Ox Eckhardt
Eckhardt in 1929
Born
Oscar George Eckhardt

(1901-12-23)December 23, 1901
Yorktown, Texas, U.S.
DiedApril 22, 1951(1951-04-22) (aged 49)
Yorktown, Texas, U.S.
American football career
No. 0
Position:Fullback
Personal information
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:Stephen F. Austin
(Austin, Texas)
College:Texas
Career history
Career NFL statistics
Rushing touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR
Baseball career
Right fielder
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1932, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
May 15, 1936, for the Brooklyn Dodgers
MLB statistics
Batting average.192
Home runs1
RBI7
Teams

Oscar George "Ox" Eckhardt (December 23, 1901 – April 22, 1951) was an outfielder for the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers. Eckhardt holds the known[A] all-time professional baseball record for batting average, counting both major and minor league stats with .365.

Baseball career

In spite of his outstanding ability to hit for average, Eckhardt – a poor fielder who lacked much home run power – was never able to establish himself in the major leagues. He spent a few years as a coach and assistant professor at West Texas State Teachers College (now West Texas A&M University), so he was already 26 when he started seriously playing minor league ball,[1] which is older than the average age of major league debuts.[2] He was invited to spring training by the Detroit Tigers in 1929,[1] 1930,[3] and 1931,[1] but he didn't make the team. He played in spring training for the Boston Braves 1932, and did go north with the Braves, but was sent back to the minors after eight at bats as a pinch hitter. The next year, 1933, he hit .414 for the San Francisco Missions, which is the PCL (Pacific Coast League) record. In 1935, he again won the PCL batting title, edging out 20-year-old Joe DiMaggio, .399 to .398.[1]

This finally earned him a slot on a major league club, the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers, with a chance to win a job as a regular. But Eckhardt was 36 years old by then, was still a poor fielder with little power, and in ten starts hit just .182 in 44 at bats. He was sent back to the minors, never to return.[1]

Football career

Eckhardt played halfback and quarterback for the Texas Longhorns, and professionally as a fullback in 11 games for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL).[1]

He intercepted a pass in the Longhorns 16–0 upset win over Vanderbilt in 1923.[4]

Eckhardt was inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame in 2003.

Head coaching record

Year Team Overall ConferenceStanding Bowl/playoffs
West Texas State Buffaloes (Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1925–1927)
1925 West Texas State 4–41–3T–10th
1926 West Texas State 2–60–49th
1927 West Texas State 6–3–12–2T–5th
West Texas State: 12–13–13–9
Total:12–13–1

Notes

  1. ^
    Early baseball minor league records are incomplete and most of the missing data is lost to history, so whether Eckhardt would still hold the record if data was complete can never be known with certainty, but is probable since most relevant records are known. The cutoff for consideration is (arbitrarily) set at 1,000 at bats.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chris Rainey. "Ox Eckhardt". SABR (Society for American Baseball Research). Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  2. ↑ Travis Sawchik (November 8, 2018). "Nobody Wants Baseball's 30-Something Free Agents Anymore". Five Thirty Eight. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  3. ↑ Scott Ferkovich (August 3, 2014). "The Ox That Ate The Georgia Peach". Seamheads.com. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ Illustrated Football Annual. Fiction House. 1933.
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