Roderick John "Bobby" Wallace (November 4, 1873 – November 3, 1960) 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), ...

infielder,

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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 ...

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

, and scout. Wallace claimed to have invented the continuous throwing motion as a shortstop.

Career

Wallace was born in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. He made his major league debut in as a starting pitcher with the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

. After a 12–14 record in , Wallace played outfield and pitcher in . In , Wallace was an everyday player as he became the team's full-time

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 ...

, batted .335 and drove in 112 runs. In , Wallace moved to the St. Louis Perfectos (renamed the Cardinals in ) and changed position to

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 ...

. He hit .295 with 108 RBI and 12

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 (second in the league behind

Buck Freeman John Frank "Buck" Freeman (October 30, 1871 – June 25, 1949) was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball at the turn of the 20th century. Listed at and , he both batted and threw left-handed. Freeman was one of the top sluggers of ...

's 25). Wallace changed teams again in , when he joined the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. His playing time began decreasing a decade later, with his last season as a regular coming in . Wallace played in just 55 games in , and never played that much again for the rest of his career. In July , he returned to 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 ...

and the Cardinals, and played in just eight games that season. After batting .153 in 32 games in , Wallace retired with a .268 career batting average, 1059 runs, 34 home runs, 1121 RBI and 201 stolen bases. He played his last game on September 2, 1918, at the age of 44 years and 312 days, making him the oldest shortstop to play in a regular-season game. The record was broken by

Omar Vizquel Omar Enrique Vizquel González (; born April 24, 1967), nicknamed "Little O", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball shortstop. During his 24-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, Vizquel played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indi ...

on May 7, 2012. Wallace was generally recognized as the AL's best shortstop from 1902 to 1911, when he served briefly as Browns player-manager. After moving from third to short, Wallace felt he'd found his place in the infield earning the nickname "Mr. Shortstop". He would also claim to have invented the continuous throwing motion, “As more speed afoot was constantly demanded for big league ball, I noticed the many infield bounders which the runner beat to first only by the thinnest fractions of a second.. I also noted that the old-time three-phase movement, fielding a ball, coming erect for a toss and throwing to first wouldn’t do on certain hits with fast men…it was plain that the stop and toss had to be combined into a continuous movement.” He played for 25 seasons, and holds the record for the longest career by a player who 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 ...

. When his playing time diminished, Wallace managed and umpired. He managed the St. Louis Browns in and and the Cincinnati Reds during part of the season. He compiled 62 wins and 154 losses for a .287 winning percentage as a major league manager. He also managed the minor league Wichita Witches in . He umpired in 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 ...

in 1915, working 111 games. Upon retiring, he also became a scout.

Later life

Wallace was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in . Wallace died on November 3, 1960, in

Torrance, California Torrance is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay region of the metropolitan area. Torrance has of beachfront on the Pacific O ...

, one day shy of his 87th birthday.

Managerial record

References

External links

Retrosheet.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Bobby 1873 births 1960 deaths 19th-century baseball players Baseball players from Pittsburgh Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery Chicago Cubs scouts Cincinnati Reds coaches Cincinnati Reds managers Cincinnati Reds scouts Cleveland Spiders players Major League Baseball player-managers Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Major League Baseball umpires Minor league baseball managers Muskogee Mets players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees St. Louis Browns managers St. Louis Browns players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Louis Perfectos players Sportspeople from Pittsburgh Wichita Witches players

Career

Later life

Managerial record

See also

References

External links