Charlie Waitt

Charlie Waitt
First baseman
Born: October 14, 1853(1853-10-14) Hallowell, Maine
Died: October 21, 1912(1912-10-21) (aged 59) San Francisco, California
Batted: Unknown	Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 25, 1875 for the St. Louis Brown Stockings
Last MLB appearance
September 18, 1883 for the Philadelphia Quakers
Career statistics
Batting average	.165
Strikeouts	11
Home runs	0
Teams
St. Louis Brown Stockings (1875) Chicago White Stockings (1877) Baltimore Orioles (1882-1883) Philadelphia Quakers (1883)

Charles C. "Charlie" Waitt (October 14, 1853 – October 21, 1912), born in Hallowell, Maine, was a professional baseball player who played a total of four professional baseball seasons. Waitt played in an era when baseball had different rules, uniforms, and many other differences from modern baseball. He was 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) in height, and 165 pounds (75 kg) in weight. He threw right-handed, but it is unknown whether he batted right or left-handed.

Career

Charlie Waitt made his major league baseball debut on May 25, 1875 at age 22 with professional baseball club St. Louis Brown Stockings. While playing for the St. Louis Brown Stockings, Waitt had 113 at-bats, 23 runs, 2 base on balls, and 7 strike-outs.

Waitt is probably best known for being one of the first baseball players to wear a glove. He began wearing it around the 1875 baseball season, and was teased, taunted,^[1] laughed at by fans and his teammates and called a "sissy"^[1] for doing so.^[2][3] The glove, which he wore to protect his hand, was very different from the gloves used today.^[2][3] He attempted to disguise them by using flesh-coloured gloves to make them as inconspicuous as possible.^[2][3]

After not playing the 1876 baseball season, Waitt was purchased from the St. Louis Brown Stockings by the Chicago White Stockings (today named the Chicago Cubs). With the Chicago White Stockings, he had only 41 at-bats, 4 hits, and 2 runs batted in. Five years later, the Chicago White Stockings gave away Waitt and he was purchased by the Baltimore Orioles in 1882. He had the most at-bats playing for them, some 250. He was traded to the Philadelphia Quakers in 1883. Waitt played his final baseball game on September 18, 1883.

Death

Waitt died on October 21, 1912, in San Francisco, California, at age 59. He accidentally fell when washing a window. He was buried in the Sunset Cemetery in San Francisco, California.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Book - The Glove". books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=7isoh_pMSBYC&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=Charlie+Waitt+%22sissy%22&source=web&ots=Zkj1rvLK5p&sig=Zzp2fzWvknGotRc2jSEFuTl868A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA58,M1. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Ask The Experts". www.baseballlibrary.com. http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/features/experts/. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
3. ^ ^{a b c} "The History of the Baseball Glove". www.sportales.com. http://www.sportales.com/Baseball/The-History-of-the-Baseball-Glove.75662. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 

External links

• Baseball Reference
• Baseball Almanac
• Baseball Library
• Baseball Prospectus

Persondata
Name	Waitt, Charlie
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	October 14, 1853
Place of birth	Hallowell, Maine
Date of death	October 21, 1912
Place of death	San Francisco, California