John Sullivan

John Eugene Sullivan (February 16, 1873 – June 5, 1924), was an American baseball catcher. He played professional baseball from 1900 to 1910, including two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers in 1905 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1908. He collected 59 putouts and 24 assists, and committed 3 errors, in 13 games as a major league catcher. He batted and threw right-handed.

Early years Sullivan in Chicago in 1873. He began playing baseball on the Chicago sandlots. In 1900, he played for the Kansas City Blues of the American League (one year before the league was recognized as a major league). He played catcher and first base for the Blues, compiling a .227 batting average in seven games.

He joined the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League in the middle of the 1900 season and remained with the club through the 1901 season. He appeared in 58 games for the Grizzlies in 1900 and compiled a .329 batting average with five triples and six stolen bases. He eventually reached terms with the Tigers and made his major league debut on April 19, 1905. However, he appeared in only 13 games for the club, compiling a .156 batting average and a .250 on-base percentage in 32 at bats. In late May 1905, the Tigers released Sullivan back to St. Paul.

Kansas City Blues In 1906, Sullivan joined for the Kansas City Blues, then playing in the American Association. He remained with Kansas City for four seasons, batting .162 in 1906.223 in 1907.228 in 1908, and .219 in 1909. Sullivan told the Kansas City Star that Pittsburgh's owner "offered me the same salary I was making in Kansas City, and that didn't go with me. . . . I'd rather play ball right here in this league where all my friends are and the only thing that would've kept me in Pittsburgh was more money."

New England League Sullivan concluded his playing career playing in the New England League at the end of the 1910 season. He was buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Evanston, Illinois.