Did you know that Jiggs Donahue had helminthophobia - a fear of worms? Baseball Almanac likes to take a look "beyond the stats" and we hope you enjoy the following historical baseball article about Jiggs Donahue:

Jiggers Donohue has a terror of all sorts of snakes, toads and bugs, and this terror came near costing Chicago a victory over Washington this season, says Hugh Fullerton. Jiggers suffers when he sees a worm, and he would as soon think of killing Comiskey as he would of taking the life of any living thing. Joe Cantillon knew this, and when the Senators opened in Chicago this season Cantillon spent the early afternoon digging fishing worms, grubs, and the like, and he arrived at the White Sox park with a couple of cans filled with them.

Joe waited several innings and then, with one of the Senators on first, he began sprinkling worms around the sack. Jiggers did not notice it for a minute, and, indeed, not until the Washington player ran off the bag to draw the throw. The ball came low, and just as he stooped to catch it, Jiggers saw the ground covered with worms; he let out a yell and jumped a foot in the air. He managed to block the ball, however, and sent a hurry up call for John to sweep the ground around the base.

All through the game Cantillon and his men sprinkled worms and bugs around Jiggers, and keep him in a state of terror, but with the aid of the broom he managed to frustrate his tormentors and escape without an error, and the following day he appealed to the umpires to make the Senators quit.

Milwaukee Journal, June 17, 1907.

Jiggs Donahue's defensive skills were key to the White Sox 1906 World Series championship team, and he led American League first basemen in fielding percentage, assists, and putouts for three straight seasons, from 1905 to 1907. In 1907, Donahue had 1,846 putouts & 12.65 chances accepted per game, both are still Major League records for first baseman.

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