Hannibal's baseball legend

Atop the highest point of Riverside Cemetery, the brisk winds of early spring blow steadily. In the distance, the mighty Mississippi River flows at a moderate pace to the Gulf of Mexico. The sky is bright blue as the sun heats up the late morning air.
A few yards down from the road’s curve marks the Beckley family plot.
The headstones have aged, some have sunk into the saturated ground. At one time, the small marble memorials glistened in the daylight, but today only a few specs shine.
Chirping in a tree no more than 50 yards away, a glowing red cardinal echoes its tweets throughout the hollowed ground. Perhaps he was looking for a mate, perhaps he was marking his territory, or maybe, just maybe, he was paying his respects to Jake Beckley; a Cardinal in his own right.
Just like the species, Beckley was a Cardinal that flew, only it was on the base paths. He was a Cardinal that chirped, only it was with a bat. He was a Cardinal that marked his territory, only it was at first base. He was a Cardinal in America’s greatest game; baseball.

The ballplayer from Hannibal
He was born Jacob Peter Beckley on Aug. 4, 1867.
The United States was just two years removed from the Civil War and outside of the restructuring the country was going through with abolished slavery and the assassination of a President Abraham Lincoln, something was new in American culture. It was a game.
Referred to as “base”, mostly played by children, this game was growing into an interest for many adults. It was being played everywhere. From open lots to farm lands, all ages were intrigued by this game’s growing popularity. Beckley more than likely played in his leisure time in the open fields of Hannibal as a child. This game of “base”, a form of the British game cricket, only required a ball the size of the palm of a hand and was quite the sport during recesses on school grounds in its early days of conception.
This game would later become known as baseball and as leagues formed and players emerged, it was always meant to be a game of leisure. Something to do when all the work was done. Players weren’t even meant to be paid, but it was quickly becoming more than that. The game was evolving and taking America by storm. Who would’ve thought that a children’s game would one day turn into something that grown men would do for a living? Who would’ve thought that a simple game could make a person’s name immortal?
At its conception, probably no one, but as he grew older, Beckley — like many early players — got better with age. By the time he was 20-years-old, Beckley began his professional career with the Pittsburgh organization in 1888 after a minor league team in St. Louis sold him for $4,500.
He played in 71 games that season for the Allegheneys and batted .343 with 27 runs batted in, 97 hits in 283 at-bats. And his play in the field was just as impressive. Despite 16 errors, Beckley had 19 assists and 744 putouts with a .979 fielding average.
His numbers and his play, would only improve from there.

“Old Eagle Eye”
By 1891, the Allegheneys changed their name to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Beckley, who had earned the nickname “Old Eagle Eye”, had become one of the game’s most effective players. He had collected 583 hits, 317 runs batted in 1,875 at-bats.
“Chickazoola,” Beckley shouted whenever a ball dropped in for a hit. He was also known to scream “work hard” whenever his brethren pitchers were in a bind.
The skinny young man who was properly clean shaven was now four years into his major league career and had grown into a thick-built veteran standing at 5’10”, weighing 200 pounds boasting a large fluffy mustache.
Beckley returned home to Hannibal during the offseaon and married Mary E. Murphy who went by the nickname “Mollie.” The couple was wed March 30, 1891.
According to Tom Murphy, a Hannibal resident related to Beckley through his marriage to Mollie, the newlyweds took the train from Hannibal to St. Louis where they connected to a line that sent them to Florida so Jake could play baseball with Pittsburgh.  
But the marriage did not last long.
Later that year, Mollie fell ill and died Oct. 1, 1891.
Included on her tombstone at St. Mary’s Cemetery are the words “Wife of J.P. Beckley.” The Beckley name is also engraved on the side of headstone, but no records show if St. Mary’s Cemetery was to be the future hall of famer’s original burial location.
Beckley was married a second time, but old publications and records indicate it was a woman by the last name Challender; the daughter of a Hannibal businessman.
His personal pain will probably never be known after the death of his first wife, but the popular player was able to continue with his stellar career. When he returned for the 1892 season, “Old Eagle Eye” was about to have the best season on his 22-year career.

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Dominant Pirate
If the all-star game had been established by the 1892 season, you’d be safe to bet that Beckley would have been the starting first baseman for the National League.
There was nothing stopping Beckley from being one of the best in the game. He was still in his 20s and as healthy as could be. At the plate he toyed with opposing players by holding the bat at the barrel and bunting the ball with the handle.
It appeared to work well.
Beckley boasted an on-base percentage of .288, slugging percentage of .381 and an overall batting average of .236. Hannibal’s native son collected 145 hits in 1892 with 21 doubles, 19 triples, 10 home runs and 102 runs scored in 614 at-bats. Accompanying his offensive statistics are a total of 30 stolen bases.
His play in the field was once again tops.
With a .978 fielding percentage, Beckley had 1,523 putouts, 132 assists and only 38 errors.
But the Pirates as a team were not as good as their first baseman. Pittsburgh finished in fifth place for the 1892 season with an 80-73 record, 23 and a half games behind the Boston Beaneaters.

A grizzled veteran
The next three seasons were good to Beckley. From 1893-95 he hit above .300 and gathered 521 hits with 336 runs batted in and 333 runs scored in 1,605 at-bats. In the field, Beckley added to his putout total with 3,927 between 1893 and 1895 while only committing 82 errors. He also played in 391 games over that time period. Thanks to his veteran status and most likely his value to the Pittsburgh organization, Beckley managed to bring the team to Hannibal for exhibition games so the city could see their hometown star.
Unfortunately for reasons unknown, between 1896 and 1897, “Old Eagle Eye” would play for three different teams and play in only 269 games.
The Pirates traded Beckley in the middle of the 1896 season to the New York Giants for Harry Davis, an infielder/outfielder.
Beckley didn’t even spend an entire season in the Big Apple. He was released May 22, 1897. Five days later, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds. The next six seasons were spent there with his best year coming at the turn of the century in 1900.
To start off the 20th century, Beckley batted .341 with 190 hits, 94 runs batted in, 98 runs scored and 2 home runs in 558 at-bats in 141 games. In the field he achieved 1,366 putouts, 71 assists and only had 34 errors.
Once again, despite his contributing numbers, Beckley’s team finished low in the standings. The 1900 Reds finished 62-77, 21 and a half games behind the Brooklyn Superbas.
The Reds even put Beckley in to pitch a game in 1902. He gave up nine hits, eight runs and walked one batter in four innings. He only accomplished two strikeouts.
After the 1903 season, Buckley was sold to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Final seasons on home ground
A number of factors could have contributed to Buckley’s successful 1904 season.
He was playing in St. Louis. The big city, highly admired by his hometown citizens in Hannibal. To visit St. Louis and return to small town America afterward at the turn of the century was like traveling to the moon and back. Yet this time it was to play baseball for the home crowd.
On the other hand it was 1904. The World’s Fair was in St. Louis that year and was already behind schedule. The Olympics were also coming to town and they were to be the first games played on American soil. With the world coming to town and many fans from across the globe experiencing baseball for the first time, the popular first baseman probably didn’t want to disappoint.
Nonetheless, his numbers stood out.
Beckley batted .325 in 1904, gathered 179 hits, 67 runs batted in, and had 72 runs scored in 142 games. The Cardinal fans pouring into Robinson Field (the predecessor of Sportsmans Park) may have gasped when they saw Beckley take the field. He had 1,526 putouts at first base with 64 assists and only 20 errors.
St. Louis finished in fifth place behind all of Beckley’s former teams. The Giants won the pennant, but refused to play in the World Series because New York Manager John McGraw did not like the American League.
Due to an injury in 1906, the National League hired Beckley to be an umpire until he was healthy to play. After the 1907 season, Beckley retired with a .309 batting average, 2,930 hits, 1,575 runs batted in, 1,600 runs scored in 9,526 at-bats and 2,386 games played. His career total 23,709 career putouts are still a Major League Baseball record to this day. His record of most games played at first base was broken by Eddie Murray in the mid-’90s. He is now ninth on the all-time list.

The manager, the umpire, the final days
“Old Eagle Eye” may have stopped playing baseball after the 1907 season, but he was still involved.
In 1911 he was the manager of the Hannibal Cannibals, a local semi-pro team. He quit after one season. The Federal League came calling to Beckley in 1913 and asked him to be an umpire, but that was short-lived when the league folded. Beckley and his second wife later moved to Kansas City, Mo., where records indicate he was involved with amateur teams.
Beckley fell ill in the summer of 1918 and died June 25 of that year. According to his obituary, Beckley was delivered back to Hannibal via the Wabash train line. His funeral was held at his mother’s home on Union Street before he was buried at the family plot in Riverside Cemetery. Funeral records at O’Donnell Funeral Home show the total cost to bury Hannibal’s baseball star was $152.50.

The legacy
In 1971, 53 years after his death, Beckley was inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, the same day as Negro Leagues pitching legend Satchel Paige.
Just days after the induction ceremony, Hannibal had its own, Jake Beckley Day to celebrate his induction into the baseball hall of fame. Representatives from the St. Louis Cardinals and other city leaders, as well as a crowd of citizens, gathered on Main Street to reveal a memorial highlighting Beckley’s career.
Mayor Henry Glascock referred to Beckley as “a renowned baseball star.”
In the years since, there have been small mentionings that the memorial should be moved to a more noticeable spot.
Should it be moved anywhere, Tom Murphy hopes to see his great-great uncle’s memorial placed at Clemens Field now that baseball fans flock their each summer to watch the Hannibal Cavemen of the Prospect League.