William P. "Baldy" Louden (August 27, 1883 – December 8, 1935) 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 tea ...

player. He played professional baseball from 1906 to 1920, including six years 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), ...

as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

with the New York Highlanders (1907),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1912–1913), Buffalo Buffeds (1914–1915), and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1916). He appeared in 603 major league games (313 at second base, 176 at shortstop) and compiled a .261 batting average and a .355

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

Early years

Louden was born in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, in 1883.

Professional baseball

Louden began his professional baseball career playing with the Allegheny Hilldales in the Pittsburgh sandlots, before moving on to 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 ...

where he played for the

Greenville Hunters The Greenville Hunters were a Texas League (1906), North Texas League (1907) and East Texas League (1924-1926) baseball team based in Greenville, Texas. Pepper Martin Johnny Leonard Roosevelt "Pepper" Martin (February 29, 1904 – March 5, 1965 ...

and Dallas Giants in 1906 and 1907. Louden was acquired by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in August 1907 and made his major league debut the following month. He appeared in 11 games with the Yankees and compiled a .111 batting average and .273 on-base percentage. After his brief tryout with New York, Louden spent the next four years in the minor leagues with the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

in 1908 and the

Newark Indians The Newark Sailors, later known as the Newark Indians, were a minor league baseball team in the early twentieth century. The team played its games at Wiedenmayer's Park in Newark, New Jersey. Newark played in the Eastern League between 1908 and 1 ...

from 1909 to 1911. Louden returned to the major leagues in 1912 with the

. He appeared in 122 games for the 1912 Tigers, including 87 at second base and 26 at third base, and compiled a .241 batting average and .352 on-base percentage. He led the American League's second basemen with a 5.61 range factor — 0.86 points higher than the league average for second basemen. He remained with the Tigers in 1913, appearing in 76 games with a .241 batting average and .344 on-base percentage. In 1914, Louden jumped to the Buffalo Buffeds of the newly formed Federal League. He appeared in 126 games in 1914 as Buffalo's regular shortstop. He ranked among the Federal League's leaders in 1914 with a .313 batting average (eighth), a .391 on-base percentage (tenth), and 35

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s (eighth). The following year, he appeared in 141 games for Buffalo but his batting average dropped 32 points to .281. When the Federal League folded in 1916, Louden moved to the

. He appeared in 134 games, 108 at second base and 23 at shortstop, and compiled a .219 batting average and .313 on-base percentage. He led the National League second basemen with a .968

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. He also had a range factor of 5.40 — 0.66 points higher than the National League average for second basemen. In February 1917, Louden was traded to Kansas City. Louden finished his professional baseball career in 1920 as a player-manager of the Martinsburg Mountaineers in the Blue Ridge League.

Later years

After retiring from baseball, Louden settled in

Piedmont, West Virginia Piedmont is a town in Mineral County, West Virginia, United States. It is part of the Cumberland, MD- WV metropolitan statistical area. The population was 716 at the 2020 census. Piedmont was chartered in 1856 and the town is the subject of '' ...

, where he operated a garage. He died in 1935 at age 52 in Piedmont.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Louden, Baldy 1883 births 1935 deaths Major League Baseball second basemen Baseball players from Pittsburgh Detroit Tigers players Buffalo Buffeds players Buffalo Blues players New York Highlanders players Cincinnati Reds players Minor league baseball managers Dallas Giants players Greenville Hunters players Montreal Royals players Newark Indians players Martinsburg Mountaineers players