Frederick William Alexander Buelow (February 13, 1876 – December 27, 1933), sometimes referred to as Fritz Buelow, was a German-born

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. He played professional baseball as

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 15 years from 1895 to 1909, including nine years 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), ...

with the

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 ...

(1899),

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(1900),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1901–1904),

Cleveland Naps 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 ...

(1904–1906), and

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

(1907).

Early years

Buelow was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in 1876. He moved to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

as a boy.

Professional baseball

Minor leagues

Buelow began playing professional baseball in the minor leagues with the Columbus Statesman in 1895, the Brockton Shoemakers in 1896, and the Pawtucket Phenoms in 1897 and 1898. In 1898, he joined the Detroit Tigers of the Western League. He played for the Tigers in 1898 and 1899.

St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals

In September 1899, he was traded by the Tigers to the

of 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 ...

. He made his major league debut with St. Louis on September 28, 1899. In seven games with the Perfectos at the end of the 1899 season, he compiled a .467

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 ...

. He remained with St. Louis in 1900 and appeared in 17 games, but his batting average dropped by 232 points to .235.

Detroit Tigers

He played for

from 1901 to 1904, the team's first four years as a major league club. In May 1902, he was suspended for five days and fined $10 by American League president

Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the mino ...

on account of his "verbal abuse" of an umpire. In four seasons with the Tigers, Buelow appeared in 241 games, 234 as a catcher, and compiled a .202

and a .242

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

. Though a weak hitter, Buelow was reputed to be a solid defensive catcher. Former Detroit teammate and pitcher

Wish Egan Aloysius Jerome "Wish" Egan (June 16, 1881 – April 13, 1951) was a Major League Baseball player and scout. Playing career Born in Evart, Michigan, Egan played three seasons as a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers (1902) and St. Louis Cardinals (1 ...

called Buelow "one of the most graceful catchers ever to play in the American League," "the best throwing catcher" he ever saw, and a player who had "rhythm in every move" and whose "only weakness was inability to hit." Detroit owner

Frank Navin Francis Joseph Navin (April 18, 1871 – November 13, 1935) was the president of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball for 27 years, from 1908 to 1935. He was part-owner from 1908 to 1919, and principal owner from 1919 to 1935. He also ser ...

recalled: "Had he been able to hit he would have gone down in the records numbered with the best of them." Buelow led the American League's catchers with a .967

fielding percentage 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, div ...

in 1901 and also tallied 213 putouts and 84 assists that season. However, he also led the league in 1902 with 20 errors by a catcher and in 1904 with 14 passed balls. He finished his major league career with 1,495 putouts, 474 assists, 83 errors, and 33 double plays turned.

Cleveland and St. Louis

In July 1904, Buelow signed a contract with the

. He played for the Naps for three years, appeared in 151 games, and compiled batting averages of .176 in 1904, .172 in 1905, and .163 in 1906. Defensively, he led the American League's catchers in 1906 when he threw out 54.2% of the base runners attempting to steal a base. In February 1907, Cleveland traded Buelow to the

in exchange for Pete O'Brien. Buelow appeared in 26 games for the Browns, 25 as a catcher, and compiled a .147 batting average in 75 at bats. He appeared in his final major league game on July 13, 1907.

Minor leagues

Although his major league career ended in 1907, he played two more years in the minor leagues for the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

in 1908 and for the

Montreal Royals The Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team in Montreal, Quebec, during 1897–1917 and 1928–1960. A member of the International League, the Royals were the top farm club (Class AAA) of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939; pi ...

in 1909. After an injury ended his playing career, he served as the manager of the Bay City club in the South Michigan League during the last half of the 1909 season.

Later years

Buelow lived in Detroit after retiring from baseball. He was a gateman at the grandstand of

Navin Field Tiger Stadium, previously known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium located in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. The stadium was nicknamed "The Corner" for its location at the intersection of Michigan and Trumbul ...

. He developed

locomotor ataxia Locomotor ataxia is the inability to precisely control one's own bodily movements. __TOC__ Disease People afflicted with this disease may walk in a jerky, non-fluid manner. They will not know where their arms and legs are without looking (i.e. a f ...

and suffered from that condition for several years. In December 1933, he was hospitalized at Grace Hospital in Detroit and died there after a stay of two weeks. He was 57 years old when he died. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buelow, Fritz 1876 births 1933 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Germany German emigrants to the United States St. Louis Perfectos players St. Louis Cardinals players Detroit Tigers players Cleveland Naps players St. Louis Browns players 19th-century baseball players Sportspeople from Berlin Minor league baseball managers Columbus Statesmen players Brockton Shoemakers players Pawtucket Phenoms players Pawtucket Tigers players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Montreal Royals players Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Detroit)