George Fair
Encyclopedia
George T. Fair was a Major League Baseball
second baseman
, playing one game for the New York Mutuals
in . The twenty-year-old Fair failed to get a hit in four at-bats in his lone big-league contest, then faded into obscurity. Born in Boston
, he died in Roslindale, Massachusetts in 1939 at the age of 83.
The first baseball encyclopedia, Hy Turkin
and S. C. Thompson
's Complete Encyclopedia of Baseball (first published in 1951), did not list Fair. Instead, his brief accomplishments were credited to Edward L. Thayer; later references rectified this, and Fair was given his rightful place in baseball history. (Whoever came up with Fair's pseudonym may have been thinking of Ernest Thayer
, who wrote the famous baseball poem Casey at the Bat
.)
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
, playing one game for the New York Mutuals
New York Mutuals
The Mutual Base Ball Club of New York was a leading American baseball club almost throughout its 20-year history. It was established during 1857, the year of the first baseball convention, just too late to be a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players. It was a charter...
in . The twenty-year-old Fair failed to get a hit in four at-bats in his lone big-league contest, then faded into obscurity. Born in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, he died in Roslindale, Massachusetts in 1939 at the age of 83.
The first baseball encyclopedia, Hy Turkin
Hy Turkin
Hy Turkin was a sportswriter best known for co-editing the first baseball encyclopedia.Turkin was born in New York, one of seven children. He joined the staff of the New York Daily News after graduating from Cooper Union in 1936 with a degree in electrical engineering...
and S. C. Thompson
S. C. Thompson
Shirley C. Thompson was best known as the co-editor of the first baseball encyclopedia. He published under the name "S.C. Thompson" and was known to his friends as "Tommy."...
's Complete Encyclopedia of Baseball (first published in 1951), did not list Fair. Instead, his brief accomplishments were credited to Edward L. Thayer; later references rectified this, and Fair was given his rightful place in baseball history. (Whoever came up with Fair's pseudonym may have been thinking of Ernest Thayer
Ernest Thayer
Ernest Lawrence Thayer was an American writer and poet who wrote "Casey at the Bat".-Biography:Thayer was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts and raised in Worcester. He graduated magna cum laude in philosophy from Harvard in 1885, where he was editor of the Harvard Lampoon...
, who wrote the famous baseball poem Casey at the Bat
Casey at the Bat
"Casey at the Bat: A Ballad of the Republic Sung in the Year 1888" is a baseball poem written in 1888 by Ernest Thayer. First published in The San Francisco Examiner on June 3, 1888, it was later popularized by DeWolf Hopper in many vaudeville performances.The poem was originally published...
.)