Detroit Tigers replacement players (May 18, 1912)

On May 15, 1912, Detroit star Ty Cobb was taunted in New York by a fan named Claude Lueker.

[5] The Tigers' starting pitcher, Allan Travers, was a college student who became a Catholic priest and later confessed he had never pitched in his life.

The unplanned appearance raised McGuire's career total to 26 major-league seasons, a record that was not surpassed until 1993 by Nolan Ryan.

William Edward Irwin (1882 – February 5, 1916) sometimes referred to as Ed Irvin,[7][8] played at third base for the Tigers during the player strike.

[9] Two members of the coaching staff (Deacon McGuire and Joe Sugden), who were pressed into service for that game, also got one hit each.

[11] A play about his life, The Perfect Hands of the Irresistible Ed was written by David James Brock.

[12] William Charles Leinhauser (November 4, 1893 – April 14, 1978) played center field for the replacement Tigers on May 18, 1912.

[13] According to one account, "when Leinhauser's wife found that he had the audacity to replace the great Ty Cobb, she hit him with a skillet.

On October 5, 1916, Maharg resurfaced in Major League Baseball as an assistant trainer and driver with the Philadelphia Phillies.

[15] Maharg grounded out and then played left field before returning to his real duties as chauffeur for Phillies catcher Bill Killefer.

Maharg ended his two-game major-league career with a .000 batting average but a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

Several White Sox players, including Eddie Cicotte, Chick Gandil, and Swede Risberg, conspired with Sleepy Bill Burns, a former big-league pitcher, to throw the World Series in exchange for $100,000.

Maharg worked with Burns to find financing, approaching New York gambler Arnold Rothstein to raise the money for the players.

Actor Richard Edson played the part of Maharg in John Sayles's 1988 film Eight Men Out.

Maharg died in Philadelphia on November 20, 1953, and was interred at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania.

Of course it was a big defeat for us, but they paid us fifteen dollars for a couple of hours work and I was satisfied to say that I had played against the world champions.

[18] James Vincent McGarr (November 9, 1888 – July 21, 1981), nicknamed "Reds", played second base for the replacement Tigers on May 18, 1912.

[19] McGarr and fellow replacement player Dan McGarvey were friends who had also been teammates at Georgetown College.

Daniel John McGarvey (December 2, 1887 – August 18, 1945) played in left field for the Tigers' replacement team.

[21] According to a publication by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Smith was an alias used that day by John Coffee.

Yet on May 18, 1912, Travers became a starting pitcher in a major league baseball game, walking out onto the mound in front of 15,000 Philadelphia fans at Shibe Park to face the two-time defending World Series champions.

Over the next few hours Travers pitched to some of the best players of the era, including Frank "Home Run" Baker, Eddie Collins, and Stuffy McInnis.

Travers taught at St. Francis Xavier High School in Manhattan and was later named Dean of Men at St. Joseph College.

Joseph Nichols "Hap" Ward (November 15, 1885 – September 13, 1979) played in right field for the replacement Tigers on May 18, 1912.