Jean Dubuc is one of the more intriguing characters in the T206 set. Dubuc appeared in his first Major League game as a 19 year-old rookie with Cincinnati in 1908. He appeared in just fifteen games, nine of which were starts. He went 5-4 with an ERA of 2.74.
In 1909, he started 5 games and appeared in 14 more as a reliever. His record dropped to 2-5 with an ERA of 3.66. Those numbers certainly represent a useful bullpen arm, but I’m a little surprised that they caught the attention of the person who selected players for inclusion in the T206 set*. It isn’t hard to find other, more established pitchers who do not appear in the T206 set. In trying to understand why he was chosen and other players with better track records were not, I noticed something interesting. There are 202 poses in the 350 Only Series. Of those 202, fifteen are Cincinnati Reds, more than any other team**. To put that number in perspective, there are only 13 poses featuring Boston Red Sox in the entire set.
In 1910, Reds skipper Clark Griffith sent Dubuc down to the Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League. He struggled mightily there, and was released. He promptly signed with the Montreal Royals, where he righted the ship, going 21-11 in 1911.
On paper, Dubuc’s inclusion in the T206 set doesn’t make a ton of sense. In fact, when his T206 card was being produced in 1910, Dubuc was likely playing in either Buffalo or Montreal. In order to understand why he was selected for the T206 set, we have to go beyond the stats and dig a little deeper. Following the 1908 season Cincinnati went on a barnstorming tour in Cuba. Dubuc opened a number of eyes, going 3-1 during the trip. Going into 1909, expectations were high for him. Unfortunately, he caught malaria in Spring Training and missed the majority of the season, appearing in just 19 games. Still just 20 years old and with tons of potential, his inclusion in the T206 set makes sense with a little more context.
During his year-and-a-half stint in Montreal, Dubuc (who spoke French) was extremely prolific. As mentioned previously, he went 21-11 on the mound in 1911, but what he did off the field is arguably more impressive. He opened a successful business called The Palace Bowling Alley and Pool Room at just 22 years of age. In addition, he bought stock in the Montreal Wanderers, a National Hockey Association team.
MLB teams had been keeping tabs on his Dubuc during his season in Canada. After the season Montreal made the mistake of exposing him to the major league draft. Ten of the 16 major league teams put in a claim on him. The Detroit Tigers were the lucky team awarded his rights.
The next five years were the highlight of Jean Dubuc’s Major League career. From 1912 to 1916, he made 130 starts for the Tigers, going 71-60 with an ERA of 3.06. He was remarkably consistent during his tenure with the Tigers, starting at least 36 games in each season.
Despite starting 36 games and pitching to a 2.96 ERA (to go with a 10-10 record) he was let go after the 1916 season. He spent the 1917 season with the Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League. In 1918, he was acquired by the Boston Red Sox, though he only appeared in five games (and only two as a pitcher).
John McGraw’s New York Giants acquired Dubuc before the 1919 season. In an era when relief specialists were unheard of–Firpo Marberry, often credited for launching that role, didn’t appear until five seasons later–Dubuc pitched in 36 games, only five of them starts, leading the N.L. with 31 relief appearances. He won six, lost four, saved three (tied for second in the league in that category), and led the league in games finished (22), an early example of the “closer” in baseball. Dubuc compiled a 2.66 ERA and allowed only 119 hits in 132 innings as the Giants finished in second place.. He seemed to have found a niche.
–Jean Dubuc’s SABR bio written by Tom Simon and Guy Waterman
During the Fall of 1919, while the Giants were on a barnstorming tour, manager John McGraw unexpectedly released Dubuc. He never played in the majors again.
Why was Dubuc released after putting up such a solid season at the relatively young age of 31? The answers to those questions wouldn’t become apparent for another year.
On September 24, 1920, New York Giants pitcher Rube Benton testified before a grand jury in Chicago that he had seen a telegram which proved the 1919 World Series had been fixed.
“I don’t know who sent it,” Benton said, “but it came to Jean Dubuc, who was barnstorming with us. It simply said: ‘Bet on the Cincinnati team today.’ I suppose it came from Bill Burns, who had been close to Dubuc a few weeks before the Series when both were living at the Ansonia Hotel in New York City.”
On November 11th, The Sporting News published an article entitled, “Why Dubuc Was Dropped.” McGraw was quoted as saying that he dropped Dubuc because he associated with Sleepy Bill Burns, a gambler and prominent figure in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. Burns and Dubuc were teammates in 1912 with the Tigers. The Sporting News went on the speculate that McGraw may have suspected Dubuc and Hal Chase were responsible for the Giants losing the 1919 pennant race to the Cincinnati Reds.
While MLB commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis was banning eight members of the Black Sox as well as Joe Gedeon from Major League Baseball, Jean Dubuc was conveniently out of the country. He spent the 1921 season pitching in the Atwater Park Twilight League in Montreal.
In 1922, he quietly returned to United States and hooked up with the Syracuse Stars of the American Association. Though he never returned the majors, he had successfully avoided a lifetime ban for his alleged involvement in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.
Sources:
SABR biography of Jean Dubuc
Jean Dubuc – Baseball Reference page
Footnotes:
*Not much is known about the selection process for the T206 set. The cards were produced at American Lithographic Company (ALC). I’m sure someone was in charge of creating a checklist of players, finding photos of them, and getting artists to turn those photos into the artwork we see on the cards. What we don’t know is where that work was done. Was someone at American Tobacco Company (ATC) in charge of selecting players, or did they delegate the entire job to ALC?
**Detroit is closest among Major League teams with 12 poses in the 350 Only Series. The New York Giants had 10 poses. The Philadelphia Athletics and New York Highlanders are tied with 9 apiece. The rest of the Major League teams are as follows: Boston Nat’l- & Washington (7), Chicago Nat’l, Chicago Amer & Cleveland (6), Brooklyn & Pittsburgh (5), Philadelphia Nat’l (3). Buffalo leads the Minor League teams with 11 poses. Baltimore has 9, and Minneapolis and Providence are tied at 8 apiece.
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