Arthur Vincent "Demon" Campbell (January 30, 1888 – November 16, 1969) was a

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), ...

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 cat ...

. He played all or part of six seasons in the major leagues between and . He played for the

Boston Braves The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta. During it ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Indianapolis Hoosiers Indianapolis Hoosiers was the name of three major league and at least three minor league baseball clubs based in Indianapolis. * Indianapolis Hoosiers (American Association), which played in 1884 * Indianapolis Hoosiers (National League), which pla ...

, and

Newark Peppers The Newark Peppers, originally known as the Indianapolis Hoosiers, were a Federal League baseball team from 1913–1915. The Federal League (FL), founded in 1913, was a third major league in 1914 and 1915. History The Federal League began as an in ...

. In 546 games, Campbell batted .310 (642-2069) with 326

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

, 15

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, 171 RBI, 92

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, an

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

of .357 and a

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

of .408.

Early life

Campbell, whose father was a St. Louis physician, attended Smith Academy and

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

, where he played both football and baseball. As a member of

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Vanderbilt Commodores football The Vanderbilt Commodores football program represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football. The Commodores compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the East Divis ...

team, Campbell was a halfback, and he was selected for

John Heisman John William Heisman (October 23, 1869 – October 3, 1936) was a player and coach of American football, baseball, and basketball, as well as a sportswriter and actor. He served as the head football coach at Oberlin College, Buchtel College ...

College Football All-Southern Team The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions. It is analogous to the All-America Team and w ...

in 1907.

Baseball career

As an educated man from a wealthy family, Campbell was rare among baseball players of his era, and he was frequently torn between his baseball career and opportunities in the business world. He joined the Chicago Cubs in 1908, but he played only one game that year, and the sportswriters in that city made fun of him for wearing fancy clothes. He made it back to the major leagues with the 1910 Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting .326 in 97 games. He could not agree on contract terms with Pittsburgh for the next season, and he secured a job with a brokerage firm. He returned to the Pirates in July 1911. In his most complete season, Campbell played in 145 games with the 1912 Boston Braves, leading the league in at bats (624), hitting .296 and stealing 19 bases. He led the league's center fielders with 144 games at that position. Campbell left baseball again after that season, becoming the St. Louis sales agent for an auto parts company. He married Katherine Munhall, who came from a well-to-do family in Pittsburgh. He entered the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

with the 1914 Indianapolis Hoosiers. He remained with the team in 1915, when they were known as the Newark Peppers. Campbell had a contract for the next year, but the Federal League shut down. Campbell sued league executives for his lost pay and was awarded nearly $6,000. Campbell hit for a good batting average and had good speed, but his defensive ability was limited. In an era in which gloves were much smaller, Campbell's small hands created a disadvantage in the field.

Later life

Campbell left baseball after the 1915 season. He died in 1969 in

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorpo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Vin 1888 births 1969 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from St. Louis Boston Braves players Chicago Cubs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Indianapolis Hoosiers players Newark Peppers players Vanderbilt Commodores baseball players Vanderbilt Commodores football players All-Southern college football players American football halfbacks Players of American football from St. Louis