Published January 30, 2012

The Washington Senators Signed Georgetown Shortstop Charley Moran in December 1902

In December 1902, the Washington Senators signed Charley Moran, the Georgetown University shortstop, to a baseball contract. Unfortunately, he failed to live up to expectations and was out of baseball by 1905.

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The front page of the Washington Times reported a big local signing in December of 1902 for the Washington Senators. They had inked the Georgetown shortstop, Charley Moran, to a contract

Here is an excerpt from the article.

Charley Moran, the clever little shortstop, who captained the Georgetown University baseball team last season and helped the Blue and Gray nine to scalp almost everything it came across, has been signed to play with the Washington American club next year.
Lew Drilk, the Georgetown catcher, who signed with the Senators last season, is said to have been instrumental in securing Moran’s services for the Senators. He had had Charley in tow for some time, and it was through him that Moran consented to cast his professional fortunes with the Senators.

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Moran has an enviable record in college circles, and is considered the crack college shortstop of the country. He will be placed in the infield on the local team. Moran is a Washington boy.
It is stated that Jimmy Ryan will be among the Senators next spring. He asked for more salary and the matter was adjusted to his satisfaction. Loftus is out looking for new players, and has signed a few, but will not divulge their names. He declared that he has had too many men snapped from him because of premature publicity and has decided to keep mum.

Poor Charley Moran … his college dominance did not translate into success on the field with the Senators. He turned out to be quite awful as a professional, completely overmatched.

Half-length portrait of Charles Moran, baseball player for the American League Washington Senators, standing at South Side Park which was located at West 37th Street, South Princeton Avenue, West Pershing Road (formerly West 39th Street), and South Wentworth Avenue in the Armour Square community area of Chicago, Illinois.

In 1903, he batted a paltry .225 while playing both shortstop and second base (in his defense, the team average was .231). 1904 was even worse, when he hit .196, splitting his time between shortstop, second and the outfield. Washington had seen enough, and they shipped him off to play for the St. Lous Browns in the middle of year. He would last only one more year and was out of baseball after that.

Charles Moran died in 1934 at the age of 55 in Washington, D.C. He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery off of Bladensburg Rd. NE.

Little known fact … baseball is the oldest collegiate sport at Georgetown, first organized by the university in 1870.

Another little known fact … another Georgetown baseball player, William G. Martin (Billy Martin), also went on to play professional baseball for the 1914 Boston Braves. Yes, the same Billy Martin that ended up opening Martin’s Tavern in 1933.