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Jun 29, 2015, 9:09 PM
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'Moonlight' Graham played in his only MLB game 110 years ago today
M.E. Anderson
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June 29, 2015 5:06pm EDT
When the real-life Archibald “Moonlight” Graham made his major league debut 110 years ago today for the New York Giants against the Brooklyn Superbas, he had no idea it would be his only chance to get into a big league game.
And had it not been for W.P. Kinsella's 1982 novel "Shoeless Joe," Graham's brief career likely would have been lost in obscurity. In 1989, Phil Alden Robinson turned Kinsella’s book into a screenplay and introduced “Moonlight” Graham to the world in "Field of Dreams," a blockbuster starring Kevin Costner. Graham was portrayed by Burt Lancaster and Frank Whaley.
'Moonlight' Graham, Burt Lancaster in 'Field of Dreams'
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Spoiler alert ahead.
Just like in the movie, the real life “Moonlight” Graham only played in one MLB game and never got a chance to come to the plate. Once his baseball career was over, he really did become a doctor; like his character in the movie, he practiced medicine admirably in Chisholm, Minn., for more than 50 years.
But while "Field of Dreams" portrayed much of Graham's life story accurately, there were some discrepancies.
In the movie, Archie Graham (or “Doc” Graham, as he is called) is said to have played the final game of the New York Giants 1922 season. In reality, he made his only appearance for the Giants on June 29, 1905.
Graham was an eighth inning defensive replacement in right field for Giants regular George Browne. The Giants managed to score 11 runs against the Superbas that day, but the New York squad was retired, in order, in the top of the ninth. When pitcher Claude Elliot flied out to end ninth, Graham was waiting on-deck.
“You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening," Lancaster's Graham says in the movie. "Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9yrupye7B0
Newspaper clip courtesy of Matt Dole
Graham was sent down to the minors soon after. Despite hitting .336 in 124 games for the Scranton Miners and falling just four points short of the New York State League batting title in 1906, he would not get called up again. After mediocre minor league seasons in 1907 and 1908 he, hung it up.
In the movie, the younger version of Graham is portrayed as wet behind the ears. He quits baseball to become a doctor. It’s implied that, had he continued to play baseball, he might have had a decent career. In reality, Graham made his MLB debut at the age of 27 and was 30 years old when he left the game.
Another discrepancy happens when Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner's character) goes back in time to visit the elder “Doc” Graham in Minnesota. You can clearly see that "The Godfather" is playing at the local movie theater as Kinsella catches up to Graham on the street. This would have put the year Kinsella visits Graham as no earlier than 1972. The real-life Doc Graham died in 1965 at age 85.
“If I'd only gotten to be a doctor for five minutes... now that would have been a tragedy,” Lancaster's Graham says.
By all accounts “Doc” Graham was a pillar of his community. For many years, he arranged to have used glasses sent to his office and then on Saturdays would invite needy children to have their eyes checked and fitted for glasses, at no expense.
It’s worth noting that composer James Horner, who died last week in a plane crash and was most known for scoring "Titanic" and "Avatar," also scored "Field of Dreams."
Since 1901, there have been 61 position players who have made one appearance in an MLB game without getting a chance to hit. The first was Frank Mahar (Phillies, 1902) and the last was Joe Hietpas (Mets, 2004). Graham was the second.
The Giants went on to defeat the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series. Had teams passed out World Series rings in 1905, Graham would have received one.
M.E. Anderson, founder of the popular MLB Cathedrals Twitter account, is a Sporting News contributor. Follow him @MLBcathedrals.
http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-06-29/moonlight-graham-anniversary-field-of-dreams-burt-lancaster-shoeless-joe?eadid=SOC%2FFB%2FSNMain
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