Patsy Tebeau

Career

Patsy Tebeau was born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1864. His brother, George, also played in the major leagues. Tebeau began his pro career in 1886 with the St. Joseph Reds of the Western League. The next season, playing for Denver in the same league, he hit .424 over 94 games.

He made his MLB debut that September with the National League's Chicago White Stockings, managing only a .162 average in 20 games. After a year in the Western Association in 1888, he joined the Cleveland Spiders in 1889 and batted .282. In 1890, he served as player-manager for the Cleveland Infants of the Players' League. He returned to the Spiders in 1891 and stayed as player-manager through 1898.

His lowest batting average with Cleveland was .244 in 1892, his highest .329 in 1893. The Spiders never finished a full season in first place, but the league's structure gave them postseason chances in 1892, 1895, and 1896. In 1892, a split season saw Cleveland win the second half and play in the World's Championship Series. They later competed in the Temple Cup, winning once.

In March 1899, the Spiders sent Tebeau to the St. Louis Perfectos. He managed that club before quitting midway through the 1900 season. Over 13 MLB seasons, he played 1,167 games, batting .279 with 27 home runs and 735 RBIs. His managerial record was 726–583–30.

He was known for verbally abusing umpires and opposing players, drawing criticism from journalists. After baseball, he ran a saloon in St. Louis. His wife left him, and in 1918 he died by suicide, shooting himself in the head and leaving a note saying he was an "unhappy and miserable man."