Simeon Augustus Murch (November 21, 1880 – June 6, 1939) was a professional baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He played parts of three seasons 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

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and

Brooklyn Superbas The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

. Murch was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds."Simmy Murch Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2011.

Career

Murch was born in

Castine, Maine Castine ( ) is a town in Hancock County in eastern Maine.; John Faragher. ''Great and Nobel Scheme''. 2005. p. 68. The population was 1,320 at the 2020 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduate ...

, in 1880. He started his professional baseball career with the

New England League The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played intermittently in five of the six New England states (Vermont excepted) between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League B ...

's Haverhill Hustlers in 1902. Murch had

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 ...

s of .237 in that year and .288 in the next."Simmy Murch Minor League Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2011. In November 1903, he was married to Gertrude McAdams. Murch then signed with the

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 s ...

's St. Louis Cardinals before the 1904 season. However, he injured his hand while playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and he was unable to report to the Cardinals that spring. Murch recovered by April but started the season in the New England League. In July, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' wrote that he was "the sensation of the league at second base." He batted .245 in 94 games and joined the Cardinals late in the season. In 13 major league games, he batted .137 with 1

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. In 1905, Murch played four games for St. Louis, batted .111, and returned to the New England League. The following winter, he roller skated and was an official at a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

rink. Murch then batted .269 for the Manchester Textiles in 1906 and turned an

unassisted triple play In baseball, an unassisted triple play occurs when a defensive player makes all three outs by himself in one continuous play, without his teammates making any assists. Neal Ball was the first to achieve this in Major League Baseball (MLB) under ...

."Simmy Murch's Obituary"
''The Sporting News''. June 15, 1939. In July 1906, '' Sporting Life'' wrote that he "comes pretty near being one of the most valuable all-around men in the league." In 1907, he led the league with four

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 ...

s. He was purchased by the Brooklyn Superbas in August, and the following year, he received his final shot in the majors. He batted .182 in six games for Brooklyn before returning to the New England League again and batting .227 there. Murch rebounded in 1909. Playing for the Brockton Tigers, he batted .313 to set a career-high in batting average and also led the league with 144

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

."1909 New England League Batting Leaders"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2011. Murch moved up to the class A

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 ...

in 1910 but batted just .230, and he finished his professional baseball career back in the New England League in 1912. After retiring as a player, Murch coached at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

for three years and then at

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

from 1923 until his death in 1939.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murch, Simmy 1880 births 1939 deaths Major League Baseball infielders Brooklyn Superbas players St. Louis Cardinals players Haverhill Hustlers players Lawrence Colts players Lowell Tigers players Middlebury Panthers baseball coaches Nashua (minor league baseball) players Manchester Textiles players Brockton Tigers players Indianapolis Indians players Chattanooga Lookouts players Lynn Leonardites players Baseball players from Maine People from Castine, Maine