Diary: Remembering Jouett Meekin, New Albany’s premier pitcher

Jouett Meekin (1867-1944), who retired in 1900 just as the “modern” era in professional baseball began, is the greatest pitcher New Albany has produced up until the present day. Jo Meekin was the son of James Meekin, a renowned riverboat pilot. At the time of his birth New Albany was the undisputed leader of the Falls Cities (cities that resided beside the Falls of the Ohio, the only major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico) in boatbuilding and second only to Pittsburgh on the entire Ohio River. Of course “modernity” is at best an approximation. Did you know that a baseball clearing the outfield wall on one bounce still was considered a home run as recently as 1930? Since then, it has counted as an automatic double, or in the vernacular, a “ground rule double.” At six feet, one inch and 180 pounds, Meekin possessed a murderous fastball once compared by stats guru Bill James to Amos Rusie’s and Cy Young’s, averaging 16 wins a year during a career lasting from 1891 through 1900. In 1894, Meekin was 33 – 9 for the New York Giants, helping lead the team to a Temple Cup (pre-World Series) championship....Read more