Scoops Carey

George C. "Scoops" Carey (December 4, 1870 – December 17, 1916) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman for four seasons between 1895 and 1903. He played for the Baltimore Orioles, Louisville Colonels, and Washington Senators. His best season came in 1902, when he finished with 35 doubles, 11 triples and a league-leading fielding percentage. After his MLB career, Carey played in the minor leagues and managed there for one season. After his baseball days, he lived in East Liverpool, Ohio, where he died at the age of 46.

Biography Carey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended West Virginia University and started his professional baseball career in 1892. He came into prominence that year playing first base for the Altoona Mountaineers in the Pennsylvania State League. He soon earned a reputation as a good-fielding first baseman. After a few years in the minors, he made his major league debut with the Orioles in 1895, replacing future Hall of Famer Dan Brouthers. Carey led all National League first basemen in fielding percentage, and Baltimore won the pennant. He set his major league career highs in home runs (with 1) and runs batted in (75). However, Carey's OPS+ was just 62, and the following April he was sold to the Eastern League's Syracuse Stars. In 1897, Carey had a good year in the Atlantic League, batting .354 to finish fourth in the circuit. He got another shot in the majors in 1898 with Louisville. In eight games, he hit just .188 and was sent down to the minors again. In 1901, he rebounded with a .316 batting average to earn his final shot in Major League Baseball, this time with the American League's Senators.

Carey played one and a half seasons with Washington. 1902 was the best season of his career. He hit .314 with 35 doubles and 11 triples and achieved an OPS+ of 117. For the second time, he led a major league in fielding percentage for first basemen. For the next eight years, Carey bounced around the minor leagues. He never batted .300 again. In 1910, he managed the Class D Jonesboro Zebras and then retired the following season. He died at the age of 46 from mitral stenosis and mitral regurgitation, which one newspaper described as "leakage of the heart."