Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The baseball newsletter that prides ourself on having a set of marbles.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about a joke that went a little too far, and the player who got shot because of it.

Joe Mulvey spent the majority of his 12-year career in Philly.

He held down the hot corner for the Quakers, Athletics, and the Phillies.

Mulvey was never anything special at the plate - he hit below .300 his entire career - but he was an animal at third.

These were in the days when fielders still wore no glove, or a super thin one like this:

So basically, he was using less protection than a spring breaker in South Florida.

Joe frequently had bruised hands and broken fingers, but he was one of the best defensive third baseman of this era.

However, his career almost ended before it even started.

Before Joe got to Philly, he made his Major League debut with the Providence Grays.

During his time with the Grays, there was a fan named James aka “Jimmy” Murphy, who was known to be a bit off his rocker.

Murphy was delusional and thought of himself as a great ballplayer even though all signs pointed towards the opposite.

He was known to show up to the Grays’ practices and even work out with the club from time to time.

But something about Murphy was “off” and thus the Grays’ players messed with him a lot.

One day, during practice, a Providence outfielder named Cliff Carroll drenched Murphy with a hose.

It was meant to be a joke, but Jimmy didn’t find that shit funny.

Murphy left the ballpark, and returned later that afternoon with a gun.

He waited outside the player’s exit and when he had Cliff Carroll in his sights, he squeezed the trigger.

Fortunately, no one was killed, but Murphy missed Carroll altogether and instead the bullet hit Joe Mulvey in the right shoulder.

Jimmy fled the scene, but was arrested later that evening.

Luckily, the bullet only grazed Mulvey and the wound was not life-threatening.

Matter of fact, he was in the line up the next day for an exhibition game against the Woonsocket Comets.

Because in 1883, if you can’t take a bullet and get back in the box the next day, you were considered soft I guess.

Mulvey went 2 for 5.

BASEBALL TRIVIA

RIDICULOUS STATS

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game

where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

When you see the Baseball Reference profile picture and it's just a sketch of the guy, you know this dude is old and obscure.

Based on the stats, he was only in the big leagues for a total of four games, and got nine plate appearances with the St. Louis Browns.

Scrappy squeaked out one hit, one walk, and ended his major-league career with a measly .125 lifetime batting average.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Streak: A gang of minor league nobodies put together the longest winning streak in professional baseball history

• The Million Dollar Dinger: Jay Bell makes a D-backs fan an instant millionaire with one swing of the bat

• The Sneaker Fraud: Ex-big leaguer is still on the run after selling millions in fake shoes

• The Brooklyn Bout: Fan viscously assaults an umpire at Ebbets Field in the 40s

• The Parachuter: Rogue fan skydives onto the field during the World Series