Otto Rettig

Otto Rettig pitched four games for the 1922 Philadelphia Athletics, including a victory over the St. Louis Browns that for years was credited with costing the Browns the pennant.

Otto was born Adolph John Rettig, in New York City on January 29, 1894, and I don’t know much else about his early years. His father, Joseph, was dead by 1898, which is the first year that his mother, Elizabeth, turns up in the Newark, New Jersey, city directory at 75 Jones Street. The family seems to have been difficult to find for the US Census Bureau, but the 1905 New Jersey State Census found them at 42 Hawkins Street in Newark. Elizabeth was listed as Elizabeth Horn, was 44 years old, widowed, born in Germany, 25 years in the US, and working as a clerk in a store; son George Rettig was 19 and in the Navy, and son Adolph Rettig was 11 and in school. George turns up in the 1910 US Census as a 24-year-old fireman living with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

By 1914 Adolph, now twenty, had spent a year at Seton Hall University, was known as Otto, and was playing minor league baseball. The April 8 edition of the Springfield Republican names him as one of three prospects who had arrived at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for the first day of practice for the Pittsfield Electrics of the Class B Eastern Association. On May 28 he sprained his ankle, and on July 28 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he, one teammate, an umpire, and eight members of the Bridgeport team were fined two dollars plus court costs each for “violation of the Sunday observance law in playing a game on Sunday, May 17.” I’m not sure how the rest of the players got away with it; maybe they saw the cops coming and ran for it…For the season Otto pitched in 35 games with a 10-12 record, striking out 85 and walking 59 in an unknown number of innings.

The 1915 New Jersey census showed Otto and his mother still at 42 Hawkins. Elizabeth was now listed as Rettig rather than Horn, and was 54, still widowed, and a housekeeper, while Otto, or Adolph, was a 21-year-old single ballplayer.

For the 1915 season Otto re-signed with Pittsfield but the league folded and he ended up with the Lewiston (Maine) Cupids of the Class B New England League. He pitched in 30 games and had a 12-13 record; no other stats are available.

In 1916 the New England League merged with the Eastern League, and as the Lewiston team folded Otto’s rights were reassigned to the Lynn Pipers. But he refused to report, saying he could make more money pitching semi-pro ball on Sundays back in New Jersey. He joined the Doherty Silk Sox of Paterson, who won the state semi-pro championship, and on October 1 he shut out the New York Giants in an exhibition game. Apparently John McGraw offered him a contract on the spot; some accounts said that Otto accepted it, and others that he turned it down, but in any event he never pitched for them, and was not eligible to be signed, since he was on the suspended list for not reporting to Lynn and was also still owned by them.

Otto’s 1917 draft card shows him as a baseball player employed by Henry Doherty of Clifton, NJ, living at 42 Hawkins, single, with his mother as a dependent, and describes him as tall and slender (officially he is listed as having been 5-11, 165) with gray eyes and dark brown hair. At some point that year he married a Marcella Farley, but she doesn’t turn up again in the story and by 1930 they were divorced.

In April 1917 Otto signed with the Springfield Green Sox of the Eastern League, after Springfield bought his rights from Lynn. He apparently had an agreement with Springfield owner William Carey that he could return to New Jersey each Sunday and pitch for the Silk Sox. On Sunday, April 29, he pitched for them in an exhibition game against the Boston Braves, which was part of the celebration of the newly incorporated city of Clifton NJ, but the Braves won, 6-2. On May 20 he and the Silk Sox lost a rematch with the New York Giants, 7-3. The Eastern League statistics published in the Springfield Republican on June 3 showed Otto as the leading pitcher in the league, rated on the basis of hits per inning. His figure was .64 on 23 hits in 36 innings, with five runs, four walks, and 11 strikeouts. The June 12 Norwich Morning Bulletin ranked him as tied for the top pitcher in the league, on the basis of his two shutouts.

On June 19 the Bridgeport Evening Farmer reported:

RETTIG JUMPS SPRINGFIELD. 

Otto Rettig, the clever young pitcher who is as hard to handle as Red Waller in the days of Jim O’Rourke, has jumped the Springfield club. He has been fined $100 and suspended by Springfield but there is little chance that the money will ever be collected. The Green Sox have had all sorts of trouble with Rettig. 

He was purchased from Lynn, to which club he refused to report last season. Rettig had a job pitching Sunday games for the Paterson Silk Sox and it was said he signed with Springfield with the understanding that he would twirl two games a week for O’Hara’s club if he were allowed to keep his Sunday dates. But Rettig refused to stay put. He was always missing trains, rushing back to New York and staying away from Springfield for days at a time. His latest escapade was to jump the Green Sox while they were taking a train in Boston.

Karma got back at Otto, as the Springfield Daily News reported on August 11:

OTTO RETTIG FRACTURES HIS PITCHING ARM 

Former Springfield Pitcher is Out of Game for the Season 

Otto Rettig, suspended pitcher of the Springfield Green Sox, will play no more baseball this year. Otto started out here like a whirlwind when the season opened, but he insisted on trickling down to New Jersey to play Sunday ball with the Dougherty [sic] Silk Sox at Paterson, and so he was told to stay in New Jersey and a fine and suspension were placed on him. Sunday afternoon [the 5^th] he was pitching for the Madison team in the Tri-County league against Morristown, and he was at bat in the ninth. A swiftly-pitched ball caught him on his pitching arm and fractured it badly below the elbow. The Madison team is the Silk Sox, except that when they play in the Tri-County they represent the town of Madison. The game was played at Morristown. Rettig is very popular in that section, and the fans there are all expressing their sympathy for him.

In 1918 Otto continued to pitch for the Silk Sox, to the frustration of the owner of the Springfield team (now known as the Ponies) and the president of the Eastern League, who appealed to organized baseball’s National Commission to do something, though the commission could do nothing since it had no authority over semi-pro ball. In 1919 there were reports that Otto had been reinstated by the National Commission and would be pitching for Springfield, but I found no evidence that he ever did.

In the 1920 Newark City Directory Otto was listed as a clerk rather than as a ballplayer, but he apparently was still pitching for the Silk Sox as well as for the Montclair Athletic Club. The 1922 directory shows him, and his mother, as “rem to Irvington,” which I imagine means “removed” and that they moved out of the city.

Many versions of the story of Otto’s debut with the Athletics were related over the years, and they didn’t always match up. But apparently it was A’s backup catcher Frank Bruggy, from Elizabeth, New Jersey, who brought Otto to Philadelphia owner/manager Connie Mack for a tryout on July 19. It’s a common thread to the stories that Otto refused to throw for Mack unless it was in an actual game, and Connie agreed to let him start that day’s game against the Browns and their ace pitcher, Urban Shocker. Otto and the Athletics won the game, 6-3, scoring four runs in the bottom of the eighth to break a 2-2 tie. Otto allowed nine hits, three of them doubles, walked five and struck out one, but the Browns left 13 men on the bases. From the Philadelphia Inquirer’s story of the game:

When the announcer shouted the name of the pitcher Mack intended to use against Shocker not a fan in the concrete walled enclosure understood him. It took considerable buzzing and repeating before the fans became aware of the fact that Adolph Rettig was serving them up for the Mackmen. It required further investigation to reveal the fact that this same Adolph Rettig was a recruit brought here by Frank Bruggy and had won a few games twirling for the Montclair, New Jersey club. 

Many figured that Mack was simply leading the lad to slaughter, especially when pitching him against the leading Browns and Shocker. It was the toughest kind of an assignment to wish upon a raw rookie, yet the same rook showed he had the stuff and confidence, which goes toward making up a big league headliner. He pitched to this hard-hitting clan of Lee Fohl’s. There was no ducking this hitter nor that batter whenever a Brown slugger came up when men were on. Ably caught and coached by Cy Perkins, the Montclair, N.J., boxman held the Missourians in check in a masterly way and emerged a victor over one of the best American League twirlers in the game today. 

The Browns hammered him for nine blows and five were franked down the first ninety feet of turf [he walked five], but this did not embarrass the small red-faced right-handed hopeful. He seemed to work better when men were on the paths than when the cushions were clear and that he was a master toiler when a Brown or two were on is glimpsed when the “Left on bases” agate line is reached in the box score, which reads, St. Louis, 13; Athletics, 5… 

Rettig had a slow delivery, took his time, used a fairly good breaking curve and seemed to have ordinary control. He was placed in several ticklish position [sic] during the 2 hours and 3 minutes of going, but his greatest test of nerve was in the fourth. With the sacks loaded and two down up came Ken Williams. Now this same fellow is no batter for an experienced boxman to pitch to let alone a rookie. But Rettig did not show any visible signs of stage fright. In fact he set about to get rid of this left-handed menace at the bat and when Hauser gobbled up Ken’s smash and raced to first for the third out—the 4000 odd fans gave the lad an ovation as he walked to the bench…

(After their loss the Browns were still in first place by a game and a half over the Yankees, but they wound up losing the pennant to them by one game, and though all their losses counted the same in the standings this one to Otto would be widely pointed to as the one that lost the pennant.)

Otto was the talk of the baseball world, and within a couple of days it became known that he had not actually signed a contract before making his debut. The Yankees, White Sox, and Tigers were all said to be after him, but on July 24 he signed with Philadelphia. He made his second start on the 26^th, a week after the first, this time on the road, at Cleveland. He actually pitched better in this game, allowing just four hits and two walks in seven innings, but lost, 2-0. Stuart M. Bell’s game story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer included an odd, tongue-in-cheek description of Otto’s pitching:

Rettig’s great offensiveness lies in his wink ball. It is a very mystifying offering thrown with a lazy side arm delivery. It comes up to the plate, winks at the batter and then slinks away into the catcher’s mitt. It looks as if you could hit it twice if you wanted to, but you’re lucky if you touch it. 

This wink ball is Rettig’s own invention. He takes an eye winker and places it on top of the ball and holds it there until the winker gets a firm hold of a seam with both hands. Then he throws the ball toward the plate and causes it to revolve so that the winker loses its balance just before it reaches the plate and tumbles off. 

Thus, the ball suddenly relieved from the weight of the eye winker, takes a sudden dip and the batter either misses it or his under it. 

Rettig uses very little effort in throwing the wink ball and he could work every day if he could grow eye winkers that fast…

Otto’s third start was at Detroit on July 31. This time he was removed from the game with two out in the third inning, behind 6-0; he allowed six hits and three walks and the Athletics lost, 11-1. On August 5 came a rematch with the Browns, in St. Louis. Otto walked the first two batters and was taken out by Connie Mack; the next batter, George Sisler, lined into a triple play against the relief pitcher, so Otto didn’t allow any runs, but the Browns still won, 4-1.

This ended Otto’s major league career, as Mack released him on August 13. On August 17 a bitter-sounding overview from United News appeared in various papers:

Busher Brings Bluff to Majors and is Called 

Had Nerve of a Book Agent, But Carried Only a “Round House” 

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 17.—No busher in baseball fiction ever went farther with nothing on the ball, had more fun or got away with a bigger bluff than a pitcher whose hoax career with the Athletics has just been revealed. 

Adolph Otto Rettig, pitcher, has been released unconditionally by Connie Mack, manager of the Athletics and thereby hangs a tale. 

Rettig flopped off a local train here on July 20 [actually the 19^th] and asked Mack for a job as a pitcher. Within an hour after his arrival in town he was sent to the hill against the St. Louis Browns, caught then in a one-day batting slump, held them to nine hits and defeated them. Members of the Browns would not admit that Rettig had anything, but a sand lot, roundhouse out curve, insisting that luck was all that won his game, and they were disbelieved. Mack thought he had “a find.” 

Mack gave him a one year contract with the usual precautionary clauses for the “protection” of the club, and Rettig went along on the Western trip. In Cleveland he held the Indians to four hits, but was beaten, 2 to 0. Thereafter he blew up. 

The Browns got to him in St. Louis and the Tigers in Detroit and Rettig was blasted off the mound, out of the park, out of his cutey white-and-blue uniform and out of the American League. 

He said he came from Newark, N.J. He hasn’t been heard from since Mack let him go. Players on his own team now say that Rettig had nothing in the world but luck and the nerve of a book agent.

By the following off-season the story was already becoming a legend. From J.C. Kofoed’s “Stove League Stories” column in the November 2 issue of the Sporting News:

The St. Louis Browns lost the American League pennant by a single game. And if Connie Mack had not dug up a sandlot pitcher named Otto Rettig in the middle of the season the Missourians might have won it. This Rettig person had gained a lot of prominence among the semi-pro clubs, and Frank Bruggy, who knows as much about those players as any man living suggested that Connie pick him up. 

Mr. Mack did that little thing. Rettig reported at 2 o’clock, and at 3:30 was pitching against the Browns. What is more, he beat them—and Fohl’s men lost the pennant by one game: this one, you might say. 

I talked with George Sisler that very night. Said George, “I’ll make a little bet that this fellow, Rettig, doesn’t win another ball game from us, and another that he loses half a dozen more before he wins again. What do you say?” 

I didn’t take it, because George is a pretty good judge of pitching but it did seem to me that he was rather over-drawing the case. But, without question, he had Rettig figured out to the proverbial T. 

Otto won that first game, pitched well but lost against Cleveland in his next start, and shortly after that—having dropped a couple more—Mr. Rettig was quietly dropped, too. 

So you see Sisler was right. It was the accident of fate that the Browns should have been scheduled in Philadelphia the day that Otto Rettig reported. Had the Yankees been there instead, there would have been an excellent chance that St. Louis, instead of New York, would have been the American League representative on the Polo Grounds.

In the spring of 1923 it was reported that the Jersey City Skeeters of the Class AA International League were interested in signing Otto and contract negotiations were in progress, but apparently nothing came of it. I also did not find any references to him pitching semi-pro ball in 1923 or afterwards; perhaps after making it to the majors he decided he was done.

The 1925 Newark directory shows Otto living at 136 Oakland Terrace and managing the Strand Theater. In 1926 he is living at the same place but is shown as “mgr 120 Market;” the Strand Theater seems to have been at 404 S. Orange Avenue, so I don’t know what he was managing. His listing in the 1927 directory is simply “rem to East Orange,” and the 1928 Orange City Directory, which only gives addresses, has him at 36 S. Munn Ave # 303, which would be his address for quite some time.

In 1930 the US Census finally caught up with Otto, and he is shown as living alone at 36 S. Munn, 35 and divorced, and managing a theater. 

In February of 1932 a cartoon about his major-league debut appeared in many newspapers, and in 1935 the Sporting News ran a feature article:

He Bet He Could Beat Big League Team, Did It Just Once and Cost Foes a Flag 

Adolph Rettig Was Unknown When He Went to the Box for A’s, but He Stopped Sisler, Williams and Tobin 

Lee Fohl Has Said “Pitcher For a Day” Caused His Club to Finish a Game Behind Yanks; Now a Theater Owner 

By CHARLEY TRAVIS 

of the Newark Sunday Call. 

NEWARK, N.J.—Of the 16 clubs in the major leagues, there is only one that never won a pennant. That unenviable distinction is held by the St. Louis Browns. They came within one game of tying the New York Yankees for the American League flag in 1922, and now as those old Browns of 13 years ago look back, they can charge a big share of the blame for their failure to Adolph Otto Rettig, a Newark man who now owns the Ormont Theater in East Orange, N.J. 

Once upon a time Rettig was a pitcher. He whizzed them over for the Philadelphia Athletics. In the one major league victory to his credit he beat the Browns. Of course, there were 153 other games played by St. Louis that season, but if it had not been for the reversal they met at the hands of Rettig on a July afternoon in Philadelphia it might have been the Browns, instead of the Yankees, who engaged the Giants in the World’s Series that year. Now, what’s this all about? Listen, my readers, and you shall hear. 

Rettig, a suspended player at the time, in that he had refused to join the Boston Red Sox when sold by the Springfield Eastern League club some years before, made a wager with Pat Donovan, former major league player and minor league manager, that if given the opportunity he would chalk up a victory against major league opposition. Donovan, so they say, lost no time accepting the bet. 

One day, Rettig mustered enough nerve to contact Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, for an appointment. Then, together with a pal, H. Russ Van Vleck of Montclair, he left by train for the City of Brotherly Love, where, upon arrival, he aimed for Mack’s office. 

The day the Essex county boy made the appointment with Mack—it was July 19—the Athletics were scheduled to meet the St. Louis Browns. During the course of the conversation, Connie remarked that the A’s never were able to turn back the Browns with Urban Shocker pitching. He had tamed the Mackmen on four previous occasions. 

Gets Chance When Shocker is Named. 

Mack told Rettig that if Shocker was the Browns’ choice to hurl that day he would give the Newark man a chance to strut his stuff in the gunpit. Well, the Jerseyman was given his chance, for Shocker was to be the Browns’ pitcher. 

When Rettig arrived at the clubhouse, he was outfitted in an oversize uniform and a pair of shoes. This did not bother him, for he was anxious for a chance to show Pat Donovan that he had enough stuff on the ball to trim a big league outfit. 

While both clubs were practicing on the field, Mack summoned the Newarker and ordered him to warm up with Cy Perkins. 

Game time was at hand and both club managers presented their official line-ups to the umpire. Before the opening of the game, Mack showed Rettig the line-up of the Browns, pointing out the weaknesses of the rival players. Rettig was to have memorized this batting order, together with the weaknesses of the players. 

Before the game, the St. Louis players noticed the A’s were going to use a hurler named “Rettiz,” not knowing the Newarker’s name was misspelled on the batting order. So the visiting players began to kid Mack about the new player. 

That did not last long, for soon the game was under way and Rettig had the Browns swinging themselves into spiral shapes at bat. Remember, the Browns had such crack players as George Sisler, Ken Williams, then the home run king; McManus, Gerber and Tobin. Before the players on the opposition had time to say “here it comes, there it goes” the ball would be resting in the catcher’s mitt. Well, that just kept up all afternoon and when the ninth inning score was posted on the scoreboard, the final result showed Philadelphia 6, St. Louis 3. 

The game being over, the players headed for their respective club quarters, singing the praises of Connie Mack’s new “find,” Otto Rettig. In the meantime, newspaper reporters, covering the game, flashed word around the country about the new baseball sensation. 

Signing Rettig did not end Mack’s part in the transaction. A series of worries began. Word soon hit the baseball front that the boy who stopped the Browns was an ineligible player, thus causing the St. Louis club officials to protest the victory. However, nothing ever was done about the protest. 

Following his victory over the Browns, Rettig did not fare so well against other league clubs. His second start was against Cleveland, the A’s losing to the Indians, 2 to 0. In that game the Jersey hurler yielded four hits. In his third game he pitched five innings against the Detroit Tigers before he was withdrawn from the fray. His fourth start was against the St. Louis Browns. He passed the first and second batters and then was taken out of the game. 

As the 1922 season was coming to an end, this pitching star faded out of the baseball firmament. Yet, Lee Fohl, the Browns’ manager, in a statement to sports writers later, said that Rettig’s victory in mid-season cost the St. Louis club the pennant… 

The Jerseyman brought his baseball career to a close in 1923, when he performed with the Meadowbrook Baseball Club on South Orange Avenue. 

With his baseball playing days over, Rettig settled down to serious business, obtaining a position as assistant manager of Proctor’s Theater, East Orange, and today he is proprietor and manager of the Ormont Theater, also in East Orange.

We see a lot of new wrinkles to the story here: that he was suspended for refusing to report when sold to the Red Sox (he was never sold to the Red Sox, and he was suspended for abandoning Springfield in 1917); that there was a bet with Pat Donovan (Donovan’s only connection to the story before this was that he was a scout for the White Sox who wanted to sign Otto in the excitement after that first start when it was discovered that he hadn’t signed a contract); the absence of Frank Bruggy; the inclusion of the mysterious H. Russ Van Vleck; Mack telling him that he could pitch if Shocker was named for the Browns; and the players of both teams singing Otto’s praises after the game (previously we had heard that the Browns were completely unimpressed).

Otto’s media attention was not based solely on his past, though. From the New York Times of May 19, 1938:

NEGROES PROTEST OLD FILM CLASSIC 

Promoting of Race Hatred is Charged in Fight Over Showing of “Birth of Nation” 

SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES 

EAST ORANGE, N.J., May 18—The manager of a local motion-picture theatre is scheduled to appear tomorrow before Police Recorder Albert L. Vreeland here to answer a charge that he violated a New Jersey statute by showing “The Birth of a Nation,” D.W. Griffith’s film classic of more than two decades ago. 

The defendant, Adolph J. Rettig, manager of the Ormont Theatre on Main Street, was arrested last night and paroled in custody of his counsel, Edward R. McGlynn of Newark. Rettig is a former big league baseball player. 

The complaint against the manager was signed by two local Negro physicians, Dr. Theodore R. Inge and Dr. Harry W. Mickey. The two alleged that Mr. Rettig violated Chapter 151 of the laws of 1935, which makes it a misdemeanor to show “any picture, photograph or representation which in any way incited, counsels, promotes, advocates or symbolizes hatred, violence or hostility against any group of persons by reason of race, color, religion or manner of worship.” 

The complainants contend that the film, which portrays the Reconstruction period, including activities of the Ku Klux Klan and Negro Union soldiers, is an affront to their race. Dr. Inge said today the picture had been prohibited in California, Kansas, West Virginia and Ohio. 

The film was shown at the Ormont from May 8 through May 11. On May 9 local Negro leaders submitted a protest, bearing 609 signatures, to the City Council, which delegated three of its members to confer with Mr. Rettig. The manager refused to stop the picture, but deleted those parts which he understood were considered particularly objectionable. 

Local authorities said today that, as far as they know, this case was the first in which the 1935 statute had been invoked. The act provides for a penalty on conviction of a fine of not less than $200 and not more than $5,000 and imprisonment for not less than ninety days and not more than three years, or both fine and imprisonment.

The Times never followed up on the story, so I don’t know what happened.

In the 1940 census Otto, now 45, was still living alone at 36 S. Munn. He paid $47 a month for rent, had worked 72 hours the previous week, worked 52 weeks in the last year and made $5000. In the June 25, 1942, Sporting News, J.G. Taylor Spink’s “Three and One” column was about Frank Bruggy, who by then was a special investigator for the prosecutor in Union County, New Jersey. Otto got a mention in the hilarious anecdote that ended the column:

Bruggy is also quite a golfer…One day he was playing in the Hal Sharkey Memorial Tournament, held in honor of the late sports editor of the Newark News. His foursome, a baseball quartette that also included Adolph Rettig, Frank Courtney and Swede Olson, probably was taking too much time out for wisecracks. 

A very serious foursome of Scotch-English pros followed. Finally, one of the foreign golfers asked in typical Scotch dialect if the might go through. “Sure,” answered Bruggy, “if you have your passports.”

Also in 1942 Otto filled out another draft card. He gave his address as 36 S. Munn Avenue, his phone number as OR5, his employer as Courter Amusement Company at 508 Main Street, East Orange, and the “person who will always know your address” as Dr. H.H. Buehler of 74 S. Munn. That same year, in October, Otto remarried. This took place in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and the bride was Hazel Hills, about 27 years old; apparently Hills was her name from a previous marriage and she was born Hazel Dunning. I don’t know whether she moved into the apartment on Munn Avenue, as I don’t have any addresses for Otto beyond this point.

Otto got mentioned in the “Jerry Nusbaum’s Evenings Out” column in the Newark Star-Ledger of October 8, 1947:

It’s tremendously exciting to spend a few hours with Charles Perry Weimer of East Orange and listen to his thrilling experiences in the Latin-Americas…Even more inspiring to intensely study the hundreds of photographs, both black and technicolor, made on his recent tour of 150,000 miles through 20 countries, in a year and a half, when his camera caught views from sea level to 20,000 feet in the Andes, to over a mile deep in the mines…Otto Rettig, manager Ormont Theater, East Orange, has been able through his friendship with the “20^th Century Marco Polo” to have him show some of the photos in the theater lobby beginning Oct. 12…Really, no one can afford to miss this artistic and cultural display…Weimer has also consented to exhibit relics, curios, mahogany bow and arrows…Some aimed at him while in the jungles. [all ellipses part of the original column…it’s just the way Jerry writes…]

And later in the same column:

You know we forgot to send the congrats to Otto and Hazel Rettig on their sixth wedding anniversary…Well, they didn’t leave the house, for they decided there could be no better evening than with five-year-old Penny, Johnny, who was born D-Day, and Jeffrey, six-months-old…Did you know Hazel’s dad, Stewart N. Dunning of Hartford, Conn., was the lawyer who organized the Fuller Brush Co. for Arthur Fuller?...At 70 he is still general counsel for the national organization…Furthermore, Dunning recently purchased 80 acres of land at Bloomfield, Conn., to build, at cost, homes for veterans…

Now, the Connecticut marriage records show us that it was actually Otto and Hazel’s fifth anniversary, not sixth, but if daughter Penny was five years old then it’s not surprising they claimed to have been married six years.

Otto got two more mentions in Jerry Nusbaum’s column four days later:

Of course Sandy Kapitoline, Girl Friday to Otto Rettig, manager Ormont Theater, East Orange, is back from her Washington, D. C., visit for the opening of the Charles Perry Weimer photographic and curio display of South America Cavalcade in the lobby today…But she’s also again ready to prove to Walt Bleecker and David Ward of Bloomfield their game of ping pong must increase considerably before they can hope to win even one game…Sandy was in Washington to chit-chat with her ex-Wave companion Kathy (Cover Girl) Blomgren who was on from Cedar Rapids, Iowa… 

Even if Otto Rettig doesn’t catch another fish for the next two months he’ll keep dreaming of the 10-pound striped bass he landed off the Highland Bridge while with Dan Dougherty, whose efforts were nil…

Then, on April 22, 1949, Otto got his name in the Star-Ledger again, not in “Evenings Out” but in Nelson Benedict’s “Fishing and Hunting” column:

The news from the flounder front is all good…[ellipses mine, not Nelson’s] And yesterday morning Otto Rettig of East Orange returned to Johnny’s Landing in the Highlands with 19 flatfish. Otto, who bagged his flounders in practically nothing flat, also reeled in a small striper which he returned to the water.

On September 16, 1950, Francis Stann’s “Win, Lose, or Draw” column in the Washington Evening Star dealt with certain pitchers having “jinxes” over certain teams, and Otto’s 1922 came up again:

His name was Otto Rettig, and he was a veteran semi-pro pitcher from East Orange, N.J., with delusions of grandeur. The year was 1922, which also will be remembered as the season the Browns were beaten by the Yankees for the pennant by one game.

Rettig knew the famed Wild Bill Donovan, one-time ace of the Tigers who later was killed in a train wreck, and he bet Donovan that if he ever got a chance to pitch in the majors he’d win. It was a wager that was financially modest but one which was destined to decide a pennant race and cost a big league manager his job. 

In 1923, An Unforgettable Memory 

The A’s were playing in Philadelphia and, as the story goes, Donovan took Rettig to Connie Mack, who had one of his real bad clubs that year. “Connie,” Bill said, “I wish you’d do me a favor. Sign this fellow. I won’t say he’s a great pitcher, but he won’t disgrace you.” 

Mack was sufficiently desperate that he signed Rettig, despite the semipro’s refusal to even warm up. One of the reasons for Connie’s unusual acquiescence was that St. Louis was coming to town for a four-game series and Urban Shocker was scheduled to pitch for the Browns. 

Shocker was to the A’s what Art Nehf was to the Pirates and Matty to the Reds. All he has to do was to throw down his glove. Donovan clinched the signing of Rettig when he said to Mack: 

“You know you’re not going to beat Shocker. Why waste a pitcher?” 

That was a good St. Louis team. George Sisler batted .420 that year and Manger Lee Fohl was confident of winning the city’s first pennant. That was the team that Otto Rettig, out of nowhere, beat 4-2. 

Otto never won another game. In 1923 he became a memory—the semipro who cost the Browns a pennant and Fohl his job.

In this telling, the probably-imaginary bet with Pat Donovan morphs into one with Bill Donovan, who also helps talk Connie Mack into using Otto, the score of the game is wrong (it was 6-3, not 4-2), and the postscript is added that it cost Lee Fohl his job—which seems unlikely, since Fohl got fired two-thirds of the way through the 1923 season.

The legend was retold again in the Sporting News of March 5, 1952, by Art Morrow:

Bruggy Recalls One-Day Wonder Hurler 

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—For the first time in years, Frank Bruggy came calling on the Athletics here last week. The visit from the old catcher led to reminiscence. 

Indirectly, Bruggy was responsible for the fact that the greatest of all Brownie teams failed to win the pennant in 1922. For it was Bruggy—now a detective working out of the Union (N.J.) County district attorney’s office—who introduced Otto Rettig to the A’s. 

Rettig wanted to pitch in the majors, but every time Connie Mack asked him to demonstrate his wares, he explained: “Oh, no, not in the bull pen. I can’t be at my best except in a real game.” 

So, having nothing to lose, Connie threw him in one day against the Browns. 

“They were pitching Urban Shocker, and goodness knows how long it had been since we’d beaten him,” laughed Bing Miller. “But we did that day, 8 to 0. Great guns, line drives were flying all over the place, but always right into somebody’s glove.” 

“They had the bases loaded with George Sisler at bat,” Jimmie Dykes volunteered. “I started to walk over to Rettig, but he waved me back. ‘Not a thing to worry about,’ he told me. ‘Nothing at all.’ 

“Sisler at bat with the bases loaded—and nothing to worry about! He tore into that ball as though he’d knock it into pieces, and it went on a clothesline to the wall. But Rettig was right; there was nothing to worry about. The ball was caught.” 

Afterwards, Connie Mack stopped in at the Shibe Park tower offices. 

“Well, Connie, what do you think?” John Shibe asked. 

“John,” the Old Master smiled, “this day you have seen a miracle performed.” 

He had, too. Rettig never won another game for the Athletics. 

“I doubt if he ever got another batter out,” chuckled Miller. A month or so later Bruggy’s friend was back on the North Jersey sandlots. 

But the Yankees beat the Browns for the pennant by a game. The Yanks’ late-season triumph over St. Louis generally is regarded as the deciding factor, but that single defeat by the one-day wonder would have counted just as much for the Browns in the final standings. 

What happened to Rettig? 

“Oh, he’s still up in North Jersey—in the movie business, and doing very well,” Bruggy replied. “A smart fellow, that Rettig.”

So now it sounds like Otto had been pestering Mack for a job for a while (“every time Connie Mack asked him to demonstrate his wares”), the score of the game has become 8-0, the bases-loaded ground out to first by Ken Williams has become a bases-loaded line drive to the outfield wall by George Sisler, a conversation between Mack and John Shibe has been added, and Bing Miller doesn’t think Otto ever got another batter out.

On September 2, 1965, Otto, now 71 years old, popped up again in Jerry Nusbaum’s Star-Ledger column, now called “Personally Speaking”:

Otto Rettig, manager of the Ormont Theater, East Orange, where the “Pawnbroker” starring Newark’s Rod Steiger is now playing was asked why the flicker was breaking all house records. Otto replied, “I don’t know—but I think Rod must be doing something right.”

On December 10, 1975, the legend got one more retelling, in the Star-Ledger, in Anthony Marenghi’s “Pillar to Post” column:

Rettig’s ‘Big Day’ cost Browns a pennant 

His formal name is Adolph John Rettig. To oldtimers who remember, he was just Otto, one of the myriad of talented players with some great semipro teams abounding in Jersey in the 1920s. One of them was the Doherty Silk Sox of Paterson, for whom he pitched. 

His most memorable moment, as he related recently, came one morning in 1922, when he got a phone call from Frank Bruggy of Elizabeth, catcher in those days for the Philadelphia Athletics. The A’s were playing the league-leading St. Louis Browns that day and Connie Mack, the storied manager of the A’s, was desperately in need of a healthy pitcher to combat Urban Shocker, a standout pitcher whom the A’s had not beaten in four years. 

By revelation, perhaps, Bruggy remembered Rettig from his Jersey background and called him. “I had two hours’ notice,” Rettig said. “I beat them.” 

Simple words. A fateful moment for the Browns. They were to lose the American League pennant by a half-game to the Yankees on the last game of the season. Otto had jumped the Springfield Club and hence an ineligible player for the big leagues. 

“I didn’t care about the technicalities,” Rettig said. “The Browns did not protest then and by the time late in the season when the defeat came into significance, it was probably too late for post mortems.” 

For a few hours glory briefly limned Otto and vanished. He started four times for the A’s and completed two. The victory over the Browns was the only one. Otto laughs now as he recalls the words of a probably-disgusted sports writing rooter for the Browns, “Otto Rettig beat the Browns with a very slow ball and even a slower pitch.” 

By January 1923, Rettig was a free agent and asked the Cincinnati Reds for a tryout. They looked about for scouting reports and got one from Bob Quinn, who was a Browns’ official. He called Otto’s victory a fluke. After that game, Quinn wrote, “Rettig looked pitiful.” 

As a semipro pitcher, anyway, Rettig was better than that. Oldtimers will remember here that in successive eras Jersey swarmed with great semipro teams, such as the Silk Sox, the Newark Meadowbrooks, the touring Bacharach Giants and Cuban All-Stars, the Orange A.A., et al. They very probably could have beaten half the AAA teams then but declined offers for solid reasons: they were making more money and drawing more crowds where they were, and even the big leagues were paying paltry salaries then. 

In these periods big leaguers with a day off merely took a different name and pitched semipro for a day to collect another dollar. They were easily recognized, as they knew they would be, by players and fans but nobody cared as long as they supplied major league quality to the semipros. 

Among those who may have indulged in this practice were Eddie Collins, Frankie Frisch and, in a later era, Lou Gehrig. George Earnshaw, in contrast, was strictly a semipro with the Meadowbrooks until called by the Athletics to complete one of the great pitching staffs ever. 

Legends survive about Otto. One is that he pitched for Seton Hall although not enrolled there. 

“They are wrong about the Seton Hall bit,” Rettig said. “When I attended Seton Hall College I had nothing but straight A’s.” He did not mean the Philadelphia A’s. 

Rettig was still with the Doherty Silk Sox around 1921, when they hosted the New York Giants who had an off day because blue laws of the period prohibited Sunday baseball in New York. Rettig beat the Giants, 2-1. “As I recall it,” Rettig remembered, “I struck out 13 of them.” 

After his baseball days, Rettig operated a movie theatre in East Orange and for many years has lived in Stuart, Fla., a regular at the Monterey Yacht and Country Club. 

There are other interesting items in Rettig’s career which are left unwritten because Otto finally has “contemplated publishing a book,” and is researching. For instance, he asked: “I beat the Giants on Sunday, the day after they had lost the second game of a doubleheader, breaking a 25-game winning streak, and I need the exact date.”

It sounds as though this version of the story was based primarily on Otto’s memory, and it actually rings pretty true. The Browns didn’t lose the pennant by a half-game, it was a full game, and it didn’t come down to the last day of the season; also he only completed one of his four major-league starts, not two—but those are minor points. This is also the first mention of the aborted attempt to sign with the Reds in 1923, but there’s no reason to think it’s not true.

Three weeks later, on December 31, Marenghi followed up about Otto:

Mention in a recent column of Otto Rettig fanned the flickering embers of memories. Rettig, one of the old semipros, contacted this desk for the exact date when, pitching for the Doherty Silk Sox, he beat the N.Y. Giants in an exhibition. He was armed with a clipping which said the year was 1921 or 1922 and that Rettig won, 2-1. At this late date, Otto is contemplating—his word—authoring a book of his experiences, which explains his request. 

Well, one reader took the column and Otto apart, although carefully saying he was not being sarcastic. He questioned whether Rettig, a semipro, could ever beat the great N.Y. Giants, referred to in the shifting locale of the current Giants as the John McGraw Giants of the Polo Grounds. 

“I really think this is a fairy story,” the reader says…”I think he (Rettig) is dreaming.” 

It was Otto’s recollection that the Giants had had a 25-game winning streak broken the day before he beat them—which was on a Sunday, when the Giants had a day off and played the Silk Sox in Paterson. 

If Otto was really dreaming, he dreamed himself out of one run, because, from another source, he won, 2-0. But read on. 

Another reader briefly wrote: “Enclosed is what is left of a clipping from Sporting Life of Philadelphia of the exhibition game pitched by Otto Rettig on Oct. 1, 1916, the day after the 26-game streak of the N.Y. Giants had ended.” 

Otto had the wrong year—he was only asking, remember?—but he was right in naming a Sunday when the exhibition was played. 

It seems incredible in these times that a major league club could have a Sunday off but, as Otto recalled, blue laws forbade Sunday sports. 

The “old clipping” forwarded by the reader is a fragmented remnant of five lines. The yellowed clip from Sporting Life notes: “The N.Y. Giants traveled to Paterson, N.J., on Sunday, October 1, and was shut out by the Silk Sox in an exhibition game by a score of 2 to 0. The game was a pitching duel between Ritter of the Giants and Rettig.” Sporting Life apparently attached no importance to first names. It did not mention the year, of course, because it was unnecessary to coverage. 

The Baseball Encyclopedia lists a Hank Ritter who pitched big league baseball exactly four years, in 1912 with the Philly Nationals and in 1914-16 with the Giants, which would seem to authenticate the year 1916 as correct. What are the odds on arousing current interest in a game played almost 60 years ago?...

As mentioned toward the beginning of this post, it was indeed October 1, 1916, that Otto shut out the Giants, and it is also true that the day before they had lost the second game of a doubleheader, ending a 26-game winning streak.

About a year and a half later, on June 16, 1977, Otto Rettig passed away at the age of 83, at the Monterey Yacht and Country Club, where, we have learned, he was a regular. He did not get his book published.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/R/Pretto101.htm
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rettiot01.shtml
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=17056

Eddie Phelps

Eddie Phelps was a catcher for four different National League teams between 1902 and 1913.

Edward Jaykill Phelps (Jaykill was his mother’s maiden name) was born March 3, 1879, in Albany, New York, to Marcus, a mason, and Anna Phelps. He made his professional baseball debut at age 19 in 1898 with the Danbury Hatters of the Class F Connecticut State League; the August 10, 1898, Waterbury Evening Democrat quoted the Meriden Journal as saying he was “the premier catcher of the league.” He played in 93 games and had a batting average of .233 (no other stats are available).

For 1899 Eddie signed with the Springfield Ponies of the Class A Eastern League, jumping up to the level just below the majors. On June 2 it was reported that he had split one of his fingers in a game; injuries would be a recurring theme in his career, which was not unusual for catchers in those days. He played in 86 games that season, all at catcher, and hit .248 with a .309 slugging percentage.

On January 24, in Springfield, Eddie got married to local girl Mary Bills. That season he caught 42 games for Springfield, then went to the Montreal Royals, also in the Eastern League, and caught 29 games for them, and then went to the Rochester Bronchos, of the same league, and caught 23 games for them. I have no details on either of those transactions. His play was receiving some criticism in Springfield, then in late July and early August there were observations in the newspapers that the change of scenery to Montreal had done him a lot of good. For the year he had 318 at-bats in 94 games, and hit .239.

Eddie stayed with Rochester in 1901. From the Worcester Daily Spy of June 7:

BONE BROKEN BY AN INSHOOT 

Edward Phelps, Catcher on the Rochester Team, Has Been Suffering Six Days Without Knowing the Cause 

FRACTURE LOCATED BY USE OF THE X-RAY 

Player Injured Saturday in the Game at Providence—Umpire Declared the Ball Hit Phelps’ Bat—Dooley Doing the Baby Act to Square His Team 

Edward Phelps, catcher for the Rochester team, was operated upon by Dr. E.A. Trowbridge last night, and a broken bone was discovered in Phelps’ left arm, just below the elbow. Phelps had been ignorant of the broken bone for six days, but intense pain forced him to seek a surgeon last night. 

In the game at Providence Saturday Phelps was hit by one of Danny Friend’s shoots. He was not allowed to walk to first, the umpire claiming that the ball hit Phelps’ bat instead of his arm. For the past few days Phelps has been unable to catch, but he did not consider the services of a surgeon necessary until last night. The x-ray located the fracture.

Eddie had possibly the best offensive season of his minor league career that year, hitting .290 and slugging .378 in 93 games, with 11 doubles, three triples and four homers. After the season he played indoor baseball, which seems to have been a fad at that time, on a team in Troy, New York, that included other professional players. Also in 1901 he appeared in the Albany city directory for the first time, listed as a ballplayer living at 329 Washington Avenue, with his parents.

In December it was reported that Eddie had received an offer from the Detroit Tigers, but he started the 1902 season back with Rochester. On May 15 the Worcester Daily Spy reported:

Eddie Phelps is one of the best batting catchers in the league. He also does grand work in the field. Eddie is such a quiet chap that he appears out of place in his present company.

Eddie hit .255 in 91 games for Rochester, then on August 26 his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh (or, as they spelled it in those days, Pittsburg) Pirates. The Boston Braves claimed to have signed him first but nothing came of that, and he made his major league debut for the Pirates on September 3. The Worcester Daily Spy continued to keep track of him, reporting on September 19: “Phelps is described by a Pittsburg critic as being ‘a hard working but slow backstop.’ The Eastern Leaguer is slow only in appearance.” Four days later, the Daily Spy added: “The Pittsburg management doesn’t hold anything in reserve when it refers to Eddie Phelps, the former Rochester man, as the best catcher the Pirates ever had.” He played in 18 games for the Pirates that September, five of them filling in at first base for an injured Kitty Bransfield, and hit .213 with a .284 on-base percentage and .230 slugging percentage. After the season it was reported that his off-season job was in the state printing office in Albany.

The Pirates won the 1903 National League pennant, and Eddie was their number one catcher, appearing behind the plate in 81 of the team’s 141 games. On May 4 a story appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette under the headline “PIRATES HAVE ASSORTMENT OF QUEER NOMS DE PLUME” that included the factoid “Eddie Phelps has such a jolly looking face that he is sometimes referred to as ‘Smilie.’”

On June 18 the good old Daily Spy informed its readers that “Eddie Phelps, former Rochester backstop, is now put down as the greatest catcher Pittsburg has had since the days of Connie Mack. A few weeks ago Phelps was reported a snail compared to some of the other mittmen because a man stole home on him.” Two days later the Minneapolis Journal reported that “Phelps is considered the best backstop in the country in the purely mechanical part of the game.” Eddie missed some time in August with a sprained ankle. At the end of the season in late September, he had hit .282/.338/.352 in 273 at-bats in 81 games and was second in the league in fielding percentage among catchers at .980.

On September 27, the Boston Journal, in an article assessing the Pirates in advance of their appearance against the Boston Americans in the first AL/NL World Series, rated Pittsburgh’s catching corps as follows:

Behind the bat “Eddie” Phelps has been the mainstay and he has done very commendable work. He is also a very fair hitter and, considering his size, a very fast man on the bases. Harry Smith is a good man who has not been in the very best of shape this season. Weaver and Carisch are still unknown quantities.

Boston defeated Pittsburgh 5 games to 3; Eddie caught seven of the eight games and pinch-hit in the other, batting .231/.259/.308. The Sporting News reported that “The series proved that ‘Chink’ Phelps is a good catcher. He did magnificent work in the six [sic] games he acted as backstop.”

On December 12 the Wilkes-Barre Times reported that Eddie was not playing indoor baseball, preferring to take life easy. The following spring the 1904 edition of Tim Murnane’s How to Play Base Ball was published, with the chapter “How to become a good catcher” credited to Eddie Phelps, William Sullivan and M.J. Kittredge.

Meanwhile, Eddie began the 1904 season still as the primary Pirate catcher. The Boston Journal’s account of the game of May 24 included the passage:

Miller was almost invincible and the Bostons were powerless against his delivery. When they did manage to get to first base it was only to meet with disappointment at second through the lightning-like and accurate throws of Eddie Phelps. The Pittsburg’s backstop never threw the ball to second with more speed and accuracy than he did today and every Boston runner who attempted to steal was thrown out anywhere from one to five yards.

On July 11 the Pirates were again playing Boston, and again the Journal will provide the account:

Eddie Phelps has been added to Capt. Clarke’s disabled list. In the third inning the backstop was knocked cold by a pitched ball that struck him dangerously near the temple. He dropped like a log and was carried to the club house in an unconscious condition. His head was placed in ice and later he recovered consciousness and was removed to his home in a carriage. The physician said that it would be absolutely necessary for him to remain quiet for two or three days, and it is possible that he may not be able to take his position behind the bat for a week or longer. 

When Phelps was hit a heavy fog hung over the park and one of Pittinger’s inshoots struck him directly behind the eye before he could pull away from the plate.

It was in fact longer than a week. The August 9 Denver Post included this item:

Eddy Phelps, the fast catcher, who was hit by a pitched ball some weeks ago, will not be with the team either, as he can scarcely walk. The nerves of his head communicating with his spinal column have been hurt and Phelps can do but little. He will not be able to put his uniform on for weeks.

However, he got back into the lineup on August 13. At the end of the season he had played in 94 games; his hitting dropped off from 1903, to .242/.289/.278.

In December Eddie bought a house at 385 1^st Street in Albany, for himself, Mary, three-year-old Eddie Jr., and also his parents, while he once again played indoor baseball. Also in December, he got traded to Cincinnati for catcher Heinie Peitz. Peitz was 34 years old to Eddie’s 25, and Eddie was considered the better hitter (despite the off-year), runner, and catcher, so there was some surprise in baseball circles that the Pirates would want to make the deal. But Peitz was given the edge in intangibles, and eventually, in May, the following appeared in the Cincinnati Post as part of an article under the heading “Why Barney Dreyfuss Let Eddy Phelps Go”:

“Against the Clevelands last fall,” is the light Al Crotty sheds on the situation, “Phelps played poor ball and his fate was sealed then. I believe he is a good catcher, but he hasn’t the ambition that Peitz possesses. He was the best bunter on the Pittsburg team, speedy in reaching first, but after he got there he seemed to slow down. When he gets well he will make a good man for Cincinnati, but he belongs to the class to whom the manager must furnish the steam.” 

In other words, it is up to the managerial end to do the driving—a task that to Fred Clarke grew distasteful. The mystery of the switch of Phelps for Peitz is now cleared away. All but a few souls in Balldom imagined that Barney Dreyfuss had shrinkage of the noodle when he made the deal. It is up to Phelps to maintain the reputation he won while with the pennant winners.

(I don’t know who Al Crotty was, and the article does not explain.)

Meanwhile, on January 13, 1905, the Post published an introductory letter from Eddie.

…Although it is over a month since the ex-Pirate joined the Red family, the appended letter is the first that has reached the fans of Cincinnati, and it comes in the shape of a personal missive to the Sporting Editor of the Post. Here it is: 

“ALBANY, N.Y., Jan. 11—Dear Friend: These winter days have been busy ones to me, for I was fortunate enough to purchase a home last fall, and I’ve been fixing it up to suit myself. I am acting jack-of-all-trades. In regard to my transfer to Cincinnati, I will say that I am very well satisfied. I know I will like the city and will put forth my best efforts to favor the fans. I think myself fortunate to be working for Mr. Herrmann, and I hope I will prove satisfactory to him. I have been playing indoor ball this winter and find it a very good winter sport. I think it keeps a fellow in good shape. When ‘Cy’ Seymour was here I saw him very often, and he took part in a few of our indoor games. 

“Sincerely yours, 

E.J. Phelps.”

On March 8 Eddie had some more to say to the Post:

“Last spring I weighed 195 pounds,” declared Ed Phelps, “but I’m 13 pounds lighter than that at present and in splendid shape. I put in a busy winter, and between indoor baseball and running with the dogs I’ve had recreation enough to offset the work I did on my new home. I never saw so much snow in my life. I left Albany all frozen up, and it seemed queer to find no ice-bound streets in Cincinnati.”

Two days later he again spoke to the Post, and touched on the subject of last season’s head injury:

Ed Phelps, the Reds’ new stellar backstop, was one of the happiest members of the party. The deal which brought him to Cincinnati was most pleasing to him. He and Harry Arndt increase the Elks’ representation on the Red team, and they both wear the antlered buttons. 

“The old bonnet feels all right,” said he, “and I’ve had no trouble at all for months. It didn’t bother me for three days after I stopped one of Charley Pittenger’s curves with my head, for I was dead to the world that long.”

On March 15 the Post listed Eddie as 5-10, 178, on the 20^th they mentioned that he was looking for three or four rooms to rent in Cincinnati for himself, Mary, and Eddie Jr., and on the 22^nd they ran the following, under the heading “WHAT’S DOING IN RED SOCIETY”:

“Ed Phelps will keep the third basemen guessing,” is Harry Steinfeldt’s opinion. “That new catcher of ours hits down the left line. He is a good bunter, and if the man on third moves in, Phelps is liable to drive the ball through him.”

During April there were various reports in the Post about the number of boils Eddie had developed. The season began mid-month and he got off to a slow start, reportedly due to an unspecified illness, while sharing the catching with Admiral Schlei. On May 15 the Post made the cryptic observation “When Bob Ewing pitches Ed Phelps acts as if he’d do better if he had a bath towel tucked in his belt.” Soon after that a story circulated that Eddie had inherited $40,000; the Post had this to say on May 25:

EDDY PHELPS’ FORTUNE 

“I went to bed last night worth $40,000 in the head lines and I woke up broke,” was the way Eddy Phelps referred to his recent dream of riches which were handed him by the legacy route. “I only wish it were true,” he added. 

The Red backstop was not responsible for the circulation of the story that made him a forty-second cousin of Croesus, although he was willing to play the part. 

“Me to the woods if I were a child of fortune,” said the Red backstop. “There’s nothing I like so much as a stroll through the country. I visited a kennel at Bryn Mawr while we were in Philadelphia and added a hound to my canine collection, but I’m afraid I’ll not have much time to take him out next fall, for I’m going to prepare for the sterner duties of life. I will go into the Commercial Bank at Albany, commence at the bottom and learn the business, for I want something substantial to drift into when my ball playing days are over.” 

Mrs. Phelps returns to Cincinnati with the backstop, and they will join the Red colony on the hill. Phelps has a flat on Morris St., where he kept Bachelor’s Hall for some days, making his own bed and taking desperate chances on a boycott from the Chambermaids’ Union. The tale of Phelps’ windfall is said to be one of “Cy” Seymour’s inventions, and it swept through the East like a prairie wildfire…

On June 7 Eddie got hit in the head by a pitch again, but only missed one game. In early July there were rumors that he would be traded to St. Louis for malcontent catcher Jack Warner, but Reds manager Joe Kelley spoke out against it and it didn’t happen. On July 17 the Post reported the following:

After the last weird exhibition of backstopping which Ed Phelps gave at the South End, Cincinnati’s lack of a great receiver general was strongly impressed upon Manager Kelley… 

Manager Kelley has hoped almost against hope that Phelps would “come.” The Alabaman [?] was in poor health in the spring, but he was kept on duty in the full expectation that workouts would put him into shape, but that last display behind Orval Overall knocked from Kel the last crutch, and he is nursing regrets now that the deal which Frank Robison planned—Jack Warner for Phelps—did not go through. That switch would have entailed quite a neat outlay of cash on the Red side. 

The catcher who can steady a pitcher is worth more than the mere mechanic, whose idea of the beginning and end of a backstop’s duties is the handling of thrown balls. Unless the man behind the bat is working well, the standard of play at the firing line is sure to fall off in like degree.

Also in that day’s issue: “Ed Phelps is breathing sulphuric imprecations upon the sneakthief who stole his big mitt at Boston.” And on July 22: “Ed Phelps might dispense with enough meat to stock a refrigerator without injuring his playing avoirdupois.” On July 25 it was time for another serious injury, with this account from the Washington Evening Star:

PLAYER INJURED. 

Catcher Phelps Knocked Out by Mertes’ Bat. 

Eddie Phelps, the catcher of the Cincinnati team, was accidentally struck with a bat in the hands of Mertes at the Polo Grounds, New York, yesterday afternoon and injured so badly that he was taken to the J. Hood Wright Hospital in an ambulance. He bled profusely and it was feared his skull was fractured. Mertes was at the bat for New York, and Harper was pitching for Cincinnati. In swinging on a wild pitched ball Mertes turned almost completely around. 

Phelps ducked low to the left of the plate to get the ball and Mertes’ bat hit him on the top of the head, inflicting a scalp wound which bled freely. A call for a doctor brought half a dozen from the grandstand on the run. Phelps was taken to the bench, where the flow of blood was checked. Fearing his skull was fractured, an ambulance from the hospital was called and the player, his head swathed in bandages, was taken from the grounds to the hospital. 

Phelps was able to walk, but was very weak from loss of blood and in a dazed condition. 

Later in the evening he was discharged from the hospital and went to his hotel. The wound, while not serious, is a very painful one, and it will probably be several days before Phelps can appear again on the diamond. No blame attaches to Mertes for the accident.

On July 31 the Post reported “Ed Phelps was at the game. The wound in his head is slowly healing, but it is so deep that it will be some time before he will be able to play again.” He returned to action on August 22; on August 23 he was injured again, as described in the Post of August 24:

Phelps, the unlucky cherub, received an injury that will keep him out of the game for the balance of the season. In the eighth a foul tip split his hand to the bone and Schlei succeeded him. Phelps was just beginning to hit the ball. He scored two runs himself and slammed in two others in Wednesday’s game before he was injured.

Elsewhere on the same page:

Ed Phelps is probably out of the game for the balance of the season. His right hand is badly split between the thumb and forefinger. After he receives the proper surgical attention Phelps will return to Cincinnati. He has played splendid ball in both the Quaker games. This is the worst year he has ever experienced during his career as a ballplayer.

Eddie did in fact miss the rest of the season. For the year he hit .231/.306/.301 in 176 at-bats in just 44 games.

On February 25, 1906, Eddie was mentioned on the society page of the Springfield (MA) Republican, as one of the attendees at a family dinner at the Nelson hotel for his in-laws, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bills, for their silver wedding anniversary; he was described as “the well-known professional baseball player of the Cincinnati team.” Father-in-law Frank was at that time “foreman in the Cheney Bigelow wire works” and was “well known in city life, having served as a councilman from Ward 1, besides making a good run on the aldermanic ticket on two occasions.”

All through spring training the Post raved about what great shape Eddie was in. On March 3:

Ed Phelps, the big catcher, who was so badly and so often laid up by repeated hits of bad luck at the close of last season, looks, if anything, in the primest condition of the whole bunch. He was in such bum shape last fall, with a split hand and an injured thumb, that it’s really a delightful shock to see how “corking” good he looks now.

March 13:

ED PHELPS—His improved physical condition is undoubtedly enabling him to do better work than in the year past. His batting is improved and he’s putting up a snappier article of ball.

April 3:

Ed Phelps—His health and condition, far better than last year, have naturally caused great improvement in his work. He is one of the fastest runners on the team despite his avoirdupois, and is hitting the ball regularly.

Eddie caught twelve of the Reds’ 19 April regular-season games, and with two triples and a homer in 40 at-bats was hitting an excellent, for those days, .275/.326/.450. But on May 8 it was announced that the Reds had given him his ten days’ notice of release, and this set in motion events which led to baseball’s biggest controversy of the year.

All the other National League teams waived claim to Eddie, which would have made him an unconditional free agent at the end of the ten days. But, as Reds President Garry Herrmann told the story, he had an agreement with Eddie that if he could find an American League team to buy his contract before the ten days were up, he would split the purchase price with him. On May 18, the last day before Eddie would have become a free agent, Herrmann accepted an offer of $1500 from the Red Sox. By this time, Eddie had written to the Pirates asking for a position, and had gotten a response that if he reported to them by the 21^st they would sign him. This he did, the Reds apparently having been unable to get ahold of him by phone to inform him he had been sold to Boston. He made his debut with the Pirates on May 23, going 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, and 3 RBI, and the Red Sox made an appeal to the National Commission. The National Commission was the ruling body of organized baseball, consisting of the American and National League presidents and a chairman; it was the chairman’s responsibility to rule in cases such as this, and from 1903 to 1920 the chairman was…Garry Herrmann.

Herrmann ruled that Phelps belonged to Boston and had never had any right to sign with Pittsburgh. He informed the Pirates of this around June 20, and they requested that they be allowed to submit additional evidence. Herrmann allowed this, but it didn’t change his mind, and he announced the decision on June 27. Barney Dreyfuss of the Pirates blew his top, threatened legal action, and accused Herrmann of ruling against him because he, Herrmann, had bet $6000 that the Pirates would not win the pennant and wanted to weaken them. This made Herrmann so mad that he bought Phelps back from the Red Sox and gave him to Pittsburgh.

Eddie had been playing for the Pirates for over a month anyway, having moved ahead of Heinie Peitz as the main backup to George Gibson, and in his 37 at-bats between his debut with Pittsburgh and Herrmann’s announcement on July 5 that he could stay was hitting .324. When the original decision, that he belonged to Boston, was handed down, Eddie said he wouldn’t go; the Sporting News wondered why he would give up the $750 he was to get for going to the Red Sox and prefer “to rejoin a club which had in effect declared him an incompetent catcher.” Various newspaper writers also wondered why there was so much demand for someone the Reds didn’t think worth keeping. Once Eddie’s contract status was settled his hitting suffered, and he batted under .200 the rest of the season. His final 1906 numbers, including his time with both teams, were .247/.308/.323 in 158 at-bats in 55 games, not bad by the standards of catchers of that time, and better than his previous two seasons.

During the off-season Eddie and Mary had their second son, Arnold, and the Pirates tried to trade Eddie to Columbus of the American Association, but the deal fell through. So he was back with Pittsburgh in 1907 as George Gibson’s backup. He missed over three weeks in August and September; the Cincinnati Post reported on September 5:

Ed Phelps, the Pittsburg catcher, has just recovered from a dislocated knee. Phelps was never suspected of undue interest in his job while a Red, but the injury to his knee resulted, he says, from his keen interest in a game. Phelps was on the bench when Tommy Leach drove out a triple. Phelps saw that the decision at third would be mighty close. He gripped the bench hard and “pulled” for “Tommy the Wee” to beat the ball. In his excitement Phelps twisted his leg, and when he untangled himself the dislocation had resulted.

Eddie had his worst offensive year, hitting .212/.282/.221 with just one extra-base hit in 113 at-bats.

In 1908 Eddie was once again George Gibson’s backup, but Gibson caught 140 of the Pirates’ 155 games so that didn’t leave much work for him. In late July it was reported that he had been traded to Brooklyn, along with three other players, for first baseman Tim Jordan, but somehow it didn’t actually take place. Eddie hit .234/.269/.328 in just 64 at-bats.

In January 1909 Eddie had been given his ten-days notice of release when his contract was purchased by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was intended to be the backup to catcher/manager Roger Bresnahan, but injuries limited Bresnahan’s playing time and Eddie ended up as the main catcher. He got off to a hot start and was showing up at the top of the batting leaders into June, though with much fewer at-bats than the regulars, and was also starting to get a reputation as a pinch-hitter. Also, while in the past he had almost always batted eighth, he became the number three man in the batting order. In the stats published in the papers on June 9, he was still at the top of the league at .413 (19-for-46); on June 16 he was down to .357 and was behind Honus Wagner. On June 19 the Washington Times observed “Eddie Phelps is rapidly descending in the batting list. He overhit himself a whole lot in the earlier games.” On June 27 he got a lengthy feature in the Daily Illinois State Register, which shows just how high his stock had climbed in two months:

CARDINAL SUB BEAU BRUMMEL 

HE SHINES ON THE DIAMOND ON ACCOUNT OF HIS LOOKS. 

Is a Good Receiver and a Hard Sticker—Thinks the World of His Family and His Kennel of Fox Hounds. 

St. Louis, June 26.—The best hitting catcher and one of the best receivers in the National league; the best dresser in the organization, and one of the most modest men playing ball, and you have Eddie Phelps, the second catcher of the St. Louis Cardinals, and Roger Bresnahan’s lieutenant, in a nutshell. 

Phelps came to the Cardinals at the beginning of the season from the Pittsburg team, where he has been one of the mainstays of Fred Clarke’s aggregation for years. 

Despite his value to the Cardinals and his acknowledged ability as a ball player, Phelps is one of the cheapest men that President Robison has ever paid a salary. 

Not that he is a cheap man as his services go, but his acquisition to the Cardinals involved the outlay of a paltry sum of $1,500. For Fred Clarke released Phelps to the St. Louis team for the waiver price. When Mr. Robison secured Eddie Phelps he turned one of the shrewd deals for which he is noted. 

Mr. Robison got Ed Phelps for $1,500. If he cared to part with him he could realize a handsome return on his investment, for there are managers in the National league that would gladly give $7,500 for the second catcher of the Cardinals. 

A sure receiver, a good thrower to the bases, a handy man with the bat, and an inside player of more than average acumen, Phelps is one of the few catchers who rank in the first flight. For catchers that combine these rare qualities are few and far between. When Bresnahan added Phelps to his catching corps, he completed a staff deemed the most formidable one in either the American or National league. 

Phelps is as modest as he is expert in playing the national game. He dislikes to talk about himself, though by dint of hard work, one is able to get the history of the Cardinal catcher. 

Phelps is 30 Years Old. 

Phelps saw the light of day thirty years ago last March. Until 1896 he was unknown as a ball player. Then he was first heard of in Danbury, a little Connecticut hamlet that boasted a ball club. Phelps was the catcher of the village prides and the hero of the small boys of that far eastern town. 

For two years he remained there when his ambition grew apace with his ability as a catcher [actually he was only there one year], and he then branched out, the fall of 1899 witnessing his transfer to Springfield, Mass., then in the Eastern league. 

Of course, Phelps made good there, just as he has everywhere else. From Springfield it was an easy jump to Rochester club of the same league. It was in Rochester that Eddie first attracted the attention of National league managers. 

Rochester successfully kept him covered until the spring of 1902, when the big league managers pounced upon him. Mr. Frank Robinson [Robison], a brother of the present owner of the clubs and then the controlling interest in the Cardinals, was one of the many who sought Phelp’s [sic] release. But Fred Clarke of the Pittsburg club, was the lucky combination, and Eddie Phelps became a Pirate member and a big league catcher. 

Phelps, with Charlie Zimmer and Smith, were catchers of Pittsburg at the time. Phelps, the youngest of the trio, replaced Jack O’Connor, a St. Louis boy and now manager of the Little Rock team of the Southern league. 

Despite his comparative youthfulness, Phelps made good from the jump and soon established himself as the first catcher of the team. To be the first receiver of the Pirates those days meant something for they, like now, had a tip top baseball team. In fact, the following year Pittsburg won the National league pennant and met Boston of the American league for the world’s championship. 

In the meantime, Zimmer has been released by Manager Clarke and the bulk of the catching was thrown on Phelps. So well did Phelps do his part that Pittsburgers ran Boston to a nose for the world’s honors, losing only after one of the hardest series of games ever played on a baseball diamond. 

Eddie is a Good Hitter. 

So far, Phelps has worked in more games than he did with the Pirates all last season. Even though Phelps was the best hitter that Clarke had for extra duty, he was never considered a regular man, despite his undenied ability. 

Phelps had kept up his good work with the bat since he came to St. Louis, and at present is leading the catchers of the league by a wide margin. In fact, there are none who are anywhere near him. He stands out as a Colossus among the receivers in hitting. Bresnahan, the manager of the Cardinals, pays this tribute to Phelps: 

“I consider Phelps one of the best catchers of the game. A man of ability and with it a man of rare discernment, and, above all, a man of good habits, he combines the requisites that go to make up a valuable ball player.” 

While Bresnahan’s tribute is short, it is to the point. That Roger believes what he says is best evidenced by the confidence that he puts in his lieutenant. 

There are other things that interest Phelps besides baseball. He has a devoted wife and two rollicking, healthy sons established in a nice home in Albany, N.Y. Baseball is a secondary consideration, for that home comes first with Phelps. 

Phelps has a hobby. All good ball players have. In fact, he has two. One is a kennel of blooded fox hounds; the other is Eddie’s wardrobe. Phelps prizes his dogs highly. Why shouldn’t he, for in the collection are animals from all parts of the world, the gifts of admiring friends. 

Probably the most prized one of the “gang,” as Eddie calls them, is a big fellow, the gift of Phil Chinn, of Louisville. The Chinn dog is the manager of the team, boss of them all. He lords it over the others, as Roger does over his Cardinal baseball team. In fact, so well has his dog established himself as the leader that Eddie has named him Roger—you can guess the rest of the name. 

Baseball’s Beau Brummel. 

When Phelps is away from home, his family and his children, he turns his attention to clothes. Baseball, with clothers [sic] to vary the monotony in the summer time, and the chase in the winter, and you have the side issue of Phelp’s [sic] life. 

He carries a huge trunk; sometimes two of them, both packed with the most stylish of clothers. And he wears them well. For Phelps has the frame to carry well-fitting clothers. 

There are shirts to match, ties that harmonize, and socks that complete the wardrobe.

In early August Eddie was hitting .301, and later in the month he missed some games after being injured in a home plate collision. His hitting tailed off further after that, but he set career highs with 104 games played and 306 at-bats, hitting .248/.350/.297—he walked much more frequently than he ever had before. Defensively he allowed 125 stolen bases, fourth-most in the league, and threw out just 36% of opposing runners, which was a career low and didn’t compare well to the league average of 45%.

In January 1910 there were rumors that Eddie would be going to the Cubs in a three-team deal, but it didn’t happen. During spring training he managed the team when Bresnahan was busy with logistical issues, and for the season the two of them ended up splitting the catching, with Roger dealing with more health issues, including ptomaine poisoning. They shared the number six spot in the order. Eddie hit .263/.356/.293, keeping up his new-found skill at getting on base, in 270 at-bats in 93 games. Defensively, though, he allowed 137 stolen bases, second only to George Gibson, who played in many more games, and his caught-stealing rate was down to 30%.

In December, Eddie and two teammates were released to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class A Eastern League. On December 26 the Cincinnati Post reported:

INABILITY TO PEG LOST JOB FOR EDDY PHELPS 

Cincinnati fandom was somewhat surprised when it learned that Manager Bresnahan, of the St. Louis Cardinals, had succeeded in securing waivers on Catcher Eddy Phelps, who performed for the Reds a few years ago, and later did good work for other major league clubs. Queen City bugs remembered little about Phelps, except that he made about as many timely hits against the Reds as any player in the business. Mean, looping singles, that just cleared the heads of the infielders and fell in too close for the outfielders to handle, were Phelps’ specialty. The Cardinals were rather successful in copping games in Cincinnati, and those pesky Texas League drives delivered by Phelps were instrumental in winning many a game for Bresnahan’s crew. 

All Cincinnati fandom realized that Phelps was not much of a baserunner, but did not notice that he had a poor throwing arm, because the Cincinnati swipers stole bases with the same abandon, no matter who did the backstopping. 

But it was Phelps’ inability to whip the ball to the bases in time to head off the daring purloiners that caused Bresnahan to issue walking papers to the man who reminded the bugs of [deleted offensive racial remark suggesting that Phelps looked Asian]. 

…Good authority says that Manager Fred Clarke, of the Pirates, allowed Phelps to get away from that club because of a weakness at the plate when baserunners showed their threatening spikes. This combined with his inability to throw to the bases with a satisfactory degree of accuracy, caused the club which harbored him to be handicapped. 

In one game last season, in which Zmich, the young left-hander, worked against the Giants, Phelps allowed 10 steals, which caused Zmich to lose his game by the score of 3 to 2. 

A few bugs, especially some in St. Louis, where Phelps was very popular, are criticizing Bresnahan for letting Phelps go, but those who remember what a shrewd move Roger made when he secured Huggins and Mowrey from the Reds after other managers had turned them down, are confident that he used good judgment.

Toronto was spending a lot of money on former major league stars in an effort to win the Eastern League pennant—in addition to Eddie, there were Willie Keeler, Bill Bradley, Tim Jordan, and Carl Lundgren. On May 11 this ran in the Bridgeport Evening Farmer:

KOCHER SAYS ED PHELPS IS SOME CATCHER 

Former Bridgeport Backstop Boosts Another Old Connecticut Leaguer 

“I wish I could catch like Eddie Phelps,” says Brad Kocher, the former Bridgeport catcher, now with Toronto. Kocher, who has been in town visiting old friends, says Phelps, the old Danbury backstop, is the best catcher in the Eastern league. “He is the most careful fellow behind the bat you ever saw,” declares Brad, “and he is some thrower, too.” After graduating from Danbury, Phelps went to the Eastern league and then played with Cincinnati, Pittsburg, St. Louis and other big league clubs…

In concurrence was the Washington Evening Star, which said on May 11, “Eddie Phelps, who used to be a Red, and then went to the Cardinals, is the catching sensation of the Eastern League this year. His throwing is said to be letter perfect."

The Maple Leafs did go 94-59, but that was only good enough for third place. The Rochester Bronchos, or Hustlers, were the league champions, and after the season played a series against a team of all-stars from the rest of the teams, for which Eddie caught. For the season he hit .271 and slugged .378 in 310 at-bats in 96 games, and hit eight triples, twice his next-highest professional total.

In November reports began to appear that the Brooklyn Dodgers wanted Eddie, and in late January a trade was finally announced, with two players going to Toronto. During spring training 1912 manager Bill Dahlen put him in charge of the pitchers and catchers. There was speculation in the newspapers that Eddie would be the regular catcher, and also speculation that he would be let go at the end of spring training. He did spend the year with the Dodgers, though as the number three catcher. In August his name came up in (distant) connection with a gangland murder case, as Baldy Jack Rose, a key witness in the trial of Charles Becker for the murder of Herman Rosenthal, had been an owner of Danbury when Eddie played there in 1898. On August 20 Eddie was enlisted to finish the game as the home plate umpire after both umps had been injured. For the year he hit .288/.388/.378, the best numbers of his career, though in just 111 at-bats in 52 games; his throwing, which had apparently been great at Toronto, returned to its St. Louis level, according to both the stats and newspaper reports.

In December it was reported that the Albany Senators of the Class B New York State League wanted Eddie as player/manager, but he decided to go back to Brooklyn for 1913. He didn’t play much, but was apparently the pitching coach, also coaching on the bases. He had four hits in 18 at-bats in 15 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter. In mid-September he was sent as a courtesy to Newark of the Class AA International League, because they were short-handed after an injury to catcher/manager Harry Smith, his old 1903-04 Pirate teammate, but no stats for him there have turned up.

In February 1914 the Dodgers released Eddie so that he could take the job of managing Albany, a year after the idea first came up; he said that he planned to do most of the catching. On April 3 the Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader reported “Eddie Phelps, the rotund manager of the Albany team, is putting forth strong efforts to make the Senators a pennant factor. He has been on the job for some time and is not wasting an opportunity to sign good men.” Two weeks later the same paper ran an interview with Albany president Charles M. Winchester, who said:

“I think the Albany team measures up to any club in the State League. I am well satisfied with the team and with the addition of Eddie Phelps, the local boy, who is a smart base ball man, and three or four men, the team is as strong as any aggregation in the circuit…The Albany baseball public never heard much of Phelps until he signed to manage the Albany team. Phelps’ case is a peculiar one. Here’s a native boy that played in the major leagues practically since he graduated from the sand lots in this city, yet he has never been given much publicity. Eddie is a good baseball player; he knows a disposition that will make even the most sullen player like him…”

On June 23 the Bridgeport Evening Farmer reported that the Albany team was “proving a financial failure and there is some talk of giving up the franchise rather than lose more money,” but they finished the season, ending up in fifth place in the eight-team league. Eddie did about half the catching, hitting .233/.286/.265.

Albany released Eddie in March 1915, and he found a job catching with the Sioux City Indians of the Class A Western League, where he was hitting .316 in 38 at-bats in 18 games when he was injured by a foul tip. He then requested and received his release, and in late June re-signed with Albany, not as manager, but just as a player. For the Senators he hit .211 in 133 at-bats in 41 games.

In April 1916 Eddie applied for the job of manager of the Bridgeport Hustlers of the Eastern League; the Springfield Daily News’ story on April 5 said “Phelps is not only a credit to the game in a baseball way, but also in his deportment on the field, which was always that of a gentleman. This is saying something in days when rough stuff is of such frequent occurrence.” He didn’t get the job, though, and on April 21 the Harrisburg Patriot reported that he had been signed by manager Jimmy Sheckard of the Reading Pretzels of the New York State League; two days later the Springfield Republican was reporting that he might be managing the North Adams team in a proposed Class D Massachusetts State League. The league didn’t pan out, and there’s no evidence that Eddie played in Reading, or anywhere else, in 1916 or anytime thereafter.

Sometime during 1916 Eddie took a job as a file clerk at the Delaware & Hudson Railroad in Albany. By then he and Mary owned a home in East Greenbush, a suburb of Albany across the Hudson River, where they lived with their sons, now numbering three. Eddie’s mother, Anna, died that July, and father Marcus moved in with Eddie’s brother Charles. Eddie’s 1918 draft card described him as tall and stout with gray eyes and brown hair; Eddie Jr.’s card listed him as height: short and build: medium, with blue eyes and light hair, and showed that by then he too was a clerk at the railroad. 1920 saw the arrival of fourth child, Jeanette.

In April 1922 it was announced that Eddie had joined the coaching staff at Rutgers University and would be working mainly with the pitchers and catchers; I don’t know how long that lasted, as that was the last newspaper mention of Eddie that I found during his lifetime. The 1923 Albany City Directory shows him back at the railroad, if he had ever left. At some point he was the manager of the railroad’s semi-pro baseball team, for which Eddie Jr. played.

Eddie Phelps passed away in East Greenbush on January 31, 1942, after a long illness. As of 1941 he was still a file clerk for the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. Eddie Jr. passed away at age 51 in 1952, after working for the railroad for 34 years. Mary died at age 76 in 1958.

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/P/Pphele101.htm

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/phelped01.shtml

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/profile.asp?ID=16576