William Frederick "Heinie" Heitmuller (May 25, 1883 – October 8, 1912) was an American

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

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), ...

. He 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 ...

, and died at age 29 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He was buried at Olivet Memorial Park in Colma, California.

Playing career

After attending the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Heitmuller played for several years in the

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 ...

. He then spent part of two seasons in the outfield for the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

. In 1909, he played in 64 games and hit well. However, his averages dropped in 1910, and he lost the left field job to

Topsy Hartsel Tully Frederick "Topsy" Hartsel (June 26, 1874 – October 14, 1944) was an American outfielder in Major League Baseball. He was born in Polk, Ohio, and played for the Louisville Colonels (1898–99), Cincinnati Reds (1900), Chicago Orphans (190 ...

. Overall, Heitmuller played in 95 major league games, 89 as an outfielder and 69 in left field. He had a career batting average of .271 with a .368

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 ...

. After being released by the Athletics in July, Heitmuller played in the Eastern League and then returned to the Pacific Coast League (PCL). He played for the Los Angeles Angels in 1911, compiling a .343 batting average and .463 slugging percentage. In 1912, Heitmuller was playing with the Los Angeles Angels as they competed for the PCL pennant. He was the PCL's leading hitter with a .335 batting average, a .471 slugging percentage and a career-high 15 home runs when he contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

late in the 1912 season. He died from the illness in October 1912.

References

External links

Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heitmuller, Heinie 1883 births 1912 deaths Major League Baseball left fielders Philadelphia Athletics players Oakland Oaks (baseball) players Baseball players from San Francisco California Golden Bears baseball players Deaths from typhoid fever