Edward (Ned) Hanlon was born in Montville, CT on August 22, 1857. The son of an Irish immigrant father who was employed as a house builder, Ned Hanlon began honing his skill as a baseball player as a youth on local ball fields throughout southeastern Connecticut. By the age of fifteen he was earning three dollar per game pitching for a local Norwich baseball club.
Several years later, at age eighteen he was pitching for the New London Stars in an exhibition game against the Boston Red Stockings. His skills caught the attention of A.G. Spalding the opposing pitcher. Impressed by Hanlon’s talent he arranged for him to sign his first professional contract with the Providence ball team in the New England League.
Switching to centerfield, Hanlon’s natural ability and the opportunity to routinely compete against a higher caliber league of baseball players allowed him to evolve into a top prospect. He joined the Cleveland Blues of the National League in 1880. The next year he signed with the Detroit Wolverines, where he established his reputation as a natural leader and became the team’s captain.
In 1892, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles offered Hanlon the job as manager of the ball club with some stock options and complete authority over baseball operations. Hanlon completely rebuilt the team retaining only infielder John McGraw and catcher Wilbert Robinson while acquiring outfielders Joe Kelley and Willie Keeler and shortstop Hughie Jennings. All of these players would later be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Between the years 1894 and 1898 Hanlon’s Orioles would win three National League pennants while finishing second once.
Beyond winning, Hanlon’s deep understanding of the game led him to conceive of some innovations that formed some of the foundational institutions of modern baseball. These included hit and run strategy, the delayed steal, the sign system between coaches and players, and the pitching rotation which allowed for multiple pitchers. These innovations led some later observers inside baseball to call Hanlon “the father of modern baseball”.
Ned Hanlon was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for his career as a manager in 1996, fifty-nine years after his death.
Fellow Hall of Famer Connie Mack once said of Hanlon, “I don’t know any man who ever lived who knew as much about baseball as he did.”
Visit the Otis Library’s Flickr page to view photos from the 19th century of this major league baseball pioneer.