A native of Tulare, California, he began his baseball career with the Stockton Millers. He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1906 and promptly traded to the Reds for whom he had only one plate appearance before returning to the minor leagues. In August 1908, Stanage was purchased by the Tigers and remained with them from 1909 to 1920. He appeared in 1,096 major league games, 1,074 as a catcher, and compiled a .236 batting average and .284 on-base percentage. In 1911, he set an American League record with 212 assists as a catcher, a record that still stands. He led the American League in assists by a catcher three times (1911, 1912, and 1914) and threw out 830 base runners in the 1910s, more than any other American League catcher. He ranks among the all-time career leaders at catcher with 1,381 assists (14th), 931 runners caught stealing (14th), and 1,297 stolen bases allowed (10th).\n', '

In the 1920s, Stanage was also implicated in an alleged game-fixing scandal arising out of a 1917 series with the Chicago White Sox; Stanage claimed the money he received was a reward for beating the Boston Red Sox rather than losing to the White Sox. Stanage finished his career in the minor leagues for the Los Angeles Angels (1921), Sacramento Senators (1922), Visalia Pirates (1923), and Toronto Maple Leafs (1924). He served as a player-coach for the Tigers in 1925, player-manager of the Evansville Hubs in 1926, and a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1927 to 1931.\n', '

Stanage was born in Tulare, California, in 1883, the son of a rancher and farmer. Stanage attended Stockton High School and was a catcher on the school\'s baseball team and a star of the football team. He played independent baseball after graduating from high school.\n', '

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