Louis Baird "Pat" Duncan (October 6, 1893 – July 17, 1960) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
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 c ...
. 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 1915 through 1924 for the
Pittsburgh Pirates and
Cincinnati Reds.
In 1921, the park (Crosley Field) was in its tenth season and no one had yet hit a ball over the fence without the benefit of a bounce. The first ball to clear the fence on the fly was hit in late May by
John Beckwith of the Chicago Giants of the Negro National League. Then on June 2, with the last-place Reds playing the St. Louis Cardinals, Duncan dug in against left-handed hurler
Ferdie Schupp
Ferdinand Maurice Schupp (January 16, 1891 – December 16, 1971) born in Louisville, Kentucky, was a pitcher for the New York Giants (1913–19), St. Louis Cardinals (1919–21), Brooklyn Robins (1921) and Chicago White Sox (1922).
In 10 season ...
with a runner on second and one out. Duncan connected. The ball rocketed toward left field, easily cleared the wall, and Duncan had registered Organized Baseball’s first home run to go out of the park in Redland Field. It cleared the 12-foot concrete wall by four to six feet, and it traveled an estimated 400 feet.
In 727
games played, Duncan batted .307 (827-2695) with 23
home runs, 361
runs, and 374
RBI. His best year was 1922 when he hit .328 with 8 home runs and 94
RBI. 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. ...
he hit .269 (7-26) and leading all regulars with 8 RBI.
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1893 births
1960 deaths
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Cincinnati Reds players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Baseball players from Ohio
Battle Creek Crickets players
Grand Rapids Black Sox players
Birmingham Barons players
Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players
Rochester Red Wings players
Chattanooga Lookouts players
People from Jackson County, Ohio
Ironton Diggers players
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