Richard Joseph Harley (September 25, 1872 – April 3, 1952) was an American baseball outfielder, manager, and coach.
A native of Philadelphia, Harley played baseball and American football at Georgetown University. He then played professional baseball from 1896 to 1909, including seven years in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Browns (1897–1898), Cleveland Spiders (1899), Cincinnati Reds (1900–1901), Detroit Tigers (1902), and Chicago Cubs (1903). During his major league career, he appeared in 741 games and compiled a .262 batting average with 96 extra-base hits, 236 RBIs, and 78 times hit by pitch.
As an outfielder, he had a strong arm, led the National League in assists in 1898, and totaled at least 20 assists in four of his seven major league seasons. He also led all National League outfielders in errors with 27 in 1899 and 30 in 1901.
Harley later served as the player-manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Eastern League (1904–1905) and as a college baseball coach for Georgetown (1913), Penn State (1915–1917), and Pittsburgh (1920–1924).
Early years
Harley was born in 1872 in Center Square, Montgomery County, Pa. He grew up on his family's land named Boxwood Farm located in Whitpain Township, northwest of Philadelphia.
He attended Georgetown University, where he played both American football and baseball. He played at the fullback position on the football team in 1893. Although contemporary newspaper sources have not been found referring to him as a coach, modern Georgetown football media guides list Harley as the head coach of the 1893 Georgetown football team. He played at the shortstop and left field on the baseball team in the spring of 1894.
Professional baseball
Minor leagues (1895-96) During the summer of 1893, Dick played baseball with Arthur Irwin's Atlantic City, N.J. Team of All Collegians (South Jersey League). The following summer, 1894, he played with Phil King's Team of All Collegians at Cape May, N.J. During the summer of 1895 Dick played baseball for Harry Mackey's Team of All Collegians at Atlantic City. Dick was elected captain of the Georgetown nine in his sixth and final year and had standing offers from two professional baseball teams. One team, Rochester of the Eastern League, reportedly "claimed" Harley as reported by the Springfield Republican on March 25, 1895. Dick stayed in school and graduated vice-president of the Georgetown Class of 1896. After graduation, Dick immediately signed his first professional baseball contract with the Springfield Ponies (Massachusetts) of the Eastern League where he played from June 28, 1896, to September 15, 1896. Later in the fall of 1896 he was contacted by the Philadelphia Phillies who he eventually signed a contract with in December 1896 and attended their spring training camp in Augusta, Georgia for 1897. (ref. rwh220)
St. Louis and Cleveland (1897-99) On May 29, 1897, he was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Bill Hallman to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for Tommy Dowd. At the time, The Philadelphia Inquirer noted that, while Harley was drawing "a big salary for a young player", he was "worth every cent he draws. That boy is a comer, if there ever was one." Harley made his major league debut on June 2, 1897, with the Browns. On June 24, 1897, he collected six hits in a 12-inning game played at Pittsburgh. During the 1897 season, he hit .288 in 90 games for the Browns. The following year, he appeared in 142 games for the Browns, but his batting average dropped by more than 40 points to .246. He was hit by a pitch for a career high 22 times in 1898. He also led all National League outfielders in 1898 with 26 assists and ranked second with 27 errors.
Prior to the start of the 1899 season, the St. Louis Browns baseball club was acquired by the owners of the Cleveland Spiders. On March 29, 1899, Harley was assigned by the St. Louis club to the Spiders. He appeared in 142 games for the 1899 Spiders and compiled a .250 batting average with a career-high 50 RBIs. He was the starting left fielder for the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, who some consider to be the worst team in baseball history. The Spiders went 20–134, scoring 529 runs and allowing 1,252 runs. Harley led all National League outfielders in 1899 with 27 errors.
Detroit and Cincinnati (1900-02) On April 3, 1900, the Detroit Tigers purchased four former Spiders: Harley, Sport McAllister, Harry Lochhead, and Suter Sullivan. (The Tigers were part of the American League in 1900, but the league was not recognized as a major league until 1901.) Harley appeared in 123 games for the 1900 Tigers and led the team with a .325 batting average, 77 runs scored, and 47 stolen bases.