Herbert Spencer "Bert" Ellison (November 15, 1896 – August 11, 1955) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played professional baseball for 14 years from 1915 to 1928, including five seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

with the Detroit Tigers from 1916 to 1920. He also played seven seasons with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League from 1921 to 1927. Ellison was inducted into the

Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in 2006.

Early years

Ellison was born in Ola,

Yell County, Arkansas Yell County is a county in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,263. The county has two county seats, Dardanelle and Danville. Yell County is Arkansas's 42nd county, formed on December 5, 1840, from porti ...

, in 1896. In 1910, he was living with his grandfather John Sundlin, a farmer in Yell County. Ellison enrolled at the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

. He played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball 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. In the scoring system us ...

and led the

Arkansas Razorbacks baseball The University of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and is coached by Dave Van Horn. The program started in 1897, and is in its 100th seas ...

team in batting in 1914. He also played for the

Arkansas Razorbacks football The Arkansas Razorbacks football program represents the University of Arkansas in the sport of American football. The Razorbacks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the West ...

team in the fall of 1914.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

In March 1915, it was reported that Ellison had signed with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

. He spent the 1915 season playing in Iowa for the

Clinton Pilots Clinton is an English toponymic surname, indicating one's ancestors came from English places called Glympton or Glinton.Hanks, P. & Hodges, F. ''A Dictionary of Surnames''. Oxford University Press, 1988 Clinton has frequently been used as a give ...

of the

Central Association The Central Association was an American minor league baseball league. It began operations in 1908, as it was essentially renamed from the 1907 Iowa State League. The Central Association ran continuously through 1917. It was reorganized thirty year ...

. He played at the

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

position for Clinton and compiled a .251 batting average in 112 games. In August 1915, the Detroit Tigers purchased Ellison from the Clinton club. He was assigned for the 1916 season to the Muscatine Muskies of the Central Association. He compiled a .361 batting average in 127 games with the Muskies.

Detroit Tigers

At the end of August 1915, the Tigers purchased Ellison's release from Muscatine. Ellison made his major league debut with the Tigers at age 19 on September 18, 1916. He appeared in only two games for the Tigers in 1916, registering one hit and one RBI in seven at bats. In 1917, Ellison appeared in nine games with the Tigers, but spent most of the season with the St. Paul Saints of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. He compiled a .278 batting average in 139 games with St. Paul. In 1918, Ellison again returned to the Tigers, appearing in seven games and batting .261. He developed a reputation as "the best utility man the Tigers ever had on their roster." However, he was lost to the Tigers for most of the 1918 season after being ordered to report to the local draft board in Yell County, Arkansas, between April 25 and 30. In 1919, Ellison finally spent a prolonged period with the Tigers, appearing in 56 games and batting .216. In 1920, he appeared in 61 games and compiled a .219 batting average. Over five seasons with the Tigers, Ellison appeared in a total of 135 games, including 47 as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

, 28 as a second baseman, 18 as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

, three as a third baseman, and one as a shortstop. He compiled a career batting average of .216 with the Tigers.

San Francisco Seals

On November 17, 1920, the Tigers traded Ellison to the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in exchange for pitcher

Bert Cole Albert George Cole (July 1, 1896 – May 30, 1975) was an American baseball pitcher. A native of San Francisco, he played professional baseball for 17 years from 1919 to 1935, including six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Detroit Tiger ...

. Ellison played for the Seals from 1921 to 1927 and was the club's player-manager from 1923 to 1926. Ellison led the Seals to two PCL championships and compiled a 322–250 record as the team's manager. His 1925 team finished 128–71, featured

Lefty O'Doul Francis Joseph "Lefty" O'Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishmen ...

Earl Averill Howard Earl Averill (May 21, 1902 – August 16, 1983) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1929 to 1941, including 11 seasons for the Cleveland Indians. He was a six-ti ...

, and

Paul Waner Paul Glee Waner (April 16, 1903 – August 29, 1965), nicknamed "Big Poison", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for four teams between 1926 and 1945, most notably playing his first 15 se ...

, and was ranked by MiLB.com as the 10th best minor league baseball team of all time. Ellison hit .325 with 22 home runs and 160 RBI that year. Ellison set multiple PCL records, including most home runs in a doubleheader (five), most home runs in a series (ten), and most hits in a series, going 25 for 37, including 10 home runs, against Salt Lake City from May 20 to 25, 1924. Ellison's best season in the PCL was 1924, when he hit .381 with 33 home runs and 183 RBI. In seven seasons with the Seals, Ellison appeared in 1,042 games, compiled a .335 batting average, and totaled 1,329 hits, 278 doubles, 43 triples, 116 RBIs, and 778 RBI. He was posthumously inducted into the

in 2006.

Minneapolis and Dallas

On April 23, 1927, the Seals sold Ellison to the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

of the

. He played first base for the Millers in 1938 and compiled a .248 batting average in 52 games. On December 1, 1927, Ellison was hired as player-manager of the

Dallas Steers The Dallas Rangers were a high-level minor league baseball team located in Dallas, Texas from 1958 to 1964. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958, 1959, and 1964 and as the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers from 1960 to 1963. It played in ...

in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. He compiled a .298 batting average in 79 games with the Steers. Due to the team's failure to make a satisfactory showing, Ellison was removed as the Steers' manager on August 2, 1928.

Later years

After retiring from baseball, Ellison continued to live in San Francisco. In 1930, he was employed as an electric welder in the oil industry.Census entry for Herbert Ellison, age 33, born in Arkansas. Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: 208; Page: 19A; Enumeration District: 0360; Image: 409.0; FHL microfilm: 2339943. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Between 1930 and 1940, he was married to Ethel Shaw Ellison. In 1940, he worked in the customs department as an appraiser.Census entry for Herbert S. Ellison, age 43, born in Arkansas. Census Place: San Francisco, San Francisco, California; Roll: T627_306; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 38-218A. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Ellison died in 1955 at age 58 at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco. He was survived by a wife, Bernice.

References

External links

PCL Hall of Fame Induction

Article on 1925 Seals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellison, Babe 1896 births 1955 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Detroit Tigers players Clinton Pilots players Muscatine Muskies players St. Paul Saints (AA) players San Francisco Seals (baseball) managers San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Dallas Steers players Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players Arkansas Razorbacks football players Baseball players from Arkansas People from Yell County, Arkansas