Albert Henry Bridwell (January 4, 1884 – January 23, 1969) was an American

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 wh ...

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). He played for several MLB teams, most notably the New York Giants from 1908 to 1911, when the team was managed by

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

Baseball career

During his 11-year major league career from 1905 to 1915, Bridwell was regarded as a good fielder but never had a .300

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 ...

. His career-high was .294 in 1909. In 1,252 career games played, Bridwell batted .255 with 1,064 hits, 95 doubles, 32 triples, 2

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, 457 runs scored, and 350

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 ...

. Bridwell is best known for hitting the apparent walk-off single which led to

Merkle's Boner Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the New York Giants in a game against the Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merkle's failure to advance to second base on what should have been a g ...

in a September 1908 game. The hit was nullified due to baserunner

Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...

's failure to touch second base, and because the crowd was already on the field, the game between the Giants and Chicago Cubs was ruled a tie. The two teams ended up tied for first at the end of the season and had to play a makeup game, which the Cubs won. Bridwell never played in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. Midway through the 1911 season, he was traded by the Giants, who went on to play in the 1911 World Series, to the Boston Rustlers. On John McGraw's managing style, Bridwell later said: "He knew how to handle men, some players he rode and others he didn't. He got the most out of each man." Bridwell's pugnaciousness fit right in with McGraw's style of play. Bridwell once punched McGraw in the nose, earning a two-game suspension.

Personal life

In 1906, Bridwell married Margaret Lorraine McMahon. The couple's only child, Mary Jane, was born in 1914.Rice, Stephen V
"Al Bridwell"
sabr.org. Retrieved November 5, 2021. Bridwell was interviewed for

Lawrence Ritter Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer whose specialties were economics and baseball. Ritter was a professor of economics and finance, and chairman of the Department of Finance at the Graduate School ...

's 1966 book ''

The Glory of Their Times ''The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It'' is a 1966 book, edited by Lawrence Ritter, telling the stories of early 20th century baseball. It is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest books ...

''. Bridwell died in 1969 at age 85.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridwell, Al 1884 births 1969 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Cincinnati Reds players Boston Beaneaters players Boston Doves players New York Giants (NL) players Boston Rustlers players Boston Braves players Chicago Cubs players St. Louis Terriers players Columbus Senators players Atlanta Crackers players Houston Buffaloes players Houston Buffaloes managers Baseball players from Ohio People from Scioto County, Ohio