Max Patkin (January 10, 1920 – October 30, 1999) was an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

, best known as the Clown Prince of Baseball (a play on "

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

"). Patkin was the third "officially" crowned Clown Prince of Baseball, after

Al Schacht Alexander Schacht (November 11, 1892 – July 14, 1984) was an American professional baseball player, coach, and, later, restaurateur. Schacht was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1919 to 1921 for the Washington Senators. Early life Schacht w ...

and

Jackie Price John Thomas Reid Price (November 13, 1912 – October 2, 1967) was a Major League Baseball shortstop who played in seven games for the Cleveland Indians during the 1946 Cleveland Indians season. He was known for delighting fans with his skills ...

, though that nickname has also been applied to

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 ...

third baseman

Arlie Latham Walter Arlington Latham (March 15, 1860 – November 29, 1952) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from through for the Buffalo Bisons, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators and N ...

among others. Patkin performed for 51 years as a baseball clown.

Career

After an arm injury curtailed his minor league career, Patkin joined the Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Stationed in Hawaii in , Patkin was pitching for a service team, and

Joe DiMaggio Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yank ...

homered off the lanky right-hander. In mock anger, Patkin threw his glove down then followed DiMaggio around the bases, much to the delight of the fans—and a career was born. Later in the 1940s, Patkin was hired as a coach by

Bill Veeck William Louis Veeck Jr. ( ; February 9, 1914 – January 2, 1986), also known as "Sport Shirt Bill", was an American Major League Baseball franchise owner and promoter. Veeck was at various times the owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Br ...

and the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

. After Veeck sold the team in , Patkin began

barnstorming Barnstorming was a form of entertainment in which stunt pilots performed tricks individually or in groups that were called flying circuses. Devised to "impress people with the skill of pilots and the sturdiness of planes," it became popular in t ...

around the country. As a barnstormer, Patkin played minor league stadiums throughout the United States and Canada. He had a face seemingly made of rubber which he could contort into various shapes. Patkin was rail thin and wore a baggy uniform with a question mark (?) on the back in place of a number, and a ballcap that was always askew. While some derided his act as corny, he became a beloved figure in baseball circles. The Clown Prince received a promotion in 1988, when Patkin was named

King of Baseball King of Baseball was a ceremonial title awarded annually from 1951 to 2019 by Minor League Baseball to recognize an individual for their longtime dedication and service to professional baseball. It was awarded during baseball's Winter Meetings a ...

at that year's

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and can be seen appearing (as himself) alongside Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins in the popular baseball movie ''

Bull Durham ''Bull Durham'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy sports film. It is partly based upon the minor-league baseball experiences of writer/director Ron Shelton and depicts the players and fans of the Durham Bulls, a minor-league baseball team in ...

'' made the same year. Patkin estimated he made more than 4,000 appearances. On July 20, , he played to a crowd of four in

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

as most fans were home watching

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

and

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

land on the moon. Between and , he did not miss an appearance, by his own account. In May 2020 Patkin was voted into the Shrine of the Eternals by the

Baseball Reliquary The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit educational organization "dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history and to exploring the national pastime’s unparalleled creative possibilities ...

, a fan driven collective dedicated to fostering an appreciation of baseball culture in all of its forms.

Death

Patkin retired from clowning in . He died in 1999, at age 79, in

Paoli, Pennsylvania Paoli ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chester County near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated in portions of two townships: Tredyffrin and Willistown. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 5,575. Hist ...

of an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

In popular culture

In 1988, Patkin was featured as his real life character in the

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the spor ...

Chuck Brodsky Chuck Brodsky (born May 20, 1960, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American musician and singer-songwriter currently living in Asheville, North Carolina. He is particularly known for his often humorous and political lyrics, as well as his ...

, the folksinger and baseball balladeer, has written a song, "Gone to Heaven", about Max. It appeared on his 2000 release, ''Last of the Old Time'', and was later collected on his 2002 album, ''The Baseball Ballads''. The bluesman Watermelon Slim (William P. Homans) wrote and released the song "Max, The Baseball Clown" on his 2008 CD, ''No Paid Holidays'' (NorthernBlues Music Inc, Ottawa ON). Homans, who grew up in the minor-league town of Asheville, NC, watched Max Patkin do two shows in successive years in the early 1960s, and wrote a reminiscence of him more than 40 years later.

References

External links

RetrosheetBaseball Biography Project
– profile of Arlie Latham
Charleston Riverdogs Press Release
– Myron Noodleman to be Named Baseball Clown Prince
Greater Tulsa Reporter
– Myron Noodleman Becomes Clown Prince of Baseball {{DEFAULTSORT:Patkin, Max 1920 births 1999 deaths American clowns Jewish American military personnel United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from Pennsylvania Jewish American baseball players People from Paoli, Pennsylvania United States Navy sailors Wisconsin Rapids White Sox players Green Bay Bluejays players Wilkes-Barre Barons players 20th-century American Jews