McClellan, Dan (1878-1962)

He was born Daniel J. McClellan in Norfolk on June 11, 1878.  His parents Daniel McClellan and Margaret Wright had probably toiled as slaves before the Civil War.  Following emancipation, they remained in Norfolk and lived in a segregated section of town at

22 Willoughby.  The elder Daniel co-owned a business with William E. Pettee where he applied his trade as a shoemaker.  Known as Pettee and McClellan located at 73 Willoughby, the shop served black customers.  His son Dan worked as a porter when not playing baseball.[2] 

The Norfolk Red Stockings were founded in 1878 as one of the earliest African American teams in America.  By 1897, McClellan had begun his baseball career with the Red Stockings and almost immediately showcased some pitching brilliance for his hometown squad.  In one particular game at League Park on May 24, the southpaw used a mix of fastballs and curveballs to befuddle opposing batters.  He recorded nine strikeouts through five innings before the game was called due to rain.  McClellan played for Norfolk until 1899 before stepping onto a bigger stage outside Virginia.  He typically played first base or outfield if it was not his scheduled day to pitch.[3]         

Edward B. Lamar who owned the Cuban X-Giants (Independent Negro League team) persuaded McClellan to join his ballclub for the 1900 season.  Based in Trenton, New Jersey, this team would become a powerhouse of black baseball.  Upon his arrival, he immediately claimed a spot in the starting rotation.  While barnstorming in Cuba, McClellan recorded multiple wins.  Following the team’s return to America, he had an uncharacteristically poor outing in Weehawken, New Jersey, as he gave up twelve hits to West New York Field Club.  Although black baseball stats from this period are not complete, box scores show the X-Giants finishing the 1900 season at 35-20-1.  Among these games, McClellan picked up fifteen decisions while posting an 8-7 record.  Teams routinely added in-season pick-up games so several of them are almost certainly lost to history and not included in the tally.  McClellan elevated his play in the years that followed, which demonstrated a pattern of sustained success.  During the next three seasons from 1901-1903, he towered above the opposition with records of 11-7-1, 15-7, and 16-8.  When the team experienced several delays along with uncomfortable overnight accommodations on a June 1902 trip to Wilmington, Delaware, McClellan still pitched his way to a 6-2 victory the next day while only allowing four hits.  Two months later he dominated the lineups of Atlantic City, Hoboken, and Camden, which resulted in three shutouts during an eight-day stretch.  However, his career-defining moment came in June 1903 as he took the mound against Penn Park.  On this day, McClellan retired all twenty-seven batters he faced to toss a perfect game.  It was around this time that even contemporaries viewed him as the finest pitcher in black baseball.[4]

Late that summer, McClellan teamed up with the much better-known Rube Foster who would later gain posthumous induction into the Hall of Fame.  Providing a solid one-two punch at the top of their pitching rotation, Foster soon eclipsed McClellan to become the new staff ace.  They faced off against the Philadelphia Giants, another talent-laden team, for the “Colored Championship” in September 1903.  Led by future Hall of Famers Frank Grant and Sol White, Philadelphia had already proven to be an elite team.  When these two rivals clashed with supremacy on the line, it might have properly been called the “battle of the Giants.”  The best-of-nine series began in Philadelphia on September 12 at Columbia Park.  In Game 1, Foster took command early and guided his team to a 4-2 victory.  McClellan drew a tough assignment the following day in Ridgewood, New Jersey where the teams were scheduled to play Games 2 and 3 as a doubleheader.  With three thousand spectators in attendance, he started both contests, which resulted in a split decision.  The X-Giants trounced their rival 8-1 behind McClellan’s gem in the opener, but Philadelphia rallied against him to take the second game 5-2.  In his next start a few days later, McClellan received no run support in a 3-0 loss.   Foster put the series away with dominant performances in Games 6 and 7, as the X-Giants won by a combined score of 14-3.  He started four games against Philadelphia during the series and allowed just six runs, including a shutout in Game 7.  The phenom led all pitchers with a 4-0 record and just a 1.50 ERA.  Meanwhile, McClellan got the other win to finish 1-2 but still boasted a very respectable ERA of 3.24.[5]

When next season arrived, Foster left his X-Giant teammates behind to play with the squad he had just vanquished in Philadelphia.  Despite his absence, the X-Giants continued their success during the 1904 campaign by posting a 47-24 record.  Box scores indicate that McClellan finished 7-4.  The X-Giants met Philadelphia again in a highly anticipated regular season series toward the end of summer.  McClellan vs. Foster was the headline as Game 1 got underway.  Foster got the better of McClellan in this matchup and once again proved his dominance by striking out eighteen X-Giants in route to an 8-4 victory.  Following an X-Giants Game 2 win to even the series, McClellan and Foster opposed each other for a second time in the rubber match.  Five thousand fans gathered at Inlet Park in Atlantic City, New Jersey to watch these talented pitchers compete against each other.  McClellan pitched all nine innings and gave his team a shot to win, but some shoddy fielding by the defense led to three unearned runs.  On the other side, Foster gave up just two hits as Philadelphia doubled up the X-Giants by a score of 4-2.[6]     

In 1905, McClellan reunited with Foster on the Philadelphia Giants.   He added to an already impressive pitching staff, which also included Emmett Bowman.  Philadelphia romped through the 1905 season to an astounding 128-23-1 record.  McClellan, Foster, and Bowman were sensational by combining for 104 of those wins.  For his part, McClellan logged 345 innings while striking out 190 batters and finished 32-7 for the year.[7]             

It was more of the same in 1906, as Philadelphia reigned supreme throughout the season.  Incomplete records show a record of 61-24-1 with McClellan contributing fifteen wins.  That same year McClellan married Alberta Reed who also hailed from Virginia.  They would eventually have seven children, including Lawrence McClellan (1905-1965) and Essie McClellan (1901-1911).  However, the marriage dissolved at some point before 1949, which is the year Alberta died.[8]

Foster departed Philadelphia after the season, but the team remained a formidable bunch going into 1907.  Embracing a youth movement, they brought in star catcher Bruce Petway along with shortstop John Henry Lloyd who were both still very early in their careers.  They finished the 1907 season with a record of 32-10.  McClellan helped lead the way by winning ten of his eleven starts.  The Philadelphia Giants set the pace early and never looked back.  During one notable game, an integrated crowd came out to see McClellan defeat the Brooklyn Royal Giants 5-1.  By season’s end, they had claimed the first ever National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs Championship.[9]

As the Philadelphia Giants gradually lost their aura of invincibility over the next few years, McClellan remained one of the consistent bright spots.  Even when the team lost, he continued to win.  Based on the incomplete records, Philadelphia won fifteen more games than they lost in 1908 but by next season had dropped to the five hundred mark.  Then they fell even further in 1910 when they had a record of 22-30.  During this same three year period, McClellan posted records of 7-3, 8-3, and 7-4.  Following his exit from Philadelphia in 1911, he hung on for a few more years with short stints playing for the New York Lincoln Giants and Paterson Smart Set.  In October 1911, he faced a barnstorming white team led by its star pitcher and future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson.  McClellan struck out nine men, but still picked up the loss.  He soon turned his attention to coaching.  Staying in the Philadelphia area, he led the Madison Stars among other teams.  When his baseball career finally ended, he labored in jobs that were only open to African Americans.  By the 1940s, he had moved to Brooklyn, New York and eked out a living as a Pullman porter.[10]

It is quite probable that McClellan earned over three hundred victories in a playing career that spanned about sixteen years from 1897-1913.  He even appeared on some early lists of great black baseball players in the early twentieth century, but over time the name Dan McClellan receded from public consciousness.  Now more than a century since he last played, few people have heard of him.  Dan McClellan suffered a heart attack and passed away on March 10, 1962.  He and Alberta are both buried in Collingdale, Pennsylvania at Eden Cemetery, which is where African Americans of the area were interred.[11]             

Sources:

1.      Phil Williams, “Dan McClellan,” Society for American Baseball Research, accessed July 18, 2024, 

Dan McClellan – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org);

“Dan McClellan,” Wikipedia, accessed July 19, 2024, Dan McClellan - Wikipedia;

BR Bullpen, “Dan McClellan,” Baseball Reference, accessed July 24, 2024, Dan McClellan - BR Bullpen (baseball-reference.com);

“Issue Will Depend on Pitchers,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), May 3, 1907;

“A.A. Team Beaten; So Were Giants,” Wilmington Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), July 29, 1903;

“Baseball News,” Wilmington Evening Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), May 17, 1902;

Phil S. Dixon, Phil Dixon’s American Baseball Chronicles-Great Teams: The 1905 Philadelphia Giants Volume III, (Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing, 2006), p. 261.

2.      Williams; 1898 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia), p. 321, 385.

3.      Williams; “At League Park Yesterday,” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), May 25, 1897, p. 3; BR Bullpen;

“The ‘Red Stockings’ Win,” The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), May 31, 1899, p.  9.

4.      Williams; Dixon, p. 16-35;

“Cuban X-Giants Victorious,” New York Tribune (New York, NY), April 16, 1900, p. 9;

“Cuban X-Giants Win a Good Game,” Poughkeepsie Eagle (Poughkeepsie, New York), July 29, 1902;

“Cuban X-Giants by Timely Hitting Landed a Victory,” Wilmington Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), June 27, 1902;

“Sunday’s Game in Hoboken,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), August 8, 1902;

“Hoboken Team Again Defeated,” Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), August 11, 1902;

”X Giants Defeat Camden,” Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 15, 1902;

“Penn Park Again Blanked,” York Daily (York, Pennsylvania), July 18, 1903;

“Cuban X-Giants,” Wikipedia, accessed August 14, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_X-Giants.  

5.      Williams; 

“’Colored Championship Series’ (1900-1919),” Colored Championship Series, accessed August 1, 2024, 

“Colored Championship” Series (cdn-website.com); “Dan McClellan,” Wikipedia, July 19, 2024, Dan McClellan - Wikipedia;

“Rube Foster,” Wikipedia, August 2, 2024, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Foster;

“Cuban X-Giants Win First Game,” Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 13, 1903;

Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 14, 1903; 

“X Giants Shut Out,” Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 16, 1903.

6.  Williams;

“Phila. Giants Trim Cuban X-Giants, Foster Fanning 18 Men at the Plate,” Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 2, 1904;

Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 3, 1904; 

Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 6, 1904.

7.  Williams; Dixon, p. 22-26, 260-261, 268-276.

8.  Williams;

“Daniel J. ‘Danny’ McClellan,” Findagrave, accessed July 18, 2024, Daniel J. “Danny” McClellan (1878-1962) - Find a Grave Memorial.

9.      Williams; “Philadelphia Giants Won,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn New York), July 28, 1907.

10.  Williams; “All Leaguers Defeat Lincolns,” New York Age (New York, New York), October 19, 1911;

“Smart Set Played New York to a Standstill Paterson Morning Call (Paterson, New Jersey), May 27, 1912;

United States Census Bureau, 1940 US Federal Census (Brooklyn, New York), Roll T626, Page 20A, 

Enumeration District: 0073, 1930 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

11.  Lawrence D. Hogan, Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball, (Washington D.C.: 

National Geographic, 2006), p. 178-182;

“Daniel J. ‘Danny McClellan,” Findagrave, accessed July 18, 2024, Daniel J. “Danny” McClellan (1878-1962) - Find a Grave Memorial;

“Dan McClellan,” Wikipedia.

Full Name: Daniel J. McClellan

Also Known as: Dan McClellan, Danny McClellan

Birth Date: June 11, 1878

Birthplace: Norfolk, Virginia

Parents: Daniel McClellan and Margaret (“Maggie”) Wright

Ethnicity: American

Race: Black

Spouse: Alberta Parker (Separated)

Children: Lawrence McClellan (1905-1965) and Essie McClellan (1909-1911)

Marriage Date: 1906 

Marriage Place: Unknown

Death Date: March 10, 1962

Death Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Burial Date: March 16, 1962

Burial Place: Eden Cemetery (Collingdale, Pennsylvania)

Major Keywords/Search Terms: McClellan, Dan| McClellan, Sr., Daniel| McClellan, Daniel J.| McClellan, Danny| Wright, Margaret| 

Wright, Maggie| Pettee, William E.| Pettee and McClellan| Norfolk, Virginia| Willoughby| Slaves| Civil War| Shoemaker| 

African American Baseball Player| Pitcher| Segregation| League Park| Norfolk Red Stockings| Southpaw| Lamar, Edward B.| 

Weehawken, New Jersey| West New York Field Club| Cuban X-Giants| Black Baseball| Trenton, New Jersey| Cuba| Wilmington, Delaware| Foster, Rube| Columbia Park| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania| Ridgewood, New Jersey| Philadelphia Giants| Colored Championship| Negro League|

Hall of Famers| Grant, Frank| White, Sol| Atlantic City, New Jersey| Inlet Park| Bowman, Emmett| Petway, Bruce| Lloyd, John Henry|

National Association of Colored Baseball Clubs| Brooklyn Royal Giants| New York Lincoln Giants| Paterson Smart Set| Madison Stars| Johnson, Walter| Collingdale, Pennsylvania| Eden Cemetery| Pullman Porter| Brooklyn, New York|   

Sources:

1)                      Primary Sources:

1.     Books and Pamphlets:

City Directories:

▪ 1898 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia), p. 321, 385.

▪ 1899 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia), p. 257.

                                 ▪      1900 Norfolk City Directory (Norfolk, Virginia), p. 309.

                     ▪     1911 Philadelphia City Directory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), p. 1174.

2.     Documents/Collections:

a.     Census Records

▪ United States Census Bureau.  1900 US Federal Census,

Norfolk City, Virginia.  Roll 1736.  Page 10.  Enumeration District: 0099. 

1900 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

▪ United States Census Bureau.  1910 US Federal Census,

Philadelphia City, Pennsylvania.  Roll T624_1400.  Page 15b. 

Enumeration District: 0578. 

1910 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

▪ United States Census Bureau.  1920 US Federal Census,

Philadelphia City, Pennsylvania.  Roll T625_1629.  Page 11A. 

Enumeration District: 839.

1920 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

▪ United States Census Bureau.  1930 US Federal Census,

Philadelphia City, Pennsylvania.  Roll T626.  Page 20A. 

Enumeration District: 0073.    

1930 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

▪ United States Census Bureau.  1940 US Federal Census,

Brooklyn, New York.  Roll: m-t0627-02563.  Page 7A. 

Enumeration District: 24-682.

1940 United States Federal Census - AncestryLibrary.com.

b.     Vital Records

▪ Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Pennsylvania Death Certificates, 1906-1968.  

Certificate Number Range: 030151-033000.  Death Year: 1962.

Pennsylvania, U.S., Death Certificates, 1906-1970 - AncestryLibrary.com.

3.     Newspapers/Magazines/Journals (Selected):

1897

▪ “At League Park Yesterday.”  Norfolk Virginian (Norfolk, Virginia), May 25, 1897, p. 3.

1899

▪ “Questions Answered.”  Sporting Life (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), January 28, 1899.

▪ “The Red Stockings Reorganized.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), March 4, 1899, p. 3.

▪ “The Red Stocking Team.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), March 23, 1899, p. 2.

▪ “The ‘Red Stockings’ Win.”  The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia), May 31, 1899, p. 9.

1900  

▪ “Cuban Giants, 7; San Francisco 3.”  Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), March 6, 1900.

▪ “Base Ball Bulletin.”  Waterbury Evening Democrat (Waterbury, Connecticut), March 31, 1900.

▪ “Cuban X Giants Victorious.”  New York Tribune (New York, New York), April 16, 1900, p. 9.  

▪ “Two Good Ball Games.”  St. Albans Daily Messenger (St. Albans, Vermont), May 21, 1900.

1901

▪ “Giants Win the Game.”  Freeland Tribune (Freeland, Pennsylvania), June 3, 1901. 

▪ “X-Giants Win Under Glare of Electric Lights.”  Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 23, 1901.

1902

▪ “Baseball News.”  Wilmington Evening Journal (Wilmington, Delaware), May 17, 1902.

▪ “Today’s Game at Penn Park.”  York Daily (York, Pennsylvania), June 17, 1902.     

▪ “Cuban X-Giants by Timely Hitting Landed a Victory."  Wilmington Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), June 27, 1902.

▪ “Cuban X-Giants Win First Game.”  Poughkeepsie Eagle (Poughkeepsie, New York), July 29, 1902.

▪ “Sunday’s Game in Hoboken.”  Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), August 8, 1902.

▪ “Hoboken Team Again Defeated.”  Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), August 11, 1902.

▪ “X-Giants Defeat Camden.”  Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), August 15, 1902.

1903

▪ “Penn Park Again Blanked.”  York Daily (York, Pennsylvania), July 18, 1903.

▪ “A.A. Team Beaten; So Were Giants.”  Wilmington Morning News (Wilmington, Delaware), July 29, 1903.

▪ “Cuban X-Giants Win First Game.”  Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 13, 1903.

▪ Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 14, 1903.

▪ “X-Giants Shut Out.”  Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 16, 1903.

1904

▪ “Phila. Giants Trim Cuban X-Giants, Foster Fanning 18 Men at the Plate.”  Philadelphia Inquirer 

(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 2, 1904.

▪ Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 3, 1904.

▪ Philadelphia Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 6, 1904.

                     1906

▪ Philadelphia Evening Item (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), October 14, 1906.

1907

▪ “Issue Will Depend on Pitchers.”  Jersey Journal (Jersey City, New Jersey), May 3, 1907.

▪ “Philadelphia Giants Won.”  Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), July 28, 1907.

1909

▪ “Players Mix-Up at Inlet Ball Park.”  Camden Courier Post (Camden, New Jersey), July 29, 1909.

1910

▪ “Ridge Captures Close Game from Royal Giants.”  Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), April 4, 1910.

1911

▪ “Lincoln Giants Win Twice at American League Park.”  Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), September 5, 1911.

▪ “All Leaguers Defeat Lincolns.”  New York Age (New York, New York), October 19, 1911.

▪ “Plank and Barry Help Beat Lincolns.”  New York Herald (New York, New York), October 19, 1911.

1912

▪ “Smart Set Played New York to a Standstill.”  Paterson Morning Call (Paterson, New Jersey), May 27, 1912.

1915

▪ “Hilldale 10, Jenkintown 3.”  Philadelphia Tribune (Philadelphia Tribune), August 28, 1915.

1923

▪ Hughes, Ed. “’Simon Pures’ and the ‘Pro.’”  Harrisburg Telegraph (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), January 26, 1923.

1925

▪ Clark, William F.  “’Old Timer’ Picks an All-Star Baseball Team.”  New York Age (New York, New York), January 10, 1925.

1928

▪ Wilson, W. Rollo.  “Sports Shots.”  Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), March 31, 1928.

1929

▪ “’All-Time,’ All-Star Nines Picks Picked by Louisville Fan.”  Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), January 19, 1929. 

1939

▪ “Toymakers Face Philly Combine.”  Springfield Republican (Springfield, Massachusetts), August 13, 1939.

▪ Thompson, Lloyd.  “Disbanding the Eastern League Proves a Tremendous Boon to Danny McClellan.”  Philadelphia Tribun (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), November 8, 1928.

▪ Wilson, W. Rollo.  “Sports Shots.”  Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), December 8, 1928.

1952

▪ “Power, Speed, Skill Make All-America Team Excel.”  Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), April 19, 1952.