Heinie Manush
Encyclopedia
Henry Emmett Manush nicknamed "Heinie
" due to his German heritage, was an American left fielder
in Major League Baseball
, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.
Manush spent 17 seasons in the majors, playing for the Detroit Tigers
, St. Louis Browns
, Washington Senators
, Boston Red Sox
, Brooklyn Dodgers
, and Pittsburgh Pirates
.
to German immigrant parents. Manush began his pro career in 1920 playing 6 games for the Portland Beavers
in the Pacific Coast League
. Moving to the then-B League Edmonton Eskimos
in the Western Canada League
in 1921, Manush hit .321 in 83 games. In 1922, he had a big season for the Omaha Buffaloes in the Western League
, batting .376 with 20 home runs. That performance got him called up to the majors.
He followed his older brother, Philadelphia Athletics third baseman
Frank Manush
, to the major leagues in and quickly became known as a skillful hitter.
During his rookie season with the Tigers, he batted
.334 in 308 at-bats while sharing an outfield with Ty Cobb
, Harry Heilmann
, Bobby Veach
, and Bob Fothergill
. In , he led the American League
with a batting average of .378 and finished second behind Babe Ruth
in the statistical categories of slugging percentage (.564) and on-base plus slugging percentage
(.985).
After hitting "only" .298 and seeing an almost 200 point drop in his OPS
percentage, Manush was traded on December 13, to the Browns in exchange for outfielder Harry Rice
, mediocre starter Elam Vangilder
, and Chick Galloway
. Although Rice would approximate Manush's previous season in 1928, Vangilder & Galloway would both have injuries shorten their careers within a year of arriving in Detroit and Manush would put up a career year while the Tigers would lose 14 games in the standings. In his first season in St. Louis, Manush batted .378 and led the league in hits (241), doubles (47), and singles (161). He would also finish second in voting for the American League MVP to catcher
Mickey Cochrane
and tie the Browns' single season record for triples (20 in 1928), set by George Stone
in . After another fine season in 1929 (in which he hit .355 and again lead the league in doubles), the Browns traded Manush with pitcher
Alvin Crowder
to the Senators on June 13, 1930 in exchange for left fielder Goose Goslin
.
Manush played six seasons in Washington. He finished third in MVP voting in back-to-back seasons and was voted to the All-Star Game in . In , he had a 33-game hitting streak which led to his fourth and final 200-plus hit season, while leading the league in hits and helping the Senators win the AL pennant. In the 1933 World Series
, however, he was limited to two hits in 18 at-bats against the New York Giants
. In Game 4, after being called out
by the first base umpire
, Manush pulled on the umpire's bow tie
and let it snap back; he was ejected from the game.
Manush played one season in Boston before moving to the National League
for three final seasons with the Dodgers and Pirates. In 2,008 career games, he batted .330 with 2,524 hits and 1,183 RBI. After his major league career ended in 1939, Manush spent the next six years managing
in the minor leagues and getting an occasional at-bat, first in the B Level Piedmont League
and then in the Eastern League
and Carolina League
in 1944 and '45, before hanging up his uniform.
during the postwar years, then served as a coach
for the Senators in 1953–54. He died on May 12, 1971 in Sarasota, Florida
. Besides his earlier selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was posthumously elected into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
in 1972.
Heinie
Heinie may refer to:*A slang term for the buttocks *A derogatory term used for German soldiers that originated in World War I, short for Heinrich*A crewcut haircut...
" due to his German heritage, was an American left fielder
Left fielder
In baseball, a left fielder is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.
Manush spent 17 seasons in the majors, playing for the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
, St. Louis Browns
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
, Washington Senators
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
, Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
, and Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
.
Career
Manush was born in Tuscumbia, AlabamaTuscumbia, Alabama
Tuscumbia is a city in and the county seat of Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,423 and is included in The Shoals MSA....
to German immigrant parents. Manush began his pro career in 1920 playing 6 games for the Portland Beavers
Portland Beavers
The Tucson Padres are a minor league baseball team, representing Tucson, Arizona, in the Pacific Coast League . They are the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres. The team was formerly known as the Portland Beavers and played its last home game at PGE Park on September 6, 2010...
in the Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...
. Moving to the then-B League Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
in the Western Canada League
Western Canada League
The Western Canada League was the name of three different baseball circuits in Minor league baseball which operated between and .The first was a Class-D league that played only in 1907 with four teams sponsored by four cities. The second was also classified as D league and ran from 1909 through...
in 1921, Manush hit .321 in 83 games. In 1922, he had a big season for the Omaha Buffaloes in the Western League
Western League
Western League may refer to:* Western League , the predecessor to North American baseball's modern American League* Western League , one of two professional baseball minor leagues in Japan...
, batting .376 with 20 home runs. That performance got him called up to the majors.
He followed his older brother, Philadelphia Athletics third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...
Frank Manush
Frank Manush
Frank Henry Benjamin Manush was a Major League Baseball third baseman. Manush played for the Philadelphia Athletics in . In 23 career games, he had 12 hits in 77 at-bats, with a .156 batting average. He batted and threw right-handed...
, to the major leagues in and quickly became known as a skillful hitter.
During his rookie season with the Tigers, he batted
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
.334 in 308 at-bats while sharing an outfield with Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
, Harry Heilmann
Harry Heilmann
Harry Edwin Heilmann , nicknamed “Slug,” was a Major League Baseball player who played 17 seasons with the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds . He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1952.Heilmann was a line drive hitter who won four American League batting crowns: in 1921, 1923, 1925 and...
, Bobby Veach
Bobby Veach
Robert Hayes "Bobby" Veach was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who played fourteen seasons for the Detroit Tigers , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees and Washington Senators ....
, and Bob Fothergill
Bob Fothergill
Robert Roy Fothergill , nicknamed "Fats" or "Fatty," was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played twelve seasons with the Detroit Tigers , Chicago White Sox , and Boston Red Sox ....
. In , he led the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
with a batting average of .378 and finished second behind Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
in the statistical categories of slugging percentage (.564) and on-base plus slugging percentage
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
(.985).
After hitting "only" .298 and seeing an almost 200 point drop in his OPS
On-base plus slugging
On-base plus slugging is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player to both get on base and to hit for power, two important hitting skills, are represented. An OPS of .900 or higher in Major League...
percentage, Manush was traded on December 13, to the Browns in exchange for outfielder Harry Rice
Harry Rice
Harry Francis Rice born in Ware Station, Illinois was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns , Detroit Tigers , New York Yankees , Washington Senators and Cincinnati Reds ....
, mediocre starter Elam Vangilder
Elam Vangilder
Elam Russell Vangilder , was a professional baseball player who played pitcher in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers....
, and Chick Galloway
Chick Galloway
Clarence Edward Galloway was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. From 1919 through 1928, Galloway played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers . He batted and threw right-handed...
. Although Rice would approximate Manush's previous season in 1928, Vangilder & Galloway would both have injuries shorten their careers within a year of arriving in Detroit and Manush would put up a career year while the Tigers would lose 14 games in the standings. In his first season in St. Louis, Manush batted .378 and led the league in hits (241), doubles (47), and singles (161). He would also finish second in voting for the American League MVP to catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
Mickey Cochrane
Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
and tie the Browns' single season record for triples (20 in 1928), set by George Stone
George Stone (baseball outfielder)
George Robert Stone, nicknamed Silent George, was a left fielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns . Stone batted and threw left handed. He was the 1906 American League batting champion.-Baseball career:Stone was Jewish. He was a late starter...
in . After another fine season in 1929 (in which he hit .355 and again lead the league in doubles), the Browns traded Manush with pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
Alvin Crowder
Alvin Crowder
Alvin Floyd Crowder , nicknamed "General," was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played eleven seasons in the American League with the Washington Senators, the St. Louis Browns, and the Detroit Tigers...
to the Senators on June 13, 1930 in exchange for left fielder Goose Goslin
Goose Goslin
Leon Allen "Goose" Goslin was a left fielder in Major League Baseball known for his powerful left-handed swing and dependable clutch hitting. He played 18 seasons with the Washington Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Detroit Tigers, from until...
.
Manush played six seasons in Washington. He finished third in MVP voting in back-to-back seasons and was voted to the All-Star Game in . In , he had a 33-game hitting streak which led to his fourth and final 200-plus hit season, while leading the league in hits and helping the Senators win the AL pennant. In the 1933 World Series
1933 World Series
The 1933 World Series featured the New York Giants and the Washington Senators, with the Giants winning in five games for their first championship since , and their fourth overall....
, however, he was limited to two hits in 18 at-bats against the New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
. In Game 4, after being called out
Out (baseball)
In baseball, an out occurs when the defensive, or fielding, team effects any of a number of different events, and the umpire rules a batter or baserunner out. When a player is called out, he is said to be retired...
by the first base umpire
Umpire (baseball)
In baseball, the umpire is the person charged with officiating the game, including beginning and ending the game, enforcing the rules of the game and the grounds, making judgment calls on plays, and handling the disciplinary actions. The term is often shortened to the colloquial form ump...
, Manush pulled on the umpire's bow tie
Bow tie
The bow tie is a type of men's necktie. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar in a symmetrical manner such that the two opposite ends form loops. Ready-tied bow ties are available, in which the distinctive bow is sewn into shape and the band around the neck incorporates a clip....
and let it snap back; he was ejected from the game.
Manush played one season in Boston before moving to the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
for three final seasons with the Dodgers and Pirates. In 2,008 career games, he batted .330 with 2,524 hits and 1,183 RBI. After his major league career ended in 1939, Manush spent the next six years managing
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
in the minor leagues and getting an occasional at-bat, first in the B Level Piedmont League
Piedmont League
The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States.- Former :...
and then in the Eastern League
Eastern League
Eastern League may refer to:*Eastern League , a professional baseball minor league in the United States*International League, a baseball minor league known as the Eastern League from 1884 to 1912...
and Carolina League
Carolina League
The Carolina League is a minor league baseball affiliation which operates in the South Atlantic Coast of the United States. Before 2002, it was classified as a "High A" league, indicating its status as a Class A league with the highest level of competition within that classification, and the fifth...
in 1944 and '45, before hanging up his uniform.
Later life
Manush scouted for the Boston BravesAtlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
during the postwar years, then served as a coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
for the Senators in 1953–54. He died on May 12, 1971 in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
. Besides his earlier selection to the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was posthumously elected into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
Alabama Sports Hall of Fame
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame is a state museum located in Birmingham, Alabama, dedicated to communicating the state’s athletic history...
in 1972.
See also
- List of major league players with 2,000 hits
- List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles
- List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
- List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball doubles champions
- List of Major League Baseball triples champions
- List of Major League Baseball triples records