Roderick John "Bobby" Wallace (November 4, 1873 – November 3, 1960) was a Major League Baseball

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. ...

, pitcher, manager, umpire, and

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement **Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom **Scouts BSA, sectio ...

. Wallace claimed to have invented the continuous throwing motion as a shortstop.

Career

Wallace was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He made his major league debut in as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

with the Cleveland Spiders. After a 12–14 record in , Wallace played outfield and pitcher in . In , Wallace was an everyday player as he became the team's full-time third baseman, batted .335 and drove in 112 runs. In , Wallace moved to the St. Louis Perfectos (renamed the Cardinals in ) and changed position to shortstop. He hit .295 with 108 RBI and 12 home runs (second in the league behind Buck Freeman's 25). Wallace changed teams again in , when he joined the St. Louis Browns. His playing time began decreasing a decade later, with his last season as a regular coming in . Wallace played in just 55 games in , and never played that much again for the rest of his career. In July , he returned to the National League and the Cardinals, and played in just eight games that season. After batting .153 in 32 games in , Wallace retired with a .268 career batting average, 1059 runs, 34 home runs, 1121 RBI and 201

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. He played his last game on September 2, 1918, at the age of 44 years and 312 days, making him the oldest shortstop to play in a regular-season game. The record was broken by Omar Vizquel on May 7, 2012. Wallace was generally recognized as the AL's best shortstop from 1902 to 1911, when he served briefly as Browns player-manager. After moving from third to short, Wallace felt he'd found his place in the infield earning the nickname "Mr. Shortstop". He would also claim to have invented the continuous throwing motion, “As more speed afoot was constantly demanded for big league ball, I noticed the many infield bounders which the runner beat to first only by the thinnest fractions of a second.. I also noted that the old-time three-phase movement, fielding a ball, coming erect for a toss and throwing to first wouldn’t do on certain hits with fast men…it was plain that the stop and toss had to be combined into a continuous movement.” He played for 25 seasons, and holds the record for the longest career by a player who never played in a World Series. When his playing time diminished, Wallace managed and umpired. He managed the St. Louis Browns in and and the

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 ...

during part of the season. He compiled 62 wins and 154 losses for a .287 winning percentage as a major league manager. He also managed the minor league

Wichita Witches Wichita ( ) may refer to: People *Wichita people, a Native American tribe *Wichita language, the language of the tribe Places in the United States * Wichita, Kansas, a city * Wichita County, Kansas, a county in western Kansas (city of Wichita i ...

in . He umpired in the American League in 1915, working 111 games. Upon retiring, he also became a scout.

Later life

Wallace was inducted into the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in . Wallace died on November 3, 1960, in Torrance, California, one day shy of his 87th birthday.

Managerial record

References

External links

Retrosheet.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Bobby 1873 births 1960 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Pittsburgh Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Chicago Cubs scouts Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds managers Cincinnati Reds scouts Cleveland Spiders players Major League Baseball player-managers Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball umpires Minor league baseball managers Muskogee Mets players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees St. Louis Browns managers St. Louis Browns players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Perfectos players Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Wichita Witches players

Career

Later life

Managerial record

See also

References

External links