Mark Bennett: Pittsburgh remembers Hautean great Max Carey alongside Clemente, Stargell, others

Aug. 13—Baseball's most prized possession is its long memory.

In another profession, the legacy of a guy like Max Carey would evaporate as time passes.

In baseball, its best players — and even those with an instant of fame, like Don Larsen or Mark "The Bird" Fidrych — etch their names and feats into one of the most well-kept volumes of American history.

They give us fodder for arguments and comparisons, hashed out on bar stools, coffee-shop booths or social media posts.

They join statistical lists with names like Cobb, Mathewson, Ruth, Gehrig, Robinson, Paige, Gibson, Bench, Maddux, Griffey and Rivera.

Now, the city of Pittsburgh is remembering Carey, a born-and-raised Terre Hautean. The man who deftly handled center field and craftily stole bases for the Pirates, and led that club to its 1925 World Series championship, will be honored next month alongside some of baseball's most revered players. They include Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and Josh Gibson.

Carey and those fellow greats are among 19 members of the inaugural Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame class, a roster than includes four stars of the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays from the Negro Leagues.

They'll all be honored in ceremonies on the Riverwalk outside PNC Park and on the field before the 2022 team plays visiting Toronto on Sept. 3.

Pittsburgh looms as large as Terre Haute in the Carey family history. Soon, Max's grandson, great-granddaughter and great-great-grandchildren will all be living in the Steel City, where Max roamed center field for the Pirates from 1910 to '26 and where his son, Don, was born.

The news of Max's selection for the new Pirates Hall and next month's induction ceremony thrilled his grandson, Clif Carey.

"I want to be there," the younger Carey said by phone Tuesday from Aurora, Colorado. Clif plans to retire as a University of Colorado School of Dental Medicine professor and will move with his wife to Pittsburgh in February. Clif's daughter, Lisa Lohmueller, and her husband and their kids live in Pittsburgh. "That's why we're going there," Clif said.

His grandfather broke into the majors with the Pirates more than a century ago. Yet, some of Max's records still stand. He remains the Pirates' all-time stolen base leader with 690. He retains the National League records for the most years leading the league in stolen bases with 10, and the most career steals of home plate with 33. The latter record may still be his a century from now.

"This is one record I doubt any National Leaguer will ever break in the future," John Bennett, a Society for American Baseball Research historian, said Tuesday by email from Shelburne, Vermont. Bennett (no relation to this columnist) wrote a biography of Carey for the 2004 book "Deadball Stars of the National League," written by SABR historians.

This is where those passionate comparisons of ballplayers from different eras of the game begin.

In Carey's days, baserunners stole home plate more often than those of today, Bennett explained, but it was still a rarity. It was more common in the 1910s and '20s because steals of home often occurred as part of a "double steal" attempt with runners at first and third bases. As a pitcher began his windup, the runner at first would bolt for second base, trying to draw a throw from the catcher; the runner at third would take off for home as soon as the catcher threw to second.

"You really don't see that play too much as a part of modern baseball," Bennett said. "When it does happen, you just see catchers hold the ball and let the runners go to second [base]."

Regardless, given Carey's base-stealing prowess, his National League record likely includes several straight steals of home. It's the most exciting play in baseball. A runner at third takes off for home as the pitcher winds up, trying to surprise the catcher and slide under the tag.

Brooklyn Dodgers great Jackie Robinson stole home 15 times in his major league career, thrilling crowds with his craftiness and speed. Robinson undoubtedly would've threatened Carey's record if baseball's heinous color barrier hadn't delayed the Dodgers star's debut until age 28 in 1947.

Carey finished his career in Brooklyn, playing two seasons with the Robins, a generation before Robinson's arrival in 1947. Carey took over as Brooklyn's manager in 1932, and the club changed its nickname to the Dodgers. Later, Carey served as a manager and league president in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, made famous in the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own" and a new TV series by the same name beginning this month on Amazon Prime streaming.

In every role, Carey stood out for his smarts and mastery of the game as a hitter, fielder, baserunner, coach and front office executive.

"I see him as an innovator — a guy who figured out how the game was best played, and then did everything he could to maximize the skills that he had," Bennett said.

Carey's 1922 season epitomizes that assessment. He safely stole 51 bases in 53 attempts, an eye-popping 96% success rate. By comparison, baserunners overall were safe only 54% of the time that year.

Pirates Hall of Fame members

—The 19 members of the new Pittsburgh Pirates Hall of Fame include Honus Wagner, Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner, Fred Clarke, Jake Beckley, Max Carey, Pie Traynor, Roberto Clemente, Ralph Kiner, Arky Vaughan, Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Josh Gibson, Ray Brown, Buck Leonard, Oscar Charleston, Dave Parker, Danny Murtaugh and Steve Blass.

Carey's 20-season lifetime statistics included 738 steals (a NL record later broken by Cardinals Hall of Famer Lou Brock), a .285 batting average and 2,418 hits. Carey was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in 1961. He died in 1972 at age 86 in Miami.

Born in Terre Haute on Jan. 11, 1890, Carey's birth name was Maximillian George Carnarius. While still in college as a Lutheran seminary student, he changed his name to Carey to protect his amateur status while playing pro ball in South Bend. He kept the name, gave up the ministry and played ball.

He was selected for the Pirates' new Hall of Fame by an internal committee for the club, team historian Jim Trdinich said by email Wednesday. The committee selected Carey and 18 others "because of their accomplishments, and the impact they had on the organization and our game," Trdinich said.

All but three have passed away. But they're remembered.

Mark Bennett can be reached at 812-231-4377 or mark.bennett@tribstar.com.