Samuel W. Trott (March 1859 – June 5, 1925) was an American professional

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 ...

player and manager whose career spanned from 1877 to 1891. He played eight seasons 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) ...

, principally as a

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catcher ...

, for the Boston Red Caps (1880),

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

(1881–83), and

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) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1884–85, 1887–88). Trott also served as the manager the Washington Statesmen for their inaugural season in 1891.

Early years

Trott was born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

in 1859. His father, Samuel E. Trott, was a Maryland native and a carpenter. His mother, Laura J. Trott, was also a Maryland native.

Professional baseball

Playing career

Minor leagues

Trott began his professional baseball career in 1877 playing for the Chicago Fairbanks and Philadelphia Athletic clubs in the League Alliance. In 1879, he played for the Washington Nationals.

Boston Red Caps

In May 1880, Trott was purchased from the Nationals by the Boston Red Caps of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

where he made his major league debut. He appeared in 39 games for the Red Caps, 36 as a catcher, and compiled a .208 batting average.

Detroit Wolverines

In 1881, he joined the newly formed

in the National League. He played for the Wolverines in their first three seasons from 1881 to 1883, serving principally as a backup to catcher Charlie Bennett, though he also played 42 games at second base in 1883. In his three seasons with the Wolverines, Trott appeared in 113 games and compiled a .241 batting average with 23 doubles, three triples and 43 runs batted in.

Baltimore Orioles

Trott concluded his major league career by playing four seasons, principally as a catcher, for the

. He spent the 1884, 1885, 1887 and 1888 seasons with the Orioles, appeared in 208 games, and compiled a .262 batting average with 46 doubles, 18 triples, three home runs, 71 RBIs, and nine stolen bases.

Managerial career

In 1891, Trott served as the first manager of the Washington Statesmen. In their inaugural season, the Statesmen compiled a 44-91 record and finished ninth (last place) in American Association. Trott was handicapped as a manager by having a pitching staff that compiled a 4.83

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

, far above the league average of 3.71.

Later years

By 1900, Trott was living with his wife Emma in Baltimore. They had two children then living with them, Bessie (born August 1890) and Samuel (born March 1900). Trott's occupation was listed as a cigar salesman. Ten years later, Trott was still living in Baltimore with wife, Emma, and they by then had three children, Bessie, Samuel and Dorothy. His occupation in 1910 was traveling salesman.Census entry for Samuel W. Trott, age 49, born in Maryland. Source Citation: Year: 1910; Census Place: Election District 9, Baltimore, Maryland; Roll: T624_551; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 0030; FHL microfilm: 1374564. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census atabase on-line Trott died in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

, in June 1925 at the age of 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trott, Sam Baseball players from Maryland Boston Red Caps players Detroit Wolverines players Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Washington Statesmen managers 1859 births 1925 deaths Minor league baseball managers Philadelphia Athletic players Chicago Fairbanks players Washington Nationals (minor league) players Nationals of Washington players Albany (minor league baseball) players Newark Domestics players Newark Little Giants players Des Moines Prohibitionists players 19th-century baseball players