Lloyd, "Pop" (John H.)
Baseball
b. April 15, 1884, Palatka, FL
d. March 19, 1965
A shortstop, Lloyd was often referred to as the "Black Wagner." The great Honus Wagner commented on the nickname, "I am honored to have John Lloyd called the Black Wagner. It's a privilege to have been compared to him." Like Wagner, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Lloyd had long arms, big hands, great speed for his size, and great lateral range. Unlike Wagner, he batted left-handed.
Although he was a soft-spoken, easy-going man who genuinely loved baseball, Lloyd was also a fierce competitor on the field and he was continually moving from one team to another to get a raise. "Wherever the money was, that's where I was," he once said.
Lloyd played second base in his first professional season with the Cuban X Giants in 1906, but was moved to shortstop when he joined the Philadelphia Giants the following year. After three seasons there, he went to the Chicago Leland Giants with several teammates and the Philadelphia team folded.
During the winters, Lloyd usually played in Cuba, where he was known as "El Cucharo" (the Shovel) because he often came up with pebbles and pieces of the infield dirt when he scooped up a grounder.
In 1910, his Cuban team played a 12-game exhibition series against the Detroit Tigers, led by Ty Cobb. Lloyd hit .500 to Cobb's .370.
Lloyd went to the Lincoln Giants in New York in 1911, and he moved back to Chicago, with the American Giants, in 1913. He stayed there through the 1917 season, then became player manager of the Brooklyn Royal Giants in 1918.
From that time on, Lloyd began to play first base more often than shortstop. He played for and managed several teams before retiring from professional baseball in 1931, at the age of forty-seven. However, he continued managing and sometimes playing for semi-pro teams in Atlantic City until 1942, and he later served as commissioner of the city's Little League.