The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-04-01
Hugh Jennings, Head of
Ty Cobb & Co., 46 Sunday

Hugh Ambrose Jennings, general
manager of the we'll known Detroit
firm of Ty Cobb & Company, will be
forty-six years old on Sunday. The
coming season will be his tenth as
pilot of the Tigers, and only twice in
all that period has his club finished
in the second division. In spite of the
fact that several other American
League clubs look a lot stronger on
paper this year than they did in 1915,
Hughey isn't worried. He declares
that the Tigers will, barring accidents,
be in the race with both feet. Last
year the Detroit team led the johnson
circuit in batting, and in the Diff de-
partment the champion Red Sox had
to take their dust Jennings has a
solid foundation for his confidence,
for any club that includes Ty Cobb
has to be reckoned with. 1t is true
thatAth Georgia Peach has to have
some assistance, but the reports from
Waxahachie indicate that Jennings is
going to have a good, well-round
team.
Jennings has earned his living in
professional baseball for a quarter of
a century-and a very comfortable
living it has been. He has added to
his income by practicing law in the
Winter months, and he is said to be
as classy a legal IUminary as he is a
baseball pilot. Jennings is probably
pastime, for while not a ughtwad he
has never been reckless in financial
matters.
Jennings stated his baseball career
in the mining district of. Pennsylvania.
He was born on April 2, 1870, in
Pittston. AS a youngster he played
ball in Mauch Chunk, Lehighton and
other towns in the coal region. In
1891 he was catching for a semi-pro-
fessiona1 club in Lehighton. One June
day in that year young Jennings got
letter from Jack Chapman, manager
of the Louisville club in the old
American Association, which was a
major league. Chapman enclosed a
hundred dollars in his epistIe, and or
dered Huhgey to climb aboard the
Co1oniels' band-wagon. Chapman had
been tipped off by a friend who had
great confidence in the future of the
red-haired Irishman, and he acted on
the advice without losing any time.
To jump from a. Senii-pro outfit to
major league club seemed appalling
to Hugh, and he was filled with mis-
gfvings as to the result, but he had
the hundred bones and he figured that
at worst he would have a free trip to
and from Kentucky, and a little ex-
perience. Chapman didn't need
backstop. He had acted on the spur
of the moment in buying his mail
order recruit, and when he got him
he scarcely knew what to do with
him. Soon after Hugh's arrival Tay-
1or, the first baseman of the Colonies,
was put out of the game, and Jen-
nings was perched on that sack.
Hugh gave a very fair imitation of
a first baseman, but was soon switch
ed to shOrtstop. It was as q swatter,
however, that he made his big reputa-
ton In his second game he got three
hits out of four times up, and he
finished his first season with a batting
average of 1856. In 1892 Louisville
was admitted to the National League.
Hugh continued to play shortstop and
batted. 232. The following year he
temporarily lost his batting eye, and
was traded to Baltimore. He batted
1892 for the Orioles inl 1894, 1856 in
1895, and 1892 in 1895. In 1899 he
went to Brooklyn, where he batted
800. In 1907 he went to the Phi1Iies
and remained here two seasons, when
he landed in Baltimore. He played
shortstop and second base for the
Eastern League club until 1907, when
be was drafted by Detroit, and be-
came the bench manager of the
Tigers.