Arthur Fletcher (January 5, 1885 – February 6, 1950) 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 ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and coach 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), ...

. Fletcher was associated with two New York City baseball dynasties: the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

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 ...

as a player; and the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

of Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy as a coach.

Career

Born in

Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County, and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 25,579, an increase from 24,707 in 2000. Collinsville is approximately from St. Louis, Mi ...

, he batted and threw right-handed, stood tall and weighed . Fletcher came to the Giants in after only one season of minor league experience, and became the club's regular shortstop two years later. He played in four

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 ...

while performing for McGraw (

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

, 1912,

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not venture for the rest of the ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Fo ...

). Traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in the midst of the season, he retired after the 1922 campaign with 1,534 hits, 32 home runs, 676 RBI and a .277

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 ...

. Fletcher is the Giants' career leader in being hit by pitches (132) and ranks 29th on the MLB career list (141) for the same statistic. In he replaced Kaiser Wilhelm as manager of the seventh-place Phillies and led the club through four losing seasons, bookended by last-place finishes in 1923 and 1926. In October 1926, he was replaced by

Stuffy McInnis John Phalen "Stuffy" McInnis (September 19, 1890 – February 16, 1960) was a first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball. McInnis gained his nickname as a youngster in the Boston suburban leagues, where his spectacular playing brought ...

. Fletcher then began a 19-year tenure (1927–1945) as a coach for the Yankees, where, beginning with the legendary 1927 team, he would participate on ten

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 ...

pennant winners and nine World Series champions. On a tragic note, he served as the acting manager of Yankees for the last 11 games of the season when Huggins, 50, was fatally stricken with

erysipelas Erysipelas () is a relatively common bacterial infection of the superficial layer of the skin ( upper dermis), extending to the superficial lymphatic vessels within the skin, characterized by a raised, well-defined, tender, bright red rash, t ...

and pyaemia. Fletcher won six of those 11 games, to compile a career major league managing record of 237–383 (.382).

Managerial record

Post career

Fletcher retired after the 1945 season and died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in 1950 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

at the age of 65. Arthur Fletcher Field, in his Illinois hometown, is named for him. The field is home of the Collinsville High School Kahoks, the Collinsville Miners American Legion team, and the Collinsville Herr Travelers junior legion team.

References

External links

The Dead Ball Era
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Art 1885 births 1950 deaths Baseball players from Illinois Dallas Giants players Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third base coaches New York Giants (NL) players New York Yankees coaches New York Yankees managers People from Collinsville, Illinois Philadelphia Phillies managers Philadelphia Phillies players

Career

Managerial record

Post career

See also

References

External links