Captain (baseball) - History

History

In the 19th and early 20th century, the captain held most of the on-field responsibilities that are held by managers and coaches in modern baseball. For example, according to the 1898 official rules, the captain was responsible for assigning the players' positions and batting order, for appealing to the umpire if he observed certain violations (for example, if the other team intentionally discolored the ball or its players illegally left the bench), and for informing the umpire of any special ground rules. During a period when teams didn't carry full-time coaches, the captain and one or more other players could serve as "coachers" of the base runners; the lines setting off the section where they were allowed to stand were designated as "captain's lines." If the umpire made a decision that could "be plainly shown by the code of rules to have been illegal," the "captain alone shall be allowed to make the appeal for reversal." The rules state that the captain must be one of the nine players, implying that a non-playing manager would not have been allowed to act in the captain's role. In contrast with modern baseball, the 1898 rules do not mention the managers having any rights to interact with the umpires. The rules allowed managers to sit on the team's bench during the game, but were otherwise silent with respect to rights and responsibilities of managers.

In early baseball, many teams had playing managers who had both the off-field responsibilities of managers and the on-field responsibilities of captains. The held the title of "manager-captain." In contrast, teams that had non-playing managers hired a player to serve as captain. For example, in early 1902 Jack Doyle was signed as captain and first baseman of the New York Giants while non-player Horace Fogel was manager.