John Sullivan’s career and life were unfortunately short, but his ability to catch just about any baseball thrown at him still brought vivid memories back to old ballplayers some forty years after he passed to the next league.

“Chub” was more likely a reference to his thin frame – 6′ 0″ and maybe 165 pounds… He was the son of Patrick and Hannah Sullivan, both immigrants from Ireland.

Sullivan played on The Star Club of Boston, organized by Father James Troy – the team went undefeated in 1874 and was the Massachusetts Junior club champions.  Sullivan then played professionally with the Clippers of Webster, Tauntons, Ithicas, Buckeyes of Columbus, Cincinnatis, and the Worcesters. Joe Start was asked about Chub’s skills at first base. “His superior never lived, and I have played against them all for the past twenty years.”

Foley, Charles J. “The Stars of Boston,” Boston Globe, 02 May 1887: 8

Chub played for Cincinnati in 1877 and 1878, moved to Worcester in 1879 when it was a minor league team and stayed with that team when it successfully applied to join the National League in 1880.

“Do you remember poor Chub Sullivan? What a big-hearted fellow he was. Chub was the first baseman of the team. He was a tall, handsome fellow, and one of the best dressed ball players I ever saw. He always wore fashionable clothes, and he was a fellow that could wear them, too.

Kelly, Mike. “Play Ball,” Ottawa Daily Citizen, 04 August 1888: 2.

Arthur Irwin on Chub Sullivan:

“Sullivan actually played one season without a fielding error. Of course, the schedule called for about half as many games as the 154-game schedule of this season, but a first baseman who can play seventy or eighty games without an error ought to play twice that number with a clean record in the error column. Sullivan was simply perfection with his hands. He made clean pick-ups with both right and left hands, plucked the sphere out of the ambient as it sailed toward the right or left of him or was bound over his head… Chub never wore a glove, as the big mitt wasn’t invented in those days. He simply worked with the bare hand…

“Baseball Talk,” Buffalo Courier, 28 November 1898: 3.

“To me Charles A. Comiskey has always been the ideal first-baseman. I never saw ‘Chub’ Sullivan play. Some of the old guard say ‘Chub’ was the greatest man ever on guard at the initial corner, but he must have been an unsurpassed king to have surpassed Comiskey in his day.”

Ren Mulford, Jr., “Frenzied Reds,” The Sporting Life, April 20, 1907: 7.

Sullivan started having issues with his lungs as early as the summer of 1880.

“‘Chub’ Sullivan, first baseman of the Worcesters, is sick with typhoid fever, and may not be able to play again till September…”

“Sporting Notes,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 24 July 1880: 4.

Chub Sullivan, first baseman of the Worcesters, has been released. He has been given a month’s trial in practice games and being unable to bat or run satisfactorily, the directors did not care to take the risk of putting him in the championship games Saturday against the Troys. His lungs are affected, and it is thought his ball-playing days are over.

“Sporting Matters,” Detroit Free Press, 30 April 1881: 1.

According to the Massachusetts Death Records, Sullivan died of phthisis, or tuberculosis, on 12 September 1881 – just 25 years old.

“…The Worcesters played with crape on their arms in memory of Chub Sullivan, a member of the team, who died in Boston yesterday.”

“Worcester Vs. Buffalo,” Chicago Tribune, 14 September 1881: 6.

“Men who bat left hand over the right are very scarce nowadays. Ezra Sutton was the best of all cross-handed batters, with Chub Sullivan close behind.”

“News, Notes, and Comment,” The Sporting Life, November 8, 1890: 4.

Chub Sullivan played in 43 games for Worcester in 1880, batting 166 times and getting 43 hits, including six doubles and three triples. He didn’t drive in a single run.