- Benny Kauff
Infobox MLB retired
name=Benny Kauff
position=Outfielder 
bgcolor2=black
bgcolor1=#fd5a1e
textcolor1=white
textcolor2=white
birthdate=January 5 ,1890
city-state|Pomeroy|Ohio
deathdate=death date and age|1961|11|17|1890|1|5
city-state|Columbus|Ohio
bats=Left
throws=Left
debutdate=April 20
debutyear=1912
debutteam=New York Highlanders
finaldate=July 2
finalyear=1920
finalteam=New York Giants
stat1label=Batting average
stat2label=Runs batted in
stat3label=Runs scored
stat1value=.311
stat2value=454
stat3value=521
teams=
*New York Highlanders (1912)
*Indianapolis Hoosiers (1914)
*Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1915)
*New York Giants (1916-1920)
highlights=
*Federal League batting champion: 1914, 1915
*Federal Leagueruns scored leader: 1914
*Federal Leaguestolen base leader: 1914, 1915
*Federal League hits leader: 1914
*Federal League doubles leader: 1914Benjamin Michael Kauff (
January 5 ,1890 –November 17 ,1961 ) was a professionalbaseball player , who playedcenterfield and batted and threwleft-handed . Kauff was known as the “Ty Cobb of the Feds.” He is the only player to be permanently banned from baseball (without being reinstated) for reasons other than gambling.Baseball career
Early career (1912-15)
Kauff played his first game in the majors with the New York Highlanders on
April 20 ,1912 . He played only five games with the Highlanders before being sent down to the minors.After spending the 1913 season in the minors, Kauff appeared with the
Indianapolis Hoosiers of the short-lived third major league, theFederal League . Behind the offense of Kauff, Indianapolis won the first Federal League Crown in 1914. Kauff was traded to theBrooklyn Tip-Tops for the 1915 season. The Tip-Tops were unable to capitalize on Kauff’s offense, and finished seventh in the Federal League’s second, and last, season.Kauff earned the moniker “
Ty Cobb of the Feds” with his dominance of offensive categories during both years of the Federal League’s existence. In 1914, he led the league in batting average (.370; still the rookie record for league-leading batting average), on base percentage (.447), runs (120), hits (211), total bases (305), doubles (44), and stolen bases (75; which remained the rookie record untilVince Coleman broke it and stole 110 bases in 1985), while finishing 2nd in slugging percentage (.534) and 3rd in RBIs (95) and walks (72).He followed with an almost equally impressive season in 1915. That year he led the Federal League in batting average (.342), obp (.446), slugging percentage (.509), and steals (55). Meanwhile he finished 2nd in walks (85), 3rd in home runs (12), and 4th in RBIs (83), runs (92), and hits (165).
New York Giants (1916-20)
When the Federal League folded after just two seasons, the
New York Giants of theNational League purchased his contract from Brooklyn for $35,000. Kauff played with the Giants from 1916 until 1920. Yet, he never found the stroke he had had in the Federal League.On May 26, 1916, Kauff earned the dubious distinction of being the only player in the 20th century to be picked off first base three times in one game.
In 1916 he was 2nd in the NL in stolen bases (40) and triples (16), 4th in RBIs (74), home runs (9), and walks (68), and 9th in slugging percentage (.408).
His best season in the National League was 1917, when he came 3rd in runs (89) and stolen bases (30), 4th in batting average (.308), 5th in obp (.479), 6th in hits (172), and 7th in RBIs (68) and walks (59). That year the Giants made it to the
World Series . The Giants lost four games to two to the Chicago White Sox, in Chicago’s last World Series victory until 2005. In Game 4, however, Kauff almost defeated the White Sox single-handedly by hitting two home runs and driving in three runs in the Giants’ 5-0 victory.Kauff was at the same time a high-living dandy, and at times a trash-talking hothead. Kauff was famous among his teammates for chewing tobacco, smoking a cigar, and drinking a beer all at the same time, without stopping.
His 1918 campaign was shortened by service in
World War I .In 1919 he led the NL in extra base hits (44), and was 2nd in home runs (10), 4th in RBIs (67) and doubles (27), 5th in runs (73), and 7th in slugging percentage (.422).
In December 1919, Kauff was implicated in a
car theft ring along with his brother. After only playing 55 games in 1920, the Giants traded Kauff to Toronto of theInternational League , and his major league days were over.Acquittal and banishment
On
May 13 ,1921 , Kauff was acquitted ofauto theft . However, thenBaseball Commissioner , JudgeKenesaw Mountain Landis banned Kauff from baseball for life. He said that Kauff had an “undesirable reputation and character.”Kauff appealed his banishment in court on account of his acquittal, but to no avail. On
January 17 ,1922 , an appellate court denied his appeal. Judge Landis was never convinced of his innocence. Landis said, “That acquittal was one of the worst miscarriages of justice that ever came under my observation."Banned, he was a baseball scout for 22 years, and then became a salesman for John R. Lyman Company.
Kauff died
November 17 ,1961 , inColumbus, Ohio , still banned from baseball.In an article in 1976 in
Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Kauff was the center fielder on Stein'sJewish team.ee also
*
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
*List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
*List of Major League Baseball runs scored champions Sources
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/K/Kauff_Benny.stm The Baseball Library]
* [http://z.lee28.tripod.com/therest/id32.html David Zingler's SBeeN]External links
*
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/K/Kauff_Benny.stm Baseball Library] - Timeline
* [http://z.lee28.tripod.com/therest/id32.html Baseball's Banned Players]
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=kauffbe01 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=986&pid=7293 SABR biography]
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