▁Baseball ▁Abstract , ▁sports ▁historian ▁Bill ▁James ▁wrote ▁that ▁Mc Gu ire ▁was ▁called ▁De acon , ▁" because ▁he ▁didn ' t ▁drink ▁and ▁car ouse ", ▁like ▁other ▁players ▁of ▁his ▁era . ▁ ▁To ▁the ▁contrary , ▁a ▁bi ographical ▁sketch ▁of ▁Mc Gu ire ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 1 ▁stated ▁that ▁Mc Gu ire ▁had ▁been ▁a ▁heavy ▁drink er ▁for ▁much ▁of ▁his ▁career , ▁though ▁he ▁did ▁later ▁become ▁a ▁" te et otal er ." ▁ ▁The ▁sketch ▁noted :" Mc Gu ire ' s ▁career , ▁as ▁will ▁be ▁noted , ▁has ▁been ▁a ▁somewhat ▁check ered ▁one ▁and ▁not ▁without ▁its ▁ups ▁and ▁down s . ▁ ▁His ▁down s , ▁for ▁the ▁most ▁part , ▁were ▁due ▁to ▁an ▁acquaint ance ▁he ▁early ▁formed ▁with ▁the ▁Hon . ▁John ▁Bar ley c orn , ▁and ▁his ▁association ▁ ▁with ▁this ▁noted ▁gentleman ▁led ▁to ▁frequent ▁and ▁divers ▁b outs ▁with ▁one ▁Ben ▁Bo o ze ▁who ▁invari ably ▁gave ▁Mac ▁the ▁worst ▁of ▁it ▁and ▁came ▁near ▁causing ▁his ▁down fall . ▁ ▁It ▁was ▁not ▁until ▁he ▁quit ▁these ▁gentlemen ▁entirely ▁ ▁that ▁the ▁true ▁worth ▁of ▁the ▁man ▁perman ently ▁assert ed ▁itself ▁and ▁his ▁flight ▁into ▁fame ▁was ▁continued ." ▁ ▁Another ▁account , ▁published ▁in ▁Sports ▁Illustr ated ▁ 1 9 8 4 , ▁stated ▁that ▁Mc Gu ire ' s ▁Brook lyn ▁team m ates ▁gave ▁him ▁the ▁nick name ▁in ▁ 1 9 0 0