American baseball player (1861–1923)
Baseball player
George E. Tebeau (December 26, 1861 – February 4, 1923) was an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball. He played in the big leagues between 1887 and 1895 for the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1887–1889) and Toledo Maumees (1890) of the American Association, and with the Washington Senators (1894) and Cleveland Spiders (1894–1895) of the National League. Tebeau batted and threw right-handed.
Career
In a six-season career, Tebeau was a .269 lifetime hitter with 15 home runs and 311 runs batted in in 628 games played. Nicknamed "White Wings" for his speed,[citation needed] he also totaled 228 stolen bases, 623 hits, 96 doubles, 54 triples, and 441 runs scored.
The older brother of infielder Patsy Tebeau, who was his teammate while in Cleveland, George played over 50 games at all three outfield positions and first base. One of his most productive seasons came in 1889 with Cincinnati, when he hit .252 and posted career-highs in stolen bases (61), RBI (70), runs (110), hits (110) and walks (69). He later became the owner of the Kansas City Blues franchise of the American Association.
In addition, Tebeau is recognized as the joint-first Major League Baseball player ever to hit a home run in the first at-bat of his career. He shares this "first ever" distinction with Mike Griffin; both Tebeau and Griffin hit their debut at-bat home runs on the same day, and as it is unclear which player hit his home run at a chronologically earlier time of the day, both have historically been considered the "first."
Tebeau died in Denver at the age of 61.
