Creed Napoleon "Frank" Bates (September 28, 1876 – after 1918) was an American professional

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 ...

and

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 ...

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), ...

from 1898 to 1899. He played for the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

and

St. Louis Perfectos ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

. Bates was tall and weighed ."Frank Bates Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011.

Early career

Bates was born in

Cleveland, Tennessee Cleveland is the county seat of and largest city in Bradley County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 47,356 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Cleveland metropolitan area, Tennessee (consisting of Bradley and neigh ...

, in 1876. He started his professional baseball career in 1896 with the Columbus Babies and Mobile Blackbirds of the Southern Association. He had a combined

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

of 2–10 for the two clubs. The following year, he went 3–8 for the Southeastern League's Chattanooga Blues. However, in 1898, Bates started the season with the

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

's Dayton Old Soldiers and posted a winning record of 23–18."Frank Bates Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2011. He then joined the major league Cleveland Spiders and went 2–1 with a 3.10

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

in four late-season starts.

1899

In 1899, "syndicate baseball" was allowed in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, which meant that a single group could own more than one team. The Cleveland Spiders and St. Louis Perfectos were both owned by

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and

Stanley Robison Martin Stanford "Stanley" Robison (March 30, 1854 – March 24, 1911) was an American owner and manager in Major League Baseball. Robison was the owner of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1899 to 1911, along with his brother Frank. He was also part-ow ...

, and in March 1899, Bates was "assigned" to St. Louis. He finished two games for the Perfectos early in the season, allowing one earned run in

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. On June 5, however, he was sent back to the Spiders, who were in last place. He made his debut for the 1899 Spiders on June 11, and, apparently "sulking" over his transfer from team to team, pitched poorly and lost the game, 10–1. Bates lost his first four decisions with Cleveland. He then defeated the

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

on July 1, pitching a 17-hit

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

; that turned out to be the only time he won in 1899. The Cleveland Spiders had transferred their best players to St. Louis and were on their way to a 20–134 campaign, which set a record for the lowest

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

in Major League Baseball history. Bates, pitching the third-most innings for this team, went 1–18 with a 7.24 ERA, while making "a circus-like assortment of pitching mistakes." The ''

Cleveland Press The ''Cleveland Press'' was a daily American newspaper published in Cleveland, Ohio from November 2, 1878, through June 17, 1982. From 1928 to 1966, the paper's editor was Louis B. Seltzer. Known for many years as one of the country's most in ...

'' noted in July that "although

ates Ates is a given name and a surname which may refer to: * Roscoe Ates (1895–1962), American vaudeville performer, actor, comedian and musician * Sonny Ates Charles "Sonny" Ates (March 28, 1935 – October 25, 2010) was an American racecar driver. ...

succeeds in turning almost every game into which he participates into a howling farce, he is sent into the box in his turn, only to bring ridicule upon his unfortunate associates." ''

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'' wrote that he had "very poor command of the ball." On August 17, after a game in which Bates walked nine

Brooklyn Superbas 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 ...

batters (one with the bases loaded), the ''

Cleveland Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'' observed:

Of course, the Clevelands did not win the game, and it is hard to see when they will win a game so long as they persist in playing Bates ... He had little speed today, was quite as wild as usual, and the Brooklyns had little or no trouble in making runs and plenty of them.

Bates was released from the team in September, having lost each of his last 14 starts. He never pitched in the majors again.

Later career

Bates returned to the Interstate League in 1900, and he went 6–13. In 1908, he finished his professional baseball career with the

Cotton States League The Cotton States League''Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: The Official Record of Minor League Baseball'' – Lloyd Johnson, Steve McDonald, Miles Wolff (editors). Publisher: Baseball America, 1997. Format: Paperback, 672pp. Language: Englis ...

's Meridian Ribboners. In September 1918, Bates was living in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and working as a laborer for H. E. Culberson in

Mingo Junction, Ohio Mingo Junction is a village in eastern Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,347 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Weirton–Steubenville metropolitan area. Geography Mingo Junction is located at ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Frank 1876 births 20th-century deaths Year of death missing Major League Baseball pitchers Cleveland Spiders players St. Louis Perfectos players Columbus Babies players Mobile Blackbirds players Dayton Old Soldiers players Terre Haute Hottentots players Wheeling Nailers (baseball) players Chattanooga Blues players Wheeling Stogies players Youngstown Little Giants players Meridian Ribboners players 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Tennessee People from Cleveland, Tennessee