His career began in 1911 with the Philadelphia Giants. That year, at the age of twenty, he won seventeen consecutive games. Early in his career he was at his best, and in 1914, playing for the New York Lincoln Giants, he was 12-3 against official competition and 31-9 in barnstorming. He served in World War I in 1918, and was a player-manager from 1919 to 1922. His playing career was essentially over by the mid-1920s, but he managed the Brooklyn Royal Giants from 1927 to 1932.