John Gilbert was a Pottstown, Pennsylvania man, born and died in his hometown some thirty-nine years apart.  But for one day, he was the starting shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Born January 8, 1864 to Jesse B. and Lavina Guldin Gilbert, John G. (possibly Guldin) Gilbert was the fifth of nine children born to the stagecoach owner/driver and his busy wife.  Gilbert very nearly wasn’t headed to local baseball fame.  As a four-year-old, his hand got caught in a feed cutting machine.  However, a doctor was able to stitch it up and it healed nearly completely.  Nearly twenty-five years later, dealing with a sore hand, doctors found pieces of the original stitching and removed it from Gilbert’s ailing paw.

While working as a local laborer, Gilbert took up the growing sport of baseball.  He wasn’t alone – his younger brother Harry also took up the sport.  By the late 1880s, the Gilberts would play games against each other.  In 1890, they played on the same Pottstown amateur club.  Both earned some reputation such that in the early summer of 1890, the Pirates were in need of middle infielders and chose to give both John and Harry Gilbert a tryout.

On June 23, 1890, the Gilberts were penciled in as the starting shortstop and second baseman (John at short, Harry at second) for both ends of a doubleheader against Philadelphia.  Harry got two hits in the second game, but John went hitless in his eight at bats. A reporter with the Pittsburgh Dispatch noted, “It is no luscious snap for amateurs to make their debuts in the big professional leagues. Despite this they did very well, especially in the field.”  Neither player made an error in the field.

In the box scores, John Gilbert was listed as N. Gilbert.  The “N” represented his nickname, Nan, given to him while playing in his amateur games.  At the time, Nan was a nickname for players named Jonathan.

For some time, John managed a hotel and also ran a restaurant in Pottstown.  He married Ida S. Dellicker on March 17, 1888.  They had two daughters and a son that lived to adulthood: Clara; Jennie (or Jean); and Jesse.  They also had a son, Charles, who died as a young child in 1898.

Like his professional baseball career, Gilbert’s life was unfortunately short.  He died on November 12, 1903.  His obituary noted Gilbert’s baseball career and his time as a sprinter of some local note.  His spirit may be playing ball in the next league, but his earthly remains are buried in Pottstown Cemetery in a family plot.

Notes:

1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900 US Census
1898 Norristown, PA City Directory
PA Death Certificates, Jean Schroeder (daughter) and Jeremiah (brother).
PA County Marriage Records
US Civil War Draft Registration Records

Baseball-Reference (John)
Baseball-Reference (Harry)
FindaGrave.com

“Pottstown Affairs,” Reading Daily Times and Dispatch, August 18, 1882: 4.

“Pottstown Affairs,” Reading Daily Times and Dispatch, April 19, 1883: 4.

“Amateur Happenings,” Philadelphia Times, April 21, 189: 16.

“They Broke Even,” Pittsburgh Dispatch, June 24, 1890: 5.

“Rather Disappointing,” Philadelphia Times, July 13, 1890: 2. (Source of Nan nickname.)

“Stitches in His Finger,” Wilkes-Barre Daily News-Dealer, November 18, 1892: 3.

“Former Baseball Player Dead,” Canonsburg Daily Notes, November 13, 1903: 3.