Now batting, Jim Thorpe

The incomparable Jim Thorpe, who less than a year earlier dominates the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, makes his major league debut 112 years ago today for the New York Giants.

Pinch-hitting for relief pitcher Jack Tesreau, Thorpe bounces into a game-ending groundout in the Giants’ 3-2 loss to Brooklyn before a Monday afternoon crowd of 5,000 at the Polo Grounds.

Thorpe mostly sits on the bench before getting his first start for the Giants on Sept. 29, 1915, when he plays center field, bats third in the lineup and goes 2-for-4 in a 5-3 victory over the Braves in the first game of a Monday doubleheader at Boston.

Thorpe’s first hit as a starter comes off Boston’s Otto Hess, a homer to deep center field that leads off the top of third inning and gives New York a 3-1 lead.

The homer is one of seven Thorpe hits in the majors with all seven coming in road games and one of the seven coming in 1917 off Phillies starter and future Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl.

Thorpe spends six seasons in the majors, battin .252 over 289 games with the Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves before becoming a full-time football player in 1920.

Thorpe does well in that gig, too, as he becomes the headline performer for the fledgling American Professional Football Association that later morphs into the National Football League.

Fittingly, Thorpe is part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural Class of 1963.