Art Whitney

Arthur Wilson Whitney

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 155 lb.

• Debut May 1, 1880
• Final Game August 22, 1891
• Born January 16, 1858 in Brockton, MA USA
• Died August 15, 1943 in Lowell, MA USA

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Biographical Information

"Arthur played winning ball last season, and batted like a trojan." - from Sporting Life of January 6, 1894

"Williams as a thrower is one of the most accurate the Pittsburg Club ever had in the infield since the days of Arthur Whitney." - Sporting Life of May 20, 1899, remembering Arthur Whitney

Art Whitney was a weak-hitting third baseman who was a decent fielder and therefore stuck around for eleven seasons in the majors. He appeared twice on post-season winners, hitting quite well in the 1888 post-season play.

He was always called Arthur by Sporting Life, never Art.

His suit against Detroit in 1888 got a lot of attention. It was a breach of contract suit based on Detroit allegedly causing him to break off negotiations with Pittsburgh. He later sued St. Louis in 1891 and Pittsburgh in 1892.

He was said to be a major factor in the adopting of gloves; he wore one in 1889 and apparently that caused others to wear gloves in 1890.

He also pitched 30 innings, appearing in five games in three different seasons.

He is the brother of Frank Whitney. In 1899 Arthur joined a sporting goods company which was managed by another brother identified as C.B. Whitney.

In an odd set of coincidences, Steve Balboni and Art Whitney were both born in Brockton, MA, both were born on January 16th (Balboni was born 99 years after Whitney), both were infielders and both played for teams in New York. However, Whitney never played in the American League as it didn't exist during his major league career.

"Anson talked secession to Arthur Whitney for an hour in Chicago Monday morning. . . The old man failed to induce Arthur to secede." - Sporting Life of August 9, 1890, reporting on Cap Anson's effort to get Art Whitney to leave the Players League