View source for Jimmy Austin

{{short description|Welsh baseball player, coach, and manager (1879-1965)}}
{{other people|James Austin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Jimmy Austin
|image=Jimmy Austin baseball card.jpg
|position=[[Third baseman]]
|bats=Switch
|throws=Right
|birth_date=December 8, 1879
|birth_place=[[Swansea]], [[Wales]]
|death_date={{death date and age|1965|3|6|1879|12|8}}
|death_place=[[Laguna Beach, California]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=April 19 
|debutyear=1909
|debutteam=New York Highlanders
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=October 6
|finalyear=1929
|finalteam=St. Louis Browns
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
|stat1value=.246 
|stat2label=[[Home run]]s
|stat2value=13
|stat3label=[[Run batted in|Runs batted in]]
|stat3value=390
|teams=
'''As player'''
*[[New York Highlanders]] ({{Baseball year|1909}}–{{Baseball year|1910}})
*[[St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1911}}–{{Baseball year|1923}}, {{Baseball year|1925}}–{{Baseball year|1926}}, {{Baseball year|1929}})
'''As manager'''
*[[St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1913}}, {{Baseball year|1918}}, {{Baseball year|1923}})
'''As coach'''
*[[St. Louis Browns]] ({{Baseball year|1923}}–{{Baseball year|1932}})
*[[Chicago White Sox]] ({{Baseball year|1933}}–{{Baseball year|1935}}, {{Baseball year|1937}}, {{Baseball year|1939}}–{{Baseball year|1940}})
}}
'''James Phillip Austin''' (December 8, 1879 – March 6, 1965) was a Welsh professional [[baseball]] player and coach. He played in [[Major League Baseball]] as a [[third baseman]] for the [[New York Highlanders]] and [[St. Louis Browns]] from 1909 through 1923, 1925 through 1926, and 1929. He also [[manager (baseball)|managed]] the Browns in 1913, 1918, and 1923.

==Early years==
Austin was born in [[Swansea]], [[Wales]], the son of a shipbuilder. He was one of only three [[Major League Baseball]] players to be born in Wales (the others being [[pitcher]] [[Ted Lewis (baseball)|Ted Lewis]] and [[infielder]] [[Peter Morris (baseball)|Peter Morris]]). His father moved to the United States in 1885 to find work, and Austin followed in 1887. He did not see a baseball game until he was 14 years old.<ref name="SABR">McMurray, John. [http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1755&pid=418 "Jimmy Austin"]. sabr.org. Retrieved December 21, 2011.</ref>

After leaving school in 1889, Austin became an [[apprentice]] [[machinist]] with [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]]. After finishing his four-year apprenticeship, Westinghouse went on strike. Austin took up an offer of $40 a month (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|40|1893}}}}), plus a job, to play independent ball in [[Warren, Ohio]]. He returned to Westinghouse that fall, but in the spring of {{Baseball year|1904}}, he signed with the Central League's [[Dayton, Ohio]] club.

==Professional baseball==
Austin remained in Dayton until {{Baseball year|1907}}, when he was sold to [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]] in the [[Western League (1900–1958)|Western League]]. He [[Stolen base|stole]] 97 bases for Omaha in {{Baseball year|1908}}, and at the end of the season was sold to the [[New York Highlanders]] of the [[American League]]. He made his [[Major League Baseball|major league]] debut in {{Baseball year|1909}} at the relatively advanced age (for baseball) of 29. That year, Austin became immortalized in the [[Charles M. Conlon]] photo as the third baseman trying to avoid [[Ty Cobb]]'s spikes on a [[stolen base]]. Of the play, Austin said, "That's Cobb sliding into third and the other guy is me."

[[Image:Cobbstealing3rd.jpg|left|thumb|In this famous 1909 photograph, Austin fails to tag [[Ty Cobb]] out on a stolen base attempt.]]
He played two seasons in New York, but was traded to the [[St. Louis Browns]] in {{Baseball year|1911}} by new Highlanders manager [[Hal Chase]], thus beginning a thirty-year career with the Browns as player and coach.

In {{Baseball year|1913}}, when the Browns' player-manager [[George Stovall]] was suspended by the American League for spitting at an [[umpire (baseball)|umpire]], Austin was made manager on a temporary basis, until he was replaced by the legendary [[Branch Rickey]]. It was Rickey's first managerial job. Austin continued as Rickey's "Sunday Manager" – Rickey had promised his mother that he would not enter a [[ballpark]] on the Christian Sabbath, and therefore Austin managed the Browns on those days.

Austin played regularly for the Browns until {{Baseball year|1921}}, and served as a coach for another 20 years. Unfortunately, the Browns during this period were rarely ever in the [[First division (baseball)|first division]], so his team won no pennants during his playing career. The Browns did however finish the [[1922 in baseball|1922 season]] in second place, one game behind the New York Yankees. Austin did also have the great fortune of either playing for or coaching baseball greats [[Branch Rickey]], [[George Sisler]], and [[Rogers Hornsby]]. In {{Baseball year|1929}}, at the age of 49, Austin became one of the oldest major leaguers in history when he was inserted into a blowout. He cleanly handled two chances at third base, and [[strikeout|struck out]] in his only [[at bat]].

==Later life==
Austin spent 16 seasons as a [[coach (baseball)|coach]] for the Browns and [[Chicago White Sox]] during an 18-year span that ended in 1940. After his coaching career ended, Austin retired and moved to [[Laguna Beach, California]], and served as the town's mayor during the 1940s.<ref name="SABR"/>

Austin was one of the ballplayers who told his story in [[Lawrence Ritter]]'s classic 1966 book, ''[[The Glory of Their Times]]'', from which much of the information in this article came.

==Managerial record==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Team !! rowspan="2"|Year !! colspan="5"|Regular season !! colspan="4"|Postseason
|-
!Games!!Won!!Lost!!Win %!!Finish!! Won !! Lost !! Win % !! Result
|-
|-
![[1913 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| [[1913 Major League Baseball season|1913]]
||8||2||6||{{Winning percentage|2|6}}|| interim || – || – || – || –
|-
!colspan="11"|
|-
![[1918 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| [[1918 Major League Baseball season|1918]]
||16||7||9||{{Winning percentage|7|9}}|| interim || – || – || – || –
|-
!colspan="11"|
|-
![[1923 St. Louis Browns season|SLB]]|| [[1923 Major League Baseball season|1923]]
||51||22||29||{{Winning percentage|22|29}}|| 5th in AL || – || – || – || –
|-
! colspan="2"|Total || 75 || 31 || 44 || {{Winning percentage|31|44}} || || 0 || 0 || – || 
|}

==See also==
*[[List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders]]
*[[List of Major League Baseball player-managers]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Jimmy Austin}}
{{Baseballstats|br=a/austiji01|brm=austin002jam}}
*{{Find a Grave|27667211}}

{{St. Louis Browns managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Jimmy}}
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Baseball coaches from Ohio]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox coaches]]
[[Category:Dayton Veterans players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball player-managers]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball players from Wales]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball third basemen]]
[[Category:New York Highlanders players]]
[[Category:Omaha Rourkes players]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Swansea]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns coaches]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns managers]]
[[Category:St. Louis Browns players]]
[[Category:Welsh emigrants to the United States]]