Bartholomew L. Cantz (January 29, 1860 – February 12, 1943) was an American

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

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

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, Cantz started his professional baseball career in 1884, playing for

Chambersburg Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

and Littlestown of the

Keystone Association The Keystone Association was a five–team Independent baseball league, independent level baseball Minor league baseball, minor league that played in the 1884 and 1885 seasons. The Keystone Association featured franchises based exclusively in Pen ...

. He played for the Long Island A's and

Bridgeport Giants Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonno ...

of the Eastern League in 1886. In 1887, he moved to the

Newark Little Giants The Newark Little Giants were a professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey in the late 1880s. They played in the Eastern League for one year until moving to the International League in 1887. Newark featured the first all African-Americ ...

of the International Association. In 1888, Cantz played for the

St. Louis Whites The St. Louis Whites were a minor league baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1888, the St. Louis Whites played briefly as members of the Class A (baseball), Class A level Western Association. The Whites were created as an early version ...

of the

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Weste ...

and then was transferred to 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 ...

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. He appeared in 57 games for the Orioles in 1888–1889. The following year he played with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

, where he appeared in only five games before retiring. In his three major league seasons, Cantz had a .157 batting average with 34 hits and 18 runs batted in.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cantz, Bart 1860 births 1943 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball catchers Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Philadelphia Athletics (AA) players Chambersburg (minor league baseball) players Littlestown (minor league baseball) players Bridgeport Giants players St. Louis Whites players Baseball players from Philadelphia