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Frank Bancroft, Manager
Bancroft was 38 years old when he served as the manager of the 1884 Grays. Little is known about him; he never played major league ball. The press accounts of the 1884 season hardly mention him or his strategies. The account of the June 28 game complained about the poor quality of the umpire. On one occasion, Grays left fielder Cliff Carroll received a base on balls, and "Manager Bancroft volunteered the assertion that Carroll should have been out on strikes." Bancroft was a native of Lancaster, Mass., and had a nine-year managerial career with seven different teams. Other than his one great season with the Grays in 1884, his record was quite mediocre, as his teams finished between fourth and seventh every year. In 1885, he managed the Grays to their only losing season, and the team promptly folded that winter. He died in Cincinnati in 1924. copyright Rick Stattler 2002 |
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