2021 Reading: Marquard & Seeley

 

Before Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, even well before Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, there were notable romances involving baseball stars and talented women in show business. This is the story of one of those romances involving Rube Marquard, a star pitcher for the then-New York Giants and Blossom Seeley, a star of the vaudeville stage who was immensely popular in the 1910s and beyond. This very interesting book by Noel Hynd details the lives and scandalous affair that resulted in a brief marriage and a lasting friendship. 

Neither Marquard nor Seeley were using their original names by the time they became famous. Although there is some controversy about this (I will take Noel Hynd's word for it), Marquard started out in Cleveland, Ohio as Richard LeMarquis, son of a civil engineer who wanted no part of his son's baseball dreams. He later claimed to have changed his name to Marquard in order to play baseball. Blossom Seeley started life as Minnie Guyer in San Francisco in 1891. 

Seeley's road to stardom was smoother than Marquard's. A child star in her native city, she used her dancing and acting ability in addition to her big singing voice to belt out ragtime songs and made her way east via the vaudeville circuit. Upon arriving in New York she became a sensation. She also married her manager, Joe Kane. 

Marquard ran away from home to play baseball at age 16. Following an abortive trial with the Waterloo, Iowa club of the Iowa State League, he played semipro ball for an industrial league in Cleveland. Catching on with Indianapolis  of the American Association, he developed into a fine pitcher. The team's owner waited until Marquard's value was high enough to make selling his contract to a major league club most advantageous. A bidding war broke out in 1908 that the Giants won for $11,000. With an impressive fastball, the New York newspapers immediately dubbed him the "$11,000 Beauty", although his rookie salary was more like $800. Giants manager John McGraw made clear that the young prospect would spend most of his time initially sitting on the bench and observing the opposing hitters. In his first appearance of 1908 against Cincinnati, he hit the first batter he faced, walked the next two, and then gave up a grand slam. The loss marked his only decision of the season, and things were not much better in 1909, a year in which the Giants were a largely revamped club. Marquard posted a respectable 2.60 ERA and his record was an unimpressive 5-13. By the end of the 1910 season, the once highly-touted pitcher was reduced to a mop-up role in the bullpen and finished at 4-4 with a 4.46 ERA, and he was tagged "the $11,000 lemon". It all turned around in 1911 thanks to Marquard's work in the spring with pitching coach Wilbert Robinson (who is pictured at far left below, accompanied by manager John McGraw at center and long-time ace pitcher Christy Mathewson, at right in sweater, who was also Marquard's road roommate). 

 With an improved delivery and repertoire of pitches, Marquard posted a 24-7 record for the pennant-winning Giants. Greater things were in store in 1912 as the 25-year-old pitcher put together a record 19-game winning streak on his way to a 26-11 tally. Not only was this good for the Giants, it made Marquard a marketable offseason quantity on the vaudeville circuit. Handsome and more sophisticated than his nickname implied, he found himself teamed up with Blossom Seeley. The pairing blew up in the face of her manager/husband Joe Kane. Unhappy in her marriage, Seeley became involved with Marquard as more than a show business partner. The two were a hit on Broadway as Seeley performed a number called "The Marquard Glide". The pitcher held his own as a song and dance man. And off-stage scandal erupted as the aggrieved husband sought legal recourse for Marquard's alleged alienation of Seeley's affection, as opposed to his own abusive behavior toward her. A November trip to Atlantic City set off a bizarre series of events that could have come out of a movie comedy. Seeley's divorce from Kane was finalized early in 1913 and Marquard and Seeley went on tour, with Marquard making it clear that he expected a raise to $10,000 from the Giants for the next season. In California, with Seeley having become pregnant, the two married.    

Marquard signed with the Giants for less than $10,000, but still received a raise. As the Giants cruised to a third straight NL pennant, Marquard produced a 23-10 record and a 2.50 ERA. 

In August, the two became parents (the only time for either) to a son. The two returned to touring together in the fall of 1913, with critics panning Marquard's singing and dancing abilities as compared to those of his wife, although the duo remained popular with the public. 1914 proved to be a much more difficult year on the mound for Marquard, who went 12-22. As a result, he lost much of his drawing power as an entertainer, while Blossom's popularity remained high. The marriage began to unravel as Marquard suggested that she quit the stage and become a more traditional wife (it was truly a different time). Blossom stuck to her career, even if it meant parting company with her husband.

In the meantime, Marquard was also being courted by the new Federal League, a circuit that sought to lure talent away from the two existing leagues.  The Brooklyn franchise of the new league pursued Marquard, despite his off year in 1914. The pitcher was open to challenging baseball's reserve clause but ended up back with the Giants in 1915, where he had another uneven season until he was dealt to Brooklyn in August, which reunited him with Wilbert Robinson, his one-time pitching coach who now managed the Robins (which the Dodgers were called at that time due to their association with Robinson). 

With his marriage on the rocks and pitching for a new club, Marquard revived his career in 1916.  As a starter and sometime reliever, he posted a 13-6 record and 1.58 ERA for the pennant-winning Robins. The World Series against the Red Sox went less well, and an attempt to return to show business failed as well. Divorced from Blossom, his pitching career with Brooklyn continued effectively for several more seasons. 

As for Blossom, her career continued along successfully, and she found a new partner for her act, Benny Fields, who also became her third husband. Marquard and Seeley maintained a friendly correspondence following their failed marriage that lasted until her death in a New York City nursing home at age 82 in 1974. Marquard, whose major league baseball career ended in 1925, married twice more and remained a popular interview subject long after his playing days had ended. Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, he lived until 1980 when he died at age 93.

As Noel Hynd aptly pointed out, the two of them belonged to a past that has largely faded away. Vaudeville is long gone, as are baseball's New York Giants, who departed for San Francisco following the 1957 season. What remains is their story, so well told in this slender volume. The background information, as well as their story, could be of interest to people intrigued by cultural or entertainment history in addition to baseball fans.