Doc Bushong

Albert John Bushong (September 15, 1856 – August 19, 1908), known as Doc Bushong, was an American professional baseball catcher. Bushong also made appearances as an umpire and after his retirement from baseball, he practiced as a dentist. Some sources credit him with the invention of the catcher's mitt.

Early life

Descended from the Colonial immigrant Bushong family, Albert John Bushong was born September 15, 1856, in Philadelphia, the son of Charles A. Bushong and Margaret Moore Bushong. After playing baseball in various minor league teams for a couple of years, he enrolled in 1878 in dental school at the University of Pennsylvania. Bushong was one of the first to matriculate in the brand-new Department of Dentistry and he received his D.D.S. in 1882. While attending dental school, he played professional baseball every year, catching in more than 230 games as well as "barnstorming" in the off-season with a different team, the Hop Bitters.

On July 4, 1889, in the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis, Bushong injured his arm and played in only two more games during the regular season. He never fully recovered from the injury, which marked the beginning of the end of his baseball career. The 1890 season, was Bushong's last on the Bridegrooms and in major league baseball and he was officially released on March 26, 1891. Within a couple of weeks still wanting to play for the 1891 season, Bushong signed on with a minor-league team and eventually played on two different teams through mid-July before he was released. But on July 1, 1887, while at bat in the sixth inning of a game against Louisville, Bushong's fingers were mashed by a wild pitch from Louisville switch pitcher Ice Box Chamberlain The injury resulted in a broken finger and prevented him from playing for almost ten and a half weeks.

The scheme involved a $400 prize to the individual winners of the series. Bushong's idea was prize sharing, where, before the actual games, they were to agree, whoever was the winner would split the prize with the loser. In the newspapers, it was briefly mentioned as cheating, even though the practice was common in numerous sports and had been around in baseball for over a decade. Though embarrassed over the affair, nothing more came of it and Bushong continued playing.

Later life

Following his baseball retirement in 1891, Bushong, then 33 years old, began practicing dentistry full-time along with two brothers at a large dental house in Hoboken, New Jersey. Eventually he became manager of the establishment. Also while working in Hoboken, he began and, according to baseball historian William Rankin, "built up a large and flourishing practice", at his home in south Brooklyn, 442 Ninth Street. On November 9, 1898, Bushong's 4-year-old son died after being severely burned in an election night bonfire, which were a common ritual at the time. Eventually three of his sons, as well as a nephew, also became Brooklyn dentists and several worked at the Bushong family business, which was in operation as late as 1942. On August 19, 1908, Bushong died of cancer at his home, 442 Ninth Street, Brooklyn, at the age of 51 and was buried in the Holy Cross Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.