Billy Geer

From BR Bullpen

William Henry Harrison Geer

Bats Unknown, Throws Right
Height 5' 8", Weight 160 lb.
School Manhattan College

Debut October 15, 1874
Final Game May 10, 1885
Born circa 1849 in New York, NY USA

[edit] Biographical Information

According to traditional sources, Billy Geer may have debuted in the National Association at age 15, which would make him the youngest player to ever play major league baseball. There is significant doubt about his correct year of birth however, and it is much more likely that he was born in 1849 or 1850 (the 1860 census shows a 10-year-old William Geer living in New York City). The 15-year old George Harrison Geer born in New York in 1859, whose vital statistics have been attached to Geer's playing record, is likely a completely different person. The honor of being the youngest player ever was long thought to belong to Fred Chapman, who would have been 14, but recent research has shown that this player was in fact Frank Chapman and of a normal age when he played his one game in the major leagues. If neither Chapman nor Geer were teenagers when they first played, then the youngest player would be Joe Nuxhall, already considered the youngest player in the modern era.

Geer went on to play in six different seasons, and has the distinction of playing in four different leagues - the National Association in 1874 and 1875, the National League in 1878 and 1880, the Union Association for 9 games in 1884, and the American Association in 1884 and 1885. He played for seven different ballclubs in those six years in those four different leagues.

Billy Geer was most likely playing shortstop for Manhattan College from 1867 to 1870. He broke into professional baseball with a good team in 1874, the New York Mutuals, which finished second. Geer got 2 hits in 8 at-bats, doing better than 22-year-old Orator Shaffer, who went only 1 for 5, but continued to have a successful major league career. He became an everyday player in 1875, hitting .244 on a team whose average was .219. It was a poor team, though - the New Haven Elm Citys won only 7 of their 47 games. Billy was second on the team in runs scored.

Playing for a losing team may have hurt Billy's career, because he didn't pop up in the majors until 1878; the lack of a New York-based team may also have been an issue. He played poorly for the Cincinnati Reds, hitting only .219 on a team that hit .276. He was apparently in 2 games with Worcester in 1880.

In 1884, Geer apparently came back for 9 games with the Philadelphia Keystones, and then became a regular for the 1884 Brooklyn Atlantics of the American Association, where he hit .210 for a team whose average is .225. In addition to playing shortstop for Brooklyn, he also pitched 5 innings, so it is a good guess that he had a strong arm. His range was excellent in 1884, although he made 81 errors in 107 games. In Cincinnati back in 1878 as a shortstop, he had made fewer errors per game but had less impressive range. He finished his career with the Louisville Colonels in 1885.

Baseball historian Richard Malatzky is working on tracking down more information about Geer and his family (see here). Peter Morris of SABR has also done extensive research (see the Peter Morris website). He lists him as probably born in 1849. The person uncovered through research in the Census records and who is most likely the real Billy Geer, is a most interesting one. His father, John Geer, was a wealthy jeweler in New York, who seemed to have had poor luck in his choice of wives: the 1860, 1870 and 1880 census all list a different wife. More strangely, he is given the last name Geer in 1860, but is listed under the close-sounding Egore ten years later, and Aiguier in 1880. It is not clear which was the family's true last name, but William did consistently play under the name Geer, although he may have used a different one in civilian life.

What is known of Billy Geer after his playing days is also quite interesting. An article in the Syracuse Herald in 1897 states that he arrived in Syracuse, NY in 1878 and impressed local high society with his refinement and good manners, managing to woo the hand of Emily Smith, the daughter of Jacob Smith, one of the city's most prominent businessmen. But nasty rumors soon began circulating about Geer and he had to leave town under a cloud of accusations of financial improprieties, after living with his father-in-law and working as a newsdealer according to the 1879 city directory. He and Emily were divorced in the early 1880s. In 1892, Geer was arrested in Minnesota for forging a check, bringing his playing career to an end. The trail goes cold after that, and nothing is yet known of his later life.