Sherry Magee with the Phillies
- Sherwood “Sherry” Magee was born in Clarendon, Pennsylvania in 1884.
- He was good at baseball, football, and basketball as a student. He also excelled as a bowler.
- While playing for the local semipro team at age 19, he was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1904.
- He played 95 games in 1904, getting 101 hits, 12 of them for triples which led the team.
- In 1905 he stole 55 bases, good for second in the National League and the Philadelphia record. The record lasted until 1984.
- In 1907, 1910, 1914, and 1918 he led the National League in RBIs.
- His career year was 1910 when he led the NL in runs, RBIs, total bases, batting average, OBP, Slugging, OPS, and OPS+, was second in WAR among everyday players, second in doubles, and second in triples. He was also third in hits and fifth in home runs with six.
- In 1911 he was called out on strikes, argued with the umpire and was thrown out of the game. He responded by slugging the ump (drawing blood and rendering the umpire unconscious). After playing only 121 games, Magee was banned for the remainder of the season.
- After leading the NL in hits, RBIs, doubles, total bases, and slugging in 1914 he was traded to Boston (the Braves, not the Red Sox). He’d been passed over for manager and asked for a trade. Despite not playing for the team since 1914, he still holds the Phils team record for triples and stolen bases.
- Injured in training camp in 1915, his career slipped and in 1917 and he was waived. Cincinnati picked him up.
- In 1919 he got into his only World Series, going one for two as a pinch hitter for the victorious Reds. It was his last season.
- He spent a few seasons in the minors, then became an umpire, serving in the NL in 1928.
- Sherry Magee contracted pneumonia in March 1929 and died on 13 March 1929. He’s never gotten much consideration for the Hall of Fame. In 2003 he was chosen for the Phillies Wall of Fame (the team’s version of a Hall of Fame).
Magee’s grave from Find a Grave
Tags: Sherry Magee
Verdun2's Blog 
September 17, 2015 at 8:32 am
I think that was a nice gesture for the Phillies organization to induct him into the Phillies Hall of Fame. It shows that they know their stuff, and not just household names like “MICHAEL JACK SCHMIDT!” (as Harry Kalas would yell every time he would hit a homer), Steve Carlton, Chuck Klein, and the like.
Do you, personally, V, think that Magee should be in Cooperstown?
Also, a little treat here. Sportswriters (I was one of them) used to have this thing where they would put three names of baseball players together to create one name. (This was to wile away dull moments during a baseball game.)
My favorite is Ivan DeJesus Alou Piniella.
I just thought of one that includes Sherry Magee.
Billy Herman Franks Lary Sherry Magee.
Yes, I had to use a little poetic justice in that one.
Not as funny as Ivan DeJesus Alou Piniella, but not bad, either, considering I just thought it up. And it’s got FIVE baseball player’s names names rather than the usual three!
Glen
September 17, 2015 at 8:52 am
Love the play on names. Can’t believe you ran five together.
As to Magee in the Hall of Fame. His numbers aren’t bad, but there are better. I’ll be interested to see if he shows up on the Vet’s Committee ballot that should be coming out shortly. It’s the pre-integration era group this year. I guess I’ll simply say that I won’t be upset if he gets in, but won’t be horrified either.
Thanks for reading (and for the Billy Herman Franks, etc bit)
v
September 17, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose,
Nothing don’t mean nothing if it ain’t free.
And feeling good was easy, Lord, when Sherry sang the blues,
You know feeling good was good enough for me,
Good enough for me and my Sherry Magee.
September 17, 2015 at 1:01 pm
Roger Miller and Janis Joplin both say “Don’t quit your day job, Glen.”
Cute.
v
September 17, 2015 at 6:38 pm
Heh heh!
September 17, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Most importantly, I’m a fan of Ken Griffey Junior Felix Jose Canseco. That’s sort of five.
Also, I love the Philly SB stat!
A few more things about Magee – just opinions here.
1. I believe he belongs in the Hall.
2. I say with absolute certainty – the “I’d stake my life on it” kind – that he was better than Chick Hafey.
3. I say with nearly as great confidence that he should replace Jim Rice or Lou Brock.
4. I’d say with a good deal of confidence that he was better than Willie Stargell, Joe Medwick, or Ralph Kiner.
5. I feel good including him in a group with Tim Raines, Zach Wheat, and Billy Williams, all guys who I think are pretty easily deserving.
September 18, 2015 at 8:24 am
I’ll agree on Rice, Brock, and Medwick, and Wheat as well. I think Kiner was a better player at his peak. His numbers don’t measure up to Stargell’s, allowing for the difference in eras or no.
September 18, 2015 at 10:38 am
If you’re super into peak, I’d give you Kiner. Regarding Stargell, his glove in any era would have been awful. And he still would have been pretty slow. Those are the areas where I believe Magee outpaces him. At the dish, of course, Stargell was better, and by a good amount.
September 17, 2015 at 6:48 pm
Really???? Medwick and Brock????
By the way, nice one with “The Name Game”, which I’ll call it for lack of a more original “name”. To paraphrase Professor Henry Higgins (not to be confused with Henry Huggins, the great character in children’s novels by Beverly Cleary), “By George, I think he’s GOT it!”
“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain!”
Glen
September 17, 2015 at 7:44 pm
Some people much smarter than I could argue for Medwick, and I’d listen. But I really believe that Brock isn’t close, isn’t in the conversation. He was a below average defender who didn’t walk much and didn’t hit for much power. And don’t tell anyone, but he wasn’t so great stealing bases. Brock was awesome in October, and that should matter. But to me, Brock was a good player. Sherry Magee was pretty great.
Of course, you know what they say about opinions…
September 20, 2015 at 10:30 am
It’s awfully hard to say “no hall of fame” to Lou Brock, though. I never met him, but from all accounts that I’ve read, he is really one of the most genuinely nicest people who you’ll ever meet.
Glen
September 18, 2015 at 8:32 am
That is a lot of stolen bases…!
And while I certainly don’t condone slugging the umpire, there’s something about it having happened that kinda makes me smile.
September 20, 2015 at 10:38 am
When I was a little kid, I used to think the famous cry at ballparks was “KILL THE EMPIRE!” You know, because I had heard of the Empire State Building before I knew anything about baseball, and I lived in New York, “The Empire State”.
I might have even yelled “KILL THE EMPIRE!” at my first baseball game, the Reds playing the Mets at Shea in either 1966 or 1967. Either way, I was between the ages of five and seven.
Now that I think of it, “KILL THE EMPIRE!” would be a terrific thing to yell during an anarchist revolution.
Glen
September 21, 2015 at 7:53 am
Or in the theatre during a Star Wars movie!