Michael William Menosky (October 16, 1894 – April 11, 1983) was a professional American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

and

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), ...

. Born in Glen Campbell, Pennsylvania, he was known as "Leaping Mike" for his daring, fence-crashing catches. Menosky started his career on April 18, 1914, with the Pittsburgh Rebels of the Federal League, and went on to play 68 games that season. At 19, he was the second-youngest baseball player in the Federal League that season behind Jimmy Smith. He spent most of the 1915 season in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...

of the Federal League. After the league folded in 1915, he was purchased by the Washington Senators of 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 ...

on February 10, 1916. After playing 11 games in 1916, he became the starting left fielder in 1917. He hit ten triples that season, and stole 22 bases. After taking a year off from baseball to serve in the military, he was again the starting left fielder during the 1919 season for the Senators. After the season ended, Menosky was traded on January 20, 1920, with

Eddie Foster Edward Cunningham Foster (February 13, 1887 – January 15, 1937) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 to 1923 for the New York Highlanders, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, ...

and

Harry Harper Harry Clayton Harper (April 24, 1895 – April 23, 1963) was an American professional baseball pitcher, businessman, and politician. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Brookly ...

to the Boston Red Sox for Braggo Roth and Red Shannon. He remained the starting left fielder on the Boston Red Sox for the 1920 and 1921 seasons. He had his best statistical season during the

1920 Boston Red Sox season The 1920 Boston Red Sox season was the 20th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a record of 72 wins and 81 losses, games behind the Cleveland Indians, who went on to ...

, where he played in 141 games, had a batting average of .297, hit nine triples, and stole 23 bases, which was good for fourth in the American League. During the 1921 Boston Red Sox season, he had a career-high batting average of .300. In 1922, he was named the opening day starter as a center fielder, having played the previous two seasons in left field. He went on to play only four games in center field that season out of the 103 he played. Menosky went on to play one more season with the Red Sox, playing in 84 games in 1923. At the end of the season, he was released to the Vernon club of the Pacific Coast League, ending his Major League career. In 810 games over nine seasons, Menosky posted a .278

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 ...

(685-for-2465) with 382 runs, 18 home runs and 252

RBIs 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 bat ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .967 fielding percentage playing at all three outfield positions. After his retirement from baseball, he became a probation officer. His baseball career came of use in a case where the defendant was charged with throwing a rock through a Detroit terminal caboose window. The judge doubted he could throw a rock 250 feet, and when Menosky tried to throw a rock 250 feet and was unable to do so, the judge dismissed the case, stating that the average man would not have a chance if Menosky could not do it. Menosky died in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

, Michigan on April 11, 1983, and was buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield.

References

External links

Mike Menosky at Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menosky, Mike 1894 births 1983 deaths Pittsburgh Rebels players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Boston Red Sox players Pittsburgh Filipinos players Allentown (minor league baseball) players New Haven White Wings players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Vernon Tigers players Rochester Tribe players Binghamton Triplets players