Meriden’s Jack Barry and the Wild Waves

By Mike Griffen

“I consider it my duty to do all I can for my country…I’m no slacker. If I can be of any use, I’ll gladly quit baseball.”1

- Jack Barry, Washington Times, July 29, 1917

1 “Barry Now Yeoman in Naval Reserve,” The Washington Times, July 23, 1917.

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On the second of April, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson went before a joint session

of Congress to advocate for a declaration of war against Germany. Congress voted in

support of Wilson’s request and four days later, the declaration became official. This

monumental decision would affect millions of American men from all sectors of American

life. With the nation’s sense of patriotism stimulated, many of these men enlisted in the

armed forces at the first opportunity they got. They were farmers and barbers, sons of

businessmen and mill workers, factory workers and professional athletes. One of the

enlistees was a professional baseball player from Meriden, Connecticut. He was a four-time

World Series champion and player-manager for the defending champs, the Boston Red Sox.

His name was Jack Barry.

In June of 1917, Barry joined the Navy in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Many of his

teammates followed his example, enlisting in the Navy alongside their manager at

Charlestown Navy Yard. Barry’s service during the Great War was markedly different from

many other soldiers and sailors. He and most of his teammates were never shipped out to

Europe. Instead, he was permitted by the Navy to form a team representing to Charlestown

Yard for the purpose of raising morale on the home front. The roster was composed of as

many as eleven major league players as a given time. Barry’s experiences allow insight to an

under-analyzed aspect of service during The War and should serve as a source of pride for

the people of Meriden.

The Early Years

John Joseph ‘Jack’ Barry was born on April 26, 1887 on 194 Grove Street in Meriden.

His father, Patrick Barry, and mother, Mary Doohan Barry, were both born in County Kerry

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Ireland and immigrated to the States in the 1860s. Patrick owned and ran a saloon next to

their house at 24 Hillside Avenue and Mary sold her knitting at the local market. The eldest

of three children, Jack was enamored with baseball from a young age. According to local

lore, there was a barn on the Barry property and at the age of nine, little Jack would hone

his skills by tossing a ball over the roof and sprinting around the other side to catch it.

It was clear early on that John Barry was a skilled ballplayer. At age thirteen, the

1900 US Census recorded young Jack’s occupation as “athlete.”2 This might seem a bit

premature given that he was not yet in high school, but it would remain his occupation in

every official census until his death.

Barry attended and play ball at St. Rose parochial school (now St. Rose of Lima

Church) on Center Street until he was fourteen. He then moved on to Meriden High School –

located in building in which the Meriden Board of Education is now headquartered. In his

two years at Meriden High, the baseball team took home two state championships and Jack

caught the eye of scouts from Holy Cross. The school offered him a full scholarship, to Holy

Cross prep school, marveling at the fluidity and speed of his fielding at shortstop.

He played every infield position in his two years in prep school and by the time his

senior year of college, also at Holy Cross, rolled around, the majority of major league teams

hoped to land him. The Chicago White Sox sent Big Ed Walsh – Meriden’s most famous

resident and renowned pitcher who still holds the Major League record for lowest career

ERA – to recruit Barry. But, Jack had already committed to the Philadelphia Athletics and

their legendary manager Connie Mack. It would be one of the best decisions of his life.

2 1900 United States Census, s.v. “John Joseph Barry,” Meriden, New Haven County, Connecticut, accessed through Ancestry.com.

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Jack was quiet, smart, uncomplaining, reserved, and not predisposed to drinking.

Mack loved him. He played second base as a rookie in 1908 until being moved to his natural

position, shortstop, in his second season. There he solidified his spot as one quarter of the

Athletics’ fabled $100,000 infield alongside Stuff McInnis at first, Eddie Collins at second,

Home Run Baker at third.

Barry quickly distinguished himself as the best fielder on the team, possibly the

league and Chicago sportswriter Hugh Fullerton considered him the best in the game at

taking throws, blocking the bag, and holding runners on at second base.3 Despite being the

weakest hitter of the quartet, he had an affinity for coming through at the plate in clutch

situations. He was so good in these situations that one sports columnist proclaimed:

“If Barry’s batting average was only .119 and a hit was needed to win a game for the Athletics, it’s a cinch that 99 percent of the fans would rather have Barry at bat than any other man on Mack’s payroll.”4

From 1910 to 1914, Barry’s Athletics won four out of five pennants and three world

championships. Upon his return to Meriden following the Athletics’ World Series in 1910,

Jack, was greeted by a huge crowd of nearly 20,000 residents and a parade complete with

full band who played “Home Sweet Home” upon his arrival.5 The city even organized ‘Barry

Night’ at the local theater and tickets sold out over a week in advance.6 The scene perfectly

demonstrated the position which baseball occupied in American society in the early 20th

3 Hugh Fullerton. “World Series Starts To-day With Teams Bitter Foes,” in The Chicago Examiner, October 9, 1914.4 Stony McLinn & Francis C. Richter. “Philadelphia Points” in The Sporting News, September 16, 1911.5 “Crowd of 20,000, Came Out to Welcome Jack Barry to His Birthplace and Home,” Meriden Record Journal, October, 3, 1910.6 “Barry Night Changed to Tuesday Eve: Hero of the Diamond Cannot be in Meriden Tonight and Event Has been Postponed – Tickets May Be Exchanged,” Meriden Record Journal, October, 3, 1910.

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century, and Meriden was as baseball-crazy as anywhere. Barry would win two more titles

with the Athletics in the next three years.

After a disappointing 1914 season, Jack was traded to the Boston Red Sox. In Boston,

at the newly built stadium in the Fens, he would his customary shortstop. He would go on to

lead the Sox to the 1915 and 1916 World Series titles, with the help of a young pitcher

named Babe Ruth. When the team’s manager stepped down prior to the 1917 season, Jack

accepted the position, becoming the only active player-manager in the league at the time.

Then, in early April, came war.

Enlistment in the Navy

On the 29th of July, almost three months after President Wilson’s announcement,

Jack Barry enlisted as a yeoman in the United States Navy. It was a little over two months

into the season but Barry decided to answer the call and contribute to the war effort. He

called it a “spur of the moment” decision according to the Boston Globe. “Until yesterday,

Manager said he had no idea of taking this step,” the Globe reported.7

To that point, the draft had not taken any major-league player, Jack would be the first

to enlist. Barry himself later elaborated on the decision saying, “I consider it my duty to do

all I can for my country…I’m no slacker. If I can be of any use, I’ll gladly quit baseball.”8

Many ballplayers preferred naval service over Army and those who registered early,

were allowed to select where they wanted to serve. He enlisted alongside Red Sox club

secretary and close friend John Lane, who was planning on enlisting in officer school and

7 “Jack Barry Among Speakers Who Help Recruiting Boom.” in The Boston Globe, November 22, 1917.8 “Barry Now Yeoman in Naval Reserve.” in The Washington Times, July 29, 1917.

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may have played a part in Jack’s decision. In addition to Lane, six of Jack’s Red Sox players

followed his example and chose duty at the Charlestown Navy Yard.9

The comparisons to Commodore Jack Barry, who played a part in the creation of the

United States Navy, were inevitable but the modern Jack was not needed immediately. The

Navy permitted Barry and his teammates play out the remainder of the 1917 season and

the Bo-Sox finished second behind a White Sox team which would become infamous just

two years later.

Jack Reports for Duty

Jack Barry reported for service at Charlestown Navy Yard in November 1917. With

him were teammates including infielders Mike McNally, Del Gainer; outfielder Chick

Shorten, and pitchers Eddie Shore, King Bader and Herb Pennock. Superstar shortstop

Rabbit Maranville, outfielder Jimmy Walsh, and catcher Art Rico, all of the Boston Braves,

and Lawton Witt of the Athletics, reported as well.10

The majority of the ballplayers at the base were ranked Yeoman, a rank roughly

equivalent to staff sergeant in the Army and five steps above seaman recruit. Barry himself

was quickly promoted to CPO or chief petty officer after demonstrating his leadership

ability early on and so that his position as manager and captain of the yard baseball team

carry with it the proper quota of authority. Predictably, there were rumors of preferential

9 Edward F. Thompson. “Red Sox Lose Most Players: Eleven are Already in the Army and Navy Every Major

League Club Can Fly a Service Flag Next Year.” in The Boston Globe, December 23, 1917.

10 Edward F. Thompson. “Red Sox Lose Most Players: Eleven are Already in the Army and Navy Every Major

League Club Can Fly a Service Flag Next Year.” in The Boston Globe, December 23, 1917.

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treatment for ballplayers because of the ranks they were given. A number of publications,

most notably the Sporting News. The magazine criticized the players, virtually ignoring the

fact that nearly all of these men had volunteered for service early, saying:

“These players are enlisted for the period of the war, according to reports that seem to be authentic while the mis-ranked yeoman-players may never smell gunpowder or feel the agonies of seasickness, they will be kept doing something or other in the service.”11

If anything, the ball players were overqualified for such duty. The majority of them

had degrees from four-year colleges. Among them were men with degrees from Holy Cross,

Tufts, and Harvard and a number from prestigious prep schools. The yeoman position was,

and still is, a clerical position and Jack Barry likely had one of the most well-educated and

able group of yeoman in the Navy, although most flag-waving publications like the Sporting

News would never see it that way.

During the winter of 1917-18, the player’s duties were the same as any other sailor

and they served admirably according to all reports. But their presence in the Naval Yard,

which had already caused a fair amount of noise from the media, was about to become a

headache for Naval Headquarters in Washington.

The Harry Frazee Saga

When Barry and his teammates enlisted, many Red Sox fans somewhat irrationally

expected the enlisted players to seek leave and return to team for the 1918 season. One of

those who held this irrational mindset was Red Sox owner Harry Frazee, the man who

would, a year later, sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees.

11 “Ballplayers Rank in the Navy.” In The Sporting News, December 9, 1917.

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Initially, Frazee wen out of his way to emphasize that he had absolutely no intention

of attempting to interfere with Jack’s service. “There is nothing in worse taste, nothing

more foolish,” he said shortly before Christmas, “than to talk these days of obtaining

exemption or furloughs for professional baseball players…How extremely nonsensical it is

at this time to even talk about such things.”12 Indeed, Frazee held to his declaration that

Christmas was not the time to discuss the issue; four day later apparently was.

He began with a letter directly to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, future

president Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 23, 1918. In it Frazee pleaded for the release of

all his players, especially Jack Barry and outfielder George E. Lewis, for the upcoming

season. Without these players, Frazee lamented that without his players and manager, his

business would fail.13 He goes on to cite a statement by President Wilson supporting the

importance of baseball during the war:

“…may I call your attention to the statement of President Wilson…to the effect that it was his earnest hope that professional base ball would not be discontinued during war times as he felt the American people needed the relaxation and whole some enjoyment by our national pastime more at this crucial period than in ordinary times?”14

Roosevelt was initially receptive in regarding Freeze’s request. He even sent a

telegram the next day to the Commandant of the Charlestown Yard, Cpt. William Rush,

asking his personal opinion on the matter. Roosevelt stated that he had no real problems

with granting some of the players, Barry in particular, furlough if they were not performing

12 Edward F. Martin, “Frazee Frowns on Calamity Howlers,” Boston Daily Globe, December 7, 1917; 13 Frazee to Roosevelt, telegram, January 23, 1918. Correspondence Concerning Red Sox Players at the Boston Navy Yard. Papers and correspondence. National Archives at Boston, Waltham, MA (Hereafter cited as Red Sox-Navy MSS).14 Ibid.

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any essential duties on the base.15 However, Frazee’s impatience began to erode any

support he had within the Navy. Between the 23rd of January and mid-February, Frazee sent

a barrage of letters pestering the Navy for a response to his request. First the local, then

national media got wind Frazee’s incessant pleading, the situation turned into a major

distraction for the Navy.

The papers were rife with misinformation regarding Barry’s position in the matter,

many of them reporting that he fully expected to be granted leave in the spring, despite the

fact that no reporters had access to interview him. There were numerous false reports that

he was somehow getting preferential treatment, a reduced workload, due to his notoriety.16

The distraction became disruptive enough that it turned into an issue for Naval

Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Brass in the capitol absorbed the information reported in the media and eventually

contacted the Charlestown Navy Yard on February 9 to discuss what to do about the

situation. During the phone call, an officer at the Navy Yard assures Washington that the

information being disseminated in the media about Barry is hearsay and concocted by

reporters. It is also revealed that some at Headquarters were considering transferring Jack

and the other Red Sox members, possibly to Ireland to be rid of the headache.17 The Yard

made it clear that Barry and his teammates had never considered asking for leave and that

the First Naval District – which Boston was a part of – was planning to for a team for the

spring with Barry at the helm.18

15 Franklin D. Roosevelt to Cpt. William Rush, telegram, January 24, 1918. Red Sox-Navy MSS16 i.e. “Ballplayers Rank in the Navy.” In The Sporting News, December 9, 1917.17 Cdr. Overstreet calling Cpt. Key, telephone message transcript, Red Sox-Navy MSS.18 Ibid.

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Ultimately, it was the players themselves who ended the controversy. A meeting of

all members of the Red Sox organization was held by Lane and the players voted

unanimously that they had no desire to be given furlough and would not accept it if offered.

Oddly, Jack was the only member of the team who did not attend the meeting. It is unclear

as to why he wasn’t there, he never spoke of it, but the most likely explanation was that he

wanted his players to speak for themselves, without the pressure following his lead.

However, this is not a certainty, what is certain is neither Barry, nor any of his players left

the service during the war. Unsurprisingly, this decision lead to his firing as manager of the

Sox.

The irony of the 1918 season in relation to Harry Frazee’s public outbursts prior to

its start cannot be understated. Frazee, never a baseball genius, had spent a large part of

the offseason practically on his knees, begging for his manager and players back. “My club

will not only be out of the running professionally,” Frazee told Roosevelt, “but my business

investment will be practically wrecked…” They won the World Series.

One year later, Frazee sold superstar pitcher Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to

fund a production of No, No, Nanette on Broadway. Ruth went on to transform the Yankees

into the most successful franchise in the history of professional sports and became the most

famous athlete in the history of American sports. The Red Sox did not win the World Series

again for another eighty-six years.

Genesis of the Wild Waves: Early Issues

Once the Frazee fiasco had been resolved, Captain Rush began to take steps toward

the creation of a baseball team to represent The Yard. “It is suggested,” Rush told his chief of

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staff, “that you go ahead and fix up a fine baseball team, one that can tackle anything in the

country, which you can call the First Naval District Baseball Club.”19 With Barry at manager

and playing second base, the team would indeed tackle everything in their path. The ‘Wild

Waves’ as they called themselves, would become one of the most talented amateur teams

the game has ever seen (the word ‘amateur’ being used very loosely.)20 But the team would

have to navigate through a number of unexpected obstacles before even stepping on the

field for their first game.

Lane, serving as team secretary, laid out a plan for a grand, three-month tour in

which ‘Jack Barry’s Charlestown Navy Yard Nine,’ as they were often called, would play

amateur, college, minor league and major league competition. The tour was to start in early

April and there were problems from the start. The first three games were cancelled due to

inclement weather and the Navy refused to sanction the fourth, offering no explanation as

to why. The fifth schedule game, against Boston College, was cancelled just four hours

before first pitch and again the Navy gave no explanation.21

There were rumors among fans and the press that Rear Admiral Spencer S. Wood

had disbanded the First Naval District Club. Wood was the active commander of the First

Naval District and did not think that baseball had a place in military operations. He did not

disband Jack’s team. Instead, Wood refused to utilize the team for to improve either moral

or for financial support, despite Roosevelt suggested having to both he and Rush that the

most beneficial part of forming a team was contributions to the war effort.22

19 Cpt. William Rush to his Chief of Staff, telegram, March 3, 1918. Red Sox-Navy MSS.20 “Barry and the Wild Waves poised to begin play,” Stars & Stripes, April 19, 1918. 21 Jim Leeke, Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918, (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co. Inc., 2015), 60-70.22 Sec. Franklin D. Roosevelt to Cpt. William Rush, telegram, January 24, 1918. Red Sox-Navy MSS.

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Initially it was assumed that proceeds from the games would go to the Navy Welfare

Fund or Red Cross to help in the war effort. This never happened. Many of their games

would be played in front of crowds of as many as 40,000 people but they could not charge

fans to attend. Additionally, Wood declared that all game were to be played in or near

Boston, cutting a large number of games from the scheduled tour.

Predictably, these restrictions did not sit well with fans, many of whom arrive at

games hoping to take in a ball game and contribute to the war effort: A New York Sun

columnist at one of the games described the situation saying, “The Boston fans come to the

park not only ready but anxious to contribute to the athletic funds of the men in the service.

They did not come in expectation of seeing a ballgame for nothing, and they rather resented

the fact that no collection was taken up.”23

Play Ball!

After the uncertainty and rumors of disbandment subsided, the Waves finally began

play on May 4, 1918. Their roster was a veritable who’s who Major League stars. It included

two future Hall of Famers and a number of bona-fide major league stars, Jack himself

among them. Both local and national media marveled at the talent of the First Naval District

ball club. A columnist for The Boston Herald known only by the moniker ‘Sportsman,’

declared that “it would not be hard to find several major league managers would be willing

to take the Navy Yard ball team just as it stands and put it into the big circuit without asking

any questions.”24

23 “More than 40,000 see Navy Yard win,” New York Sun, May 6, 1918.24 ‘Sportsman,’ “Live Tips and Topics for May 17,” Boston Daily Globe, May 17, 1918.

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Play officially started on the 4th of May, 1918 against Harvard University at Harvard’s

Soldiers Field. The superiority of the Navy Yard was immediately evident. King Bader

hurled a complete game two hitter, while Barry contributed with characteristic defensive

play, pair of doubles, and three hits in total. The result was a 12-0 shellacking in front of

more than 10,000 spectators.25

The next afternoon Jack and the Navy Yard club took on their Army counterparts

from Camp Devens at Braves Field. The Devens team was skippered by Harold Janvrin, a

local prodigy and former Red Sox teammate of Barry and a number of other Waves. The

stacked Navy Yard roster and Janvrin’s participation in the game drew a lot of attention in

the area.26 The result was an attendance record for the Braves Field with upwards of

40,000 spectators turning out to watch.27 Among those in attendance was Rear Admiral

Wood himself and Capt. A.L. Key representing the Navy as well as Maj. Gen. Hodges

representing the Army.28 Wood’s regulations still applied however, preventing the collection

of a single dime for the Navy.29 But Jack and his nine won again, this time by a score of 5-1.

Barry went 0-2 at the plate but he walked twice, scored one run and drove in a one with a

sacrifice bunt.

In between the victory over Camp Devens and the team’s upcoming game against the

302nd Infantry club in Worcester, the Navy abruptly announced the transfer of Maranville,

McNally, Pennock, Witt, Gainer, and Callahan.30 All six men were shipped out to undisclosed

25 Melville E. Webb Jr., “Boston Navy Yard shuts out Harvard,” Boston Daily Globe, May 5, 1918.26 “Record Crowd Due at Braves Field: Navy Yard and Devens to Start Play at 3,”Boston Daily Globe, May 5, 1918.27 James C. O’Leary, “More Than 40,000 See Navy Yard Win,” Boston Globe, May 6, 1918.28 Ibid. 29 “Admiral Wood’s Stand on Sunday Baseball Upheld,” Boston Herald, May 9, 1918.30 “Maranville ordered to enrolling office,” Harford Courant, May 8, 1918.

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destinations. The transfers left a gaping hole in Barry’s team but acting in a manner

befitting a C.P.O., Jack accepted the transfers not with complaint but with enthusiasm and

congratulations for his comrades. But even the loss of six major leaguers could not stop the

Wild Waves from rolling and crashing over everyone in their path.

A few day later, Jack and his ‘depleted’ team walloped the 302nd Infantry by the score

of 16-1.31 They followed one drubbing up with another, dominating the Brooklyn Naval Yard

6-1 in New Haven on the strength of another stellar pitching performance from Shore. Jack

had a 3-4 afternoon at the dish and was widely applauded for his managerial skills and

maintaining the team’s high level of play despite all the departures.

On Memorial Day, 1918, the Waves played the closest and most exciting game of

their brief season. Jack’s Nine emerged with a narrow 3-2 victory in Norfolk against the

Atlantic Fleet team which, ironically, included Witt, Maranville, and Gainer. It was the

Waves’ only road game and took fourteen innings to decide a winner. After the game Barry

called it, “as good a game of real baseball as I have ever taken part in,” according to the Navy

Yard’s on-base newspaper, imaginatively called the Boston Navy Yard News. It would be the

highlight of their season.32

They again returned to Braves field and defeated the Newport Naval Reserves

behind a shutout performance by Bader and key first inning triple by Barry. While taking a

lead from third Jack exhibited his impeccable baseball acumen, managerial skills and

multitasking abilities by signaling to first baseman Jimmy Walsh to lay down a sacrifice

31 “Boston Navy Yard Trounces 302D Nine: Jack Barry, Shorten and Killilea Smite Hard,” Boston Daily Globe, May 13, 1918.32 “Navy Yard Nine Wins Fourteen Inning Thriller,” Boston Navy Yard News, May 31, 1918.

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bunt. Walsh executed the bunt flawlessly and Barry scored on the play.33 The Waves then

defeated Camp Devens again, this time in ten innings, by the score of 2-1. Jack went 4 for 5

at the plate and scored both runs.34

After the second Camp Devens matchup, the Navy finally found a way to disband the

club (with Wood likely leading the charge.) A navy rule in which enlistees were allowed

only six months of on-shore service was cited and the plug was once again pulled on Jack’s

Wild Waves.35

There was one concession at least. Barry was allowed to play one last game on June

19, against his Alma Mater and future employer, the Holy Cross Crusaders. The Waves, who

had two other Holy Cross Alumni on the roster besides Barry, won 8-3. Jack went 2-4 and

scored two runs.36

Jack and the Charlestown Naval Yard team only played eight games being disbanded,

but they were just as dominant as expected. In those eight games, Jack’s Nine outscored

their opponents 57-9. They played in front of roughly eighty-five to one-hundred thousand

fans, never collecting a single dime for the Navy in the process due to Admiral Wood’s

policy.

Post-Disbandment

The dissolution of the team, for whatever reason, was not reported to the public

until August, almost two months after the fact. There was no satisfactory explanation to the

33 James C. O’Leary, “Jack Barry’s Nine Shuts out Newport: Bader Pitches Great Ball Against 2d Naval,” Boston Daily Globe, June 3, 1918.34 “Barry’s Navy Yard Boys Whip Devens,” Boston Daily Globe, June 10, 1918.35 “Charlestown Navy Yard Ballplayers Reassigned, Team Disbanded” Hartford Courant, June 17, 1918.36 “Boston Navy Yard Beats Holy Cross,” Boston Daily Globe, June 19, 1918.

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public for the break-up of the team. The Navy simply cited exigencies of service, ambiguous

navy-speak ostensibly meaning that the players might be needed overseas. Soon after

however, the Secretary of the Navy declared that admission could be charged for naval

ballgames. It was too late.

The Waves, by far the biggest draw of all the naval teams, had already disbanded and

the players had been scattered around to form a new Boston Naval League. The new

collection of teams was a water-down product and never drew crowds approaching those

for Jack’s team. Not many wanted to watch games pitting teams like Bumpkin Island against

The Navy Radio School it appeared.

Jack, for his part, decided to give up his CPO ranking and enlist in officer training

school at Harvard along with Ernie Shore.37 He was a born leader and if he wasn’t going to

be playing baseball, he thought it his duty to utilize his talents in other areas. The War

ended before he could graduate but he remained enlisted in 1919, going to France for three

months to assist in relief efforts.38

Jack’s Post-War Career and Legacy

Barry was released from duty upon his return from France. Having witnessed

firsthand the instability of the Red Sox and their owner (Frazee had just sold Babe Ruth to

the Yankees earlier in the year), he retired from professional baseball. In 1921, Jack

accepted the manager job at his beloved Holy Cross. He would hold this position for the

next forty-four years, leading the Crusaders to one of the unlikeliest College World Series

37 “Red Sox Players to Enter Ensign School,” New York Tribune, June 25, 1918.38 “Barry Going to France: Former Red Sox Player to Promote Army Baseball for K. of C.,” New York Times, April 1, 1919.

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championships of all-time in 1952. When he died in 1966 at the age of 73, he was still the

manager. He left behind an enormous legacy in the college game. With Jack at the helm, the

Crusaders boasted a staggering .806 winning percentage, the highest in collegiate history

under a single manager. Among those who attended his funeral were current major

leaguers, professional baseball scouts, coaches, and umpires, the owner of the Boston

Celtics, and the mayors of bother Meriden and Worcester (where Holy Cross is located).

Although Jack Barry enjoyed an enormously successful career in baseball and

garnered his share of fame – a homeless man in Chicago once pretended to be him and got a

free night’s sleep at a high-end hotel – he was often overshadowed by other famous

Meriden ballplayers and residents such as Ed Walsh and Connie Mack. He was overlooked

in voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, but he was posthumously inducted

into the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame the year he died. In 2007 he was inducted

into College Baseball Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class alongside legends like

Christy Mathewson, Lou Gehrig, and Joe Sewell.

Barry’s name remains part of Meriden’s culture today, even if most people don’t

know who he was. The town honored him by naming one of its three Little Leauges after

him (the other two, fittingly, are named after Walsh and Mack.) The city of Worcester,

Massachusetts, also put his name on one of their leagues as well.

Jack Barry is buried at St. Rose Cemetery in Meriden.39

39 “Jack Barry is Buried in Meriden Cemetary,” The Hartford Courant. April 27, 1966.

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APPENDIX I

Wild Waves Roster

Player MLB Team Pos. NotesDel Gainer Boston Red

Sox1B Career: .272/.342/.390/.732

Second on team in AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS in 1917 after Babe Ruth

Chick ShortenBoston Red

Sox OFGreat fielder in outfield and solid line drive hitter → Career: (.275/.330/.349/.680)

Ernie ShoreBoston Red

Sox RHPSuperstar pitcher and close friend of Jack Barry1914-1917: 58-33, 2.12 ERA Career: 2.47 ERA

Walter “Rabbit” Maranville

Boston Braves SS

Career: 23 yrs, 2,670 games, 2,605 hitsTop 15 in MVP voting seven time (3rd in 1913, 2nd in 1914)Inducted into Hall of Fame (1954)

Herb PennockBoston Red

Sox LHPCareer: 23 yrs, 617 appearances, 241-162, 3.60 ERA4th in MVP voting in 1924, 3rd in 1926Inducted into Hall of Fame (1948)

King Bader Boston Red Sox RHP

Excellent pitcher (2.51 career ERA)Only played three seasons in the majors

Jimmy Walsh Boston Braves

OF Irish-born teammate of Barry in PHI (1914) and BOS (1916)Utility player/tenth-man

Mike McNally Boston Red Sox

INF Light-hitting but versatile infielderWent to Yankees along with Babe Ruth

Art Rico Boston Braves

C One of a handful of players to go straight to majors to begin careerDied in 1919 of appendicitis at age 23

Lawton “Whitey” Witt

Philadelphia Athletics OF/SS/2B

Clutch hitter who helped 1920s Yankees win multiple WSFinagled his way into Charlestown Navy Yard

Leo CallahanMinor

Leagues OFSpent majority of career in minor leaguesSolid hitter at lower levels, not so solid in the majors

Jack Barry Boston Red Sox

SS/2B/MGR

Manager, second baseman and leader of the Wild Waves

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Jack Barry Career Statistics

Source: Baseball-Reference.com

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