Frederick August "Fritz" Mollwitz (June 16, 1890 – October 3, 1967) was a German–American

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who played 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), ...

. Mollwitz was drafted in 1913 by the Chicago Cubs from the minor leagues, where he had been playing in the

Wisconsin-Illinois League The Wisconsin State League was a class D baseball league that began in 1905, changing its name to the Wisconsin–Illinois League in 1908 and operating through 1914. The league re–organized under that name in 1926. Another Wisconsin State League ...

. He would play with the Cubs beginning that season and into the next season until he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Claud Derrick. In 1916, he would return to Chicago when the Cubs purchased him from the Reds. The following year, Mollwitz returned to the minor leagues when he was purchased by the Kansas City Blues 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 ...

from the Cubs. Later that year, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates along with a player to be named later for players to be named later. Eventually, Roy Sanders was sent to Pittsburgh and Alex McCarthy, Ray Miller and

Ike McAuley James Earl "Ike" McAuley (August 19, 1891 – April 6, 1928) born in Wichita, Kansas, USA, was a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1914–16), St. Louis Cardinals (1917) and Chicago Cubs (1925). From 1920–25, he played for the minor-league ...

were sent to Kansas City to complete the trade. In 1919, the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

purchased Mollwitz from the Pirates. Mollwitz died on October 3, 1967. He is buried in

Brookfield, Wisconsin Brookfield is a city located in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States in the Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeast ...

References

People from Coburg Sportspeople from Upper Franconia Emigrants from the German Empire to the United States Major League Baseball players from Germany Chicago Cubs players Cincinnati Reds players Pittsburgh Pirates players Major League Baseball first basemen Minor league baseball managers Green Bay Bays players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Sacramento Senators players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Moline Plowboys players 1890 births 1967 deaths Burials in Wisconsin {{baseball-first-baseman-stub