Edward Gastfield (August 1, 1865 – December 1, 1899) was an American professional

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 in the 1880s. He appeared in 25 games 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), ...

, principally as a

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

, for the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

in 1884, and in one game for the Chicago White Stockings in July 1885. He compiled a career batting average of .068 with 37

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 88

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 ...

Early years

Gastfield was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in 1865.

Professional baseball player

Gastfield got his start in baseball playing for the West End team in the Chicago City League. He then went with

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Charlie Getzien to play for the ball club at

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. Gastfield was a catcher for Grand Rapids in the first half of the 1884 season. In August 1884, Gastfield and Getzien joined the

, both players making their debut on August 13, 1884. Gastfield appeared in 23 games for the 1884 Wolverines, compiling a .073 batting average with 34

s in 84

s. He began the 1885 season with Detroit, but appeared in only one game for the team. He was released by Detroit at the end of May 1885, and ''The Sporting Life'' reported at the time that he did "acceptable work" as catcher, but was "very weak" as a batter. Gastfield played one game for the Chicago White Stockings on July 11, 1885. In late July 1885, ''The Sporting Life'' reported that Chicago manager Cap Anson "hasn't much confidence in Gastfield's ability." Gastfield went hitless in six at bats during the 1885 season. In September 1885, ''The Sporting Life'' reported that Gastfield "seems to have disappeared from public notice." Gastfield also played minor league baseball for the ball club in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

, in 1886 and 1887. In the spring of 1887, the Oshkosh correspondent to ''The Sporting Life'' wrote: "He is an A No. 1 back stop, and a good all-round player, distinguishing himself especially on first base. As a thrower and base-runner he has few, if any, superiors. He is a hard worker and plays ball first, last and all the time. He is considered quite an acquisition to the club, especially as he is very popular and possesses considerable drawing power both at home and abroad." He also played for the ball club in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, in 1888.(Gastfield playing catcher for Omaha)

Later years

Gastfield died in December 1899 at the home of his father, Charles Gastfield, at 635 North Campbell Avenue in Chicago. He was age 34 at the time of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gastfield, Eed 1865 births 1899 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Chicago White Stockings players Detroit Wolverines players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Chicago