Born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Early began his professional baseball career in 1936 at the age of 21 with the Jacksonville Tars of the South Atlantic League. By 1938, he had moved up to the Charlotte Hornetts of the Piedmont League where he posted a .316 batting average in 97 games. Early made his major league debut with the Washington Senators on May 4, 1939 at the age of 24. He served as a reserve catcher, backing up future Baseball Hall of Fame member, Rick Ferrell. Former catcher and Senators coach Benny Bengough helped Early develop his catching skills.\n', '

The Senators traded Ferrell to the St. Louis Browns in May 1941, leaving Early to share catching duties with Al Evans. Early out-hit Evans and ended the season having caught the majority of the team\'s games with a career-high batting average of .284 along with 54 runs batted in and a team-high 10 home runs. His hitting performance earned him the starting catcher\'s job in 1942. Although his batting average dropped to .204, he led American League catchers in assists and in baserunners caught stealing, and finished second in putouts. Early developed a reputation as a talkative player on the field, using several methods to distract the hitter. These methods of distraction included his imitation of a radio announcer\'s play-by-play commentary, an auctioneer\'s sales pitch and even singing.\n', '

By 1943, Early was being recognized as one of the best defensive catchers in baseball. He had the arduous task of catching for a Senators\' starting pitching staff that included four knuckleball pitchers. Dutch Leonard, Johnny Niggeling, Roger Wolff and Mickey Haefner all threw the notoriously difficult to catch knuckleball. Further recognition came when he was selected to be the starting catcher for the American League in the 1943 All-Star Game. The difficulty in catching the knuckleball was evident as Early led the league in passed balls allowed.\n', '

Return to Jake Early Autograph Profile