Henry Seymour Courtney (born November 19, 1898 – December 11, 1954), was a professional baseball

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 ...

who played in the Major Leagues from – for the Washington Senators and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. He also played for the Washington Senators of the American Professional Football Association in 1921. That season signed with the football Senators for their November 20 game against a team from

Clarksburg, West Virginia Clarksburg is a city in and the county seat of Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, in the north-central region of the state. The population of the city was 16,039 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Clarksburg micro ...

. However

Clark Griffith Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955), nicknamed "The Old Fox", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with the St. Louis Browns (1891), Boston Reds ...

, the owner of the baseball Senators, found out about Courtney moonlighting as a football player. Griffith ordered Courtney to stop playing football or risk finding himself without a job in baseball. Courtney gave up his football career and continued to focus only on baseball. He was born in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

and died in

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The population was 2,352 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lyme i ...

External links

* GRIFF ORDERS COURTNEY TO CUT OUT FOOTBALL. (1921, November 27). The Washington Post (1877–1954),p. 22. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877–1991) database. (Document ID: 284298722). * GALAXY OF GRID STARS IN PRO CONTEST TODAY (1921, November 27). The Washington Evening Star, p. 27. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from Evening Star Historical Archive. 1898 births 1954 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Players of American football from North Carolina Washington Senators (NFL) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from North Carolina {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub