Louis Criger (February 3, 1872 – May 14, 1934) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. 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) from 1896 to 1912 for the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

, St. Louis Perfectos / Cardinals, Boston Americans / Red Sox,

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 p ...

and

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

. Listed at and , he batted and threw right-handed.

Biography

Boston Americans catcher Lou Criger - DPLA - 18a42c7fb8fec10eeb0334ae36cb4522

Criger began his major league career with two games for the

of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in 1896. At the time,

Cy Young Denton True "Cy" Young (March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher. Born in Gilmore, Ohio, he worked on his family's farm as a youth before starting his professional baseball career. Young entered th ...

was a pitcher for the Spiders; Young and Criger would remain teammates through 1908. During the 1897–1908 seasons, Young won 284 games, with Criger catching many of them. After playing for Cleveland through 1898, Criger and Young played in St. Louis in 1899 and 1900, then moved to the new

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

franchise in Boston in 1901. Criger was the first

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

catcher in the team's history. In the first modern

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

in , he caught every inning of every game for Boston, helping his team win the championship. Criger was also the catcher for

Cy Young's perfect game Cy Young, pitcher for the Boston Americans, pitched a perfect game against the Philadelphia Athletics by retiring all 27 batters he faced on Thursday, May 5, 1904. This event took place in the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston, Massachusetts, ...

, the first

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

in American League history, on May 5, 1904. Criger and Young remained with Boston through the 1908 season, the first year of the team being known as the Red Sox. Criger then spent the 1909 season with the

and the 1910 season with the

; he finished his major league career with a single game for the Browns in 1912. In a 16-season major league career, Criger batted .221—collecting 709 hits in 3202

at bat 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 ...

s—with 11

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 342

RBIs 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 ...

. He had 58

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s and scored 337 runs. Although never a major star, Criger received votes for the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

in four years of balloting (1936–1939). He garnered a high of eight percent of the vote, being named on 16 of 201 ballots, in the 1937 balloting. Criger served as coach of the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball The Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball team is the intercollegiate baseball team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana. Notre Dame competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in the NCAA Division 1 college base ...

team in early 1907, until he had to report to Boston's

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in mid-March. Born in February 1872 in Indiana, Criger died in May 1934 in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

; he was survived by his wife, one daughter, and five sons.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Criger, Lou 1872 births 1934 deaths Boston Americans players Boston Red Sox players Cleveland Spiders players New York Highlanders players St. Louis Browns players St. Louis Cardinals players Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Indiana Minor league baseball managers Kalamazoo Celery Eaters players Kalamazoo Kazoos players Kalamazoo Zooloos players Fort Wayne Farmers players Boyne City Boosters players Notre Dame Fighting Irish baseball coaches People from Elkhart, Indiana

Biography

References

Further reading

External links