Bresnahan popularized the use of protective equipment in baseball by introducing shin guards, to be worn by catchers, in 1907.

He owned the minor league Toledo Mud Hens and coached for the Giants and Detroit Tigers.

He was the seventh child of Michael and Mary Bresnahan, who had immigrated to the United States from Tralee, Ireland.

After he graduated high school, Bresnahan signed with Lima of the Ohio State League, where he played primarily as a pitcher, but also as a catcher in 1895 and 1896.

However, the Senators released Bresnahan after the season over a salary dispute, when he attempted to hold out for more money.

[8] With the Orioles reportedly in significant debt, part-owner John Mahon purchased shares of the team from star players Joe Kelley and John McGraw, who had resigned from the team and signed with the New York Giants of the NL, becoming the majority shareholder.

That day, Freedman and Brush released Bresnahan, Kelley, Joe McGinnity, Jack Cronin, Cy Seymour, and Dan McGann from their contracts.

Once we had discovered a weak spot in the opposition and had discussed a plan for attacking it I could depend absolutely on Bresnahan to carry it out.

[15] Bresnahan practiced in shin guards that are worn in cricket during spring training, and debuted them on April 11, 1907.

[17] Bresnahan was hospitalized for ten days, during which time he developed schematics for a plastic batting helmet, though this piece of equipment did not become commonplace until the 1940s.

[17] The Giants obtained younger and faster players in 1909; McGraw had Chief Meyers ready to succeed Bresnahan at catcher.

[20] Grateful for the improvement at the box office, Robison signed Bresnahan to a five-year contract to manage the team for a salary of $10,000 per season ($337,464 in current dollar terms), plus ten percent of the club's profits.

[6] Robison died in March 1911, and ownership of the team transferred to Helene Hathaway Britton, his niece.

[6] On July 11, 1911, with the Cardinals only three games out of first place, the team was involved in a train wreck while riding the Federal Express from Philadelphia to Boston.

[21] Fourteen passengers were killed after the train derailed and plunged down an 18-foot (5.5 m) embankment outside Bridgeport, Connecticut.

[21] None of the Cardinals were seriously injured, due to a fortuitous pre-trip change in the location of their Pullman car, requested by Bresnahan.

[27][29] The club had moved to Cleveland to block the Federal League from placing a team there, but returned to Toledo under Bresnahan's control.

[7] Bill James wrote that Bresnahan "was one of those guys that if you were on his team and played hard he was as nice to you as could be, but if you got on his bad side you'd think he was the Breath of Hell.

[13] A 1911 directive by NL president Thomas Lynch, compelling umpires to prevent catchers from antagonizing batters with verbal abuse, mentioned only Bresnahan by name.

[14] In the 1945 balloting, occurring one month after Bresnahan's death, he received 133 votes, still falling short of enshrinement.

[34] Bresnahan was mentioned in the 1949 poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash: Battery mate of Christy Mathewson with the New York Giants, he was one of the games most natural players and might have starred at any position.

The "Duke of Tralee" was one of the few major league catchers fast enough to be used as a leadoff man B is for BresnahanBack of the plate;The Cubs were his love,and McGraw his hate.