John Frank Fournier (September 28, 1889 – September 5, 1973) 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

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 ...

. He played 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), ...

(MLB) for the

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 ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

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 ...

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

, and

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

from 1912 to 1927. Fournier was known for having outstanding batting abilities but subpar fielding abilities.

MLB career

When purchased by the White Sox from the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

in 1912, Fournier presented

Pants Rowland Clarence Henry "Pants" Rowland (February 12, 1878 – May 17, 1969) was a Major League Baseball manager for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 through 1918 who went on to become a major figure in minor league baseball. He was born in Platteville, ...

and a half-dozen other managers with the dilemma of what to do with his pure hitting, but poor fielding abilities. Rowland solved that problem in 1916, a year after Fournier had led the AL in slugging, by replacing him at first base with the marginal

Jack Ness John Charles Ness (November 11, 1885 – December 3, 1957) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

. Before 1920, a first baseman was one of the key fielding positions because of the constant threat of the bunt; Fournier could not field the bunt. Fournier hit .350 for the Yankees in limited duty in 1918 before they passed him off to the Cardinals. In 1921, he finished 3rd in the league with a .343 batting average while scoring a career-best 103 runs. After three productive years in St. Louis, Fournier was dealt to Brooklyn on February 15, 1923. Fournier said he would quit the game rather than leave St. Louis, but he eventually ended his holdout and reported to the Dodgers. Fournier had found his spot, among an offensive unit that included

Zack Wheat Zachariah Davis Wheat (May 23, 1888 – March 11, 1972), nicknamed "Buck", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder from 1909 to 1927, most notably as a member of the Brooklyn Do ...

Milt Stock Milton Joseph Stock (July 11, 1893 – July 16, 1977) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball from 1913 through 1926. The Chicago native played for the New York Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Robins and St. Louis Cardinals ...

, and

Zack Taylor Zachary Taylor is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe, appearing in the television series ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers''. He is the original Black Ranger of the first generation of Power Rangers. He was played by actor Walter E ...

. He turned in a six-for-six performance on June 29 of that year, hit .351, though committing a league-high 21 errors. In 1924, Fournier led the NL with 27

home run 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 ...

s and was second in the league with 116 runs batted in. He led the National League with 86 walks in 1925, batting .350 and finishing second in the league to

Rogers Hornsby Rogers Hornsby Sr. (April 27, 1896 – January 5, 1963), nicknamed "The Rajah", was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the St. Louis Cardinals (1915–1926, 1933 ...

in both RBIs (130) and

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 ...

(.446, still the third-highest total in Dodgers history). Fournier hit 136 career home runs in 14 seasons while rapping .313 with a .392 on-base percentage and .483 slugging percentage. He also racked up three straight seasons (1923–1925) with 20+ home runs, 20+ doubles, a .400 or higher on-base percentage, a .330 plus

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 ...

, and 90+ runs."Jack Fournier "Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved on 2017-05-12.

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...

ranked him as the 35th best first baseman of all-time.James, Bill. ''

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract ''The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract'' is a reference book written by Bill James featuring an overview of professional baseball decade by decade, along with rankings of the top 100 players at each position. The original edition was publi ...

'', 2001.

Post-playing career

Following his playing career, Fournier was the head coach at UCLA from 1934 to 1936. He later scouted for the

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 ...

(1938–1942, 1944–1949),

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 ...

(1950–1957),

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 ...

(1960), and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

(1961–1962).

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fournier, Jack 1889 births 1973 deaths Aberdeen Black Cats players Aberdeen Harbor Grays players Baseball players from Michigan Boston Braves players Brooklyn Robins players Chicago Cubs scouts Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds scouts Detroit Tigers scouts Grays Harbor Grays players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Major League Baseball first basemen Montreal Royals players Moose Jaw Robin Hoods players National League home run champions New York Yankees players Newark Bears (IL) players Portland Beavers players Portland Colts players St. Louis Browns scouts St. Louis Cardinals players Sacramento Baby Senators players Sacramento Sacts players Seattle Siwashes players Toledo Mud Hens managers UCLA Bruins baseball coaches Vancouver Beavers players

MLB career

Post-playing career

See also

References

External links