John Joseph "Pa" Harkins (April 12, 1859 in New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick, New Jersey

New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA. It is the county seat and the home of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. At the 2010 United States Census, the population of...

 - November 20, 1940) was a 19th century Major League Baseball

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...

 player who pitched

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 for three different teams in his five season career that lasted from to .

Playing career

After attending Rutgers University

Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in New Jersey, United States. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766. It is the eighth-oldest college in the United States and one of the nine Colonial colleges founded before the American...

 as a chemistry

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....

 student, he signed a contract with a Semi-professional

Semi-professional

A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...

 team based in Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton, New Jersey

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...

 in 1881. He played with Trenton until 1884 when he was sold to the Cleveland Blues

Cleveland Blues (NL)

The Cleveland Blues were a Major League Baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio that operated in the National League from 1879 to 1884. In six seasons their best finish was third place in 1880. Hugh Daily threw a no-hitter for the Blues on Sept. 13, 1883. Besides Daily, notable Blues players...

 of the National League

National League

The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

. John finished his first major league season with 12 wins against 32 losses, 42 complete game

Complete game

In baseball, a complete game is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher.As demonstrated by the charts below, in the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were...

s, and a 3.68 earned run average

Earned run average

In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

.

When the 1884 season finished, the Blues folded, and many of their player were bought by the Brooklyn Grays

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...

, including John, Doc Bushong

Doc Bushong

Albert John "Doc" Bushong was a catcher in Major League Baseball.Bushong bounced around various professional leagues from 1875 to 1891. His greatest success came with the 1885-1886 St...

, George Pinkney, and Germany Smith

Germany Smith

George J. "Germany" Smith was an American Major League Baseball player from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played primarily shortstop for five different teams spanning 15 seasons. He made his major league debut for Altoona Mountain City of the Union Association in...

. During his three seasons with Brooklyn he ptiched alongside of ace Henry Porter

Henry Porter (baseball)

Walter Henry Porter was an American Major League Baseball player born in Vergennes, Vermont who pitched for three different teams during his six year career.-Career:...

, and Adonis Terry

Adonis Terry

William H. "Adonis" Terry was an American Major League Baseball player whose career spanned from his debut with the Brooklyn Atlantics in , to the Chicago Colts in . In his 14 seasons, he compiled a 197-196 win–loss record, winning 20 or more games in a season four different times...

, winning 39 games. He was sold to the Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Orioles (19th century)

The Baltimore Orioles were a 19th-century American Association and National League team from 1882 to 1899. The club, which featured numerous future Hall of Famers, finished in first place three consecutive years and won the Temple Cup championship in 1896 and 1897...

 after the season and pitched in only game.

Post-career

During John's playing days, he acted in an advisory role for the coaching staff of the baseball teams at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, Lehigh University

Lehigh University

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...

 and Princeton University

Princeton University

Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

. Later, when he took over as the head coach of Yale's baseball team, one of his players was long-time future college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 head coach for the University of Chicago

University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 and the University of the Pacific, Amos Alonzo Stagg

Amos Alonzo Stagg

Amos Alonzo Stagg was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football...

. Harkins convinced Stagg to switch from outfielder

Outfielder

Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...

 to pitcher, and the two became friends, a friendship that lasted over 50 years. Later owned and operated a café

Café

A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...

 for many years, and was an alderman

Alderman

An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 in New Brunswick and then a Sergeant-at-Arms

Serjeant-at-Arms

A Sergeant-at-Arms is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word sergeant is derived from the Latin serviens, which means "servant"....

 for the local court.

John died of a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

at the age of 81 in his hometown of New Brunswick, and is interred at St. Peter's Cemetery.

External links