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In researching Frank Mahar, Peter Morris discovered that the playing record for Frank Mahar of the 1902 Phillies is confused with that of Tom Maher, who played earlier in the season. According to Peter, their respective biographical info is correct; they were unrelated, Frank was born and died in Massachusetts while Tom was from Wilmington but his birth and death info remain unknown. Tom joined the team in late April and was then released; Frank joined the team in late August. But their playing records do not appear to be correct based on the research done on them by Bill Haber and Bob McConnell and passed along to me by Bob.
Bill Haber collected box scores and game accounts from four Philadelphia newspapers of Frank Mahar's debut on August 29. Each one indicated that Mahar suffered an injury during warmup, but played the first inning in left field and then was substituted for by Krug. He is listed in the
>> seventh spot in the lineup and is not credited with an at bat in any of the four box scores. Philadelphia scored one run that inning, so it is conceivable that he batted, but the accounts didn't mention it and you'd think that they would if he made an out with the bases loaded. And, as noted, all four box scores agree that he did not bat.
Tom Maher, according to Bob McConnell's notes, appeared as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia pitcher Vorhees in the sixth inning on April 24 and again in the ninth inning on April 26th, making an out each time.
Bill Haber collected box scores and game accounts from four Philadelphia newspapers of Frank Mahar's debut on August 29. Each one indicated that Mahar suffered an injury during warmup, but played the first inning in left field and then was substituted for by Krug. He is listed in the
>> seventh spot in the lineup and is not credited with an at bat in any of the four box scores. Philadelphia scored one run that inning, so it is conceivable that he batted, but the accounts didn't mention it and you'd think that they would if he made an out with the bases loaded. And, as noted, all four box scores agree that he did not bat.
Tom Maher, according to Bob McConnell's notes, appeared as a pinch hitter for Philadelphia pitcher Vorhees in the sixth inning on April 24 and again in the ninth inning on April 26th, making an out each time.
So it appears that Tom should have a lifetime batting record of 0-2, credit for 2 games played, and a last date of April 26. Frank should be credited with a game played in left field but no at bats. This is very different from what currently appears on retrosheet and the SABR encyclopedia, where Frank has an at bat, Tom has none and each one only played one game. I believe that what happened is that at one point their records were combined, and when they were disentangled, the playing records were not assigned to the right man.
Lyle
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