Harold Burton "Rabbit" Warstler (September 13, 1903 – May 31, 1964) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played all or part of 11 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

and

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1930–33),

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, they became the Oakland ...

(1934–36),

Boston Bees The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). Then in 1966 they were relocated to Atlanta, whe ...

(1936–40) and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

(1940).

Early life

Warstler was born on September 13, 1903, to postmaster and village treasurer Edwin W. Warstler and his wife Ella in North Canton (formerly New Berlin), Ohio. Known as Rap, Warstler was the oldest of five children. Warstler graduated from North Canton High School in 1921. Warstler married Grace Mohler, on November 11, 1921 and had three children. Warstler worked for and played on the Hoover Company sandlot baseball team from 1921-22. Playing on an Ohio based traveling semi-pro baseball team, Warstler was discovered in 1927 by a scout for the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

AA club of the American Association.

Minor league career

In 1927, Warstler played 23 games for the

with a .208 average with one home run. Warstler spent the bulk of 1927 playing 128 games for the Quincy Red Birds of the Illinois-Indiana-Iowa League, with a .351 average and eight home runs. Warstler returned to the

for the next three years, where he compiled a .285 average with 19 home runs in 408 games. During his minor league career, Warstler compiled a fielding percentage of 92.9%. When Warstler joined the Boston Red Sox in 1930, he flew from Indianapolis to Boston became "first ball player rookie to ride to the big show in an airship".

Major League Career

In his career, Warstler played in 1,205 games and had 4,088 at bats, 431 runs scored, 935 hits, 133 doubles, 36 triples, 11 home runs, 332 RBI, 42 stolen bases, 405 walks, a .229 batting average, a .300 on-base percentage, a .287 slugging percentage, 1,173 total bases, and 107 sacrifice hits. Warstler was a member of the “All Americans” exhibition team assembled by

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

players that toured Asia-Pacific in 1934. Exhibition games were played in Honolulu, Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, Hakodate, Kokuru, Sendai, Kyoto, Omiya, Utsunomiya, Toyama, Shizuoka, Yokohama, Shanghai, and Manila. Warstler was joined by

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

, Jimmy Foxx,

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig ( ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941), also known as Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was ...

Lefty Gomez Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez (November 26, 1908 – February 17, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Gomez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1943 for the New York Yankees and the Washingto ...

Charlie Gehringer Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers for 19 seasons from 1924 Detroit Tigers season, 1924 to 1943 Det ...

, Earl Averill,

Bing Miller Edmund John "Bing" Miller (August 30, 1894 – May 7, 1966) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1922 to 1936, most prominently as a member of the Philadelphia Athletic ...

, Moe Berg, Earl Whitehill, Frank Hayes, Eric McNair, Joe Cascarella, and Clint Brown. Warstler then joined Ruth, Gehrig, Gomez and other players for a circumnavigation cruise stopping in Java, Fiji, Singapore, Ceylon, and Marseilles. Warstler died of lung cancer in his hometown of North Canton, Ohio at the age of 60.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Warstler, Rabbit Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball second basemen Boston Red Sox players Philadelphia Athletics players 20th-century American sportsmen Boston Bees players Chicago Cubs players Quincy Red Birds players Indianapolis Indians players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Fort Worth Cats players People from North Canton, Ohio Baseball players from Stark County, Ohio 1903 births 1964 deaths