Harold Paul "Babe" Danzig (April 30, 1887 – July 14, 1931) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball, playing for the Boston Red Sox in 1909. He stood at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and weighed 205 lbs.[1]

Babe Danzig
First baseman
Born: (1887-04-30)April 30, 1887
Binghamton, New York
Died: July 14, 1931(1931-07-14) (aged 44)
San Francisco, California
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 12, 1909, for the Boston Red Sox
Last MLB appearance
May 4, 1909, for the Boston Red Sox
MLB statistics
Games played6
At bats13
Hits2
Teams

Career edit

 
Danzig as a member of the Portland Beavers

Danzig was born in Binghamton, New York to German immigrants,[2] and started his professional baseball career in 1906. In 1907, Danzig played for the New Bedford Whalers of the New England League. He batted .289 and led the league in slugging percentage, total bases, and triples.[3] The following season, he moved over to the Pacific Coast League and was again one of the premiere hitters. The PCL was not strong offensively that year, and Danzig won the batting title at .298.[4][5] He also topped the circuit with 39 doubles.[6]

Danzig joined the Red Sox roster for 1909 and made his major league debut on April 12, at the age of 21. He appeared in a total of six MLB games in April and May and got 2 hits in 13 at bats, for a batting average of .154.[1] He was then released by the Red Sox and never played in the majors again. Danzig finished out the season with the Lowell Tigers in the New England League, batting .354 in 64 games.[7]

In 1910, Danzig returned to the Pacific Coast League. He played the next two seasons for the Sacramento Sacts, then one season in the Southern Association,[7] and then some semi-pro baseball in Northern California. He was the first baseman and cleanup hitter for the Best Tractors as late as 1919.[8]

Danzig died in San Francisco, California, at the age of 44.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Babe Danzig Statistics and History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  2. ^ [1] Archived 2017-07-01 at the Wayback Machine "Father, Peter Danzig emigrated to the United States in 1880, he was considered and listed himself in the 1900 census as German."
  3. ^ "1907 New England League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  4. ^ Nemec, David. The Great American Baseball Team Book (Plume, 1992), p. 127.
  5. ^ Campf, Brian. "Walt McCredie" Archived 2010-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. bioproj.sabr.org. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  6. ^ "1908 Pacific Coast League Batting Leaders". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  7. ^ a b "Babe Danzig Minor League Statistics & History". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  8. ^ Weiss, William J. "The First Negro in 20th Century O.B.". research.sabr.org. Retrieved 2010-11-26.

External links edit