Ralph Earl Capron (June 16, 1889 – September 19, 1980) 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 ...
and
football player. He played
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), ...
as an
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 ...
for the
Pittsburgh Pirates in and the
Philadelphia Phillies in . He also played football in
1920 for the
Chicago Tigers
The Chicago Tigers of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) played their first and only season in 1920, the first year of the league (1920), and have the distinction of being the first NFL team to fold. They had a record of 2 wi ...
of the American Professional Football Association (later renamed the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
).
Capron was born in 1889 in
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
. He played high school football, first at South High School in Minneapolis and later at West High.
In 1911, he played college football at the
University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...
.
In March 1912, Capron signed to play professional baseball with the
Pittsburgh Pirates. He was assigned to the Milwaukee club where he garnered a comparison to
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...
after batting .341 and stealing three bases in his first 10 professional games.
References
External links
1889 births
1980 deaths
Philadelphia Phillies players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Major League Baseball outfielders
Chicago Tigers players
Oakland Oaks (baseball) players
Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players
St. Paul Saints (AA) players
Baltimore Orioles (International League) players
Baseball players from Minneapolis
Minnesota Golden Gophers football players
Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball players
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