Heinie Sand

John Henry "Heinie" Sand (July 3 1897 - November 3 1958) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from 1923 to 1928 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He debuted on April 17, by|1923 and played his final game on September 30, by|1928. In 1925, he had a .364 on base percentage and 55 runs batted in and was 18th in the voting for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. Over six season, he played in 848 games, including 772 at shortstop. For his career, he hit for a .258 average with a .343 on base percentage.

Born in San Francisco, California, Sand is best known for his role in a 1923 bribery incident that resulted in two players being banned from baseball by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Sand knew New York Giants player Jimmy O'Connell from their days in San Francisco. On September 23, the Phillies were out of contention, and O'Connell offered to pay $500 to Sand if he would "go easy" on the Giants. The incident came to the attention of Judge Landis, who conducted a hearing. O'Connell admitted making the offer and implicated Giants coach Cozy Dolan in the scheme. Landis banned both O'Connell and Dolan from baseball.

Sand was involved as a shortstop in three triple plays in his careers. In July 1924, Sand was involved in a triple play on a ball hit by Heinie Groh.

The statistic that stands out above all others with Sand was his propensity to strike out. He was among the top 10 batters in strikeouts in all six of his major league seasons, striking out 56 times in his rookie season in 1923 (5th highest in the NL), 57 in 1924 (3rd highest in the NL), 65 in 1925 (2nd highest in the NL), 56 in 1926 (6th highest in the NL), 59 in 1927 (3rd highest in the NL), and 49 in his final season in 1928 (9th highest in the NL).

Suggesting that he was a patient hitter who worked pitchers deep into the count, Sand was also a leader in bases on balls, walking 82 times in 1923 (2nd in the NL), 52 times in 1924 (10th in the NL), 64 times in 1925 (6th in the NL), and 66 times in 1926 (2nd in the NL).

Sand also was third in runs scored in the National League in 1926, with 99. Sand belongs to that small group of players who always had at least 120 games and 400+ at bats in every major league season played.

Sand died at age 61 in San Francisco.

Major league Heinies

"Heinie" was a popular nickname for German baseball players in the early part of the 20th century. Sand was one of 22 major league Heinies in the first half of the century. Others include: Heinie Beckendorf 1909-1910; Heinie Berger 1907-1910; Heinie Elder 1913-1913; Heinie Groh 1912-1927; Heinie Heitmuller 1909-1910; Heinie Heltzel 1943-1944; Heinie Jantzen 1912-1912; Heinie Kappel 1887-1889; Heinie Manush 1923-1939 - the only Hall of Fame "Heinie"; Heinie Meine 1922-1934; Heinie Mueller 1920-1935; Heinie Mueller 1938-1941; Heinie Odom 1925-1925; Heinie Peitz 1892-1913; Heinie Reitz 1893-1899; Heinie Scheer 1922-1923; Heinie Schuble 1927-1936; Heinie Smith 1897-1903; Heinie Stafford 1916-1916' Heinie Wagner 1902-1918; and Heinie Zimmerman 1907-1919 -- implicated in the Chicago "Black Sox" scandal. There have been no Heinies in the major leagues since the end of World War II.

External links

*baseball-reference|id=s/sandhe01
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/sabr/tbi/S/Sand_Heinie.tbi.stm BaseballLibrary.com]
* [http://www.onlyagame.org/features/2003/09/jimmyocon.asp Only a Game Article on Jimmy O'Connell Bribery Incident]
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/heinie-sand Heinie Sand Article from Answers.com]