P.J. Gately

Patrick Joseph Gately

• School New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb
• Born June 18, 1870 in New York USA
• Died April 14, 1891 in Manhattan, NY USA

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Biographical Information

Patrick Gately was a deaf-mute pitcher who rose to prominence in the amateur and semiprofessional ranks in New York in the late 1880s and spent the 1890 season playing professionally. A native New Yorker, Gately attended the New York Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb in Fanwood area of Washington Heights in Manhattan, where he graduated from an eight-year course in 1890. There Gately built his ballplaying skills, playing on school teams from 1886 to 1890. The school team was often called Silentia, and played against other local colleges, prep schools, and semipro teams. Gately featured as the pitcher for the team beginning in 1888.

In 1888, after building his reputation locally, Gately began to pitch for the Senators, one of the top semipro teams in the New York City area. Also that summer he pitched for the Pamrapo Athletic Club in Bayonne, NJ and the Windsor Base Ball Club, which was largely made up of Fanwood students. In 1889, he again pitched for school clubs and for the Senators, and also featured with the Crescents of Plainfield, NJ.

Early in 1890, he was offered a contract with the Brooklyn Gladiators in the American Association, a major league team. He worked out with the team in pre-season, but is only known to have appeared in one exhibition game, when he pitched several innings on April 2 in an 8-5 win over the Metropolitans, a semipro team formed around a nucleus of former members of the New York Metropolitans. Gately was soon back to pitching with the Senators after that trial with Brooklyn. In June 1890 he signed with the Albany Senators of the New York State League. He was with that club into mid-July, pitching and playing a few games at shortstop. His strongest outing with the club was on June 18 against Cobleskill, when he won a 14-4 game, giving up 9 hits, 4 walks, and striking out 9. Though he hit well for the club, he had a losing record as a pitcher, and was released following a change in management. In the latter half of the summer he resumed pitching for the Senators and also made appearances with the Metropolitans.

Gately returned to school in the fall, to work on a three-year High Course program, and captained the football team. However, prior to Easter in 1891 he took ill with consumption and died on April 14.. Gately was frequently mentioned to be grinning and to have a smile on his face, and was said to be an exact counterpart of Mickey Welch. As a pitcher, his curves and inshoots were noted for deceiving hitters. It is not clear what hand he threw with, as he was referred to as a left-hander in one report when he joined Albany, though he was also suggested to be a right-hander when it was reported that his right hand was bitten by his school team's mascot, a pet rat.