window ledges of hotels and selling newspapers while still in his baseball uniform, as well as his celebrated drinking bouts with such friends as Babe Ruth, overshadowed his playing capabilities. Some contend that his election in 1954 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N. Y. , was a reflection of his popularity, not his baseball prowess. Maranville's most distinctive playing characteristic was his famed "basket catch, " which added to his picturesqueness. He perfected the trick of catching fly balls with his hands cupped against his belt, in the shape of a basket. This technique became his playing trademark, and although it seemed reckless it is said that he dropped only three flies during his major league career.
On November 11, 1914, he married Elizabeth Shean; they had one daughter. His wife died on March 9, 1917; sometime before 1934 he married Helene Maranville.
