George Bechtel

Infobox MLB retired
name=George Bechtel
position=Right fielder/Pitcher
bats=Unknown
throws=Unknown
birthdate=September 2 1848
city-state|Philadelphia|Pennsylvania
deathdate=Unknown; Most Likely 1921
debutdate=May 20
debutyear=by|1871
debutteam=Philadelphia Athletics
finaldate=August 19
finalyear=by|1876
finalteam=Louisville Grays
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=7-20
stat2label=ERA
stat2value=4.19
stat3label=Batting average
stat3value=.277
teams=
*Philadelphia Athletics (by|1871), (by|1875)
*New York Mutuals (by|1872), (by|1876)
*Philadelphia White Stockings (by|1873–by|1874)
*Philadelphia Centennials (by|1875)
*Louisville Grays (by|1876)
highlights=

George A. Bechtel (September 2 1848 – 1921?) was an American right fielder and pitcher in professional baseball's early history who became one of the leading players of his era.cite web| title = George Bechtel: Baseball Historian Biography | work = baseballhistorian.com | url=http://www.baseballhistorian.com/players.cfm?lookie_player=bechtge01 | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ] He played in all five seasons of baseball's first all-professional league, the National Association, and later played in the first season of baseball's first major league, the National League, when the Association folded.cite web| title = George Bechtel's Stats | work = retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbechg101.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ] He later became the first player in major league history to be suspended for life for intentionally losing games for money.cite web| title = Banished From Baseball | work = 1919blacksox.com | url=http://www.1919blacksox.com/banished.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ]

Career

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Bechtel began his professional career in by|1871 for the Philadelphia Athletics, when they joined the new National Association. Bechtel had played for the Athletics in by|1870, and stayed with the team during its transformation from the previous version of the National Association.cite web| title = 1870 Baseball Season: Rosters of the 1870 Professional Teams | work = By Patrick Mondout | url=http://www.super70s.com/Baseball/Years/1870/Default.asp?Node=1&sNode=13&Exp=Y | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ] He batted .351 that season while playing in 20 of the team's 28 games, as the Athletics won the season's championship.cite web| title = 1870 Baseball Season: Final Standings | work = retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1871/Y_1871.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ] Bechtel had also played for a couple of other Philadelphia teams during his amateur career before 1870. He was formerly of the Philadelphias in 1867, and the Keystones in both 1868 and by|1869.cite web| title = When Johnny Came Sliding Home: The Post-Civil War Baseball Boom, 1865-1870, pgs. 258-260 | work = By William J. Ryczek | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=EjSpGTxITgMC&pg=PA260&lpg=PA260&dq=%22George+Bechtel%22+baseball&source=web&ots=5z0Ok_3g-E&sig=X0HDp43JoNH98Vo_FYHZ-iirpZo&hl=en#PPA260,M1 | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ]

The following season, he signed with the New York Mutuals, who had offered him a higher salary in by|1872, and batted .302 and scored 64 runs in the team's 54-game schedule. After just one season in New York, Bechtel moved back to Philadelphia, playing the next two seasons for the Philadelphia White Stockings with mixed success at the plate, batting .244 in by|1873 and .278 in by|1874. When the by|1875 season began, he again moved, this time to the Philadelphia Centennials, and was their pitcher in all 14 games that the club played.cite web| title = 1875 Philadelphia Centennials season | work = retrosheet.org | url=http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1875/TPH301875.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ]

On May 26, by|1875, after a 2-12 start, Bechtel and fellow Centennial Bill Craver were sold to the Philadelphia Athletics for $1,500. This is the first known sale of ballplayers from one team to another in baseball history. It is theorized that sale was actually an enticement for the Centennials to fold, which they did.cite web| title = David Ball, “The Bechtel-Craver Trade and the Origins of Baseball's Sales System.” | work = mcfarlandbaseball.com | url=http://www.mcfarlandbaseball.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=187 | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ]

Expulsion

Rumors surrounded Bechtel's play ever since the late 1860s, indicating that he was a very good fielder, one of the better fielders of the day, but his play at times became sloppy. Henry Chadwick once stated regarding his play: "At the commencement of the season, Bechtel's play in left field was equal to any player, but, as the season wore on, he grew careless, and from other causes unnecessary to mention, he played poorly."cite book|last=Ginsburg|title=The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals| year=2004| pages=p.41]

On May 20, by|1876, in a game against the Mutuals, he made three of the team's nine errors, all three in crucial game situations. After the game, he became a "much suspected man" by the press and his team alike, so the team suspended him for crooked play.cite book|last=Ginsburg|title=The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals| year=2004| pages=p.41-42]

On June 10, Bechtel wired teammate Jim Devlin a message stating "We can make $500 if you lose the game today. Tell John (manager Jack Chapman) and let me know at once. BECHTEL." Devlin wired him back explaining that he was not that kind of player, and presented the telegram to the team's management. Louisville immediately suspended him from the team.cite book|last=Ginsburg|title=The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals| year=2004| pages=p.42] Bechtel was picked up by the Mutuals and played in a couple of games for them before the end of the season. The National League followed the lead of the Grays and suspended Bechtel before the by|1877 season, and despite attempts for re-instatement, he was denied.cite book|last=Ginsburg|title=The Fix Is in: A History of Baseball Gambling and Game Fixing Scandals| year=2004| pages=p.42] Devlin himself was also banned for life the following season when he and a couple of teammates were paid for losing games. At this time, it is unknown when and where Bechtel died, but Peter Morris, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, claims that he most likely died in Philadelphia in 1921.cite web| title = On The Brink | work = petermorrisbooks.com | url=http://www.petermorrisbooks.com/on_the_brink.htm | accessdate = 2008-04-22 ]

References

External links

*baseball-reference|id=b/bechtge01
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/B/Pbechg101.htm Retrosheet]

Persondata
NAME = Bechtel, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Bechtel, George A.
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Major League Baseball player
DATE OF BIRTH = September 2, 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH = 1921
PLACE OF DEATH =