Henry Peter Reitz (June 29, 1867 – November 10, 1914), nicknamed "Heinie", was an American second baseman 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), ...

who played for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, Washington Senators, and Pittsburgh Pirates. He was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Career

In 1893, Reitz was sold, for $300, by the San Francisco Friscos to the

. His five-year tenure at Baltimore included his most notable season, 1894, during which he collected 31 triples. At the time, this tied

Dave Orr David L. Orr (September 29, 1859 – June 2, 1915) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1883 through 1890. Orr played most of his career in the American Association for the New York Metropolitans (1883–1887), Brooklyn Bridegroom ...

's mark, set in 1886, for most triples in a single season. Although Chief Wilson surpassed both of them with his 36 triple season in , Reitz and Orr still hold second place for this record. Contributing to Reitz's 31 triples in 1894 were two

bases loaded B backdoor breaking ball :A breaking pitch, usually a slider, curveball, or cut fastball that, due to its lateral motion, passes through a small part of the strike zone on the outside edge of the plate after seeming as if it would miss the p ...

triples he hit in the 3rd and 7th inning on June 4 against the Chicago Colts that led Baltimore to a 12–4 victory. Reitz's two bases loaded triples in a single game matched a feat achieved by

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

in 1887. The frequency with which Reitz hit triples in 1894 was marked departure from every other season in his career. Excluding his record-tying season, he averaged under six triples per year. On December 10, 1897, he was traded (with Jack Doyle and

Doc Amole Morris George "Doc" Amole (July 5, 1878 – March 9, 1912) was a professional baseball player who career spanned nine season, including parts of two in Major League Baseball with the Baltimore Orioles (1897) and the Washington Senators (1898). On ...

) to the Washington Senators in exchange for

Doc McJames James McCutchen McJames (August 27, 1874 – September 23, 1901) was a professional baseball player. He was a right-handed pitcher over parts of six seasons (1895–1899, 1901) with the Washington Senators, Baltimore Orioles, and Brooklyn Super ...

Gene DeMontreville Eugene Napoleon DeMontreville (March 10, 1873 – February 18, 1935) was an American professional baseball second baseman and shortstop. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Senators, Baltimore Oriole ...

, and

Dan McGann Dennis Lawrence "Dan" McGann (July 15, 1871 – December 13, 1910) was an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1896 to 1910, and won the World Series in 1905 with the New ...

. After one season in Washington, Reitz was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for

Dick Padden Richard Joseph Padden (September 17, 1870 – October 31, 1922), nicknamed "Brains", was an American professional baseball player, born in Wheeling, West Virginia, who played mainly as a second baseman in Major League Baseball for nine seasons fr ...

Jimmy Slagle James Franklin Slagle (July 11, 1873 – May 10, 1956), nicknamed both "Rabbit" and "Shorty", was a professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1899 to 1908. In his 10 MLB seasons, he played for fou ...

, and Jack O'Brien. Reitz played 34 games for Pittsburgh in the 1899 season, and was traded in March 1900, to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. In September 1900, Pittsburgh received Harry Smith to complete the transaction. Reitz was killed in a car accident at the age of 47 in

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

. This marked the first time that a car accident claimed the life of a major league baseball player, although it would not be until 1924 that an ''active'' major-leaguer, Boston Braves shortstop

Tony Boeckel Norman Doxie "Tony" Boeckel (August 25, 1892 – February 16, 1924) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) infielder who played six seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Boston Braves of the National League (NL). He drove in one of the runs sc ...

, would die in an auto accident.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reitz, Heinie 1867 births 1914 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Chicago Major League Baseball second basemen Pittsburgh Pirates players Road incident deaths in California Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Sacramento Senators players Oakland Colonels players Rochester Hop Bitters players Piedmont (minor league baseball) players San Francisco Metropolitans players San Francisco Brewers players Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Spokane Smoke Eaters players Petaluma (minor league baseball) players Eugene Blues players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Burlington Flint Hills players Meridian Ribboners players

Career

See also

References

External links