Danny Green

EDWARD "DANNY" GREEN was born on November 6, 1876 in Burlington County, New Jersey. He played baseball in Camden with one of the better semipro teams there and in the minors with the Springfield, Massachusetts franchise in the Eastern League. An outfielder, he first played professionally in 1896 with the Carlisle Colts of the Cumberland Valley League. The next year he went to Massachusetts to play with the Springfield Ponies of the Eastern League, where he hit .301 with 55 extra base hits and 45 stolen bases. He played 87 games for Springfield in 1896 and was hitting .323 when he was called up to play in the major league.

Danny Green made his major league debut with the National League's Chicago Orphans (later renamed the Cubs) on August 17, 1898. One of the fastest players in the game, he hit well for average, with some power and was a good fielder with an excellent arm. He played four years for the Orphans before jumping to the American League's Chicago White Stockings in 1902, where he played four more years. Danny Green continued to play professionally through at least 1910, and may have played some semi-pro ball after that.

Newspaper accounts state that he was severely injured when hit by a pitched ball, which led to paralysis and "softening of the brain," that is to say, he was considered insane due to diminished capacity. At least one account also states that he had contracted tuberculosis. His symptoms as described are also consistent with those of advanced syphilis, and one account states he had paresis of the brain. By August of 1912 he was confined to a sanatorium near Chicago. In January of 1914, two friends from Camden, policemen Wright Cox and Albert Keaser, arranged for him to be sent back to New Jersey to be near his mother and sister. Danny Green was admitted to the Camden County Hospital at Blackwood, where he passed away on November 9, 1914. He was survived by his son Edward Green, who was attending school in Chicago, a sister, and his mother.

Photos

1900 Census

Taken in June of 1900, Danny Green, wife Anna and son Edward were living in the 600 block on Van Buren Street in Chicago, in the same building as teammate Virgil "Ned" Garvin.

Danny Green — Omaha World Herald, August 11, 1912

By Miles Greenleaf

View transcription

Danny Green. Danny Green is dying of consumption at his home Near the old West Side arena in Chicago, Illinois, And the plaudits of the multitude will ring upon the dome That hung above the outfield when Old Danny was a boy. They used to call 'em Orphans and they used to call 'em Colts, But the National Chicagos are the Cubs in present day; And many an old timer of the bleacher tribe revolts When you say that they are faster than when Danny used to play. He covered, in the outfield, all the territory then, That could any modern marvel that the baseball world has seen; And we hope those ancient plaudits will be ringing to him when They have to call the game upon "Chicago Danny" Green. — Miles Greenleaf

Danny Green is dying of consumption at his home Near the old West Side arena in Chicago, Illinois, And the plaudits of the multitude will ring upon the dome That hung above the outfield when Old Danny was a boy.

They used to call 'em Orphans and they used to call 'em Colts, But the National Chicagos are the Cubs in present day; And many an old timer of the bleacher tribe revolts When you say that they are faster than when Danny used to play.

He covered, in the outfield, all the territory then, That could any modern marvel that the baseball world has seen; And we hope those ancient plaudits will be ringing to him when They have to call the game upon "Chicago Danny" Green.

— Miles Greenleaf

Tag: danny-green

Danny Green Dead

The Philadelphia Inquirer's obituary of Danny Green, who died at the Camden County Hospital at Blackwood after years of illness following a pitched ball to the head, and recalls his career in Camden, Springfield, Chicago and Minneapolis.

November 10, 1914

Danny Green Insane

The Springfield Republican tells its readers that Edward Danny Green, a favorite of the old Eastern league Springfield team, is now an inmate of the Camden county hospital at Blackwood, his condition traced to a pitched ball that struck him in 1912.

January 21, 1914

Ball Softened His Brain

The Rockford Republic reports that "Danny" Green, formerly of the White Sox, is now an inmate of the Camden County Hospital at Blackwood, New Jersey, after being struck on the head by a pitched ball in a game in 1912.

January 19, 1914

Danny Green Now in Camden Sanatorium

The Washington Evening Star reports that Edward Danny Green, once among the leading outfielders in the major leagues, is an inmate of the Camden County Hospital at Blackwood, and recounts how Jim Callahan and two Camden policemen, Wright Cox and Al Keaser, arranged his care.

January 19, 1914

Baseball Briefs

A column of short baseball notes in the Springfield Republican, closing with word that the White Sox have taken up a collection for Danny Green and are talking of playing a benefit game for him.

August 7, 1912

Danny Green Is Ill at Chicago

The New Orleans Item reports that Danny Green, long an idol at the West and South Side ball parks in Chicago, is confined with tuberculosis in the Cook county infirmary at Oak Forest and that hope of his recovery has been given up.

August 4, 1912

Danny Green Breaks Down

A brief Chicago dispatch in the Portland Oregonian reports that Danny Green, former outfielder of the Chicago National League club and later of the Chicago Americans, is seriously ill after two years of poor health.

August 1, 1912

Still Playing Ball in Camden

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Camden's 1906 season will run longer than ever, closing Saturday with the regular Camden team against a picked team of major leaguers. Receipts go to a benefit fund for Ike Toy, and an exhibition of association football will also be played.

October 24, 1906

Benefit Game for Ike Toy in Camden

The Philadelphia Inquirer previews the Ike Toy benefit game at the Camden grounds, where the regular Camden team will face a picked team of the "prides of Camden" then playing in the big leagues, including Conroy, the Gleasons, Green, Lennox, Steelman, Verga, Fischman and Bob Black.

October 19, 1906

Camden to Play Benefit Game

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Camden will close its 1906 season with a benefit game for Ike Toy, a popular Camden ball player of the early 1890s who is seriously ill. The Camden players will be opposed by a team of local men then playing in the various leagues, among them Wid Conroy, Kid Gleason, Danny Green and "Farmer" Steelman.

October 17, 1906

Dan Green Presented Gold Watch

A Cincinnati Post notice records that Dan Green of Tom Burns' Orphans, a Camden man, was presented with a gold watch during the Chicago-Philadelphia series, and recalls Camden as the home of the Merritts.

September 19, 1898

Passed Balls

A Philadelphia Inquirer notes column quotes Chicago manager Tom Burns praising "Danny" Green as a pacemaker, and adds that Green is a West Jersey boy who had played for years on teams along the eastern bank of the Delaware, including Bordentown and Camden.

September 3, 1898

Sporting News and Gossip

Springfield pitcher Harry Dolan talks to a Boston Herald reporter about manager Tom Burns and the Springfield club, praising catcher Nichols, "Big Dan" Brouthers, and left fielder "Dan" Green, whom he calls one of the fastest players living.

February 7, 1898

They Couldn't Find Dolan

The Springfield Republican's account of an Eastern League doubleheader at Buffalo, in which Springfield took the first game behind Dolan's pitching — Danny Green doubling to the left fence — and the Bisons evened matters by hammering Woods in the second.

July 25, 1897

The First Practice Game

The Springfield Republican reports the first practice of the season at Hampden park, where "Shorty" Fuller, Killeen and "Dan" Green were the only three Ponies to report, and manager Tom Burns put the squad through its paces.

April 14, 1897