Delos Daniel Drake (December 3, 1886 – October 3, 1965) was an American professional baseball player from 1906 to 1916. He played three seasons of Major League Baseball as an outfielder for the

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 ...

in 1911 and for the

St. Louis Terriers The St. Louis Terriers were a baseball club that played in the short-lived Federal League in and . They played their home games at Handlan's Park. The team was owned by ice magnate Phil Ball, who later was owner of the St. Louis Browns. In thei ...

in 1914 and 1915. He appeared in 335 major league games, compiling a .263 batting average with 50 doubles, 21

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, five home runs, 119 RBIs and 43

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 ...

Early years

Drake was born in Girard, Ohio, in 1886. He was the son of Dr. William and Mary Drake. His father was the manager of a semi-pro baseball team in Findlay, Ohio, in the 1890s. Drake learned the game while practicing with players from his father's team.

Professional baseball career

Minor leagues

Drake began his professional baseball career playing in the

Ohio–Pennsylvania League The Ohio–Pennsylvania League (1905–1912) was a Class C (baseball), Class C and Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball league that featured franchises based in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The league was founded b ...

for the Newark (Ohio) Cotton Tops in 1906 and the Marion Moguls in 1907. Over the next three years, he also played minor league ball for the

Johnstown Johnnies Johnstown may refer to: Places Australia * Johnstown, Queensland, a locality split between the Southern Burnett Region and the Gympie Region, Queensland Canada * Johnstown, Nova Scotia * Johnstown, Ontario, United Counties of Leeds and Grenvi ...

(1908), Newark Indians (1909), and Wilkes-Barre Barons (1910–1911). He compiled batting averages of .326 and .340 in his two seasons at Wilkes-Barre.

Detroit Tigers

After his strong showing in Wilkes-Barre, Drake signed to play for the

during the 1911 season. He appeared in 95 games for the Tigers in 1911, principally in left field in a Detroit outfield that also featured future

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 ...

rs Ty Cobb in center field and Sam Crawford in right field. During the 1911 season, Drake compiled a .279 batting average with nine triples, 20 stolen bases and 36 RBIs.

Return to the minors

Despite a strong showing in his rookie season, Drake did not make the Tigers' lineup in 1912—a lineup that was loaded with outfielders, including Cobb, Crawford, the popular veteran left fielder Davy Jones and a new rookie left fielder Bobby Veach. Accordingly, Drake spent the 1913 and 1914 seasons in the minor leagues playing for the Providence Grays and Kansas City Blues. He compiled a career high .343 batting average in 1912 for Kansas City.

St. Louis Terriers

In 1914, Drake returned to a major league squad—the

of the new Federal League. He was a starting outfielder for the Terriers in both 1914 and 1915, playing 97 games in center field, 78 in left field, and 44 in right field. During his two seasons in the Federal League, Drake compiled a .257 batting average with 41 doubles, 12 triples, four home runs, 83 RBIs, and 23 stolen bases.

Family and later years

Drake was married in 1911 to Catherine Bernadette Loftus. Their children included Delos D. Drake, Jr., Robert W. Drake and William J. Drake. After leaving baseball, Drake worked for

Marathon Oil Marathon Oil Corporation is an American company engaged in hydrocarbon exploration incorporated in Ohio and headquartered in the Marathon Oil Tower in Houston, Texas. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, it also runs international gas operations ...

for over 30 years until his retirement in 1951. He was also a prize-winning trap shooter. Drake died in 1965 at age 78, shortly after the death of his wife Catherine. Both died at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Delos 1886 births 1965 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Detroit Tigers players St. Louis Terriers players Newark Cotton Tops players Marion Moguls players Johnstown Johnnies players Newark Indians players Wilkes-Barre Barons (baseball) players Providence Grays (minor league) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Baseball players from Ohio People from Girard, Ohio People from Findlay, Ohio