Description
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Kid Elberfeld
Born: April 13, 1875 in Pomeroy, Ohio
Died: January 13, 1944 (aged 68) in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 158 lbs.
Positions: Shortstop, Third Baseman and Second Baseman
Played For:
As player
Philadelphia Phillies 1898)
Cincinnati Reds (1899)
Detroit Tigers (1901–1903)
New York Highlanders (1903–1909)
Washington Senators (1910–1911)
Brooklyn Robins (1914)
As manager
New York Highlanders (1908)
Biography:
Elberfeld was given the nickname “The Tabasco Kid” because of his fiery temper. He was known for his ferocious verbal, and sometimes physical, assaults on umpires. On one occasion, while in the minors, Elberfeld threw a lump of mud into the umpire’s open mouth. Later in his career, Elberfeld assaulted umpire Silk O’Loughlin and had to be forcibly removed by police; Elberfeld was suspended for just 8 games. Although records were not kept, it was said that Elberfeld was thrown out of more games than any other player of his era.
Kid Elberfeld, called “the dirtiest, scrappiest, most pestiferous, most rantankerous [sic], most rambunctious ball player that ever stood on spikes” for his vicious arguments on the diamond, patterned his combative style after that of his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles of the mid-1890s. He believed, like those Oriole players, that an umpire should be kept in his place, and that what happened behind an arbiter’s back was none of his business. But, when Elberfeld kept his volatile temper in check, he was also an “ideal infielder–full of ginger.” Called by George Stallings one of the two best shortstops in baseball, his throwing arm was “cyclonic,” and, though only 5’7,” 158 lbs., he was fearless in turning the double play. Not surprisingly, he was frequently spiked, and by 1907 wore a whalebone shin guard on his right leg for protection. He was also one of the best hitting shortstops of his day, with a career .271 average, and a master at getting hit by close pitches. He perfected the art of angling his body in toward the plate, holding his arms in such as way as to take only a glancing blow while simultaneously appearing to make an honest attempt to avoid the pitch, and then, for effect, shouting and gesticulating at the pitcher. He became so adept at this that he still ranks 13th on the career hit by pitch list, with 165.
More info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Elberfeld
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/elberki01.shtml
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/f51f274d
