Martin Glendon pitched one game for the 1902 Cincinnati Reds
and three for the 1903 Cleveland Naps.
Martin was born in Milwaukee, in either 1877 or 1878.
Baseball Reference gives his birth date as 11-20-1878, while Find a Grave and
Wikipedia both have 2-8-1877; I’m not sure where either date came from
originally. His gravestone says simply 1877. His age is given as two in the
1880 census, taken in June, but he would have been either three or one based on
those two birthdates. When he applied for Social Security in 1940 he gave his
birthdate as 11-20-81, which is clearly not true.
The 1880 census shows us the Glendon family living at 399 14th
Street in Milwaukee. Father John is 35, a blacksmith, and is shown as being
born in Illinois to parents born in Ireland (later censuses show him as having
been born in Ireland himself). Mother Catherina is 36 and was born in Scotland;
Anna (10) and John Jr. (8) were born in Illinois while Richard (5) and Martin
were born in Wisconsin.
The next I know of Martin is that in 1898 he played in eight
games for the Galveston Sandcrabs of the Class C Texas League, mostly as a
pitcher but also in right field. The April 24, 1899, issue of the Rockford Daily Register-Gazette lists
him as one of four pitchers on the roster of the Rockford Rough Riders of the
Class B Western Association, shows him playing right field and batting sixth in
two exhibition box scores, and says “Pitcher Glendon is nervous yet, but it is
believed he will do.” Baseball Reference, though, just shows him as playing one
game for Rockford, and no other teams for that year. I don’t know where Martin
was the rest of the summer, but the September 9 issue of Sporting Life reported “In addition to third baseman Frank Martin
Manager Hoey, of the New Yorks [the Giants], picked up a young pitcher in
Chicago named Glendon. He pitched last spring in the Texas League.”
Martin never played for the Giants, and there is no record
of him playing anywhere in 1900. That year’s census showed the Glendon family
living at 912 Fulton Street in Chicago: John (50), Catherine (50), John Jr.
(28), Richard (22), Martin (20), and little sister Mary (17) replacing big
sister Annie, who has moved out. The family seems to have been very casual
about their ages, as only John Jr. has aged 20 years since the 1880 census,
with the others ranging from 14 to 18; these inconsistencies continue in future
censuses. John and John Jr. are now plumbers; Richard and Martin (who is shown
as having been born in October 1879) are listed as ballplayers. The Chicago
City Directory of the same year shows Martin as a brakeman and Richard as an
elevator operator.
The April 13, 1901 Sporting
Life contained the following:
GLENDON GOOD.
Some Facts About the Chicago Club’s Young Find.
Chicago, Ill. April 10.—Burns Glendon, the black-haired youngster whose name has appeared in the scores from Champaign, was given his trial with the Chicago Club through the good offices of Umpire Hank O’Day. The fat umpire brought Glendon to Jim Hart’s office and, introducing him, explained that he had pitched many games against Roy Patterson, and had always bested the South Side wonder. “Anybody can have a trial,” answered Hart. “Send him to Champaign.” Glendon went, and the players took quite a fancy to him. His scrappy ways and his general likeness to Mattie Kilroy made him a favorite, and Jack Doyle swears by him. Glendon is a prize fighter in winter, and has a temper of his own. Between him and Doyle the umpires will have a dog’s life this summer.
I can’t assume that this is Martin, but it seems likely,
since I don’t find a player named Burns Glendon, and the description matches
up, as does the connection to Chicago, plus an article from December 1901 says
that Martin was on the Chicago roster in the spring but was dropped. Although
neither article specifies which Chicago is being referred to, it would be the
NL team, since that’s where Jack Doyle played in 1901.
At any rate Martin ended up starting the 1901 season with
the Spokane Blue Stockings of the Class D Pacific Northwest League. He didn’t
do well, though, and was released after about six weeks, then was picked up by
league rivals the Portland Webfoots. The Webfoots went on to win the league
championship, with Martin and two other pitchers doing the bulk of the work; stats
are sketchy, but he had a 21-15 record for the year, between the two teams. The
pennant was a very big deal in Portland, and for years whenever the Portland
newspapers mentioned Martin there was a good chance they would mention his
having been part of this team.
On December 7, 1901, the Cincinnati
Post ran the following:
MARTIN GLENDON A RED SLABMAN
Charley Dooin’s Mistaken Roast Smoked Out a Declaration and Denial From Glendon.
News of the capture of another embryo Red has filtered through the war cloud of secrecy. Martin Glendon, the star boxman of the Portland flag winners, is the new Red elect. Jack Grim, who led the Portlanders to the top of the Pacific Northwest heap, said some time ago that Glendon and Joe Tinker, the third sacker, would report to Manager McPhee in the spring, and one-half of his prophecy seems ready of fulfilment.
Glendon is chock full of confidence, and felt the compliment paid him by Charley Dooin, the local backstop under contract to the Quakers, who expressed the hope that he would never have to face any slab artist harder than Glendon, which called for a reply. Glendon said: “I am under contract to Mr. Brush, and I am good enough for the National League.”
From Dooin’s statement it is evident that the boy with the hair of scarlet tint was commenting upon Glendon’s brother Dick, for Martin was not a member of the Des Moines crew.
Glendon was on the Chicago roster last spring, but was dropped because of the 16 limit, and Mal Eason retained.
Martin did start the 1902 season with Cincinnati, and on
April 18 he made his major league debut as the starting pitcher in the second
game of the season. I’ll let Fred J. Hewitt of the Cincinnati Post tell the story:
MARTIN GLENDON THREW IT AWAY
TWIRLER WAS ERRATIC AT THE BEGINNING AND NEVER RECOVERED HIMSELF—WENT CLEAN TO PIECES IN THE THIRD AND REDS LOST THE GAME—HEISMAN’S WORK CLEVER
Confidence is one thing and ability is another. A barrel of the former, with only a pinch of the latter, does not amount to a row of pins. It was just that overconfidence and lack of ability that cost the Reds the game at League Park Friday afternoon.
“I can outpitch any man on the team,” is a credited saying of Martin Glendon, and so he was given an opportunity to demonstrate his superiority. The result was that, instead of outpitching anybody, he was “pitched out” himself.
Smiling Martin strode out when the bell rang to the eminence that marks the place of delivery. He curled himself up into a sailor’s knot and then shot the sphere toward Herr Bergen. He was surprised when Bob Emslie characterized his effort as a ball, and he looked askance at the director of affairs. With the smile still well adjusted, he gathered himself once more into a tangled mass, and then straightened out as if by magic. ‘Twas still a ball, and Martin wondered if his right hand had forgotten its cunning. Another effort and another ball, and a look of anxiousness spread o’er his features, blotting out for a moment the Glendon smile. Seriously he essayed the fourth, and Slagle, the first Chicago player, wandered down to keep [first baseman] Beckley company. Martin dropped a tear and cast a suspicious glance at the next gray-suited orphan, who, armed with his flail, stood in a menacing position at the plate.
Pop flies retired Miller and Dexter, and then, with Congalton up, Slagle attempted to go down to the second bag, where he was nailed. Martin strutted over to the bench and assured Manager McPhee that the first base on balls was all a mistake.
Confidence Still Apparent.
Armed with confidence, and decorated with the smile, Glendon began the second inning. The plate might as well have been in Covington, for two men walked. Had it not been for a pop fly, a timely foul and a dumb exhibition of baserunning by Congalton, a tally would have surely besmirched the score board. Glendon was playing in luck. The Goddess of Fortune evidently had him beneath her protecting wing. She tired of him later.
Then came the blow. During the interval when the Reds were in, Bergen got Glendon to himself and impressed upon him the advisability of getting them over. Martin slapped his bad arm, schoolboylike, and assured his side that “it would be good.” But it was not to be, for the next moment Menefee drew a pass, as an opener to the third. Then it was that Glendon found the plate. He put every pitch square in the middle, but somehow or other they never got the entire way through. Something met them always, and the next minute the sphere was sailing out toward the fence, instead of lodging safe in Bergen’s hands. It was woeful. Hit followed hit, and run followed run. The faithful groaned, while the whitesuited players let forth cries of anguish. Away over in left field the stately steam roller threw off its tarpaulin and added its wails to the cries of despair. Even inanimate things were moved at the terrible slaughter of Glendon’s “over-the-plate” benders.
And Then It Cleared.
When the smoke of the fusillade had cleared away and the records closely scrutinized, it was found that five runs had been scored. The game was lost irretrievably, although the Reds battled on bravely until the end.
Martin Glendon, the twirler with confidence, who declared that he could outpitch any man on the team, had gone even farther than that. He had outpitched himself, and, as a result, he warmed the bench for the balance of the afternoon, while Heisman took his place on the rubber…
That was on April 18; on April 19th Martin agreed
to terms with the San Francisco team in the California League (known as the
Ponies and the Wasps, among other things) and took off for the coast. An
unnamed Cincinnati correspondent to Sporting
Life gave his view of the situation in their May 3 issue:
THE BOLTING OF GLENDON.
As a reader of character, I could never get a job in a Dime Museum. Martin Glendon fooled me. Wasn’t it Horatio who said that words were not worth thirty cents a gross? That Glendon had seemed full of sassafras, tea and ginger. All he wanted was a chance to show that as a pitcher he would make Frank Hahn look like counterfeit money. Only a few days ago he said to me: “If I couldn’t beat that Currie boy, I’d eat my hat!” Possibly on his way to the Pacific Coast Glendon lunched on his bonnet, for he has jumped his Red contract, and gone to San Francisco whither Manager Fisher had invited him by wire. Glendon must have been seized with a sudden attack of heart failure, for he bolted the Red camp last Monday without saying farewell to Irene, King Bid or anybody else. Undoubtedly, John J. Grim will be paralyzed at the freak of his protégé. Faint heart never won fair lady, nor helped a pitcher win many games, and if Martin Glendon’s backbone is tinted with ochre then Cincinnati is fortunate in his going. He had no grievance other than a wallop one afternoon critic had tossed at him, but wallops are the stink weeds that grow in the garden of descriptive next to the bed of American Beauties. There are some folks who prefer to chip the weeds to the roses, but all the year round the bouquets are more numerous than the roasts.
The California League was an “outlaw” league, meaning that
it was not part of organized baseball and did not honor its contracts. Martin
arrived in the Bay Area on April 26, the San
Francisco Chronicle describing him as “a young man of medium height and
stocky build, who looks every inch a ballplayer.” (He is these days listed as
having been 5-8, 165.) He made his debut for San Francisco on May 3 and beat
Los Angeles, the San Francisco Call
Bulletin reporting “He had a good stock of curves and a bewildering change
of speed, and though hit safely nine times, he succeeded in keeping them well
mixed through the nine innings.” Soon after this he got in touch with his old
Portland team about coming back to them; this got as far as Portland sending
him travel money before he decided to stay where he was (eventually they got
their money back). On June 25 Martin was officially blacklisted by the National
Association of Baseball Leagues for having run out on his contract with
Cincinnati. He had an up and down season, and on September 24 it was announced
that he had been released, the Portland Oregonian
quoting a report that said in part:
Martin Glendon was given notice of his release yesterday, and there is a possibility of him finishing the season with Los Angeles. He had a talk with Manager Morley yesterday, but the latter would not hold out any encouragement as long as there was any danger of Manager Harris offering an objection. The local magnate feels that Glendon has treated him anything but right, and is not inclined to give him a chance to earn any money in this league. Glendon signed a contract to play for a certain salary, and after he had been here a length of time he asked for an increase in salary, which was granted. Notwithstanding this the pitcher gave the baseball public far from what he was capable of doing in the box. Glendon is a first-class ballplayer, but if he does not change his habits he will never make a great reputation in the box.
This was the first mention, but not the last, I found of
Martin’s “habits.” The next day’s Seattle
Times relayed the following story as coming from the San Francisco Call Bulletin, though I did not come across it there:
Martin Glendon may be all right on the diamond, but when it comes to judging prize dances he is a failure, according to some North Beach “flusies.” Martin went to that section of the city last night to attend a social and was chosen as one of the judges for the “main event.” While seated on the platform he spotted a swell “rock cod” floating around the hall with a fellow, and it was “all over.” The red-headed fairy had Glendon’s attention at all times, and the only one he saw was her. When it came to the prize dance she seemed to be all over the hall and “putting it on” every one else. She was a wonder and looked good to the baseball man. When the dance was over and the other judges had voted for another person, Glendon started an awful holler and told them a whole lot they didn’t know about swell twirlers. After a heated discussion, in which Glendon was judge, jury and witnesses, he won out and the “rock cod” was declared an easy winner. He made good. They were seen chirping in a lonely corner of the hall later on.
This is my favorite story about any of the players I’ve
written about so far. Apparently a “rock cod” meant someone with red hair and
freckles.
The October 4 issue of Sporting
Life included the announcement “The San Francisco Club has released pitcher
Martin Glendon, he not keeping himself in condition.” That same day, though,
the Call Bulletin reported that he
had been pardoned by the team and taken back: “Glendon was one of Harris’ best
twirlers and he promises to forsake the evil path and be good again, so the
Ponies will be much stronger in the pitching department.” On October 13 the
National Association announced its teams’ reserve lists, and Martin appeared on
Portland’s—apparently Cincinnati had renounced any claim to him. On November
23, the California League still playing, the San Francisco Chronicle reported a rumor that Martin (whom they
referred to as “Aguinaldo”) had signed a 1903 contract with the St. Louis
Cardinals. In the final days of the season Martin made some fill-in starts in
the outfield, and when things finally wrapped up in December he had a 23-20
record, not bad on a sub-.500 team. They must have been desperate to play him
in the outfield, though, as his batting average was .147.
The December 6 Sporting
Life included the following item, under the heading of “Odds and Ends”:
Buns Glendon, on Cincinnati’s pay roll for awhile, fights in winter time. Ball players make corking good boxers. They hit vigorously, and are always in fair shape to take or give a blow.
This would seem to be Martin, who was on Cincinnati’s pay
roll for a while, and solidifies my belief that the “Burns” Glendon referred to
in April 1901 was also him.
The outlaw California League added teams in Seattle and
Portland and changed its name to the Pacific Coast League for 1903, while the
Pacific Northwest League added teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles and
changed its name to the Pacific National League; this meant the two leagues
would be in direct conflict in four cities. On January 1 the San Francisco Chronicle reported that
Martin would probably be playing for the new Seattle team:
It is understood that Martin Glendon will be with Seattle, Harris having given consent to the transfer if Wilson can come to terms with the pitcher. In any event, Glendon is not likely to wear a San Francisco uniform, as he feels that he can do better work away from the influences he met with in this city. There was no more capable pitcher in the league than Martin when he was “at himself,” but, unfortunately, that was only a small part of the time last season.
He did not come to terms with Seattle, and rejected offers
from two other PCL teams; it was reported in mid-January that he was
considering going back to the Portland Webfoots, now in the PNL, who held his
organized baseball rights, which caused some excitement in Portland. In
mid-February it was reported that he had signed with Monroe, Louisiana, of the
Cotton States League, but this turned out to be brother Dick. In late February
there were conflicting reports that Martin had signed with Portland of the PNL
and Sacramento of the PCL; the latter turned out to be true, though only
temporarily. From the San Francisco Call
Bulletin of March 25:
FISHER LOSES ANOTHER STAR
Pitcher Martin Glendon Leaves Sacramento Hurriedly.
SACRAMENTO, March 24.—It seems Manager Fisher will have to put ball and chain on his stars to hold them in his firmament. This afternoon one of his pitchers, Martin Glendon, who pitched for the San Francisco team last year, stole out of town in total disregard of the contract which binds him to play in Fisher’s team in the opening game here Thursday next.
Fisher discovered that James L. Flanagan, manager of the State House, held a $22 board bill against Glendon and he secured Flanagan’s signature to a complaint charging Glendon with defrauding an innkeeper. When the train reached Benicia Glendon was placed under arrest. From the bastille there came the plaintive message to Fisher to-night: “Mike have this fellow let me out. I’ll come back if you want me.” But Fisher will have none of it. Instead, he has caused a deputy sheriff to go after Glendon, and he declares he will prosecute him to the limit. He asserts Charles Reilly attempted to steal Glendon away to play in the rival Pacific Northwest League.
The Sacramento Bee,
March 27:
GLENDON GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED FRAUD.
HE LEFT TOWN OWING A BOARD BILL OF $22.
In the City Justice’s Court this morning Martin Glendon, charged with defrauding an innkeeper, was found guilty and fined $40. The prosecution claimed that the defendant had left town in order to defraud the State House Hotel of $22, due for board and lodging. They showed that he had gone to the north side of the depot and jumped on the train while it was in motion.
Glendon, in his own behalf, said that he was going to San Francisco to visit a friend and that he intended returning the next day. He admitted having received advance money from a team other than that of Fisher’s but denied having signed any other contract. In explaining his actions in getting on the train on the north side, contrary to the usual custom, the defendant stated he was a switchman when not playing ball, and merely wished to see if he knew any of the men about the yards.
After presumably paying his $40 fine Martin went to
Stockton, and reported on March 28 to the training camp of the San Francisco
PNL team, usually referred to as the Nationals. On April 2 Sacramento PCL
manager Fisher went to court and got an injunction against Martin playing
baseball in the state; this raised a lot of eyebrows since if the injunction
held up the same tactic could be used against all the PCL players who had
jumped from National Association league teams. On April 11 the injunction was
upheld and made permanent. On April 14 the PNL leaders determined to have
Martin play in a game, get arrested for contempt, and thereby bring things to a
head. On April 18 a change of venue from Sacramento to San Francisco was
granted for the appeal of the injunction. On April 28 an attempted modification
of the injunction to allow Martin to play for the Nationals was denied. Then on
May 1 Superior Court Judge Murasky dissolved the injunction on the grounds
“that a court could not compel a man to keep a contract, although a breach of
such contract might be punished in a suit for damages.”
On May 2 Martin made his PNL San Francisco Nationals debut,
and the San Francisco Chronicle
reported:
Martin Glendon was in the box for McCloskey’s men, and, while pitching good ball, was not up to form. Glendon attempted to slug Umpire Warner at the plate. With a 0-to-0 score in the sixth inning and one out, the bases were full on a fielder’s choice hit and two singles. Hall for the Los Angeles team went to the bat and sent a two-bagger to center field, scoring three runs. Glendon became incensed at Umpire Warner’s ruling on balls and strikes to Hall and after Hall’s hit walked to the plate and attempted to punch Warner, but was prevented by [catcher] Zearfoss. Glendon was ordered out of the game and finally sent off the grounds and fined $5 for back talk. Shortstop Stovall and Leftfielder Houtz of the visiting team [San Francisco], who butted into the trouble, were also fined $5. Attendance, 1200.
On May 20 the Chronicle
reported “The suspension of Martin Glendon for bad conduct on the field at Los
Angeles expired last night, and he will pitch against Portland this afternoon.”
He had played shortstop on the 9th and pitched on the 10th,
so the suspension couldn’t have been too long, even though Sporting Life said that he had been fined $50 and suspended for 30
days. On June 10 the Chronicle
reported that Martin had jumped the team to go play for Portland in the PCL;
this turned out to be false. He continued to pitch for the Nationals, often
filling in at other positions and, in one game, as umpire, until mid-August,
when the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tacoma and Helena teams all folded,
signaling the victory of the PCL over the PNL. Many of the players from the
defunct teams signed with the PCL, but the league was adamant that no one who
had jumped from the PCL to the PNL would ever be allowed back.
(Meanwhile, the July 18 issue of Sporting Life had listed, under the heading RELEASED, “By Grand
Forks—Dick Glendon” and under the heading SUSPENDED, “By Cairo—Dick Glendon.” I
wish I knew more about him being released by one team and suspended by another in the same week, but I don’t.)
On August 26 it was reported that Martin had signed with
Milwaukee of the American Association, but that was not the case, and on
September 4 he returned to the majors, signing with the Cleveland Naps, who
were beset by injuries to their pitchers. On September 6 he lost to the White
Sox, 1-0, in ten innings. On September 11 he lost to the Tigers, 3-0. And on
September 25, the final home game of the season, he beat the Senators, 14-5. On
September 24 the Cincinnati Post ran
the following:
GLENDON MAY BE A STAR
Wouldn’t it surprise Cincinnati fans were Martin Glendon, the Pacific Coast twirler, to develop into a star? Glendon was a dismal failure in the Queen City the spring of 1902. He didn’t seem to have any nerve on the diamond, but barrels of it off the diamond. Glendon came touted as a wonder, and almost before he threw a ball over the plate his praises were being sung. Just after a talk with some fans on how certain he was of making good in Cincinnati, Glendon stepped on a train and made a bee line for California without even collecting all the money due him from the Reds. But there is no mistake. Glendon twirled first-class ball on the Pacific Coast the past season, and in a recent game for Cleveland held the Chicago White Sox down to three hits.
In Martin’s three appearances for Cleveland, all complete
games, he had a 1-2 record and a 0.98 ERA. After the season he appeared on
Cleveland’s reserve list for 1904, but soon rumors began that he missed the
west coast and might be going to Portland in the PCL (which would be accepted
into organized baseball as a Class A league while the PNL, down to Boise, Butte,
Salt Lake City and Spokane, was being demoted to Class B). On November 21 Sporting Life reported “Pitcher Martin
Glendon, of the Clevelands, is taking part in sparring matches in and around
Chicago.” On November 29 the Tacoma Daily
Ledger ran the following:
GOOD FOR PITCHERS.
Glendon Says Coast Climate Helps the Arm.
“The climate of the Pacific Coast,” says Martin Glendon, the pitcher, in an Eastern interview, “is a curious proposition, viewed from a player’s point of view. It seems to be great for the throwing arm, and bad for the batsman’s eye. High batting averages are unusual out there, and .300 point batters are scarce as rabbits in a bear cage. Yet a pitcher can regain lost strength of arm, can whiz them over in great style, and can become better than he ever was before…As to myself—well, I admit that I owe any improvement I have shown to the Pacific country and its clime.
“Everybody seems to throw fast and well out there. The air seems to put vigor into you, so that you can sail the ball a mile, and yet this added vigor doesn’t make you bat. They come winging over, and you can’t hit ‘em. Now, will some scientist please tell me, why should a man feel like a young colt and able to shy the ball like a bullet, and yet be weaker with the willow than he used to be?”
On December 5 the Oregon
Journal reported that Martin “writes that he may play with the St. Louis
American league team next season,” and on January 3 the Dallas Morning News
reported that Cleveland had offered him to the Browns as part of a package for
Emmett Heidrick, but the deal had been rejected.
Martin went to spring training 1904 with Cleveland, but the
Naps had plenty of pitching and released him to the Columbus Senators of the
Class A American Association. On March 30 the Salt Lake Herald opined that “Martin has the goods, O.K., and he is
able to deliver them on the lightning express if that right whip is in
condition. He should make good with Columbus, as the league that city trots
in is pronounced not so fast as the
circuits on the Pacific slope.” It was an uneventful season for Martin, as he
stayed with Columbus the whole year and got good reviews in the newspapers. The
one blip was a report in the Seattle
Times on August 23 that Sacramento owner/manager Mike Fisher had sent Martin
a bill for $142.50 he allegedly owed him. Martin finished the year with a 12-14
record, pitching 236 innings, and a .223 batting average, as far as I have
found the highest of his career.
On December 26 the Cincinnati
Post reported that “Martin Glendon, who bolted from the Red Camp during the
McPhee regime, will start a mountain-dew depository in Chicago,” and on January
7, 1905, the Minnesota Journal put it
more directly: “Pitcher Martin Glendon is going to open a saloon in Chicago.”
In late January Columbus sold Martin to the New Orleans Pelicans
of the Class A Southern Association. He began the season with them, but the
only reference I found to him while he was there was that on June 3 he lost a
game to Jack Lee, another former west coast pitcher, of Montgomery. Martin
didn’t pitch enough for New Orleans to show up in the final Southern
Association stats; on June 26 the Seattle
Times reported that after being “released by New Orleans for indifferent
work” he was pitching for York of the outlaw Tri-State League and added “If
Glendon would take care of himself he would be fast enough for any league.” That
was not the only paper that reported he had signed with York, but in fact he
turned up with Johnstown of the same league—despite the name all the league’s
teams were in Pennsylvania. I found no Tri-State League stats for 1905 but
apparently Martin did quite well there, as a 1-24-06 article in the Harrisburg Patriot called him “the star
twirler for the Johnnies last season and one of the best in the Tri-State
League.”
On May 3 the Oregonian
invoked Martin’s name in an item about the mayor throwing out the first pitch: “…the
Mayor twisted himself up into a knot ala Martin Glendon of former days.”
Martin returned to Johnstown in 1906 but without the same
success. The Harrisburg Patriot
stated on May 16 that “Martin Glendon was the premier twirler of the Tri-State
last year but seems to have lost his cunning this season” and on May 24 that
“It seems as if Martin Glendon’s days are over.” He did pitch a no-hitter
against Altoona on July 12, but after being knocked out in the third inning on
August 14 he was released. He was immediately picked up by rivals the York Penn
Parks and pitched for them on the 17th, the Patriot reporting that he “was hit hard by the visitors, but
managed to keep the hits well scattered. Twelve hits were registered against
the dark-skinned twirler, and the Senators gave the locals a scare in nearly
every inning of the game.” He didn’t last long with York, though, and by
September 1 was pitching for the Altoona Mountaineers, his third team in the
league that season. He finished with a 13-15 total record for the year.
Martin signed with Altoona for 1907, after some speculation
that he wouldn’t. On July 15 he set a record of some sort by fielding twelve
chances without an error, and on August 8 he lost a one-hitter, 3-0, due to
errors. On August 21 the Oregon Journal
mentioned him as one of “four well-known Pacific Coast league pitchers” who are
“now doing good work in the Tri-State league” and said he was seventh in the
league in winning percentage at .692 (9-4). On August 28 the Harrisburg Patriot described him as “the
Molasses Candy boy from New Orleans,” on September 14 he filled in as umpire,
and on September 17 the Seattle Times
reported: “Pitcher Martin Glendon, who was in the old Northwest League, has
been indefinitely suspended by the Altoona Club because he persisted in being
absent from duty when he was wanted.” He finished with a 15-10 record.
On November 13 the Trenton
Evening Times printed the following item, crediting it to the Johnstown Democrat:
Martin Glendon, a well-known Tri-State pitcher, who was with Johnstown and Altoona during the last three seasons and is wintering in Altoona, where he holds a position at the Hotel Royal, was in the city last evening as the guest of friends. He will return home this morning. “Marty” is looking as though the air of the Mountain City agreed with him perfectly. He does not know about his plans for next year, but expects to pitch for Baltimore in the Eastern League.
On November 28 Martin’s mother passed away in Chicago. On
January 20, 1908, Altoona traded him to the Lancaster Red Roses of the same
league, but on March 7 it was reported that he still had not signed a contract.
On March 24 the Trenton Evening Times
reported that “Marty Glendon, the former Johnstown twirler recently traded to
Lancaster by Altoona, is operating a moving picture show in Chicago park which
pays him well, and he says he will not leave there this summer to play
baseball.” On April 30 it was reported that Lancaster manager Foster was negotiating
with him and he was expected to report soon. But it didn’t happen until June,
and Martin made his Lancaster debut on June 11; he was released in early
September, a week or so before the end of the season. His won-lost record was
just 3-4, so he doesn’t seem to have pitched much, but he played in 24 games
total, hitting .111.
After this Martin vanishes from professional baseball
records. In the 1910 census he is living at 2342 Fulton Street in Chicago, with
his widowed father and his brother John, both still plumbers, his widowed
sister Annie, brother Richard, a lineman for a street car company, and sister
Mary, a fitter for a picture frame company. Martin is listed as a bartender at
a saloon.
The January 5, 1911, issue of the Oregonian included a story about Joe Tinker, who was in Portland
visiting, that included the following:
The discussion brought up the name of Martin Glendon, the black-haired twirler Portland secured from Spokane that year, and in answer to queries about that worthy, Tinker replied that Glendon had been pitching independent ball around Chicago and was doing well.
“If ‘Nig’ had any ambition and could have left booze alone, he would have been one of the biggest stars in the big league,” said Tinker.
Later that year, on November 4, the Oregonian devoted an article to Martin:
LEST WE FORGET
What Former Portland Diamond Favorites Are Now Doing.
No. 4—Martin Glendon.
If any particular member of the 1901 champions has been forgotten, “Nig” Glendon, the star pitcher, is the man. He was a twirler of considerable ability in those days. Glendon went to Spokane in the Spring of 1901, and twirled for the Indians for the first six weeks of the season. He seemed unable to get going good, and Bill Bottemus, who was managing the Spokane team that year, turned Glendon loose after the Portland club had beaten him decisively in a game which Spokane started by making nine runs in the first inning off George Engle, at that time Portland’s premier pitcher.
Jack Grim and Jack Marshall, then the heads of the Portland team, lost no time in annexing Glendon to the Portland club, and he made good right off the reel by winning the first three games he pitched for the team, which eventually won the championship.
Louis Mahaffey had been signed as a pitcher that season, but his arm went back on him, and Jack Grim stationed him at first base, which made it imperative that the team secure another pitcher to help out Engle and Salisbury, the only two regular twirlers left on the team.
Glendon helped win the 1901 pennant, but in 1902 he elected to cast his fortunes with the San Francisco club of the California State League, then an outlaw organization, and he twirled such good ball for Hank Harris that he attracted the attention of the Chicago National League team, to which he went in 1903. Then it was possible for big leagues to accept outlaws. Failure to take proper care of himself lost him his big league position and he drifted into the Southern League, where he lasted but a short time and finally he went back to his home in Chicago, and after a few years in the Chicago semi-professional city leagues, he dropped out of baseball entirely.
Martin Glendon had a bright future in baseball but he liked the bright lights too well and his inclination to keep late hours caused his retirement from baseball. Today he is out when he should be at the zenith of his career. The fate of Glendon is an object-lesson to younger players, and most of them are paying heed to the rapid decline of players who fail to take care of themselves.
On August 27, 1915, the Chicago
Day Book included the item “Martin Glendon sentenced to 15 days for selling
intoxicants to minor girl in Lynch’s saloon, 236 S. Halsted.”
In the 1920 census, John Sr. has apparently passed away, and
John Jr. is now the head of household, still at 2342 Fulton St. Richard has
moved out, leaving Annie, Martin, an electrician at the electric company, and
Mary, working in a calendar factory, plus 14-year-old cousin Glendon McArdle.
The April 20, 1922, issue of the Oregonian featured a photo of the 1901 championship team. The March
15, 1924, issue had an article comparing the 1923 Beavers, who had finished in
third place in the PCL, to the 1901 team, referred to as the Blues, which read
in part:
The Blues of 1901 played five games a week, but had exactly three pitchers, and one of them, Martin Glendon by name, was not signed until almost mid-season. Prior to that, Mahaffey, the first baseman, took his turn in the box with the two regular hurlers, brainy Bill Salisbury and the cunning George Engel.
Glendon, the third man, had once pitched for Chicago, which made him an object of veneration to small boys. Further setting him on a pedestal was the fact that Spokane, with which he started the season, was reputed to be paying him the princely salary of $350 per month.
Spokane released him to cut down expenses and Portland took him on.
By the 1930 census Martin was married, to Nina, listed as
age 38 (Martin was listed as 48 but was in his early 50s) and born in Scotland.
They are living at 2524 Wilcox Street in Chicago, and brother Richard, now a
painter, is living with them. Martin is still an electrician, and he and Nina
are said to have been 38 and 28 at their marriage, which suggests it must have
happened soon after the 1920 census.
In the 1940 census Martin is a widower, listed as age 62
which is likely correct, an electrician for the city who worked 42 hours the
most recent week, 35 weeks during 1939, with an income of $2400. He is living
with younger sister Mary and her husband Stephen Duddleston at 627 Sawyer
Avenue in Chicago. Stephen is 57, a laborer at a railroad terminal, also worked
42 hours, worked 52 weeks, and had an income of $1000.
Martin died in Chicago on November 6, 1950, in his early
70s. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
mentioned him in 1998, in a list of Wisconsin natives who played in the majors,
and in 2008, naming him to an all-star team of players who were born in
Milwaukee.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/G/Pglenm101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/glendma01.shtml
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