Walter Henry Roettger (August 28, 1902 – September 14, 1951) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

player who was an

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 ...

in the major leagues from to . He played for 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 ...

, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates, and was a member of the 1931 World Series champion Cardinals. In 599 games played, Roettger batted .285 (

556 __NOTOC__ Year 556 ( DLVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 556 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

– 1,949) with 192 runs scored, 19 home runs and 245 RBI in eight MLB seasons. In the

1931 World Series The 1931 World Series featured the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals beat the Athletics in seven games, a rematch and reversal of fortunes of the previous World Series. The same two ...

, he hit .286 (4–14). His career fielding percentage was .986 at all three outfield positions.

Biography

Roettger attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, graduating in 1924. While at Illinois, he played basketball and baseball. In 1931 while playing for the Cardinals, he got the first hit (off

Lefty Grove Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove (March 6, 1900 – May 22, 1975) was an American professional baseball pitcher. After having success in the minor leagues during the early 1920s, Grove became a star in Major League Baseball with the American League's P ...

) and scored the first run in the 1931 World Series. He became the head coach for baseball at the University of Illinois from 1935 to 1951 and an assistant coach for basketball from 1936 to 1949. Roettger died by suicide in Champaign, Illinois, at the age of 49. Roettger had two brothers who were involved 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), ...

. Hal Roettger served as an assistant to baseball executive Branch Rickey for nearly 20 years until he died unexpectedly in the swimming pool of a Florida motel in 1955.

Oscar Roettger Oscar Frederick Louis Roettger (February 19, 1900 – July 4, 1986) was an American baseball player whose 19-year active career was augmented by brief service as a minor-league manager and over 35 years as the liaison between the Rawlings Spor ...

was a major league pitcher and first baseman who later coached minor league baseball.

References

External links

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Retrosheet
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Wally Roettger
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SABR The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

(Baseball BioProject) 1902 births 1951 suicides American men's basketball players American people of German descent Baseball players from Missouri Basketball coaches from Missouri Basketball players from St. Louis Cincinnati Reds players Forwards (basketball) Houston Buffaloes players Illinois Fighting Illini baseball coaches Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball coaches Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Illinois Wesleyan Titans men's basketball coaches Major League Baseball outfielders New York Giants (NL) players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in Illinois Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1900s-stub