Jake Virtue was a first baseman for the Cleveland Spiders in the first half of the 1890s.
Jacob Kitchline Virtue was born March 2, 1865, in
Philadelphia, the sixth of nine children of Samuel and Anna, who were both also
born in Philadelphia, in 1824 and 1834 respectively. The 1870 census shows the
family living in Philadelphia; Samuel is an engineer; 18-year-old George is an
apprentice in a moulding store; Clara is 16; Edwin, 14, works in a shade
factory; Samuel Jr., 13, and Elizabeth, 11, are in school; Jacob is five and
William is one. Only Samuel, Samuel Jr., and Elizabeth are able to read and
write.
In the 1880 census the family lives at 1749 Norwood Street
in Philadelphia. Clara, Edwin, and Elizabeth are out on their own, while
youngest children Edward and Annie have been added. Samuel is an engineer in
the stationery industry; Samuel Jr. is a hatter; Jacob, listed as 16 but
actually 15, works in a hat factory and was unemployed for six months during
1879; William and Edward are in school. None of them is listed as unable to
read and write this time around.
Jake began playing amateur baseball in 1883 and went professional
in 1886, for the Lancaster Ironsides and the Altoona Mountain Cities of the
Pennsylvania State Association. He played 73 games, mostly at first and second;
he also pitched twice, though not well.
Jake first appeared in Sporting Life in the February
2, 1887, issue. He was mentioned in the report on the Oswego Starchboxes of the
International Association as the team’s new firstbaseman, and he was also on
the list of people that Sporting Life was holding mail for (he would
appear on that list many times in the coming years). The Oswego report in the
May 18 issue mentioned that, due to injuries, Jake was now one of the team’s
regular pitchers; he lost 11-5 on May 5, 24-4 on May 7, and 6-5 on May 10.
The June 1 Sporting Life reported that Jake had been sold
back to Altoona. He debuted for them on May 23, playing first and batting
third. He hit .384 in 40 games there (and pitched in three games, allowing 24
runs on 30 hits in 14 innings), but in late July the club disbanded and the
players were sold to Canton, which team then joined the Ohio State League
mid-season. Jake played 30 games for Canton, all at first, and hit .333 with
seven homers in 132 at-bats. The Cleveland correspondent in the October 12 Sporting
Life reported:
Virtue, of Canton, was to have finished the season with us on first base, but weakened at the last moment. He thought the company too fast.
Cleveland’s team, the Blues, was in the American
Association, at that time a major league.
Jake signed with Canton again for 1888. He played first, and
generally batted third in the order. On June 6 the Canton Repository
quoted the Toledo News as saying: “Virtue is the best first baseman in
the league,” and agreed with that assessment. In the July 11 Sporting Life
their Canton correspondent reported: “Jake Virtue is playing the finest first
base of any man in the League and his hitting is as fine as silk.” The August
22 issue included the report that: “Billy Zecher and Jake Virtue, of the Canton
team, will go into the cigar and tobacco business in Canton this fall.”
I couldn’t find any Canton stats for 1888. From the November
29 Boston Herald:
VIRTUE JOINS THE DETROITS.
[Special Dispatch to the Boston Herald.]
CANTON, O., Nov. 28, 1888. First baseman Jake Virtue, of Canton’s nine for the past two seasons, has signed with the Detroit International League team. He is known as one of the best men in that position in the country, and during his engagement with Canton received offers from nearly every club in the league and association, but always preferred a minor league. He is also a good batter and base runner.
From the Canton report in Sporting Life, February 13, 1889: "A great surprise came to the town last week in the news that our old first baseman, Jake Virtue, signed a contract for “life” with a young Philadelphia lady a week ago."
This was Susan Bell, born in Philadelphia in 1867. Jake went
to spring training with the Detroit Wolverines; on April 17 Sporting Life
reported:
Manager Leadley, of the Detroits, says there isn’t a better first baseman in any league than Jake Virtue. He considers Virtue a second [Jake] Beckley.
Same publication, one week later: "All Detroit is enthused over Jake Virtue’s first base play, and the opinion is given by experts that he is fit for the fastest company."
The International League season opened on April 30, with
Jake playing first and batting fifth for Detroit. Despite having a strong year,
he eventually started batting seventh and eighth. On September 18 the Lancaster
Intelligencer quoted the Detroit Free Press:
Jake Virtue was at one time a member of the Ironsides ball club, of this city. This year with Billy Higgins he went to Detroit. The Free Press says of him: “Detroit has had the champions of the world, and has seen all the most famous ball players of the day, but up to last spring there still remained something in base ball of which it was ignorant. First basemen, and most excellent ones, had been here, but it remained for Jake Virtue to show Detroiters the true possibilities of the position, and it goes without saying that no such splendid first base playing as furnished by him was ever before seen here. He will jump higher for a high ball, reach further for a wide ball, and cleanly pick up more ground thrown balls than any man who ever stood at first base in Recreation Park. Being a swift runner, which is not characteristic of first basemen, he will cover more ground in quest of foul flies than any other first baseman, some of his feats in this respect being truly remarkable. Virtue’s height is 5 feet, 9 ½ inches, he weighs 165 pounds, is splendidly proportioned, and cat-like in movements.”
Jake played in 107 of the Wolverines’ 112 games, all at
first base, hitting .314 and slugging .461, with 16 doubles, 11 triples and six
homers in 382 at-bats. From the December 22 Detroit News:
There is no longer any doubt about the Detroit club, the champions of the international League, holding together for another year. Manager Leadley returned from the east yesterday with contracts signed by most of the players in his pocket. He had hard work getting some of them. First baseman Jake Virtue had his head swelled to about double its normal size by the brotherhood, and it was only after Leadley had reduced it several inches that he was able to get Jake’s signature to a contract.
“The brotherhood” refers to the Brotherhood of Professional
Base Ball Players, which was forming its own league, the Players League, which
would exist as a major league in competition with the National League and the
American Association, for one season, 1890.
From the January 8, 1890, Sporting Life:
There is a well-defined rumor abroad that Virtue is wanted to play first for Indianapolis [NL], and that an effort will be made to obtain his release from Detroit. He’s liable to do better work than the majority of the stars who are being signed by League managers wholesale.
In late January there were rumors that the Columbus Solons of the American Association were after Jake. On February 12 Sporting Life’s Indianapolis correspondent reported: "Manager Glasscock and President Brush did have a line out for Virtue, of Detroit, but the price was higher than the local club cared to pay, and the deal did not go through."
On February 21 the Columbus Dispatch reported that
“Indianapolis has a standing offer of $500 more for Jake Virtue, the fine
Detroit first baseman, than any other club will give for him.” On April 25 the Canton
Repository said that “New York has offered $2,000 for Jake Virtue’s
release,” though they did not specify which New York team.
Jake was still with Detroit when the season opened, though,
playing first and batting sixth and seventh. The rumors didn’t stop--in June
there was talk of him going to Rochester (AA) and Pittsburgh (NL)—but nothing
happened until after the International League disbanded on July 7 and Jake
became a free agent. With the Wolverines he played in 49 games, all at first
base, and hit .296 and slugged .381. From the July 14 Cleveland Plain Dealer:
THE SPORTING WORLD.
A New First Baseman Signed by the League Club.
With the return of the Cleveland National league club to the city after its eastern trip Peek a Boo Veach will cease to wear a Cleveland uniform. His position in the team will be filled by a man who is his superior in every way and who is one of the best first basemen in the country today. The man is Jake Virtue of the now dead Detroit International league team. The Cleveland club has been after the man some time and yesterday terms were agreed upon. Virtue will arrive in town Tuesday morning and will probably stay here until the return of the club, when Joe Ardner will also be superseded by a newcomer in Paddy Lyons of the Dayton team. Veach will be released outright and for only one reason. That is the old one of too much drink. Could he let liquor alone Veach would be a first baseman of a high grade. For some time this season he did well, but finally fell and since then has not been behaving himself. Of Jake Virtue it is only necessary to say that he was as good a first baseman as was in the International of 1889…
With Cleveland Jake mostly batted cleanup. On August 23 Sporting
Life reported: “Jake Virtue, of Cleveland, is a wonderful distance thrower,
a particular in which few first basemen excel.” In the September 6 issue Henry
Chadwick, in his “Chadwick’s Chat” column, wrote:
…It was in this game, by the way, that Foutz and Virtue did splendid work as first basemen, both having the hardest kind of widely thrown balls to attend to. The Clevelands have an acquisition in Virtue. I have seen no work superior to that he did in the three Cleveland games in Brooklyn all this season.
Jake played in 62 games for the Spiders, all at first base,
hitting .305/.432/.404, and signed an 1891 contract before the season ended. He
got a couple of mentions in the October 18 Sporting Life: “Clevelanders
insist that in Jake Virtue they have the finest first baseman on earth.”
and
…Several of the St. Louis Club were talking about what kind of ball players they would be if they had their choice. Some wanted to be a Kelly, others a Ward, etc., finally pitcher Hart spoke up and said, “I would like to hit like Brouthers, run like Stovey, have Comiskey’s head, and play first like Jake Virtue.” McCarty said, “don’t you want Virtue’s head.” “No, sir,” answered Hart, “I don’t want [?] head full of [?].
(Unfortunately the available scan of Sporting Life
has a tear in the page right through Hart’s quote.) On December 27 Susan gave
birth to son William Edward.
In 1891 Jake was the Spiders’ everyday first baseman,
usually batting fifth or sixth. The Cleveland report in the July 11 Sporting
Life said that “Virtue has been playing a marvelously good game at first
base since recovering from the malaria.” So apparently he had had malaria, even
though he only missed two games all season. In the September 19 issue the
Cleveland correspondent stated:
“Some think a harder fighting first baseman than Jake Virtue could be engaged. This is possible, but no cleaner fielder could be found for the place.”
The Pittsburgh Dispatch of July 20 reported:
There is another thing that is notable in the work of the Cleveland team since the return of Captain Tebeau. Pat makes the men go at everything, no matter if it does seem impossible. One of the worst faults that Jake Virtue ever had is being cured by this method. Virtue would seldom go after a foul fly which he thought he couldn’t get, and for that reason missed many points. Tebeau makes him go after everything now, and Virtue catches more foul flies than he ever did before.—Cleveland Plain Dealer. That is the way to play good ball, and more, interest is created.
Jake hit .261/.363/.364, down from his half-season in 1890, finishing fifth in the league in triples with
14 and tying for seventh in walks (with Cap Anson) with 75. He led all first basemen
in putouts (and errors) and was third in range factor. From the October 17 Sporting
Life:
Anson has always been considered a good first baseman, but it is his generalship and batting that are of the first order. In the last few years first base play has greatly changed, and in comparison with the work of such experts as Virtue, Beckley, and Tucker, Anson is not in it.
Around that time Jake signed a new contract with the
Spiders; on November 28 Sporting Life reported that “Jake Virtue writes
that he will not disregard his Cleveland contract,” which seems to suggest that
there had been speculation that he would. From the Cleveland report in the
March 19, 1892, issue, discussing the arrival of the players at spring
training:
…Vinn and Virtue were not looking very well, Lee’s grip still hanging hold of him, while Jake’s malaria refused to let go…
Jake Virtue doesn’t seem to have been able to free himself altogether from the malaria. He still felt traces of his old complaint when I saw him Saturday.
Jake opened the season at first base, though, hitting
seventh. From the Cleveland correspondent in the April 30 Sporting Life:
JAKE VIRTUE ALL RIGHT.
You should see Jake Virtue play this year. He has in the last three days done some fielding at first that has opened the eyes of the captious few who have been quibbling about a new man for that position. Jake has worked hard and earnestly for the club’s success and ought to be kept here unless it can be shown that the club can be greatly benefitted by a change.
Same writer, one week later:
Many things of interest have occurred since my last week’s letter was written. Some way news in this city has a mean way of happening just too late in the week to reach you by telegraph, and yet of enough importance to speak of after it is several days old.
For instance, on Friday morning the accident to Ed McKean occurred. It was just after morning practice, and Ed had picked up Jake Virtue’s self-cocking revolver. Of course, it was a case of “didn’t know it was loaded” and Ed received a bad bullet wound in his left forefinger. This brought George Davis out of his enforced retirement and Captain Tebeau sent him to short field, where he played a wonderfully good game.
I saw McKean a few minutes ago. His hand is badly inflamed and he will certainly play no ball for the next ten days or two weeks.
And the next week:
The run of 436 miles from Toledo to St. Louis was made in less than 500 minutes. Jake Virtue rode on the engine and helped the fireman shovel in coal…
Virtue received a bad hit in the shoulder at St. Louis, but is throwing all right again.
And the week after that, reusing a heading from April 30:
JAKE VIRTUE ALL RIGHT.
Much of the superficial opposition to Jake Virtue has faded away during the past two weeks. Jake has been hitting well and is running the bases better than ever. Everybody knows how he can field when in condition. At the beginning of every season some player is picked out for attention, and this year it happened to be our first baseman. But the management like Virtue, and so do the unprejudiced patrons of the game.
Elsewhere in the same report, the correspondent mentioned
that “to add to the misery Jake Virtue was attacked with malaria after playing
in the rain in the second Boston game.”
Still, Jake was hitting .303 at the end of May and was moved
up to second in the order; he promptly went into a slump and was moved down to
sixth. In the June 25 Sporting Life the Cleveland correspondent wrote:
I violate no confidence when I say that no other club in the League has such mean bleachers as Cleveland. They are ostensibly partisan, but when a home player makes an error they are the first to hiss and hoot at him.
Not all of them, mind you, but about a hundred are at every game. Last year they aimed their hisses at [Cupid] Childs. This year they began on Jake Virtue, but Jake played such grand ball that the hooters were silenced. Then they turned their attention to McKean, but they might as well hiss a statue. McKean is as much a fixture as the schedule itself. Some day the local directors will establish a rule that will make this noisy, disgruntled and abusive element behave itself.
Same writer, one week later:
Jake Virtue is keeping up his good work. No first baseman in the country can handle such ugly ground hits as Jake suppresses day after day.
In July Jake moved into the fifth spot in the order, where
he would remain. On September 3 Sporting Life opined that “Virtue and
Comiskey are having a tussle for the honor of being the best fielding first
baseman in the League.” Then the Cleveland correspondent got back into the
habit of writing about him:
September 24: “Jake Virtue is hitting the ball savagely and
is fielding his position as cleanly as any man in the business.”
October 1: “Jake Virtue has done some great fielding and
hitting since the club came home.”
October 8: “Jake Virtue has been doing some remarkably good
work at the bat during the past two weeks.”
October 15: “Jake Virtue is still quite sick and may be
unable to play in the world’s series. Tebeau is caring for the base all right.”
The National League introduced a split season for 1892, and
the second-half champion Spiders played the first-half champs Boston in the
“world’s series.” The first game was called due to darkness, and then Boston
won five straight. Jake did play, but hit just .125 with three singles, two
walks, and five strikeouts in 26 plate appearances.
He had done well in the regular season, though, hitting
.282/.380/.391; he was ninth in the league in on-base percentage, tenth in RBI,
and tied for eighth in walks, and he hit 20 triples, which tied him for second
and is tied for the fifth-most all-time for a switch-hitter. He was the
second-best hitter on the team, behind Cupid Childs. Among first basemen he was
second in putouts, fifth in range, and, cutting down his errors quite a bit, third
in fielding percentage. The Toledo Bee reported on October 15:
The Cleveland team of 1893 will be exactly the Cleveland team of 1892. There will be no change whatever in the makeup of the Spiders. The management is entirely satisfied with the work of the team and will let well enough alone. Early this season there was considerable dissatisfaction with the work of Jake Virtue at first, but now Jake is considered to be one of the most valuable men on the team. Now, he is probably as timely a hitter as there is in the nine. He is a great deal stronger on low-thrown balls than he was, and his weakness in this particular is where the greatest fault lay. The Cleveland infielders, with the exception of Davis, are [should there be a ‘not’ here?] strong throwers, and it was thought impossible to get along with a man that was not strong on short-thrown balls. Virtue himself saw his weakness, and by constant study and practice, did away with most, or at least a great deal of the cause of complaint. His hitting is so valuable that he will be retained at any cost.
From the November 12 Sporting Life: “Jake Virtue
writes from Philadelphia that he is in good health and spirits, and will report
next season in better condition than ever before.”
In early 1893 there were reports that the Spiders had
offered Jake a contract with a $900 salary cut, that they were looking to get
rid of him, and that Philadelphia and New York were eager to get him, amidst
continued conflicting assessments of his fielding skills. The Cleveland
Plain Dealer reported on March 14:
VIRTUE HELD OUT.
Capt. Tebeau Returned From the East Without the First Baseman’s Contract—Cleveland Club News
Tebeau returned yesterday from his trip to the south and east with the contracts of Burkett and Childs in his grip, but with that of Jake Virtue still lacking. Virtue wants to play with Cleveland, and his very wish to play here led to his refusal to sign, at least for the present. He and the Cleveland management are together on the salary question, but Virtue does not want to sign before he knows where he is to play the coming season. He has heard the talk that Ewing is to cover first base for Cleveland this year and says that he will not sign a contract until he is told just what is to be done with him.
Jake did sign not long after that, and was playing in
exhibition games by the end of March. The Cleveland report in the April 29 Sporting
Life said that “Jake Virtue is again batting strongly;” the next week the
Cleveland correspondent reported “Jake Virtue’s work thus far has been
remarkably good” while the Pittsburgh correspondent contributed “Jake Virtue is
a fiend on secret societies.”
Jake started the season hitting fifth, then sixth, then in
July he was moved down to seventh. On July 2 the Cleveland Plain Dealer
reported:
The only Cleveland player who is a disappointment to his friends this season is Jake Virtue in his inability to hit the ball with any degree of regularity. Since the club has returned from its eastern trip Virtue’s batting has been one almost minus quality, although when one of his long drives does fall safely it is worth two or more bases.
Also in July he started spending some time at other
positions, playing third base and center field while the regulars were injured.
On July 22 Sporting Life’s Cleveland correspondent wrote that “Jake
Virtue takes his various shifts good-naturedly and plays each position assigned
him equally well.” He also began sitting on the bench some of the time, as
Manager Tebeau made himself the primary first baseman.
The writeup on the July 29 Cleveland at St. Louis
doubleheader in the August 5 Sporting Life included:
Lynch’s umpiring helped the Clevelands in the first game. Cleveland’s two runs in the third inning were a gift, as Burkett was called safe at the plate when he should have been the third man out. Again, in the last inning Virtue wrapped his arms about Shugart’s legs to stop a double play, and Lynch let the play go by unnoticed.
From the Cleveland report in the same issue:
WILL VIRTUE BE EXCHANGED?
The talk of exchanging Virtue for outfielder Brodie has occasioned some local comment. Some favor it; many do not. Virtue is a model fielding first baseman. He has generally hit well. He has been charged sometimes with a lack of decision in tight places. Of course, we need an outfielder and, of course, Ewing could play first base all right enough, but, all the same, I’d hate to have Virtue leave the Cleveland team.
In early August Jake played some shortstop while Ed McKean
was sick, and on August 31 at Baltimore he pitched the last five innings of an
11-6 loss, his first mound appearance since his minor league days, as reported
in the next day’s Plain Dealer:
Hastings lasted four innings and then Virtue essayed to do the work of a twirler. He was fairly successful under the circumstances, and evidently has the making of a good pitcher. He pitches quickly and keeps a sharp watch on the base runners. Three bases on balls he gave in succession in the seventh inning, McGraw, Kelley and Shindle being the Orioles he deigned to honor in that way. Only three singles were made off him, and two of these came in the fifth inning, when they did no harm.
Sporting Life, September 23:
Virtue will doubtless be kept on the pay roll of the Cleveland Club, for he is a valuable utility man. His work shows that he can play either in the infield or outfield, and should Manager Tebeau take the notion to manage from the bench exclusively a better man to guard first base is not to be found.
In the same issue the Cleveland correspondent wrote: “Jake
Virtue will practice pitching all winter and will likely be one of Cleveland’s
regular pitchers next season.” From the next day’s Plain Dealer:
The Cleveland team for 1894 appears to be made up. Three young pitchers and Joe Gunson, the catcher, received their notice of release a few days ago and now the club has one general utility man, four pitchers and two catchers in addition to her regular players. Jake Virtue is the utility man, and there need not be any surprise if he is seen in any of the eight positions except the catcher’s. Jake practices pitching about every afternoon and he seems to have just as many curves and almost as much speed as the regular pitchers. He is, however, handicapped by age and it goes without saying that his muscles will not be as tractable as they were ten years ago. He may teach them to throw a ball as the modern pitcher does but he will have much harder work in doing so than the youngster who is practicing on the sand lots every day. Even if he does not convert himself into a pitcher “der Yacob” is a good man to keep around for use in emergencies. It is hardly possible that next year Jake will hit the ball as hard as Tebeau has done this season and they can alternate on first base, leaving the manager free to take excursions into the country and keep his eye open for promising young players. At present there does not appear to be a very great call for young men, but there is no telling how soon some of the men whose faces have become familiar to the public may quit or be compelled to quit the diamond.
Meanwhile the 1893 season ended, with the Spiders in third
place in the 12-team league. Jake played in just 97 games, 73 of them at first;
he hit .265/.358/.368, which was only down a bit from 1892 but a major drop-off
considering the big surge in offense in the league as a whole. At first base he
led the league in range. The October 7 Sporting Life reported that “Jake
Virtue’s sister-in-law died last week, so Jake came home to Philadelphia
instead of accompanying the Clevelands on their exhibition trip.” The St. Louis
report in the December 16 issue included an account of a conversation with
Spider manager Patsy Tebeau:
“You say for me,” said Tebeau, “that the Cleveland Club is ready to hear from Mr. [St. Louis owner Chris] Von der Ahe regarding an exchange of one of his players for Virtue. You know Virtue is not going to play first base for Cleveland next season. Who is? Why I am. Of course the Cleveland Club doesn’t propose to give up Virtue free of charge to another club. He may be retained as a utility man. But, of course, our club would do better by him in exchanging him for another good man. Chris, I think, can buy Virtue for a reasonable figure or secure him in exchange for one of his best players. Perhaps he can work a deal by which he can give us Gleason for Virtue.”
If Mr. Von der Ahe doesn’t wish to figure for Virtue this bit of information from Tebeau may put other League people in the way of securing the Cleveland first-baseman.
Tebeau believes that Virtue would make a good captain for the Browns.
Jake signed a new Cleveland contract in mid-February, and
played second base and batted leadoff in the first two games of the season,
with Cupid Childs sidelined. From the May 5 Sporting Life:
Why Tempt Avenging Furies?
Childs, of Cleveland, sprained his ankle while playing hand ball, hence Virtue has been playing second base. In speaking of Jake Virtue, Tebeau said, “Virtue is a valuable player and is hitting the ball hard. I only with he thought as well of himself as I do of him. Timid players handicap themselves. I sometimes wish I had a little gall and nerve myself.” As he made this remarkable declaration Patsy Bolivar eyed a chandelier suspiciously as if he half expected it to tumble upon him.
The same issue included this item: “Jake Virtue doesn’t
think a left-handed pitcher has even a slight excuse for living.” Also in that
issue the Cleveland correspondent wrote: “Just what Cleveland would do without
Jake Virtue in these days when players are being disabled right and left is a
problem not easy to solve.”
Two weeks later, Sporting Life asserted:
Jake Virtue is now classed as the best utility man in the business. This year he has played first base, second base and in the outfield for Cleveland and fielded to perfection, besides hitting the ball hard and timely. Manager Tebeau showed his wisdom when he refused to sell this valuable player.
In the same issue the Cleveland correspondent reported:
“Jake Virtue has been resting at his hotel for a few days because of a severely
wrenched ankle,” and the St. Louis correspondent wrote:
Manager [owner] Von der Ahe has been making an effort to secure Virtue from Cleveland, but the terms asked—an exchange of Gleason for Virtue—are simply outrageous. Mr. Von der Ahe would pay a fair price for Virtue, who is ambitious to sign as a pitcher.
As the season went on Jake’s appearances became more
sporadic, and on July 20 he played his final game for the Spiders. He was then
released, though the club kept that fact a secret. On July 28 he played
shortstop for the Oil CItys of Oil City, Pennsylvania, one of twelve games he
played there for the team, which ended up as the state amateur champs. For the
Spiders he hit .258/.359/.326 in 89 at-bats in 29 games, most of those in the
outfield.
On September 21 the Cincinnati Post reported:
…As long as Tebeau is able to play, Jake Virtue will continue to warm the bench for Cleveland.
Patsy is jealous and afraid of Virtue’s work at first base, and would gladly let him go if he had any excuse to do so. Mr. Robinson, who owns the Cleveland Club, is [Cincinnati owner] Mr. Brush’s warm friend in baseball, and it is reasonable to suppose that he would let Brush have Jake, since he has no use for him…
On September 29 Sporting Life let the cat out of the
bag:
Jake Virtue, the old-time favorite and all around player, who has been with the Cleveland Club since 1890, will wear a Cleveland uniform no more. Virtue was released several weeks ago, but for some reason the release was kept a secret until last week, when it was announced.
And the Cleveland correspondent added:
Virtue’s release was not known here until three weeks after it was given him. He is a better man than half the men in the same position in all the minor leagues combined.
On October 13 Jake appeared on the reserve list of Kansas
City of the Western League, but in the December 15 issue Sporting Life
reported that he had signed with the National League’s Louisville Colonels. Two
weeks later their Louisville correspondent wrote:
The signing of Jake Virtue was hailed with delight and more space given for that event by newspaper boys than any for a long time. There is believed to be several years of good ball playing in him yet, and if his batting is up to his Cleveland standard he will be a big improvement over anything we have had on the initial bag since the days of Harry Taylor.
Meanwhile, on December 9 the Omaha World-Herald had
reported: “Jake Virtue is reported as being laid up with smallpox in
Philadelphia.” From the “Secret Societies” column in the January 13, 1895, Philadelphia
Inquirer:
Knights of the Mystic Chain.
On Monday evening last Oxford Castle, No. 104, held its regular weekly meeting with the usual large attendance, and the Sir Knights were agreeably surprised on entering the Castle to see their beautiful American flag exposed to view in a handsome hard-wood case, which elicited many exclamations of praise from those present, and congratulations were extended to Sir Knight Trustee Harry Wright and Representative John Tinsman for the manner in which they completed their task. The Relief Committee reported Sir Knights Jacob Virtue and John L. Schmidt as very much improved…
As reported in 1893, “Jake Virtue is a fiend on secret
societies.”
From the February 20 Cleveland Plain Dealer:
First baseman Jake Virtue, who reported for duty at Louisville the other day, is laid up with rheumatism and has returned to his home, at Philadelphia. It is probable that he will not be able to play this season.
Actually he had had a stroke. From the Boston Herald,
February 26:
It is now reported that paralysis and not rheumatism is the trouble with Jake Virtue. If this is so it will be a long time before Jake is able to play ball.
Sporting Life, March 16:
Jake Virtue writes that he is improving and may be able to join the Louisvilles by the opening of the championship season. If he is not in perfect condition, however, [Fred] Pfeffer will cover the initial bag, and may alternate with Virtue at first and O’Brien at second the season through.
Evansville Journal, March 20:
Louisville, March 19.—The Louisville Club has decided to release Jake Virtue. “Tub” Welch, the St. Louis catcher, will play first in Jake’s place. Virtue is troubled with rheumatism.
Sporting Life Louisville report, April 6:
Manager McCloskey has telegraphed Jake Virtue to report at New Orleans. Virtue is said to be in better physical condition at present than a month ago, and he is wanted on the team. Welsh [sic] is also needed behind the bat.
Sporting Life Louisville report, April 20:
Virtue did not report at New Orleans. He was only ordered to do so upon a physician’s certificate that he was physically in ball playing condition.
At that point the reports on Jake stopped until August. Sporting Life, August 3: "Jack O’Connor makes more assists than any first baseman Cleveland ever had; not even excepting Jake Virtue, who seems to have dropped completely out of the game."
Sporting Life Philadelphia report, August 17: "Jake Virtue, formerly Cleveland’s first baseman, is lying quite ill at his home in this city."
Kentucky Post, August 21: "The story comes from Quakerdom that Jake Virtue, who was a victim of paralysis early in the year, is dangerously ill at his home there."
Sporting Life, January 11, 1896:
Jake Virtue, it is said, will never get in the game again, although he looks as well as ever. The paralytic stroke has yielded to treatment, and Jake can walk and get around, but his days as an athlete are over.
Sporting Life, August 8, 1896:
VIRTUE IN WANT.
A Well Known Ball Player in Need of Assistance.
From Cleveland “World.”
Here’s a chance for the ball players to help a good man who has been overtaken by misfortune, says a writer in the Detroit “Free Press.” Jake Virtue, once a Detroit first baseman, and later with the Cleveland team, was taken with a stroke of paralysis at his home in Philadelphia the other day [?]. Ever since he left Cleveland Virtue has had hard luck and is actually in want. His wife wrote Chief Zimmer about the bad circumstances of the Cleveland player the other day and the Chief told the story to the other players of the team. Wednesday out of his pay each Spider subscribed liberally to a purse that was made up and sent to Mrs. Virtue. Jake had a large number of friends in the profession, and if any of them want to help him out they are asked to send their contributions to Catcher Zimmer, of the Cleveland Club, who will see that it reaches Mrs. Virtue.
Sporting Life Philadelphia report, July 10, 1897:
Jake Virtue, the crack first baseman, has almost recovered from the paralytic shock that forced him to quit the diamond. Nearly all the Louisville players recently contributed to a benefit for the unfortunate player who was prostrated at the height [not really] of his career.
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 11, from the account of
the previous day’s Philadelphia at Cincinnati game:
…The day was intensely hot, and less than 4000 people saw the game. Before play was called Ed Delahanty circulated among the Reds and received several liberal contributions to help out Jake Virtue, who is in distress at Philadelphia.
Sporting Life Philadelphia report, July 24:
Jake Virtue, the veteran ex-first baseman of the Clevelands, has quite recovered from the paralytic stroke which compelled his retirement from the game, but he is afflicted now by chronic rheumatism. The benefit for him on the 14th was a failure, and he is in sore straits, his affliction making him unable to work. His friends can reach or address him at 2226 North Twenty-eighth street, this city.
Sporting Life, December 25, 1897: "Jake Virtue, the old Cleveland first baseman, will move from Philadelphia to Canton, if his illness will allow him."
Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 14, 1899:
An Old Tradition.
Baseball players, as a general rule, are a bit superstitious, says a St. Louis Republic writer. Perhaps it is because they are largely Celtic. While at Hot Springs the writer saw one of the St. Louis players become highly incensed over the loss of a ball which, he alleged, hat been stolen from him. “I hope,” he said, “that the arm of the man who stole that ball may fall paralyzed by his side.” “Don’t say that, pal,” prayed Jack O’Connor, in most earnest words. “Such talk is liable to bring ill fortune to you. I once heard Jake Virtue, who played first base for us, make the same prayer, and within six months he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never recovered. Virtue could not find his sweater one day, and he became very angry. ‘May the man be paralyzed who got my sweater!’ said Virtue. After a while he found his sweater where he had put it away. We paid no more attention to it, until one day we read in the newspapers that Jake had been stricken with paralysis. His request was granted.”
Lancaster New Era, May 15, from an article about a
train wreck near Reading:
“Jake” Virtue, who will be remembered by lovers of the national game in this city as the man who, about eight [13] years ago, held down the initial bag for the old Lancaster base ball club, was among the killed. “Jake” at one time was the best fielding first baseman in the business.
But no. Sporting Life, May 20:
A VETERAN INJURED.
Jake Virtue, the well-known ex-first baseman of the Cleveland Club, who retired some years ago owing to rheumatic and paralytic troubles, was one of the victims in the Reading Railroad collision at Exeter last Friday night. He was on his way home from the Hartranft Statue unveiling. When the crash came he was sitting in the first section of the fourth car with a friend. Jake escaped with his life, but sustained many bruises and lacerations. His face was cut almost beyond recognition, and his scalp was torn, a large piece being entirely sliced off the back of his head. He is now at the Charity Hospital in Norristown. His residence here is at 2226 North Twenty-eighth street.
Kansas City American Citizen, February 18, 1900:
Poor Jake Virtue.
“I have witnessed many a pathetic case of broken down gladiators, halt, spavined and charley-horsed, making a blind and painful stagger for their salary when they were really fit candidates for a hospital or a sanitarium, but the sad case of Virtue, the first baseman, will never vanish from my memory,” remarked Secretary [Harry] Pulliam recently. “When Virtue was released by Tebeau from the Cleveland team, Manager Jack McCoskey, of the Colonels, began negotiations for him to cover first base for us. We were in need of a first baseman at the time, and while Virtue was 20 or 30 points short of the .300 mark as a batsman, he was one of the best fielding first basemen in the league, and the most available man to us, as we thought. He accepted our terms, and we sent him $400 advance money in the fall. When he reported for spring practice I noticed a change for the worse in the physical appearance of the man. He was thin, pale, wrinkled, and halting in his gait. I asked him if he was sick, and he acknowledged that he wasn’t feeling quite chipper, but would be as fresh as a daisy in a few days. He showed up for practice on the following day, and then we discovered we had a cripple on our hands. His right arm hung limp by his side, and he tossed the ball around the infield with a snap of the wrist, failing to raise his arm. Dr. Stuckey, who was then the president of the club, was in the grandstand watching the boys at morning practice. ‘Who in heaven’s name is that man at first base? He has all the action—or rather the lack of action—of a paralytic,’ said the doctor, who ordered Virtue off the field and examined him, and, found that the poor fellow was indeed a victim of paralysis. We shipped Virtue back to Philadelphia, and the last I heard of him was last summer when I read of his being mixed up in a railroad accident.”
It's interesting to try to fit this account in with what was
being reported at the time in 1895: he was released because of rheumatism, a
few weeks later he was told to report because of a physician’s certificate that
he was well enough to play, and then he didn’t report.
On June 7, 1900, Jake and family were counted in the census.
They are living in a rented house at 2226 Susquehanna Avenue in Philadelphia
(the move to Canton didn’t happen); Jake either works in or owns a cigar store,
he and Susan are both listed as being able to read and write, and William is
nine years old.
Albany Times-Union, April 24, 1901: “Jake Virtue, the
once famous first baseman of the Cleveland club, is a wreck at his home in
Philadelphia from the effect of the general breaking up of his system.”
A February 18, 1903, “where are they now?” article on old
baseball players in the Washington Evening Star said that “Jake Virtue
has charge of the press box at the Athletic [Philadelphia Athletics] grounds.”
Ottawa Journal, January 23, 1904:
On one of his player-signing trips through the east in the ‘90’s, writes Elmer Bates, Patsy Tebeau took me along with him. At Worcester, Mass., Jess Burkett was landed with little effort and at New Haven John Clarkson’s signature was easily secured. An all-night session at Baltimore was necessary to get Kid Childs in line. Arriving at Philadelphia, Jake Virtue was found.
“I want more money,” said the old first baseman, shaking his head, when the contract was offered him.
“What for?” asked Tebeau.
“For my throwing. Did you ever see a man who could hum the ball over from first to third like me when we’re warming up?”
“No,” said Patsy. “I never did. You just sign this contract at last year’s figure and the very first time you ever catch a man at third in a game I’ll raise your salary.”
Boston Herald, August 14, 1904: “Jake Virtue, one of
the best first basemen in the country when with the Cleveland club, is now a
gate tender in the ball park in that city.” Maybe in Philadelphia, definitely
not in Cleveland.
Houston Post, August 29, 1905, another “where are
they now” article: “Jake Virtue, once a great first baseman, is paralyzed in a
hospital in Philadelphia.”
The Worcester Gazette, on September 4, 1908, ran
another account of Jack O’Connor’s “May the man be paralyzed who got my
sweater!” story we saw in 1899.
The Virtues were counted in the 1910 census on April 20.
They are living in a rented house at 2730 N 28th St in Philadelphia.
Jacob is a 45-year-old laborer in a public park who can’t read or write; Susan
is 42; William is 19 and a twister in a silk mill. Also living with them are
17-year-old niece Susan Elfrey, an “operator” in the “shoes” industry, and 11-year-old
nephew Charles Elfrey, a twister in a silk mill who is also attending school.
On January 6, 1920, it was time for another census. The
family is living in a rented house at 2808 Susquehanna Avenue in Philadelphia;
Jacob is a laborer for a steel supply company who once again can read and
write. He is 54, Susan is 52, and William, 29, is widowed and a chauffeur for
the post office. His one-year-old son William J. also lives with them.
In the September 9, 1921, Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, Al
Spink, in his “Past and Present” column reports that “Jake Virtue has charge of
the press box at the Athletic grounds in Philadelphia,” which sounds like it
was taken directly from the 1903 story. In October 1924 Spink used the same
sentence again.
Sporting News, September 22, 1927:
John J. McGraw, while chinning with some old cronies recently, sprung several yarns of the old days at Baltimore, when that team won pennants and the Orioles were considered the greatest team on earth.
“Once the old Orioles were in a tight place,” said John, “with Jake Virtue at bat. Jake had been hitting well against us, and with runners on, it looked as though we might be in for it.
“Robby [Wilbert Robinson] was catching and, as Jake walked to the plate, he said to him: ‘Say, Jake, I hear you can hit a ball harder than any man on the club. I’ve got a bet that you will make the longest hit this afternoon.’
Virtue bit. Robinson sent the outfielders back and called for a slow ball. Virtue did not like slow ones and it was a 3-to-1 bet he’d raise it into the air if he connected.
The first ball came up big as a house, and Virtue let go viciously and missed it. “Hey!” said Robinson. “You ain’t going to throw me down, are you?”
“You watch me,” said Jake. “I’ll lay out the next one all right.”
The next one was a slow one and Virtue missed it. “There goes my five bones,” wailed Robby. “Not if I know it,” said Jake as he hit the next one a mile in the air and the first baseman finally caught it.
“Well, I won for you,” said Virtue, returning to the plate, where Robinson was grinning.
“How’s that?” asked the big catcher.
“If you count long hits, wasn’t that good?” demanded Virtue. “There ain’t a man who can knock a ball as far as I knocked that one in the air.”
On April 2, 1930, there was another census taken in
Philadelphia. Jacob, unemployed, and Susan are living at 2924 N 27th
Street with Susan’s nephew Charles Riffert, a 41-year-old widowed retail
merchant (industry: “huckster”) and his three children.
A January 7, 1931, article in the Wilkes-Barre Times
Leader with the headline “FIRST SACKERS ARE SCARCE IN BIG LEAGUES” called
Jake the best all-around first baseman Cleveland ever had.
On April 15, 1933, Susan was killed by a Philadelphia
trolley. Jake was listed on the death certificate as the informant, with his
address still the Riffert house, but after this he moved in with son William in
Camden, New Jersey.
Spartanburg Herald, January 18, 1935:
Quinn Recalls Stars of the Past
Bob Quinn, Brooklyn’s general manager, popped into the Bulletin office to find the editor up to his ears in the gay ‘90s, trying to separate the different Murphys, Grays and Dalys and counting up to see whether Louie Bierbauer played enough years to be eligible for a lifetime pass to National League games.
The jumbled array of names scrawled all over a dozen sheets of paper sprang to life as Bob surveyed them. In the ‘90s Bob himself was a spry young catcher. He not only remembered all their first names, but he was quick to point out the hitting weaknesses of mythical figures like Dave Foutz and Jake Virtue.
“Jake couldn’t read a word of print,” Bob recalled. “But he could always tell how many hits he made. He knew which was the hit column in the box score, you see, and he knew the different numbers.”
Detroit News, June 11, 1935:
‘Forgotten Man’ Remembers Detroit’s 1889 Flag
14 MEN ENOUGH TO WIN PENNANT
CAMDEN, N.J., June 11.—Detroit won the championship of the International Base Ball League in 1889, and the biggest factor in that triumph was Jacob Kitchline Virtue.
A forgotten man today—“Jake” Virtue played first base and was the ranking slugger of the Detroits of nearly a half-century ago.
Today, a hopeless cripple, Virtue lives in virtual retirement here with a son, William.
Forty-one years ago in the winter of 1894, at the height of his big league career with the Cleveland Spiders in the National League, Virtue suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire left side. He never played another game of base ball…
Virtue, who celebrated his seventieth birthday March 2 last, was obtained by Detroit from Canton, O., in the Tri-State League, after the close of the 1888 campaign. His first Detroit contract called for a monthly salary of $325.
“Detroit carried 14 players when I joined the team,” Virtue said. “There were four pitchers, two catchers, four infielders and three outfielders [that makes 13]. It was just too bad if you happened to get sick or injured. As long as you could stand on your feet you went out there and played.
“I remember one day in Detroit we were having practice before a league game and I broke a finger on my right hand catching a ball thrown by Billy Wheelock, our shortstop.
“It was toward the latter part of the 1889 season and we needed one of three remaining games to win the championship. I was the only first baseman the club had and was hitting at a .300 clip so they could not afford to bench me to have the fractured finger put in a splint.
“Instead, I was told to go out to first base and stick it out. I did and I want to tell you that every ball I caught in those three games was like grabbing red-hot rivets with a bare hand. Every time the ball hit my glove my eyes broke out in tears. That broken finger mended itself right there on the diamond. It never was set and today is still crooked. But we won the pennant.”
…Virtue played first base for the Spiders during the seasons of 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1894, before he suffered the stroke, the origin of which he never discovered, and at 29 years of age was shunted into base ball oblivion.
In the April 30, 1936, Sporting News, Jake appeared
on a list of former players who had been presented with lifetime passes to
major league games—even though the passes were for those who had spent ten or
more years in the majors and Jake only lasted five.
In the 1940 census, taken on April 5 in Camden, New Jersey,
Jake is living at 637 Vine Street with son William, a 49-year-old mail carrier,
his second wife Grace, his son William, a 21-year-old laborer, and their son Herbert,
a 15-year-old student, as well as Grace’s widowed mother Emma Chiovano, at 76 a
year older than Jake.
Exactly two months later, Detroit Times sports
columnist Leo Macdonell wrote:
Jake Virtue, 77 [75], of Camden, N.J., who played with the Cleveland Spiders before the turn of the century, says “ball players of today are just as good as the old-timers—all but the pitchers.”
On February 3, 1943, Jake passed away, four weeks shy of his
78th birthday. His Sporting News obituary appeared in the
February 11 issue, borrowing liberally from the 1935 Detroit News
article:
Jacob (Jake) Kitchline Virtue, major league first baseman whose career was cut short after the 1894 season by a stroke from which he never recovered, died at Camden, N.J., February 3. A helpless cripple, he had lived with his son, William, in that city.
Born in Philadelphia, March 2, 1865, Virtue played with the Somersets of Philadelphia in 1883 and 1884, the Ironsides, Lancaster and Altoona in 1885, Oswego, Altoona and Canton in 1886 and Canton in 1887 and 1888 before he was brought up by the Detroit International League Club in 1889. The Michigan city had just dropped its franchise in the National League. In his first year with the team he hit .314 in 107 games and received a monthly salary of $325, which was exceptionally good pay in those days. There were only 13 players on the team—four pitchers, two catchers, four infielders and three outfielders—but it won the pennant.
Near the latter part of the 1889 season, with Detroit needing one of the three remaining games to win the championship, Virtue broke a finger in practice, but as he was the only first baseman and was hitting over .300, he had to stick it out and as a result, the broken digit mended itself right on the diamond. The finger was never set and remained crooked throughout his life.
Virtue returned to Detroit in 1890, but the International League failed to continue and he accepted terms with the Cleveland National League club. He played first base for the Spiders through the 1894 season. That winter he suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire left side and at the age of 29, Jake was through, never to play another game.
https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/V/Pvirtj101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/virtuja01.shtml