Morris Charles Rath (December 25, 1887 – November 18, 1945) 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 t ...

player. He played second base 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), ...

for the Philadelphia Athletics,

Cleveland Naps 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 ...

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 ...

, and Cincinnati Reds. Rath was the batter hit by

Eddie Cicotte Edward Victor Cicotte (; June 19, 1884 – May 5, 1969), nicknamed "Knuckles", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball best known for his time with the Chicago White Sox. He was one of eight players permanently ineligible f ...

in the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

as Cicotte's signal to gamblers that the " fix was on" in that series. In an era before on-base percentage was a valued statistic, Rath was known for his ability to get on base by drawing bases on balls. His name was sometimes reported as Maurice Rath.

Baseball career

Born in

Mobeetie, Texas Mobeetie is a city in northwestern Wheeler County, Texas, United States, located on Sweetwater Creek and State Highway 152. Its population was 101 at the 2010 census, six below the 2000 figure. History Mobeetie (formerly known as "Cantonment Sw ...

, Rath moved with his family to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

where he grew up. Rath attended Swarthmore College but did not play for the Garnet Tide, as the school had not yet established a baseball program, but he did pledge the

Delta Upsilon Delta Upsilon (), commonly known as DU, is a collegiate men's fraternity founded on November 4, 1834 at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It is the sixth-oldest, all-male, college Greek Letter Organizations#Greek letters, Greek-let ...

fraternity during his tenure. He played on teams in the Philadelphia area and moved to professional baseball in 1908, playing in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is t ...

, and Lynchburg, Virginia. After playing for the

Reading Pretzels Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, Rath began his major league career as a bench player for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1909, appearing in seven games. He was traded in the middle of the 1910 season to the Cleveland Naps because the Athletics already had star second baseman Eddie Collins. He was sent to 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 ...

of the Eastern League before the end of the season. In 1911, Rath was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. In 1912, he was the team's starting second baseman and had a breakthrough year, hitting .272 with 95 bases on balls and 30 stolen bases, in addition to outstanding defensive numbers. After a slow start in 1913, he was sent down to the Kansas City Blues 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 ...

and remained in the minor leagues until 1917. In 1915, Rath led the International League with a .332 batting average while playing for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

. He then played for the

Salt Lake City Bees The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in Salt Lake City, Utah between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time ...

in the Pacific Coast League in 1916 and 1917. In 1918, Rath joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and missed the 1918 baseball season. The following year, he was back in the major leagues, given a chance to start by the Cincinnati Reds. In his comeback season he had a .264 batting average, drew 64 walks, and was the leadoff hitter for the pennant-winning Reds. He led all

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 ...

second basemen that year in assists, putouts, and double plays. In the 1919 World Series, Rath was hit by a pitch to start the series, which was later found out to be a signal used by White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte that the fix of the World Series was on. At almost the very end of his career, Rath became one of only two players in modern major league history to play in three games in one day, playing in all three games of modern baseball's lone tripleheader on October 2, 1920. (The other player to play in all three games was Cotton Tierney). Rath only played in one further ML game after the tripleheader; after a mediocre 1920 season, Rath was sent to the

Seattle Rainiers The Seattle Rainiers, originally named the Seattle Indians and also known as the Seattle Angels, were a Minor League Baseball team in Seattle, Washington, that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 to 1906 and 1919 to 1968. They were initi ...

in the Pacific Coast League and then to the San Francisco Seals, where he ended his playing career. According to statistician Bill James, Rath's skills were generally unrecognized during his career. Before on-base percentage was considered an important statistic, there was little to distinguish him offensively. James wrote that Rath "was actually quite a good player... but he spent almost all of his career in the minor leagues, just because his skills were too subtle for the men who managed the major league teams."

Personal life

Rath was the half-uncle of

Mike Balenti Michael Richard Balenti (July 3, 1886August 4, 1955) was a Major League Baseball shortstop and left fielder who played 70 games for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Browns in 1911 and 1913, respectively. His maternal grandfather, Charles Ra ...

, an opposing ballplayer in the

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 ...

, in that Balenti's mother was Rath's

half-sister A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised sepa ...

. There is no indication that either player was aware of this relationship during their lifetimes. After his retirement from baseball, Rath ran a sporting goods store in

Upper Darby, Pennsylvania Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 ce ...

. It was in that town that he took his own life at age 57. He had reportedly been in poor health for a couple of years. He is buried at

Arlington Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, up from 28,043 at the 2010 census, and accounting for over a third of Upper Darby's population. ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rath, Morrie 1880s births 1945 suicides Major League Baseball second basemen Philadelphia Athletics players Cleveland Naps players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Wilmington Sailors players Lynchburg Shoemakers players Reading Pretzels players Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Salt Lake City Bees players San Francisco Seals (baseball) players Baseball players from Texas People from Mobeetie, Texas United States Navy personnel of World War I Suicides by firearm in Pennsylvania Burials at Arlington Cemetery (Pennsylvania)