Plaque to honour Finea baseball legend

Seamus Enright

A plaque dedicated to the first Irishman to play Major League Baseball, Cavan-native Andrew ‘Andy’ Jackson Leonard will be unveiled tomorrow.
The honour for little-known Leonard (1846–1903) from Finea, who was recently nominated for induction into the Irish American Baseball Hall of Fame, will be set in stone and unveiled at the Egg Market, Cavan Town at 6pm on Friday, August 12.
“We contacted the Council and approached them with this proposal, and in fairness they were very supportive. To tie it in then with something as big as Taste of Cavan as well is a big boost for it,” says Adrian Kelly, coach with local baseball team, the Cavan Comets.
While few in Ireland may have heard of Leonard’s exploits, across the Atlantic he is somewhat a folk hero within the sport.
Most recently memorabilia, including letters and contracts signed by Leonard in the 1870s fetched over $60,000 at auction, and interest in a player who fielded for the Boston Red Stockings, Cincinnati Red Stockings and Washington Olympics is currently at an all time high.
Born 1846, the son of Ann Liddy and Andrew Leonard, his family left Ireland due to the famine, settling in Newark, New Jersey. The famous left-fielder, was best known as a member of the famed 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, nicknamed in baseball folklore as ‘The First Boys of Summer’. Leonard was once described by ‘Hall of Famer’ Cap Anson as one of the 19th century’s top performers.
“This guy is a sporting hero in the US, and those early players are considered pioneers of the sport. For one reason or another, his name and his achievements in history has up until recently, just flown completely under the radar here outside of the game itself,” Mr Kelly explained.
Leonard’s fate is similar to that which has befallen another Irish star of the early baseball years, Granard-native Thomas Henry ‘Tommy’ Bond (1856–1941), a pitcher and a right fielder.
Like Leonard, Mr Kelly is currently working with the Granard Historical Society with a view to conducting a fitting tribute to Bond too.
While the most outstanding player in the Irish Baseball League already receives the annual Andy Leonard League Most Valuable Player Award, Comets’ Team Manager Adrian Kelly told The Anglo-Celt the Hall of Fame nomination and the erection of the plaque “just reward” for his contribution to the game.
President of Baseball Ireland, Peter Kavanagh will attend Friday’s plaque unveiling and the Cavan Comets, who now play their games in Clones, will encourage other visiting teams from around the country to pay their respects to a local “legend of the game”.
“It’s important culturally for a country to recognise its heroes. Leonard is an important person in Irish and American sporting history, a legend of the game by all accounts, who set a marker for others from this country to follow in his footsteps,” Mr Kelly added.

Cavan County Council Chairman, Fergal Curtin said of Leonard: “His legacy lives on today in the Irish Baseball League with the most outstanding player receiving the Andy Leonard League Most Valuable Player Award. We are delighted to recognise and honour Andy in his home county”.