Jim Bluejacket

Who was Jim Bluejacket?

Jim Bluejacket was a Major League Baseball pitcher in the early 20th century. Bluejacket played for the Brooklyn Tip-Tops and Cincinnati Reds.

When he started playing professional baseball in 1905 for the Sedalia Goldbugs in the American Association, he went by the name of Jim Bluejacket. After his playing days were over he continued to use his professional name as his legal name. In the 1900 U.S. Census records of Adair, Oklahoma his name was William L. Smith, son of William and Lucy Smith. While playing for the Pekin Celestials of the Illinois-Missouri League in 1911 and 1912, he met and married Jennie Piro of Pekin, Illinois. They were married on December 31, 1912 in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri and the wedding license reads that he was William L. Smith of Adair, Mayes County, Oklahoma. As late as June 5, 1917 he registered as William Lincoln Smith on his U.S. World War I draft registration card and stated that he was employed with the Bloomington ball team in Bloomington, Illinois. He played for the Bloomington Bloomers for parts of the 1912, 1913, 1914, and 1916 seasons. While pitching for Bloomington at the age of 27 in 1914 he got the attention of the major league scouts by winning twelve games in a row and was signed by the New York Giants. But before he was to report to the Giants the Brooklyn Tip-Tops offered to pay him more and he signed with them. This caused quite a stir in New York with threats of injunctions between the two teams. He played his first game for the Tip-Tops on August 6, 1914 and compiled a 4-4 record the rest of the season. Brooklyn was a member of the Federal League and also played games against the National Teams. They played their home games in the old Washington Park which had been the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers up to 1912 when they moved to Ebbets Field.