HOFer Max Carey: One Of The Greatest Base Stealers Ever!
Gary Livacari
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Max Carey Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
Max Carey with Fort Wayne Daisies
Max Carey with Milwaukee Chicks
Max Carey
Max Carey with Hack Wilson
Max Carey with Burt Shotton on Opening Day (1932-33)
Casey replaced Max Carey as manager of the Dodgers
Max Carey with the Milwaukee Chicks
Max Carey, Honus Wagner, George Gibson
HOFers Sam Rice is second and Max Carey fourth. Not sure of the other two.
Max Carey
Max Carey
Max Carey with the Milwaukee Chicks
Max Carey during his days with the Pirates
Max Carey
Max Carey
Max Carey during his tenure as the Brooklyn manager
Max Carey fielding.
HOFer Max Carey: One Of The Greatest Basestealers Ever!
“Stealing bases is the art of picking up little things – things like a spitball pitcher who never threw to first if he was going to throw a spitter to the plate.” – Max Carey
We’ll continue with our off-season look at forgotten stars from the past. Today, we’ll shine our baseball spotlight on Max Carey, one of the top base stealers in major league history. A switch hitter, he’d also have to be included on any list of the greatest switch-hitters.
Max Carey
In the featured photo above, we see Max Carey in the center along with two other future Hall-of-Famers. That’s Hack Wilson on the left. Take a guess at the player on the right before I reveal his name below.*
Born on January 11, 1890 to Prussian immigrants, Maxmillion George Carnarius was originally slated by his parents to become a Lutheran minister. However, baseball rudely intruded upon the family plans. Originally a shortstop who had hopes of replacing Honus Wagnus when he debuted with the Pirates on October 3, 1910, Max Carey developed into an outstanding defensive center fielder with a strong, accurate arm. His 339 outfield assists are still the highest total of any National League outfielder since 1900.
Utilizing his remarkable speed as his “meal ticket,” Carey played 20 seasons in the majors (1910-1929), for the Pirates (1910-26), and the Dodgers (1926-29). Over his career, the 5’11” Terre Haute, Indiana native batted .285 with 2665 hits, 419 doubles, 159 triples, 1545 runs, 802 RBI, a career .361 on-base percentage, and 738 stolen bases (with an 87% success rate). He topped the .300-mark five times, striking out only 695 times in 10,768 plate appearances. In five seasons he scored over 100 runs. He led the league in steals 10 times; triples and walks twice; and runs scored once. Over his career, he had nine five-hit games and once reached base nine times in succession in an extra-inning contest.
Nicknamed “Scoops,” Carey’s stolen base total was a National League record until 1974 and is still the ninth-highest total in major league history and third highest in National League history. In 1922, he stole 32 bases in a row, on the way to a 96.2% stolen base success rate, the third-highest single-season success rate in major league history (he was only caught two times in 53 attempts). He’s the only pre-1951 player to record a percentage of 92% or higher. Max also stole home 33 times, second only to Ty Cobb’s 50.
In 1924, Carey altered his batting stance and modeled himself after Cobb. The move paid immediate dividends. He hit .343 in 1925, as the Pirates won the National League pennant. He starred in the 1925 World Series – his .458 batting average leading all players – helping the Pirates defeat the Washington Senators on their way to their second World Series championship. In the deciding Game Seven, Carey had four hits, including three doubles, all off of Walter Johnson.
Controversy involving Carey swirled around the Pirates in 1926. Former manager Fred Clarke, now a team stockholder and vice president, decided to sit on the bench in full uniform during games, acting as an “advisor” to manager Bill McKechnie. Apparently, some of the players resented a front office “suit” invading their space in the dugout. Unfortunately, Carey fell into a severe slump that year – he ended up hitting .222 after his stellar .343 performance the previous season – and Clarke recommended that Carey be replaced in mid-season.
There was a lot of team dissension with Clarke in this unusual role, as he was perceived to be nosing around too closely in the players’ affairs. After all, that was the manager’s job. When Carey, now the team captain, found out about Clarke’s recommendation to be replaced, he called a team meeting along with two other dissident ringleaders who also had issues with Clarke: Babe Adams and Carson Bigbee. Their intention was to pass a resolution banning Clarke from the dugout. A team vote was held on the issue. Much to their surprise, the vote went 18-6 in Clarke’s favor.
It’s unlikely that the ringleaders would have called for a vote if they didn’t think they had the support of the rest of the team. But when “push came to shove,” did some of the former complaining players – never known for their courage when standing up to management – lose their nerve? Did they not want their names associated too closely with the team uprising? In light of what subsequently happened to the ringleaders, this seems like a strong possibility.
When Clarke found out about the meeting and, with his position strengthened by the favorable vote, he turned the tables on the responsible players and recommended to owner Barney Dreyfuss that they all be disciplined. Dreyfuss predictably sided with Clarke instead of the players, and took drastic action in what became known as the “Great Pirates’ Mutiny.”
The three ringleaders became the “fall guys”: Adams, a hero of the 1909 World Series championship, was released outright, as was Bigbee; while a suspension was handed out to Carey. Following the season, he was placed on waivers and later claimed by the Brooklyn Robins.
Carey played his final three and a half years with the Robins, but he was aging and no longer the same player. He retired in 1929. After all was forgiven for the “mutiny,” he returned to the Pirates as a coach. He later managed the Dodgers for the 1932-’33 seasons, replacing legendary Brooklyn manager Wilbert Robinson, until he himself was replaced by Casey Stengel.
In 1944, Carey became the manager of the Milwaukee Chicks in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. That year, Milwaukee won the AAGPBL pennant. Beginning in 1945, he spent several years as the league’s president. He also spent three seasons managing the league’s Fort Wayne Daisies.
Using the Baseball-Reference Similarities feature, we can compare Max Carey to players we’re more familiar with. His career statistics compare favorably to Tim Raines, Kenny Loften, Lou Brock, and Ichiro Suzuki.
Max Carey was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1961. He passed away in 1976, aged 86, in Miami, Florida.
*On the right is Hall-of-Famer George “Highpockets” Kelly.
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