Richard Wendell Reichle (November 23, 1896 – June 13, 1967) was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player who appeared in 128 games for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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), ...

(MLB) during the 1922 and 1923 seasons. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Reichle was also a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player, and played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) during the 1923 season.

Biography

Reichle was a native of

Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is ho ...

; he first attended Lincoln College, and later the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

. His college career was interrupted by service in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during World War I; he played for the

1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team The 1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team represented the Naval Station Great Lakes, the United States Navy's boot camp located near North Chicago, Illinois, in college football during the 1918 college football season. The team compil ...

that won the

1919 Rose Bowl The 1919 Rose Bowl, known at the time as the Tournament East-West Football Game, was a bowl game played on January 1, 1919, at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California. It was the 5th Rose Bowl Game. With the war just over, the game was played wit ...

. Reichle was also a member of the

1919 Illinois Fighting Illini football team The 1919 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois in the Big Ten Conference during the 1919 college football season. In their seventh season under head coach Robert Zuppke, ...

. In a short professional baseball career, 1922 to 1924, Reichle was primarily 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 cat ...

who also played some games 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 ...

. He appeared in 164

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

games and 128 major league games. Reichle's major league debut was on September 19, 1922, appearing for the

against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

; he went hitless in four

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s in a 7–4 loss. Reichle got his first major league hit the next day, singling against

George Uhle George Ernest Uhle (September 18, 1898 – February 26, 1985) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his playing career with his hometown Cleveland Indians. After ten seasons, during which time he led the American L ...

of the Indians in a 5–2 loss. With the 1922 Red Sox, Reichle went 6-for-24 for a .250

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in six games with Boston. Reichle played in 122 games with the 1923 Red Sox, a team that compiled a 61–91 record. On April 20, 1923, Reichle hit the only

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

of his career, coming off of

Waite Hoyt Waite Charles Hoyt (September 9, 1899 – August 25, 1984) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for seven different teams during 1918–1938. He was one of the dominant pitchers of the 19 ...

of 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 ...

; it was also the first home run hit by a visiting player at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

, which had officially opened two days earlier. For the season, Reichle batted .258 with 39 RBIs. Overall, Reichle appeared in 128 major league games, all with the Red Sox, recording a .257 batting average with one home run and 39 RBIs. In 101 defensive appearances (99 in the outfield, 2 at first base) he posted a .978

fielding average 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, divi ...

. Reichle played in six games with the 1923 Milwaukee Badgers of the

at right

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

. He was a second-team selection to the

1923 All-Pro Team The 1923 All-Pro Team consists of American football players chosen by various selectors as the best players at their positions for the All-Pro team of the National Football League (NFL) for the 1923 NFL season. Tackle Pete Henry of the Canton Bull ...

by ''

Collyer's Eye ''Collyer's Eye'' was a weekly sports journal published in Chicago from 1915 to 1929. In 1929, it merged with ''The Baseball World'' to become ''Collyer's Eye and The Baseball World''. It broke the story of the Black Sox Scandal a week after the f ...

''. After his brief professional sports career, Reichle pursued a career in insurance. Per his April 1942 draft registration card, he was employed by Investors Syndicate (present-day

Ameriprise Financial Ameriprise Financial, Inc. is a diversified financial services company and bank holding company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It provides financial planning products and services, including wealth manage ...

) in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. Reichle died at the age of 70 in

Richmond Heights, Missouri Richmond Heights is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri. It is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,603 at the 2010 census. According to Robert L. Ramsay (academic), Robert L. ...

, a suburb of St. Louis.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichle, Dick 1896 births 1967 deaths American football ends Major League Baseball outfielders Boston Red Sox players Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Evansville Evas players Hartford Senators players Milwaukee Badgers players Mobile Bears players San Antonio Bears players United States Navy personnel of World War I Lincoln College (Illinois) alumni People from Lincoln, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Baseball players from Illinois

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links