A letter has come to light revealing that Boston NL tried to hire him
I have written frequently in this space about Zane Grey, the famous writer of Western stories, his baseball opus, and his personal baseball experience. (Links to the other stories may be found below.) I read The Redheaded Outfield as a boy and, all these years later, it is not possible to overestimate the role he and a handful of other writers had on crafting my love of the game.
Grey was a formidable player at the University of Pennsylvania, with minor-league clubs and, while he was studying dentistry, with the Orange Athletic Club of Orange, New Jersey. Most often he went by his given name of Pearl Grey. Very recently I came to the conclusion that he was the Newark player strolling to first base in the very first baseball film, the Edison Company’s 1898 “The Ball Game.” (For more information, including the film itself, see: https://goo.gl/9ipEyf.)
After setting up his dentistry practice in New York City in 1899, Grey continued to play on weekends for the powerhouse Orange Athletic Club, semipro outfit that played Sunday exhibitions against big-league clubs — like the Cardinals, Giants, Reds, and Senators — and barnstorming black clubs like the Cuban Giants and the Cuban X-Giants, frequently defeating them.
Grey’s teammate at Penn and with the Orange A.C. was Roy Thomas, who would go on to play center field with the Phillies for a dozen years, leading the National League in walks in seven of the eight years from 1900 through 1907. A singles hitter with little power, Thomas nonetheless was a sabermetric pioneer, finishing his career with an on-base percentage of .413, 28th all-time.
The Phils brought Thomas directly to the big club from the Orange A.C., where Grey continued on weekend duty while struggling to establish himself as a dentist and as an author. Was Grey good enough to have have played in the majors, as Thomas did and as his brother Reddy would for one game with Pittsburgh in 1903? I had not thought so, until the letter below, from Al Buckenberger, manager of the Boston Braves, came to my attention.
Though pictured above, I offer this transcription:
Syracuse, N.Y. Jan 13th, 1902
Mr. P.Z. Grey, New York City
Dear Sir
I am informed that you do not intend to play ball with the Orange AC the coming season. Could you be induced to play professional base ball?
I would like to hear from you and in case you would consent to play let me know your lowest terms.
Yours &c,
AC Buckenberger
There is no record of Grey’s reply but the key fact is that, well underway with his first book, Betty Zane, published in 1903, he declined an opportunity to play big-league ball with Boston in 1902.
- Zane Grey’s “The Young Pitcher,” an Odd Baseball Novel
- Zane Grey’s “The Short-Stop,” a Neglected Baseball Novel
- Zane Grey’s Redheaded Outfield
- Old Well-Well
- Old Well-Well: Zane Grey’s Story
Zane Grey, Major Leaguer? was originally published in Our Game on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.