Edward Christopher Cotter (July 4, 1904 – June 14, 1959) was a

third baseman 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

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 who ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

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), ...

. He appeared in 17 career games for the Phillies during the months of June, July, and August 1926. He was officially listed as standing tall and weighing .

Early life

Cotter was born July 4, 1904, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

. Before playing in the major leagues, he attended Hartford Public High School, and then

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic church, Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinians in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Sa ...

from 1923 to 1926, 1 of 48 players from the school to play in Major League Baseball.

Phillies career

Cotter made his Phillies debut on June 12, 1926, as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

. Batting for first baseman

Russ Wrightstone Russell Guy Wrightstone (March 18, 1893 in Bowmansdale, Pennsylvania – February 25, 1969 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) was a professional baseball player. He played nine seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1920 to 1928, for the Philadelphia P ...

in the fifth spot of Philadelphia's batting order, Cotter hit safely in his first career at-bat,

stealing Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

his first career base after reaching. In his second game two days later, Cotter replaced teammate Clarence Huber as the

against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

; he notched two more hits in the contest to open his career with three consecutive base hits. He made two more pinch-hitting appearances in June before replacing

Heinie Sand John Henry "Heinie" Sand (July 3, 1897 – November 3, 1958) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from to with the Philadelphia Phillies. He debuted on April 17, 1923 and played his final game on September 30, 1928. In ...

at shortstop in the second game of a doubleheader against 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 ...

. After a ten-day layoff, he replaced Huber again as the third baseman, notching two more hits on June 30 against the

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

—the only multi-hit game of his career. Entering as Huber's replacement, Cotter recorded a hitless game on July 4, 1926,

striking out ''Striking Out'' is an Irish television legal drama series, broadcast on RTÉ, that first aired on 1 January 2017. Produced by Bl!nder F!lms for RTÉ Television, ''Striking Out'' stars Amy Huberman as Dublin-based solicitor Tara Rafferty, who is ...

twice and recording a

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or ''fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

and two assists in the field. He recorded his next hit against the Pirates on July 10—raising his batting average to .400—and again versus the St. Louis Cardinals on July 19. He appeared in three more games in July, and three in August as well, but did not hit safely again until the final game of his career, when he had one hit in a 21–3 loss to Cincinnati. He was unconditionally released by the team on August 13.

After baseball

Cotter died on June 14, 1959, in his hometown of Hartford, and was interred at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery in

Bloomfield, Connecticut Bloomfield is a suburb of Hartford in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town's population was 21,535 at the 2020 census. Bloomfield is best known as the headquarters of healthcare services company Cigna. History Originally land ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotter, Ed Baseball players from Hartford, Connecticut Philadelphia Phillies players 1904 births 1959 deaths