Del Pratt

Del Pratt
Second baseman
Born: January 10, 1888(1888-01-10) Walhalla, South Carolina
Died: September 30, 1977(1977-09-30) (aged 89) Texas City, Texas
Batted: Right	Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 11, 1912 for the St. Louis Browns
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1924 for the Detroit Tigers
Career statistics
Batting average	.292
Home runs	43
Runs batted in	970
Teams
St. Louis Browns (1912-1917) New York Yankees (1918-1920) Boston Red Sox (1921-1922) Detroit Tigers (1923-1924)
Career highlights and awards
American League RBI champion: 1916

Derrill Burnham "Del" Pratt (January 10, 1888 in Walhalla, South Carolina – September 30, 1977 in Texas City, Texas) was a star running back for the University of Alabama before becoming a professional baseball player. Pratt signed with the St. Louis Browns in 1912. He was a utility player, playing second base, shortstop, third base and the outfield.

Baseball career

In his rookie season, Pratt batted .302 for the Browns. In 1916 he led the American League with 103 RBIs.

In 1917, the Browns were struggling. Owner Phil Ball accused some of the players of intentionally playing poorly so that they could be traded. Ball said, "Every $1000 I lose on the Browns this season will cost the ballplayers $100. Salaries will be cut next season."

Del Pratt as an assistant football coach at the University of Michigan, 1920.

Pratt was offended. He and teammate Doc Lavan sued Ball for slander. The Sporting News went so far as to call Pratt the Browns' Trotsky. The suit was eventually settled in 1918, and Pratt was traded to the New York Yankees.

After the 1920 season, the Yankees traded Pratt to the Boston Red Sox for Waite Hoyt, but he decided to retire. He was hired as the University of Michigan baseball coach to replace Carl Lundgren (with a recommendation from Branch Rickey) and served as an assistant football coach and freshman basketball coach.^[1] He began preparing the 1921 team, but the Red Sox coaxed him out of retirement before the first game of the season. Upon his return to the Sox in 1921, Pratt batted over .300. He ended his career with the Detroit Tigers.

His career batting average was .292 over twelve seasons, with an on-base percentage of .345. He had a total of 968 RBIs and 856 runs scored.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• List of Major League Baseball RBI champions

References

1. ^ "Bentley Library - University of Michigan Baseball History". http://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/baseball/baseball.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-10. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference - Career statistics & analysis
• http://www.historicbaseball.com/players/p/pratt_del.html
• http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=a&bid=1124&pid=11446

Preceded by Sam Crawford & Bobby Veach

American League RBI Champion 1916

Succeeded by Bobby Veach

Persondata
Name	Pratt, Del
Alternative names
Short description	American baseball player
Date of birth	January 10, 1888
Place of birth	Walhalla, South Carolina
Date of death	September 30, 1977
Place of death	Texas City, Texas