Jennings, Hugh A.
Baseball
b. April 2, 1869, Pittston, PA
d. Feb. 1, 1928
The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Jennings originally hoped to make it in baseball as a catcher, but he became a shortstop in 1890 and joined Louisville of the American Association, then a major league, the following season.
During the 1893 season, Jennings went to the Baltimore Orioles of the NL and became one of many stars on a team that won four straight pennants from 1894 through 1897. Jennings hit .335, .386, .401, and .355, scored 125 or more runs each year, drove in more than 100 runs three times, and led the league's shortstops in fielding all four years.
In 1899, Jennings began the season with the Brooklyn Superbas, returned to the Orioles for two games, then went back to the Superbas. He helped lead Brooklyn to the 1900 pennant, although he batted only .272 in 115 games that season.
Jennings went to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1901 and returned to Brooklyn briefly in 1903 before becoming a minor league manager. In 1907, he took over as manager of the Detroit Tigers and guided them to three consecutive pennants from 1907 through 1909. However, they lost the World Series each year.
He remained with the Tigers through 1920, then became a coach with the New York Giants under his former Baltimore teammate, John McGraw. Jennings managed the Giants for 44 games in 1924, when McGraw was ill. In 1925, Jennings had a nervous breakdown and spent some time in a sanitarium.
Although he'd had no formal education before his baseball career, Jennings had received a law degree from Cornell University while playing and he left baseball to practice law in Pennsylvania.
As a player, Jennings had a .311 career average with 1,527 hits, including 232 doubles, 88 triples, and 18 home runs. He stole 359 bases, scored 994 runs, and had 840 RBI. His record as a manager was 1,163-984, a .542 winning percentage.