Roger Bresnahan: A Baseball Life

Roger Bresnahan began his major league baseball career in 1897 as an 18-year-old pitcher and ended it in 1915 as a catcher, after famously introducing shin guards for the position. He was so widely admired that the Baseball Hall of Fame awarded him a plaque only six years after it opened. He played every position, coached, and managed. He survived a near-fatal accident on the field and, as a first responder, helped save lives during the aftermath of a horrific railroad crash. He was later principal owner and president of the Toledo American Association franchise for eight years.

This first-ever biography, based on many years of research, covers Bresnahan’s entire life and playing career as it intersected with American history.

John R. Husman is the Toledo Mud Hens Team Historian and has been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research since 1982. He lives Sylvania, Ohio.