Jim Hart

Who was Jim Hart?

James Aristotle Hart was an American baseball manager for the Louisville Colonels and the Boston Beaneaters for parts of three seasons.

Hart went to the U.K. in the 1890s. A British national professional Baseball body was started in 1890 and a letter to Albert Spalding in America requesting help in establishing a league. The British requested eight to ten players to coach and convert the existing players. Spalding sent Hart as a skilled manager and players: William J. Barr, Charles Bartlett, J.E.Prior and Leech Maskrey.

The original intention had been to have eight teams but initially there were just four Aston Villa, Preston North End, Stoke City and Derby. The first three used Jim Hart to decide the line-up of their teams, but Francis Ley at Derby made his own decisions.

Hart was part-owner of the Chicago Colts team, and in the 1895 season, the entire Colts team was arrested for creating a disturbance on Sunday, and Hart bailed every player out.