View source for Tim Keefe

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Short description|American baseball player (1857–1933)}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Tim Keefe
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|image=Timothy John Tim Keefe, Pitcher, New York, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes MET DP825933.jpg
|caption=Keefe in 1887
|birth_date={{Birth date|1857|1|1}}
|birth_place=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
|death_date={{death date and age|1933|4|23|1857|1|1}}
|death_place=Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 6
|debutyear=1880
|debutteam=Troy Trojans
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=August 15
|finalyear=1893
|finalteam=Philadelphia Phillies
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=342–225
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=2.62
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=2,562
|teams=
*[[Troy Trojans (MLB team)|Troy Trojans]] ({{Baseball year|1880}}–{{Baseball year|1882}})
*[[New York Metropolitans]] ({{Baseball year|1883}}–{{Baseball year|1884}})
*[[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] ({{Baseball year|1885}}–{{Baseball year|1889}})
*[[New York Giants (PL)]] ({{Baseball year|1890}})
*[[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] ({{Baseball year|1891}})
*[[Philadelphia Phillies]] ({{Baseball year|1891}}–{{Baseball year|1893}})
|highlights=
* [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] (1888)
* 2× [[List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders|NL wins leader]] (1886, 1888)
* 3× [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders|NL ERA leader]] (1880, 1885, 1888)
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders|NL strikeout leader]] (1888)
* MLB record 0.86 ERA, single season
|hoflink = National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
|hoftype = National
|hofdate=[[1964 Baseball Hall of Fame balloting|1964]]
|hofmethod=Veterans Committee
}}

'''Timothy John Keefe''' (January 1, 1857 – April 23, 1933), nicknamed "'''Smiling Tim'''" and "'''Sir Timothy'''", was an American [[Major League Baseball]] [[pitcher]]. He stood {{convert|5|ft|10|in|m}} tall and weighed {{convert|185|lb|kg}}. He was one of the most dominating pitchers of the 19th century and posted impressive statistics in one category or another for almost every season he pitched. He was the second MLB pitcher to record 300 wins. He was elected to the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1964.

Keefe's career spanned much of baseball's formative stages. His first season was the last in which pitchers threw from 45 feet, so for most of his career he pitched from 50 feet. His final season was the first season in which pitchers hurled from the modern distance of 60 feet, 6 inches.

==Early life==
Keefe was born on January 1, 1857, in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]]. His father, Patrick, was an Irish immigrant who served in the [[Union Army]] during the [[American Civil War]] and was a [[prisoner of war]] for several years.<ref name=Irish/> All four of Patrick's brothers were killed in the war; Tim had been named after two of them. Tim's brother became a major and fought in the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref name=Radical>{{cite book|last=Stevens|first=David|title=Baseball's Radical for All Seasons: A Biography of John Montgomery Ward|year=1998|publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]]|isbn=0810834545|page=64|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0L8KAbOkN-sC&q=tim+keefe+sporting+goods&pg=RA1-PA111}}</ref>

After the war, Patrick had high expectations for his son, and the two frequently fought over Tim's pursuit of baseball. With the help of local former pitcher [[Tommy Bond (baseball)|Tommy Bond]], Keefe persisted and became known as a standout local pitcher by 1876.<ref name=Irish>{{cite book|last=Fleitz|first=David|title=The Irish in Baseball: An Early History|year=2009|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786453047|page=34|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6PtSUmB7WTMC&q=timothy+keefe+baseball&pg=PA34}}</ref> Keefe's early professional career included minor league stints in Lewiston, Clinton, New Bedford, Utica, and Albany.<ref name=Evening>{{cite news|title=Old-Time Star of Big League Taken by Death|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8vJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2720,1892502&dq=tim+keefe+baseball&hl=en|access-date=September 6, 2013|newspaper=The Evening Independent|date=April 24, 1933}}</ref>

==Major league career==
Keefe entered the major leagues in 1880 with the [[Troy Trojans (MLB team)|Troy Trojans]]. He immediately established himself as a talented pitcher, posting an astounding 0.86 [[earned run average]] (ERA) in 105 [[innings pitched]], a record that still stands. He also posted the best [[Adjusted ERA+]] in a season in baseball history in 1880 at 293.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Highest single-season adjusted ERA+ by qualified pitcher in MLB history |url=https://stathead.com/baseball/player-pitching-season-finder.cgi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250729161816/https://stathead.com/tiny/DbHT3 |archive-date=July 29, 2025 |access-date=July 29, 2025 |website=[[Stathead]]}}</ref> Despite the sterling ERA, he managed only a 6–6 [[Win–loss record (pitching)|record]], pitching in 12 games, all [[complete game]]s, with 39 [[strikeout]]s and a stellar 0.800 [[Walks plus hits per inning pitched|WHIP]].

In 1883, after the Trojans folded, Keefe rose to stardom with the [[New York Metropolitans]] of the [[American Association (19th century)|American Association]] under manager "Gentleman" [[Jim Mutrie]] and had one of the most dominating seasons in baseball's early history. On July 4 of that year, Keefe pitched both ends of a doubleheader against [[Columbus Buckeyes (AA)|Columbus]], winning the first game with a one-hitter; the second a two-hit gem. He went 41–27 over 619 innings pitched with a 2.41 ERA and 361 strikeouts. His 1884 campaign was almost as dominant, winning 37 games, losing 17, and striking out 334.

[[File:Tim keefe.jpg|thumb|left|Tim Keefe]]In 1885, [[John B. Day]], who owned the Metropolitans and the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] of the [[National League (baseball)|National League]], moved Keefe and Mutrie to the Giants. Here, Keefe joined future Hall of Famers [[Buck Ewing]], [[John Montgomery Ward|Monte Ward]], [[Roger Connor]], [[Mickey Welch]], and "Orator" [[Jim O'Rourke (baseball)|Jim O'Rourke]] to form an outstanding team that finished with a fine 85–27 record. Keefe went 32–13 with a 1.58 ERA and 227 strikeouts. In 1887, Keefe sat out several weeks of the season after he struck a batter in the head with a pitch; he was said to have suffered a nervous breakdown.<ref name=Purdy>{{cite book|last=Purdy|first=Dennis|title=The Team by Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball|year=2006|publisher=Workman Publishing Company|isbn=0761139435|page=1014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uXCw8nHLVRQC&q=tim+keefe+nervous+breakdown&pg=PA1014}}</ref>

He had arguably his greatest season in 1888, when he led the league with a 35–12 record, 1.74 ERA and 335 strikeouts, becoming baseball's 4th pitcher to win a [[Triple Crown (baseball)#Pitching Triple Crown|Triple Crown]], after [[Tommy Bond (baseball)|Tommy Bond]] in 1877 and [[Guy Hecker]] and [[Charles Radbourn]] in 1884. He won 19 consecutive games that season, a record that stood for 24 years.  The Giants played the [[St. Louis Browns (NL)|St. Louis Browns]] of the American Association in a postseason series for the [[Dauvray Cup]], and Keefe added four more wins to his tally. Keefe even designed the famous all-black "funeral" uniforms the Giants wore that season.

Keefe was very well paid for his career and was a leading member of the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players, an early players' [[Trade union|union]] that fought for the welfare of players. He assisted his brother-in-law [[Monte Ward]] to form the [[Players' League]] for the 1890 season. As a co-organizer of the Players' League, he recognized that he might be financially vulnerable if the league failed to make money. Keefe transferred ownership of his real estate assets to his mother so that they would remain safe from any legal rulings.<ref name=SABR/>

Shortly before the Players' League was founded, Keefe had started a sporting goods business in New York with W. H. Becannon, a former employee of baseball owner and sporting goods entrepreneur [[Albert Spalding]]. Keefe and Becannon manufactured the Keefe ball, the official baseball of the league. Spalding and the other NL owners fought against the new league, employing legal and financial maneuvers (such as slashing NL ticket prices) that made competition difficult.<ref name=Roer>{{cite book|last=Roer|first=Mike|title=Orator O'Rourke: The Life of a Baseball Radical|year=2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=0786423552|pages=159–161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DzTv-wj6ey8C&q=keefe+and+becannon&pg=PA159}}</ref>  The Players' League folded after one season.<ref name=SABR>{{cite web|last=Bevis|first=Charlie|title=Tim Keefe|url=http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6f1dd1b1|publisher=[[Society for American Baseball Research]]|access-date=September 6, 2013}}</ref>

In the 1891 preseason, Keefe refused a salary offer of $3,000 from New York; he had earned $4,500 in the previous season. Keefe said, "I want to play in New York, but I never will for a $3,000 salary... To tell you the truth, however, I do not think I am wanted in the New York team, and this cutting method is being pursued to keep me out."<ref name=Herald>{{cite news|title=He Won't Be Missed|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YUVeAAAAIBAJ&pg=3941,3083682&dq=sir+timothy+keefe&hl=en|access-date=September 6, 2013|newspaper=The Morning Herald|date=March 1, 1891}}</ref> Keefe ultimately signed with the team for a $3,500 salary.<ref name=SABR/>

During the 1891 season, Keefe was released by New York. He was drawing a high salary and was not meeting the expectations of the team's leadership. After his release, Keefe said, "I hate to leave New York, am very fond of it, and would do all in my power for New York, but what am I to do? I have been systematically done by the New York Baseball Club... They would not let me play, and when I did get a chance, I worked under a disadvantage. I feel that I am just as good a player as I ever was."<ref name=Released>{{cite news|title="Tim" Keefe Released|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1891/07/22/103322291.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=July 22, 1891}}</ref>

Keefe moved to the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] after his release from the Giants. He retired after the 1893 season with 342 wins (10th all time), a 2.62 ERA, and 2,562 strikeouts. His 2,562 strikeouts were a major league record at the time of his retirement. He was also the first pitcher to achieve three 300-plus strikeout seasons, done during his dominating prime in the 1880s in which he won the most games of the decade with 291, four more than [[Pud Galvin]]'s 287.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Most wins by a pitcher in the 1880s |url=https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/most-wins-by-a-pitcher-in-the-1880s |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250729163019/https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/most-wins-by-a-pitcher-in-the-1880s |archive-date=July 29, 2025 |access-date=July 29, 2025 |website=[[StatMuse]]}}</ref> He still holds the record for having wins in the most [[ballpark]]s, with 47.

Keefe was nicknamed "Sir Timothy" because of his gentlemanly behavior on and off the field. He never drank or smoked.<ref>{{cite book|last=Russo|first=Frank|title=The Cooperstown Chronicles: Baseball's Colorful Characters, Unusual Lives, and Strange Demises|location=New York|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2014|isbn=978-1-4422-3639-4|page=57}}</ref>

==Later life and legacy==
[[File:Tim Keefe plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|right|110px|Plaque of Tim Keefe at the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Baseball Hall of Fame]]]]
Late in his playing career, Keefe began to coach college baseball and he continued in this capacity after his retirement as a player. Beginning in the spring of 1893, Keefe began to work as a pitching coach for Harvard.<ref name=Nine>{{cite news|title=Harvard's Baseball Nine|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1893/05/15/106864920.pdf|access-date=September 6, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 15, 1893}}</ref> Keefe also worked as an [[Umpire (baseball)|umpire]] for a total of 243 major league games; his most active year was 1895, when he umpired 129 games. He was also involved in real estate. He died in his hometown of [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], at the age of 76.

Keefe was inducted into the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] in 1964 after being elected by the [[Veterans Committee]]. Six players were inducted that year, and Keefe was one of five who had been voted in by the Veterans Committee.<ref name=Grimes>{{cite news|title=Grimes and 6 Others Join Baseball's "Hall"|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aF4bAAAAIBAJ&pg=4299,2852306&dq=tim+keefe+baseball&hl=en|access-date=September 6, 2013|newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Press]]|date=July 25, 1964}}</ref>

==Career statistics==
*Official career statistics as recognized by [[Baseball-Reference.com]].
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
|[[Win (baseball)|W]]
|L
|[[Earned run average|ERA]]
|[[Games played|G]]
|[[Games started|GS]]
|[[Complete game|CG]]
|[[Shutouts in baseball|SHO]]
|[[Save (baseball)|SV]]
|[[Innings pitched|IP]]
|[[Hit (baseball)|H]]
|[[Run (baseball)|R]]
|[[Earned run|ER]]
|[[Home run|HR]]
|[[Base on balls|BB]]
|[[Strikeout|SO]]
|[[Wild pitch|WP]]
|[[Hit by pitch|HBP]]
|-
|342
|225
|2.62
|600
|594
|554
|39
|2
|5047.2
|4439
|2468
|1472
|81
|1220
|2562
|233
|*96
|}
* ' * ' denotes stats that were not officially recognized during parts or all of his career, and are incomplete.

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|Baseball}}
* [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career hit batsmen leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{bbhof|keefe-tim}}
* {{Baseballstats |mlb=116888 |espn= |br=k/keefeti01 |fangraphs=1006743 |cube=|brm=keefe-002tim}}, or [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/K/Pkeeft101.htm Retrosheet]
* [http://thedeadballera.com/Obits/Obits_K/Keefe.Tim.Obit.html The Deadball Era]
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{S-start|header={{s-ach}}}}
{{succession box | title=[[National League (baseball)|National League]] [[Major League Baseball Triple Crown|Pitching Triple Crown]] | before= [[Charlie Radbourn]] | years=1888 | after= [[John Clarkson]]}}
{{S-end}}
{{300 win club}}
{{MLB Triple Crowns (pitchers)}}
{{NL wins champions}}
{{NL ERA champions}}
{{NL strikeout champions}}
{{300 strikeout club}}
{{1884 New York Metropolitans}}
{{1888 New York Giants}}
{{1889 New York Giants}}
{{Philadelphia Phillies ODS}}
{{San Francisco Giants Opening Day starting pitchers}}
{{San Francisco Giants HOF}}
{{Philadelphia Phillies HOF}}
{{1964 Baseball HOF}}
{{Baseball Hall of Fame members}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keefe, Tim}}
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1933 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century baseball players]]
[[Category:19th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Cambridge, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Troy Trojans (NL) players]]
[[Category:New York Metropolitans players]]
[[Category:New York Giants (baseball) players]]
[[Category:New York Giants (PL) players]]
[[Category:Philadelphia Phillies players]]
[[Category:National League pitching Triple Crown winners]]
[[Category:National League ERA champions]]
[[Category:National League strikeout champions]]
[[Category:National League (baseball) wins champions]]
[[Category:Utica Pent-Ups players]]
[[Category:New Bedford (minor league baseball) players]]
[[Category:Albany (minor league baseball) players]]