Daniel Charles Shay (born Daniel Shea, November 8, 1876 – December 1, 1927) was an American professional baseball shortstop, manager and scout in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Shay's baseball career was relatively mediocre, and he is probably most remembered for being acquitted in the shooting death of a black man in 1917.
The son of Irish immigrants, Shay was born in Springfield, Ohio. He played four seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), for the Cleveland Blues (1901), the St. Louis Cardinals (1904-1905), and the New York Giants (1907). Even during his early baseball career, Shay had several interests outside of playing the game. He owned a cigar shop, several race horses and a minor league baseball team. Shay did not play much after a finger amputation in 1905. He served as a minor league manager between 1908 and 1917.
While managing the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association during the 1917 season, Shay visited a hotel cafe in Indianapolis. He fatally shot black waiter Clarence Euell in an argument stemming from a request for sugar; he claimed self-defense. Race was a contentious issue in the city at that time, and during Shay's nine-day trial for murder, both the prosecutors and defense attorneys attempted to use racial or ethnic stereotypes to their advantage. Shay was acquitted of murder charges. In subsequent media coverage, the verdict was criticized as an injustice.
After being out of the game since his murder trial, Shay was hired as a scout in his last baseball role in 1923. He suffered a stroke and lost the use of his right arm and hand. Ten years after he was acquitted in the murder trial, he was found dead in a hotel room with a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities could not definitively rule out either suicide or murder.
Early life and career
Shay was born in Springfield, Ohio, on November 8, 1876, to Irish immigrants. Around the time of Shay's birth, Springfield was a town characterized by tense race relations. Large numbers of black settlers arrived in the city from Kentucky in the wake of the Civil War. Black residents soon outnumbered whites, and they competed for jobs with working class white citizens like Shay's parents. Schools were integrated in Springfield when Shay was nine years old. He left Springfield by 1895 to begin his career in minor league baseball.
In 1897, Shay made his first recorded minor league appearances with three teams in the Interstate League and the Ohio-West Virginia League. Statistics are sparse until 1899, when he hit for a .288 batting average in 100 total games for four minor league teams. While playing minor league baseball for the 1900 Youngstown Little Giants, Shay was fined for leaving the team and for using improper language with the team's manager.
Shay made a brief appearance in the major leagues with the Cleveland Blues in 1901. During the 1902 season, he hit a combined .239 in 167 minor-league games. He was arrested in June 1902 after leaving the St. Paul Saints for another team in San Francisco. He was charged with running up an unpaid bill with St. Paul; he was assessed a $25 fine and agreed to repay $138. Shay played in 193 games for the 1903 San Francisco Seals, registering 721 at-bats and a .243 batting average.
Major league career
In late 1903, a baseball column suggested that the Detroit Tigers were interested in Shay, but he was said to be happy playing in California. During Shay's tenure in San Francisco, he got married. Shay went to spring training with the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1904 season. He impressed the team, prompting speculation that shortstop Dave Brain would move to third base and third baseman Jimmy Burke would serve as a utility infielder. Shay played 99 games for the Cardinals in 1904.
Shay sustained an injury to his pinky finger during the 1905 season. The finger did not heal properly and it required amputation. He sat out of major league baseball in 1906, refusing to play in St. Louis. Shay was a successful businessman during his early career; he owned a cigar shop in Stockton, California, purchased an outlaw baseball team and owned several race horses. As Shay prepared to return to baseball after a year away, an article in The Pittsburgh Press said, "There have been many ball players who have quit the game and became wealthy on the turf, but Shay is the only specimen living who was wealthy on the turf and quit the game to play professional baseball."