Milton "Mickey" Rutner (March 18, 1919 – October 17, 2007) was a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

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 briefly with 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 ...

during the

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

season. Listed at , 190 lb., Rutner batted and threw right-handed. He was born in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oys ...

, and was Jewish. He attended James Monroe High School, and St. John's University in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. In a 12-game career, Rutner was a .250 hitter (12-for-48) with one

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 ...

and four RBI, including one

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

and four runs. In 11 third base appearances, he recorded five

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (denoted by ''PO'' or ''fly out'' when appropriate) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner wit ...

s with 18 assists and committed three errors in 26 chances for a .885

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. Rutner died in

Georgetown, Texas Georgetown is a city in Texas and the county seat of Williamson County, Texas, United States. The population was 67,176 at the 2020 census. It is 30 miles (48 km) north of Austin. Founded in 1875 from four existing colleges, the oldest of ...

at age 88. He is the basis for the main character, Mike Kutner, in the

Eliot Asinof Eliot Tager Asinof (July 13, 1919 – June 10, 2008) was an American writer of fiction and nonfiction best known for his writing about baseball. His most famous book was ''Eight Men Out'', a nonfiction reconstruction of the 1919 Black Sox scandal. ...

novel, ''Man On Spikes.''

References

External links

Retrosheet
1919 births 2007 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from New York (state) Birmingham Barons players Jewish American baseball players Jewish Major League Baseball players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball third basemen Memphis Chickasaws players Oklahoma City Indians players Philadelphia Athletics players San Antonio Missions players St. John's Red Storm baseball players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Winston-Salem Twins players Wilmington Blue Rocks (1940–1952) players 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews James Monroe High School (New York City) alumni {{US-baseball-third-baseman-stub