- Nick Altrock
-
Nick Altrock Born: September 15, 1876
Cincinnati, OhioDied: January 20, 1965 (aged 88)
Washington, D.C.Batted: Both Threw: Left MLB debut July 14, 1898 for the Louisville Colonels Last MLB appearance October 1, 1933 for the Washington Senators Career statistics Wins-Losses 83-75 Strikeouts 425 ERA 2.65 Teams Career highlights and awards - Member of 1903 World Series Champion Boston Americans team.
- Member of 1906 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox team.
- Member of 1924 World Series Champion Washington Senators team.
- Chicago White Sox All-Time Leader in Walks/9IP (1.49)
- Longest-tenured coach (42 consecutive years) for one franchise (Washington, 1912-53) in MLB history
Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Altrock was one of the better pitchers in baseball for a brief period from 1904 to 1906 with the Chicago White Sox. He was instrumental in the White Sox World Series championship in 1906, going 20-13 with a 2.06 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 with a Series-best 1.00 ERA against the Chicago Cubs.
An arm injury after 1906 ruined his career, but he hung on with the White Sox and Washington Senators until 1924, though he pitched very little after 1908 and made sporadic pinch-hitting appearances after that, including one in 1933 (facing Rube Walberg of the Philadelphia Athletics) at 57 years of age. He appeared in Major League games in five decades, one of only two players to do this (Minnie Minoso is the other); he is one of only 29 players in baseball history to have appeared in Major League games in four decades.
Altrock became a coach for the Senators in 1912 and remained on the Washington staff until 1953, a 42-year skein that represents the longest consecutive-year tenure of a coach with the same franchise in baseball history.
During that time, he was noted for his antics in the coaching box and teamed with Al Schacht, the "Clown Prince of Baseball," for a dozen years to perform comedy routines on baseball fields in the days before official mascots. Schacht and Altrock also took their antics to the vaudeville stage where they appeared in a comedy routine.[1] Ironically, at the height of their collaboration, Schacht and Altrock developed a deep personal animosity and stopped speaking with each other off the field. During their famous comic re-enactments of the Dempsey-Tunney championship boxing match, many speculated that they pulled no punches as they rained blows on each other.[2]
An anecdote, probably apocryphal, has been printed in some baseball books about a quip by Altrock during his coaching days with the Senators. A batter had hit a ball into the stands and it was not known whether it was fair or foul. The umpire, who had been the target of Altrock's gibes, made the call and shortly afterward a woman was carried from the stands on a litter. The umpire asked Altrock if the ball had hit the woman. In his clear voice, Nick answered, "No. You called that one right and she passed out from shock."
He was the second oldest pitcher ever to play Major League Baseball when he played his last season in 1933.
Altrock died at age 88 in Washington, D.C. in 1965.
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Altrock Wasn't Always A Clown; Was Great Pitcher, by Harry Grayson, June 20, 1943
Chicago White Sox 1906 World Series Champions Nick Altrock | George Davis | Jiggs Donahue | Patsy Dougherty | Ed Hahn | Frank Isbell | Fielder Jones | Ed McFarland | Bill O'Neill | Frank Owen | George Rohe | Billy Sullivan | Lee Tannehill | Babe Towne | Ed Walsh | Doc White
Manager Fielder JonesNavy Midshipmen head baseball coaches Unknown (1893–1895) • No team (1896–1898) • Unknown (1899–1900) • Art Hillebrand (1901–1902) • William J. Clarke (1903–1904) • Yale Murphy (1905) • Doc White (1906) • Dave Fultz (1907) • Unknown (1908–1900) • David A. Weaver (1910) • Fred H. Poteet (1911) • Edwin L. Breckenridge (1912–1913) • Unknown (1914) • Nick Altrock (1915–1916) • Billy Lush (1917–1922) • Blakeslee (1923) • C. A. Bender (1924–1928) • E. F. Mohler (1929–1932) • A. K. Doyle (1933) • F. W. Fenno (1934–1935) • Marty Karow (1936) • Max Bishop (1937–1961) • Joe Duff (1962–1993) • Bob MacDonald (1994–2000) • Steve Whitmyer (2001–2005) • Paul Kostacopoulos (2006– )
,
Categories:- 1876 births
- 1965 deaths
- Major League Baseball pitchers
- 19th-century baseball players
- Louisville Colonels players
- Boston Americans players
- Chicago White Sox players
- Washington Senators (1901-1960) coaches
- Washington Senators players
- Grand Rapids Cabinet Makers players
- Grand Rapids Furniture Makers players
- Springfield Wanderers players
- Columbus Senators players
- Oswego Grays players
- Syracuse Stars (minor league) players
- Toronto Royals players
- Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players
- Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players
- Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
- Kansas City Blues (baseball) players
- Navy Midshipmen baseball coaches
- Vaudeville performers
- Baseball players from Cincinnati, Ohio
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.