a black armband for john mcgraw

when hall of famer bill terry broke into the new york giants' lineup as a rookie in 1923, his manager was john mcgraw.  that year, mcgraw led the giants to their third consecutive pennant (they would win another in 1924).  terry, meanwhile, supported mcgraw by accumulating hall-worthy stats, including 254 hits and a .401 batting average in 1930.  then, during the 1932 season, terry would replace the retiring mcgraw as the team's manager (terry would serve as player-manager just as mcgraw had early in his managerial career) and later lead them to three more pennants and a world championship.

after mcgraw passed away in early 1934, the team added a black armband to their jerseys in his honor.  terry's 2001 fleer greats of the game gives us a good glimpse at the memorial

at the time of his retirement, mcgraw had won more games than any other manager (he was passed by connie mack in 1934) and had been ejected from more games than any other manager (he was passed by bobby cox just a few years ago).  i knew of mcgraw from a young age mostly because he was blamed for the lack of a world series in 1904 due to his dislike of the american league and ban johnson, its president.  mcgraw was more than that, obviously, and he was named to the hall of fame in 1937.