1894 by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Page 53
Jack” Taylor, who was in his first full season with the club, and who would, in just another year, become the Phillies’ top ace for several seasons.
The other was former New York Giants pitcher, then Phillies utility player, Jack Sharrott. Sharrott had come to the attention of New York Giants’ manager Jim Mutrie in early 1890
as Mutrie was in desperate straits to field a team as a result of the players’ rebellion that particularly decimated the New York roster. Mutrie’s “discovery” of Sharrott, who turned out to be a surprisingly good pitcher, is a story in itself, involving a mugging, a police intervention, a cop whose son was a pitcher, a tryout with the Giants, and a degree of entertaining speculation.
In 1893 Sharrott called to the attention of Phillies’ manager Harry Wright the presence of a young guy from his neighborhood back on Staten Island. This young man, Tuck Turner, now had a chance to show his skills. Playing only semi-pro ball at the time, Turner was free to try out for the Phillies. Harry Wright liked what he saw and immediately signed Turner and inserted him into the Phillies line up every chance he had for the remaining six weeks of the 1893 season. Turner played in 36 games with 155
at bats, which resulted in a very impressive .323 batting average; not too shabby for a 20 year old rookie.