Elwood George English (March 2, 1906 – September 26, 1997) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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

third baseman 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 ...

. He played twelve 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), ...

(MLB) between 1927 and 1938 for the

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 ...

and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...

. His uncle Paul Carpenter also played professional baseball.

Early life

English was born on March 2, 1906, on a farm in

Licking County, Ohio Licking County is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. At the 2020 census, the population was 178,519. Its county seat is Newark. The county was formed on January 30, 1808, from portions of Fairfield County. It ...

. He went to Newark High School, where he played second base on the baseball team. In English's senior season, the team went undefeated. After high school, English worked for

Pure Oil Pure Oil Company was an American petroleum company founded in 1914 and sold to what is now Union Oil Company of California in 1965. The Pure Oil name returned in 1993 as a cooperative (based in Rock Hill, South Carolina since 2008) which has grow ...

and Firestone Rubber. During breaks, he would play baseball with Pure Oil's local team. In 1924, English played for the

semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André Benjamin and Maura Tier ...

Zanesville Greys. The league that the Greys played in had other Major League players, including Al Schweitzer.

Career

Minor leagues

In the following year of 1925, English signed a contract with the Toledo Mud Hens, a Double-A team apart 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 ...

, for $300 a month. Being the youngest player on his team, 18, English played 131 games at

and batted .220 and a .946 fielding percentage. The following year played a team-high 162 games and batted a .301 average, a team-high 15

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

s and a .948 fielding percentage.

Major leagues

After playing for the Mud Hens, English was purchased for $50,000 by the

. He made his Major League debut on April 26, 1927, a 5-8 losing game against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. English went 0–2 with one

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

. The Cubs finished fourth place, finishing 8.5 games from first place.

Career statistics

In 1261 games over 12 seasons, English posted a .286

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 ...

(1356-for-4746) with 801 runs, 236 doubles, 52 triples, 32

home runs 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 ...

, 422 RBI, 57

stolen bases 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 ...

, 571

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .366

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 ...

and .378

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, ...

. He finished his career with a .959

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing at shortstop, third and second base. In the 1929 and '32 World Series, he hit .184 (7-for-38) with 3 runs and 1 RBI.

Best season

* 1930 .335 BA, 14 HR, 59 RBI, 152 runs, 214 hits, 17 triples, 13

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, 100 walks, 156 games – all career highs.

Highlights

* 1933 All-Star Game * Twice led

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 ...

in games played (156, 1930–31) * Finished fourth in

National League MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

vote (1931), behind

Frankie Frisch Frank Francis Frisch (September 9, 1898—March 12, 1973), nicknamed "The Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was an American Major League Baseball player and manager of the first half of the twentieth century. Frisch was a switch-hitting secon ...

Chuck Klein Charles Herbert Klein (October 7, 1904 – March 28, 1958), nicknamed the "Hoosier Hammer", was an American professional baseball outfielder. Klein played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–, –, –), Chicago Cubs ...

and

Bill Terry William Harold Terry (October 30, 1898 – January 9, 1989) was an American professional baseball first baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Giants from 1923 to 1936 and managed the Giants from 1932 to 19 ...

* Between 1952 and 1954 managed the

Grand Rapids Chicks The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise ...

of the

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) was a professional women's baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. The AAGPBL is the forerunner of women's professional league sports in the Uni ...

, leading his team to a Championship (1953) and two playoff appearances

Post-baseball life

Following baseball, English decided to work for a factory in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. During World War II, he worked on airplanes. He got married in 1948 to a woman named Katerine. English coached the

of the

from 1952 until 1954 when the league folded. After coaching, he worked for

State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Overview State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the lar ...

until his retirement in 1971. On September 26, 1997, English died at

Newark, Ohio Newark ( ) is a city serving as the county seat of Licking County, Ohio, United States, east of Columbus, at the junction of the forks of the Licking River. The population was 49,934 at the 2020 census, which makes it the 15th largest city in ...

, at the age of 91 and is buried in Fredonia Cemetery in

Fredonia, Ohio Fredonia is an unincorporated community in Licking County, in the U.S. state of Ohio. History Fredonia was laid out in 1829. A post office was established at Fredonia in 1837, and remained in operation until 1900. Notable people * Woody Englis ...

References

External links

Notes

* {{DEFAULTSORT:English, Woody National League All-Stars Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen All-American Girls Professional Baseball League managers People from Licking County, Ohio Baseball players from Ohio 1906 births 1997 deaths Toledo Mud Hens players National Girls Baseball League players