Jack Glasscock was born in Wheeling, West Virginia (then Virginia) to Thomas Glasscock (born 1830) and the former Julia Collette (born 1833), and dropped out of school in fourth grade to pursue his father\'s trade of carpentry. Nicknamed "Pebbly Jack" for his habit of scrutinizing the infield for small stones, typically pocketing them, the practice helped him to avoid the bad-hop ground balls which more regularly afflicted other infielders; fielding averages of the era rarely exceeded .900 among shortstops. He played for the local Standard club in 1876, the Champion City club of Springfield, Ohio in 1877, and the Pittsburgh Allegheny Base Ball Club of the International Association in 1878, the latter at third base. After Allegheny folded, he finished the season with Cleveland and broke into the National League with that club in 1879, the first West Virginian in the majors. After playing second and third bases as a rookie, he switched to shortstop permanently in 1880 with Fred Dunlap taking over at second. In 1881 he led the NL in putouts (105), assists (274) and fielding average (.911) for the first time. Over five seasons with the team he gradually improved his hitting, and in 1882 he was among the league\'s top ten players in home runs (4), doubles (27), slugging average (.450) and total bases (161) while also leading the league in assists (311) and tying Sadie Houck\'s major league record of 40 double plays, set the previous year; Frank Fennelly set a new major league mark with 46 for the 1885 Cincinnati Red Stockings in the American Association. In 1883, batting third, Glasscock led the team in runs batted in, and paced the NL in fielding again with a .922 average. In mid-1884 he jumped to the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds of the Union Association during that league\'s only season of play and batted .419 in 38 games.\n', '

He returned to the NL with the St. Louis Maroons for the next two years, becoming team captain. In 1885 he set an NL record for assists (397), breaking Arthur Irwin\'s 1880 mark of 339, and led the league in fielding average (.917); he also moved ahead of Davy Force to become the major league career leader in games at shortstop. In 1886 he hit .325 and was fifth in the league in doubles and sixth in hits, also breaking his own NL record with 43 double plays and again leading the NL in assists (392) and fielding (.906). The Maroons moved to Indianapolis and became the Indianapolis Hoosiers before the 1887, and Glasscock continued his solid output in Indianapolis with a .294 average that year. He also set new major league records for assists (493) and double plays (58), topping Fennelly\'s totals of 485 and 54 with the previous year\'s Red Stockings. Ollie Beard broke his major league assists mark with 537 for the 1889 Red Stockings, and Bob Allen set a new NL mark with 500 for the 1890 Philadelphia Phillies. Glasscock led the league in fielding (.901) again in 1888, and would later break his own NL double play record with 60 in 1889, though Beard set a new major league mark with 63 the same year; Allen broke the NL mark with 68 in 1890.\n', '

1889 marked Glasscock\'s top all-around season as he batted .352 – second in the NL behind Dan Brouthers, and the best average by a major league shortstop prior to 1893, when the pitching distance was increased to 60 feet (18 m) – and led the league in hits (205). He was second in doubles (40, behind King Kelly) and total bases (272, behind Jimmy Ryan), and was fifth in the league with a career-high 128 runs. Furthermore, he led the league in every defensive category (246 putouts, 478 assists, 60 double plays, .915 average). His 246 putouts set a new NL record, breaking John Montgomery Ward\'s 1887 major league record of 226 (Herman Long had 335 for the 1889 American Association Kansas City Cowboys); Bob Allen would also break this record just a year later. Glasscock hit for the cycle on August 8 of that year; he also managed the team for the last half of the season, posting a 34–32 record. Early in the year, he discovered 17-year-old future Hall of Famer Amos Rusie pitching for a local semi-pro team, and the young hurler was promptly acquired for Indianapolis.\n', '

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