Harry Lewis Elliott (December 30, 1923 – August 9, 2013) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player who appeared in 92 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), ...

for the and

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 hav ...

. A ,

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 ...

, Elliott threw and batted right-handed.

Early life

Elliott was born in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. As a youth, his family moved to

Watertown, Minnesota Watertown is a small city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States, along the South Fork of the Crow River, on the outskirts of the Twin Cities metro area. The population was 4,659 at the 2020 census. History Watertown was platted in 1858, a ...

. He played piano professionally from the age of 15, playing

Big Band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

music until the mid-1990s. Elliott graduated from Watertown High School in 1942. He was a standout athlete, lettering two years each in football, basketball and baseball and earned All-Conference and All-District honors. Elliott then attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

where he was a member of

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...

fraternity, earning three varsity letters in both football and baseball. In 1949, he was their first athlete to earn first-team Big Ten honors in the sport of baseball. He then spent a short time teaching in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in, and the county seat of, Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Po ...

. Elliott started playing professional baseball at the relatively advanced age of 27 and put up prodigious batting numbers in his early seasons in minor league baseball. He batted .391 with 221

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

for the 1951

Alexandria Aces The Alexandria Aces were a baseball team based in Alexandria, Louisiana. The last version of the Aces played in the United League Baseball in 2013. The Aces have played their home games at historic Bringhurst Field, which was built in 1933 for the ...

of the Class D

Evangeline League The Evangeline League began in 1934 in baseball, 1934 as a six–team Class D (baseball), Class D level minor league baseball, minor league with teams based in Louisiana, United States, later adding Mississippi and Texas based franchises. In 1935, ...

, notched 204 hits one year later in the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

with the

Shreveport Sports The Shreveport Sports were a professional Minor League Baseball team based in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the United States. The Sports fielded a team from 1925 to 1935, 1938 to 1942, 1946 to 1957, and 1959 to 1961. They were affiliated with the ...

, and in 1954 batted .350 with 224 hits, 42 doubles, 15

home runs 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 ...

and 110

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 168 games for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

of the Open Classification

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

.Harry Elliott minor league statistics
from

Baseball Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

In his seven-year minor league career, Elliott batted .326 lifetime. Acquired by the Cardinals in December 1952, he was batting .321 for their

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League Baseball, Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The clu ...

farm club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

in 1953 when he was called up for the final two months of the Major League season with the Redbirds. Although he

struck out 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 denot ...

against

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

left-hander

Preacher Roe A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

in his debut on August 1, Elliott gained a measure of revenge against Roe exactly one month later, with three hits in four

at bats 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 ...

, including his first MLB home run. Elliott spent the entire 1954 season in the Pacific Coast League — then vying for possible Major League status as an "Open" (one level above Triple-A) circuit — and was named a PCL all-star because of his stellar season with San Diego. Reacquired by the Cardinals, he spent the entire 1955 season on their roster, appearing in 29 games in the field and in more than 40 games as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

. He had two of his best games against

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

southpaw

Paul Minner Paul Edison Minner (July 30, 1923 – March 28, 2006), was a Major League pitcher from 1946 to 1956. He played for the Chicago Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers. Born in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, he was listed at and . Minner was signed by the ...

, with three hits on May 30 and two more, including his second and final Major League home run, off Minner on September 19.1955-9-19 box score from Retrosheet
/ref> Elliott was featured on the cover of ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine in March 1956. All told, Elliott collected 45 hits, including ten doubles and one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

in the majors. He retired from professional baseball after the 1958 season.

Retirement

Following his retirement from baseball, Elliott taught

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

El Cajon Valley High School El Cajon Valley High School (ECVHS) is a comprehensive public secondary school located in El Cajon, California, which is in the eastern county of San Diego, and serves students in grades nine through twelve. Established in 1955, El Cajon Valley is ...

. Throughout his 27 years of teaching, he also coached baseball, football, basketball and soccer. Elliott subsequently spent 30 years in retirement in

Yuma, Arizona Yuma ( coc, Yuum) is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. The city's population was 93,064 at the 2010 census, up from the 2000 census population of 77,515. Yuma is the principal city of the Yuma, Arizona, M ...

, and frequently traveled in his motor home.

Death

Elliott spent the final days of his life in

Lyons, Kansas Lyons is a city in and the county seat of Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,611. History For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. Although Coro ...

, with his family by his side. He died on August 9, 2013, at the Sandstone Heights Nursing Home in

Little River, Kansas Little River is a city in Rice County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 472. History For millennia, the land now known as Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. In 1803, most of modern Kansas ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Harry 1923 births 2013 deaths Alexandria Aces players Chattanooga Lookouts players Houston Buffaloes players Little Rock Travelers players Major League Baseball outfielders San Antonio Missions players San Diego Padres (minor league) players St. Louis Cardinals players Shreveport Sports players Vancouver Mounties players Baseball players from San Francisco Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players People from Watertown, Minnesota People from Yuma, Arizona Minnesota Golden Gophers football players