Frederick Herbert Carroll (July 2, 1864 – November 7, 1904) was a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

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 c ...

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 1884 through 1891, he played with the Columbus Buckeyes (1884) and for the

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

teams Alleghenys (1885–89), Burghers (1890) and Pirates (1891). Carroll batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Baseball career

In an eight-season Major League career, Carroll posted a .284

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 ...

with 27

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 ...

s and 366 RBI in 754 games played. In 1886 Carroll compiled career-high numbers in hits (140) and doubles (28) while batting .288 with 92 runs and 64 RBI. The next season, he went .328, 71, 54, and had a career-high 15 triples. In August 1886, Carroll was briefly suspended after fighting with a teammate, first baseman

Otto Schomberg Otto H. Schomberg (born Otto H. Shambrick, – ) was an American Major League Baseball first baseman who played for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys and Indianapolis Hoosiers. Professional career Pittsburgh Alleghenys Schomberg was 21 when he broke i ...

. Schomberg was unpopular with his teammates, and the fight started after Carroll referred to him with what ''

The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' subsequently termed "vile names". The pair were separated by

Frank Ringo Frank C. Ringo (October 12, 1860 – April 12, 1889) was a professional baseball player from 1880 to 1888. He played four seasons of Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Quakers (1883–84), Philadelphia Athletics (1884), Detr ...

and Ed Glenn, and while Carroll was immediately suspended, the suspension was short-lived. The directors of the

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

convened a meeting that night, and after the players refused to testify, Carroll was reinstated and his penalty was reduced to a $50 fine."Caught on the Fly",

, p. 5, published August 23, 1886, accessed January 31, 2008. On May 2, 1887, Carroll became the first Pittsburgh player to

hit for the cycle In baseball, hitting for the cycle is the accomplishment of one batter who hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game. Collecting the hits in that order is known as a "natural cycle". Cycles are rare in Major League B ...

. Carroll died in

San Rafael, California San Rafael ( ; Spanish for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's populatio ...

, at age 40.

Legacy

Bill James wrote in his ''Baseball Abstract'' that Carroll was the best "young" catcher before Johnny Bench. A victim of the 1890s

Brotherhood Brotherhood or The Brotherhood may refer to: Family, relationships, and organizations * Fraternity (philosophy) or brotherhood, an ethical relationship between people, which is based on love and solidarity * Fraternity or brotherhood, a mal ...

, he also was a competent outfielder and played

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 wh ...

, first base and third as well. James also remarks that Carroll's major league career was shortened by his dislike of living on the East Coast. Carroll holds a major league catchers record for age 24 in OPS with a .970 mark, set in 1889. The same season, he posted a career-high .330 BA and a .930 fielding percentage as catching. An above-average runner with good instincts, he compiled 137 stolen bases in his career. At the beginning of the 1887 season Carroll buried his pet monkey, which earlier served as an unofficial team mascot for the team, beneath the home plate at Pittsburgh's Recreation Park in a

pre-game ceremony A pre-game ceremony or pre-match ceremony is an on-field ceremony occurring before a sporting event. Such ceremonies may celebrate a past event, honour a retiring athlete, commemorate a deceased athlete, or promote a cause. Celebrating past event ...

. The stadium stood at the corner of North, Grant, and Pennsylvania Avenues on Pittsburgh's

Northside Northside or North Side may refer to: Music * Northside (band), a musical group from Manchester, England * NorthSide, an American record label * NorthSide Festival (Denmark), a music festival in Aarhus, Denmark * "Norf Norf", a 2015 song by Vinc ...

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
at the Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Fred Pittsburgh Alleghenys players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pittsburgh Burghers players Columbus Buckeyes players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Sacramento, California 1864 births 1904 deaths San Francisco Athletics players San Francisco Nationals players Reading Actives players San Francisco (minor league baseball) players Sacramento Altas players Oakland Colonels players San Francisco Friscos players Saint Mary's Gaels baseball players Grand Rapids Rippers players Grand Rapids Gold Bugs players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Omaha Omahogs players St. Joseph Saints players 19th-century baseball players

Baseball career

Legacy

See also

References

External links