Major League Baseball Player. Known as "Doc", owing to his having received a degree in Dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania, his Major League debut came at age 19 with the Brooklyn Atlantics. His 12 year career as one of the game's leading catchers included stints with the Philadelphia Athletics (1876), Cleveland Blues (1883 to 1884), St. Louis Browns (1885 to 1887) and Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888 to 1890). He played in 5 World Series championships and was the first player to catch at least 100 games in a season. In his first World Series with St. Louis in 1885, he was at bat when the championship winning run came home on a passed ball. For the win, the Browns' owner rewarded his players with having a number of American towns renamed for them and the small town of Weeks, Kansas became Bushong, the name it retains to this day. He is also one of two players (the other being Joe Gunson) generally credited with inventing the catcher's mitt. Prior to 1875, catchers played barehanded, resulting in many painful injuries. Although some players had taken to wearing thick work gloves with the fingers cut out, according to a 1915 New York Times article, Doc "was very careful about his fingers, as he intended practicing dentistry after his days as a ballplayer were over. He wore the largest glove he could find, and had added pads until it looked like a pillow. Out of Bushong's idea grew the idea of the mitt." The National Baseball Hall of Fame does not support this claim as unequivocally as the New York Times, but agrees that Bushong can certainly be credited in the evolution of the catcher's mitt. He retired in 1890 and became a full-time dentist until his death at age 50.

Major League Baseball Player. Known as "Doc", owing to his having received a degree in Dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania, his Major League debut came at age 19 with the Brooklyn Atlantics. His 12 year career as one of the game's leading catchers included stints with the Philadelphia Athletics (1876), Cleveland Blues (1883 to 1884), St. Louis Browns (1885 to 1887) and Brooklyn Bridegrooms (1888 to 1890). He played in 5 World Series championships and was the first player to catch at least 100 games in a season. In his first World Series with St. Louis in 1885, he was at bat when the championship winning run came home on a passed ball. For the win, the Browns' owner rewarded his players with having a number of American towns renamed for them and the small town of Weeks, Kansas became Bushong, the name it retains to this day. He is also one of two players (the other being Joe Gunson) generally credited with inventing the catcher's mitt. Prior to 1875, catchers played barehanded, resulting in many painful injuries. Although some players had taken to wearing thick work gloves with the fingers cut out, according to a 1915 New York Times article, Doc "was very careful about his fingers, as he intended practicing dentistry after his days as a ballplayer were over. He wore the largest glove he could find, and had added pads until it looked like a pillow. Out of Bushong's idea grew the idea of the mitt." The National Baseball Hall of Fame does not support this claim as unequivocally as the New York Times, but agrees that Bushong can certainly be credited in the evolution of the catcher's mitt. He retired in 1890 and became a full-time dentist until his death at age 50.

Bio by: TomDuse