Thomas Carl Stouch (December 2, 1869 – October 7, 1956) was an American

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), ...

second baseman who played four games with the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

of 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 ...

in 1898. He is best known for "discovering"

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

who played against him while Jackson was in a mill team in

Greer, South Carolina Greer is a city in Greenville and Spartanburg counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 35,308 as of the 2020 census Greer is part of the Greenville– Anderson– Mauldin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is add ...

in 1907.

Playing career

Stouch was born in

Perrysville, Ohio Perrysville is a village in Ashland County, Ohio, United States. The population was 729 at the 2020 census. History The area was first permanently settled in 1810, but the village was not laid out until 1812. One of the settlers, Judge Coulter ...

in 1869. His professional career started in the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in 1892. He also played for a minor league team in Charleston in 1892. He moved on to Lancaster of the Pennsylvania State League in 1895. He moved around the Minors playing with four teams in 1896. He played in 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 ...

in 1897 and 1898 before landing a four-game stint with the Louisville Colonels in 1898. He had a .313

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 ...

, with 6

runs 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 ba ...

in 16 at bats during his stint in the major leagues. He went back to the minor leagues playing in the Virginia League, the

Atlanta Crackers The Atlanta Crackers were Minor League Baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1966. History Atlanta played its first ...

of the

Southern Association The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cla ...

, and the Tennessee-Alabama League before becoming

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the s ...

of the

Greenville Spinners The Greenville Spinners was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams located in Greenville, South Carolina between 1907 and 1962. Greenville teams played as members of the South Carolina League in 1907, Carolina Association (1908–191 ...

Shoeless Joe Jackson

Stouch first discovered Jackson while playing an exhibition game against Jackson mill team in Greer, South Carolina in 1907. His team couldn't hold Jackson off the bases and Stouch made sure Jackson moved up the Minor Leagues. He got the chance to sign Jackson when he was offered the job of managing the Spinners in 1908. He quickly signed Jackson for $75 a month, more than Jackson made playing in the mill leagues. When the Philadelphia Athletics of 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 ...

offered $900 for his contract, Stouch was the one who convinced Jackson who originally hesitated to play for the Athletics.Fleitz p. 20

Later career

Stouch was player-manager for the Greenville Spinners for four seasons from 1907 to 1912, with the exception of an eight-game stint with Augusta of the

Sally League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

in 1911. He retired to Lancaster, where he died at the age of 86.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stouch, Tom 1869 births 1956 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball second basemen Louisville Colonels players San Antonio Missionaries players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Charleston Sea Gulls players York White Roses players Lancaster Chicks players Lancaster Maroons players Pawtucket Phenoms players Pawtucket Tigers players Providence Clamdiggers (baseball) players Providence Grays (minor league) players Taunton Herrings players Scranton Miners players Richmond Blue Birds players Selma Christians players Atlanta Firemen players Decatur (minor league baseball) players Greenville Mountaineers players Greenville Spinners players Augusta Tourists players Furman Paladins baseball coaches Minor league baseball managers People from Perrysville, Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Paterson Silk Weavers players