John Reilly
John Reilly
Barn Scene
Pencil Drawing
4 1/4 x 6 1/8 inches
9 1/8 x 11 1/8 inches in the frame
Signed Lower Right
ID: DH4446
John Good "Long John" Reilly was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who hit 69 home runs and batted .289 during his ten-year career.
Professional Baseball Player. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he was the son of Frank A. Reilly, a Union Civil War gunboat captain. He was sent to Illinois by his mother to live with her family after his father was killed during the war at the Battle of Fort Donelson. Reilly spent most of his childhood there and returned to Cincinnati in 1872 to apprentice as a lithographer at the Strobridge Company. He played baseball in his spare time as a catcher with an amateur team in Latonia, Kentucky. In 1877, he became a professional artist at Strobridge and began to play infield positions on the baseball diamond to better protect his hands. The professional baseball club in Cincinnati folded in 1879, was replaced by an amateur team, and reorganized as the Cincinnati Reds in 1880.
In 1888, he hit 13 home runs with 103 RBI and a .321 batting average.
He was among the top ten of the all-time home run list from 1888 to 1892, but was never higher than seventh.
MLB debut:
May 18th 1880 for the Cincinnati Reds