Facts:   - debutteam: boston red caps      - birth date: 27 may 1856    - debutyear: 1879    - finalteam: philadelphia phillies    - statlabel: win -- loss record earned run average batting average    - statvalue: 1-2 4.94 .333    - death date: 30 october 1931    - name: jim tyng    - death place: new york , new york    - birth place: philadelphia , pennsylvania    - position: pitcher    - throws: right    - debutdate: september 23    - image size: 150px    - finalyear: 1888    - bats: right    - finaldate: june 13    - image: jim tyng baseball card small.jpg   Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of jim tyng .
Answer:
james alexander tyng -lrb- may 27 , 1856 -- october 30 , 1931 -rrb- is known as the first baseball player to wear a catcher 's mask while playing for harvard university in 1877 .the team manager , fred thayer , received a patent for the mask in 1878 .in 1879 , tyng became the first harvard player selected to play in the majors , when he was picked up by harry wright and the boston red caps as an emergency pitcher .tyng defeated the first-place providence grays to draw the red caps within two games of the grays .it was the only victory in his major league career .later , in 1888 , he pitched in one game for the philadelphia phillies .