Roger Bresnahan Stats

Roger Bresnahan was born on Wednesday, June 11, 1879, in Toledo, Ohio. Bresnahan was 18 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 27, 1897, with the Washington Senators. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Roger Bresnahan baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"Roger (Bresnahan) is a fighter; he was a fighter when a pupil of (John) McGraw's and he has instilled this fighting spirit into his team." - Lieb, Fred. Sportswriter. Baseball Magazine. 1911. Page 16.

Roger Bresnahan



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Birth Name:   Roger Philip Bresnahan
Nickname:   The Duke of Tralee
Born On:   06-11-1879  (Gemini)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Toledo, Ohio
Year of Death Data Died On:   12-04-1944 (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Toledo, Ohio
Cemetery:   Calvary Cemetery, Toledo, Ohio Click For Grave Photo
High School:   Central High School (Toledo, OH)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   5-09   Player Weight Chart Weight:   200
First Game:   08-27-1897 (Age 18)
Last Game:   10-03-1915
Draft:   Not Applicable

Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan Pitching Stats

1897 18 Senators 6 5 1 4 0 1.000 3.95 3 1 0 41.0 0 52 18 21 1 10 - 12 0 3 0 -
1901 22 Orioles 2 1 1 0 1 .000 6.00 0 0 0 6.0 0 10 4 8 0 4 - 3 0 0 0 -
1910 31 Cardinals 1 0 1 0 0 .000 0.00 0 0 0 3.1 16 6 0 1 0 1 - 0 0 0 0 -
3 Years 9 6 3 4 1 .800 3.93 3 1 0 50.1 16 68 22 30 1 15 - 15 0 3 0 -

Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan Hitting Stats

1897 18 Senators 6 16 1 6 0 0 0 0 3 1 - 2 0 0 0 - .375 .412 .375
1900 21 Orphans 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - .000 .000 .000
1901 22 Orioles 86 295 40 79 9 9 1 0 32 23 - 33 4 0 1 - .268 .323 .369
1902 23 Orioles 65 235 30 64 8 6 4 0 34 21 - 26 4 0 2 - .272 .337 .409
1902 23 Giants 51 178 16 51 9 3 1 0 22 16 - 26 6 0 2 - .287 .352 .388
1903 24 Giants 113 406 87 142 30 8 4 1 55 61 - 45 12 0 7 - .350 .443 .493
1904 25 Giants 109 402 81 114 22 7 5 0 33 58 - 40 3 0 5 - .284 .381 .410
1905 26 Giants 104 331 58 100 18 3 0 0 46 50 - 21 7 0 11 - .302 .411 .375
1906 27 Giants 124 405 69 114 22 4 0 0 43 81 - 43 5 0 15 - .281 .419 .356
1907 28 Giants 110 328 57 83 9 7 4 0 38 61 - 26 6 0 6 - .253 .380 .360
1908 29 Giants 140 449 70 127 25 3 1 0 54 83 - 33 24 0 6 - .283 .401 .359
1909 30 Cardinals 72 234 27 57 4 1 0 0 23 46 - 19 7 0 1 - .244 .370 .269
1910 31 Cardinals 88 234 35 65 15 3 0 0 27 55 - 17 8 0 2 - .278 .419 .368
1911 32 Cardinals 81 227 22 63 17 8 3 0 41 45 - 19 6 0 3 - .278 .404 .463
1912 33 Cardinals 48 108 8 36 7 2 1 0 15 14 - 9 0 0 2 - .333 .419 .463
1913 34 Cubs 69 162 20 37 5 2 1 0 21 21 - 11 4 0 2 - .228 .324 .302
1914 35 Cubs 101 248 42 69 10 4 0 0 24 49 - 20 12 0 2 - .278 .401 .351
1915 36 Cubs 77 221 19 45 8 1 1 0 19 29 - 23 4 0 0 - .204 .296 .262
17 Years 1,446 4,481 682 1,252 218 71 26 1 530 714 0 413 112 0 67 - .279 .386 .377

Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan Fielding Stats

1897 Senators CF 1 - - 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1897 Senators P 6 5 123 9 1.5 9 2 7 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.98
1900 Orphans C 1 - - 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - - .000 0.00
1901 Orioles 2B 2 - 3 12 6.0 11 9 2 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .917 99.00
1901 Orioles 3B 4 2 0 5 1.3 5 2 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1901 Orioles C 69 - - 285 4.1 262 199 63 23 3 14 - - .919 0.00
1901 Orioles OF 8 - - 12 1.5 10 9 1 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 0.00
1901 Orioles P 2 1 18 3 1.5 2 0 2 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 3.00
1902 Orioles 3B 30 - 36 100 3.3 88 33 55 12 4 n/a n/a n/a .880 66.00
1902 Orioles C 22 - - 94 4.3 89 67 22 5 0 2 - - .947 0.00
1902 Orioles CF 15 - - 34 2.3 29 26 3 5 0 n/a n/a n/a .853 0.00
1902 Giants 1B 4 - 6 46 11.5 44 41 3 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .957 198.00
1902 Giants 3B 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1902 Giants C 16 - - 112 7.0 107 85 22 5 4 2 - - .955 0.00
1902 Giants RF 27 - - 37 1.4 35 29 6 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .946 0.00
1902 Giants SS 4 - 12 22 5.5 18 9 9 4 2 n/a n/a n/a .818 40.50
1903 Giants 1B 13 - 21 117 9.0 110 101 9 7 4 n/a n/a n/a .940 141.43
1903 Giants 3B 4 3 9 18 4.5 15 3 12 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 45.00
1903 Giants C 11 - - 62 5.6 57 46 11 5 1 1 - - .919 0.00
1903 Giants OF 84 - - 170 2.0 164 150 14 6 6 n/a n/a n/a .965 0.00
1904 Giants 1B 10 - 15 96 9.6 91 83 8 5 0 n/a n/a n/a .948 163.80
1904 Giants 2B 1 0 0 1 1.0 1 0 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1904 Giants 3B 1 0 6 2 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1904 Giants OF 93 - - 173 1.9 165 151 14 8 9 n/a n/a n/a .954 0.00
1904 Giants SS 4 - 0 14 3.5 14 7 7 0 4 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1905 Giants C 87 - - 625 7.2 606 492 114 19 15 18 - - .970 0.00
1905 Giants OF 8 - - 12 1.5 12 11 1 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 0.00
1906 Giants C 82 - - 546 6.7 532 407 125 14 6 16 - - .974 0.00
1906 Giants OF 40 - - 80 2.0 77 71 6 3 2 n/a n/a n/a .963 0.00
1907 Giants 1B 6 6 135 63 10.5 60 58 2 3 1 n/a n/a n/a .952 12.00
1907 Giants 3B 1 1 27 6 6.0 4 1 3 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 4.00
1907 Giants C 95 93 2,174 585 6.2 577 483 94 8 11 11 58 0 .986 7.17
1907 Giants CF 2 2 54 7 3.5 7 5 2 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.50
1908 Giants C 139 139 3,019 809 5.8 797 657 140 12 12 17 75 - .985 7.13
1909 Cardinals 2B 9 9 204 38 4.2 36 11 25 2 6 n/a n/a n/a .947 4.76
1909 Cardinals 3B 2 1 6 6 3.0 4 2 2 2 0 n/a n/a n/a .667 18.00
1909 Cardinals C 54 53 1,198 301 5.6 289 211 78 12 3 0 46 0 .960 6.51
1909 Cardinals CF 5 5 108 9 1.8 9 9 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.25
1910 Cardinals C 77 75 1,682 411 5.3 395 295 100 16 11 12 76 0 .961 6.34
1910 Cardinals CF 1 1 24 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.13
1910 Cardinals LF 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1910 Cardinals P 1 0 10 3 3.0 3 0 3 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 8.10
1911 Cardinals 2B 2 0 6 6 3.0 5 2 3 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .833 22.50
1911 Cardinals C 77 76 1,656 441 5.7 427 325 102 14 9 11 83 24 .968 6.96
1912 Cardinals C 29 28 678 192 6.6 187 138 49 5 4 3 41 0 .974 7.45
1913 Cubs C 58 42 1,102 271 4.7 261 194 67 10 2 7 58 0 .963 6.39
1914 Cubs 2B 7 6 168 30 4.3 29 11 18 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .967 4.66
1914 Cubs C 85 80 650 489 5.8 478 365 113 11 6 10 86 64 .978 19.86
1914 Cubs CF 1 0 9 1 1.0 1 1 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 3.00
1915 Cubs C 68 66 1,703 448 6.6 440 345 95 8 9 3 61 46 .982 6.98
C Totals 970 652 13,862 5,671 5.8 5,504 4,309 1,195 167 96 129 584 134 .971 10.72
OF Totals 233 0 0 447 1.9 428 392 36 19 17 n/a n/a n/a .957 0.00
3B Totals 43 7 84 137 3.2 116 41 75 21 4 n/a n/a n/a .847 37.29
1B Totals 33 6 177 322 9.8 305 283 22 17 6 n/a n/a n/a .947 46.53
RF Totals 27 0 0 37 1.4 35 29 6 2 1 n/a n/a n/a .946 0.00
CF Totals 25 8 195 52 2.1 47 42 5 5 0 n/a n/a n/a .904 6.51
2B Totals 21 15 381 87 4.1 82 33 49 5 7 0 n/a n/a .943 5.81
P Totals 9 6 151 15 1.7 14 2 12 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .933 2.50
SS Totals 8 0 12 36 4.5 32 16 16 4 6 n/a n/a n/a .889 72.00
LF Totals 1 0 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
17 Years 1,370 694 14,865 6,804 5.0 6,563 5,147 1,416 241 138 129 584 134 .965 11.92

Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan Miscellaneous Stats

1897 Senators 0 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 8.0 5.3 1.20 2.63 2.20
1900 Orphans 0 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 - - -
1901 Orioles 10 - - 0 0 n/a 295.0 8.9 9.2 0.75 4.50 6.00
1902 Orioles 12 - - 0 0 n/a 58.8 9.0 6.9 - - -
1902 Giants 6 - - 0 0 n/a 178.0 6.8 8.1 - - -
1903 Giants 34 - - 0 0 n/a 101.5 9.0 7.4 - - -
1904 Giants 13 - - 0 0 n/a 80.4 10.1 12.2 - - -
1905 Giants 11 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 15.8 7.2 - - -
1906 Giants 25 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 9.4 9.4 - - -
1907 Giants 15 - - 0 0 n/a 82.0 12.6 8.6 - - -
1908 Giants 14 - - 0 0 n/a 449.0 13.6 8.3 - - -
1909 Cardinals 11 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 12.3 10.2 - - -
1910 Cardinals 13 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 13.8 8.7 0.00 0.00 2.70
1911 Cardinals 4 - - 0 0 n/a 75.7 11.9 5.5 - - -
1912 Cardinals 4 - - 0 0 n/a 108.0 12.0 7.2 - - -
1913 Cubs 7 - - 0 0 n/a 162.0 14.7 7.7 - - -
1914 Cubs 14 - - 0 0 n/a 0.0 12.4 10.3 - - -
1915 Cubs 19 3 .864 0 0 n/a 221.0 9.6 11.6 - - -
17 Years 212 3 .986 0 0 n/a 172.3 10.8 8.5 1.00 2.68 2.68

Roger Bresnahan

Roger Bresnahan Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1897 Washington Senators n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1900 Chicago Orphans n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1901 Baltimore Orioles n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1902 Baltimore Orioles n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1902 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1903 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a -
1904 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a n/a
1905 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a Stats
1906 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a -
1907 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a -
1908 New York Giants n/a Undetermined n/a -
1909 St. Louis Cardinals n/a Undetermined n/a -
1910 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $3,000.00 n/a -
1911 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $6,500.00 n/a -
1912 St. Louis Cardinals n/a $10,000.00 n/a -
1913 Chicago Cubs n/a $10,000.00 n/a -
1914 Chicago Cubs n/a $10,000.00 n/a -
1915 Chicago Cubs n/a Undetermined n/a -

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Roger Philip Bresnahan was a Major League Baseball player with the Washington Senators (1897), Chicago Orphans (1900), Baltimore Orioles (1901-1902), New York Giants (1902-1908), St. Louis Cardinals (1909-1912), and Chicago Cubs (1913-1915). While The Duke of Tralee (his nickname) was playing with the Cardinals and Cubs, he also served as manager for St. Louis (1909-1912) and Chicago (1915).

Roger Bresnahan Rookie Card | Baseball Almanac

Roger Bresnahan Rookie Card | 1908 American Caramel E91 Set A Baseball Card (#NNO | Checklist)
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that Roger Bresnahan was such a versatile player that he took the field defensively in all nine possible positions at the Major League level? Join Baseball Almanac as we take a look beyond the stats:

ROGER BRESNAHAN BIOGRAPHY

Many times a manager tends to field a team with players that possess many of the qualities and abilities that made the skipper himself successful. There is no better example of a manager and one of his players being cut from the same mold then John McGraw and Roger Bresnahan. The fiery, burly, explosive McGraw knew baseball inside and out and upon his first encounter with the tough, no-nonsense Bresnahan knew the "The Duke of Tralee" had what it took to play the game his way and provide leadership as well. "He is one of the best players I’ve managed and one of the smartest as well," said McGraw.

Bresnahan began his career as a pitcher first for Washington then the Cubs before finally hooking up with McGraw in Baltimore in 1901. He impressed the Orioles field boss right from the start when, after giving up the mound, he played well as an infielder and outfielder before finally showing he was a top notch catcher when an injury to starting backstop Wilbert Robinson forced him behind the plate. When McGraw left Baltimore for the Giants in 1902 he brought Bresnahan with him. New York was blessed with depth at catcher, leading McGraw to take advantage of Roger’s versatility and play him in the outfield.

The following year Bresnahan blossomed as an every day player batting .350 and finished fourth in the National League batting race won by Honus Wagner. He finished in the top ten in eight offensive categories. In 1905 he became the Giants starting catcher and hit .302 as New York won the pennant and went on to participate in the World Series for the first time versus Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s. In the only World Series that saw every game end in a shutout Bresnahan was behind the plate for Christy Mathewson’s three blankings, caught Joe "Iron Man" McGinnity’s whitewashing and batted .312.

Along with being one of the finest catchers of his era, Bresnahan was also one of the game’s first innovators. After a serious beaning in 1905 he became the first known player to wear a batting helmet. Although wearing protective headgear didn’t catch on another Bresnahan experiment did in 1907: shin guards. The first ones he used were copied from those worn in the game of cricket. There were protests to wearing this kind of protection for many felt they endangered runners sliding into home plate, but eventually they were accepted and became standard equipment for catchers. Bresnahan the turned his attention to the catchers mask and in 1908 he added padding to the faceguard to absorb shock.Defensively, he is also credited with being the first to use the snap throw to first and the slide step style to block the plate.

After catching an unheard of 139 games in 1908 Bresnahan was traded to St. Louis where he became Cardinals player-manager. After four tumultuous seasons he was sold by St. Louis to the Cubs in 1913 and eventually became their player-manager for the 1915 season, his last. Bresnahan returned to the game as owner and manager of minor league Toledo in 1923 and later on returned to the majors for coaching stints with the Giants and Tigers. In 1945, Bresnahan became the first catcher to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Roger Bresnahan Hall of Fame Plaque | Baseball Almanac

Roger Bresnahan | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1945 (HOF)

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