Roy Allen Hartzell (July 6, 1881 – November 6, 1961), 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), ...

from 1906 to 1916. Hartzell started his career with the St. Louis Browns (now known as 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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

), and was later traded to the New York Highlanders (now

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

) for two other players,

Jimmy Austin James Phillip Austin (December 8, 1879 – March 6, 1965) was a Welsh born professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman for the New York Highlanders and St. Louis Browns from 1909 through 1923, 19 ...

and

Frank LaPorte Frank Breyfogle Laporte (February 6, 1880 – September 25, 1939) was an American baseball player. Biography Born in Uhrichsville, Ohio, he began his major league career with the New York Highlanders (present day New York Yankees) in 190 ...

Early life

Hartzell was born on July 6, 1881, in

Golden, Colorado Golden is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Censu ...

. His parents were James and Nellie Hartzell from Illinois. James G. Hartzell was a

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

and died and is buried in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Hertzel had two brothers named Lester and Harry. Lester was a

mining engineer Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

and a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the State School of Mines in Colorado. Lester was

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

of the Mines

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. Harry was involved in tourism operations in the Golden community. Roy Hartzell played baseball and football in the Denver area. Hartzell worked in the smelters in Montana before signing with the pros. He married Ella Stebbins in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in April 1911. She was also from Golden. He had some business in the Golden area working with rentals and sales.

Major Leagues

Hartzell was 24 years old when he played his first game in the big leagues on April 17, 1906, with the St. Louis Browns. He played many positions including second base,

third base 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

, and

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

in each of his 11 seasons of baseball. At the plate he batted left-handed, but threw right-handed. He stood about 5 foot 8 inches tall, and weighed 155 pounds. On October 3, 1911, New York was playing the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

. Jack Lewis of Boston was pulling a steal and collided with Hartzell and had to be replaced by a pinch runner named

Duffy Lewis George Edward "Duffy" Lewis (April 18, 1888 – June 17, 1979) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Washington Senators from 1910 to ...

. The two Lewises are of no relation. Hartzell played in 1,290 games with a life-time

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .252. His last MLB game was on July 25, 1916. He signed to play for the 1917 Toledo Iron Men 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 ...

Accomplishments

On July 12, 1911 when Hartzell was the

cleanup hitter In baseball, a cleanup hitter is the fourth hitter in the batting order. The cleanup hitter is traditionally the team's most powerful hitter. His job is to "clean up the bases", i.e., drive in base runners. Theory The thinking behind the us ...

, he hit a 3-run double and another double in the same inning, then added a sacrifice fly and a grand slam, driving in a total of 8 runs. It was a Major League record until

Jimmy Foxx James Emory Foxx (October 22, 1907 – July 21, 1967), nicknamed "Double X" and "The Beast", was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Athletics, Boston Red So ...

had 9 RBI in a game in 1933. Hartzell's 595 at-bats for the Browns led 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 1909, and his 91 RBI for New York in 1911 were the most by a player in the Yankees' first 13 years.

Later years

Hartzell died on November 6, 1961, in

, his birthplace. He was buried in Golden Cemetery.

References

External links