Edd Roush
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| Edd Roush | |||
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| File:Edd Roush Baseball.jpg | |||
| Center fielder | |||
| Born: May 8, 1893 Oakland City, Indiana |
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| Died: Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Bradenton, Florida |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 20, 1913, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 27, 1931, for the Cincinnati Reds | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .323 | ||
| Hits | 2,376 | ||
| Home runs | 68 | ||
| Runs batted in | 981 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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| Member of the National | |||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Inducted | 1962 | ||
| Election Method | Veteran's Committee | ||
Edd J. Roush (May 8, 1893 – March 21, 1988) was a Major League Baseball player who was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. He played the majority of his career at center field, and had his best years with the Cincinnati Reds.
Career
Roush made his major league debut on August 20, 1913 for the Chicago White Sox. He switched to the fledgling Federal League in 1914 and spent two seasons with the Indianapolis Hoosiers, who became the Newark Pepper in 1915. In 1916, he split the season between the New York Giants and the Cincinnati Reds.
With the Reds from 1917 to 1926, the left-handed hitting Roush never batted below .321, and was an instrumental part of the team's World Series championship in 1919. He won the National League batting title in 1917 and 1919. His best career year in batting average was 1921, when he batted .352. He also led the leagues in Slugging average (.455) in 1918, in Doubles (41) in 1923, and in Triples (21) in 1924. He was renowned as having the best arm of any outfielder in his era. He held out most of the 1922 season over a salary dispute[1] that continued into spring 1923.[2]
Roush played for the New York Giants again from 1927 until 1929 and rejoined the Cincinnati Reds for a single season in 1931 before retiring. He sat out the 1930 season over a salary dispute.[1]
Roush finished his 18-year career with a .323 lifetime average, 268 stolen bases and 182 triples. He never struck out more than 25 times in a season and had 30 inside-the-park home runs.
Roush, who used a massive 48-ounce Louisville Slugger (the heaviest bat used in baseball), claims that he never broke a bat in his big league career.
Post-playing career
Edd served one season as the Reds coach with his best friend, Bill McKechnie. During his career, Edd saved his money and was able to retire after he finished playing. He built a house in Bradenton, Florida and used it as a winter residence. He would frequently attend Spring training and tell stories of the old days. He devoted most of his time in his hometown of Oakland City, where he served on the town and school board and ran the Montgomery cemetery for 35 years.[3]
Honors
In addition to Roush's selection into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 (chosen with Bill McKechnie), he is also a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, being inducted in 1960. Considered the greatest player in Reds' history at the time, he was invited to throw out the first ball at the last game at Crosley Field on June 24, 1970. Joe Morgan called Roush "the best of us all".
In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.
Death
He died at the age of 94, still insisting that even if the White Sox had played the 1919 World Series on the level, the Reds would have won.
At the time of his death on March 21, 1988 in Bradenton, Florida, Edd Roush was the last surviving Federal League participant.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career hits leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career triples leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball batting champions
- List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual triples leaders
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Suehsdorf, A. D. (1978). The Great American Baseball Scrapbook, p. 56. Random House. ISBN 0-394-50253-1.
- ↑ "Ed Roush Declines to Play With Reds: Star Outfielder Says He Will Join an Industrial League Team This Season", The New York Times. April 6, 1923. Retrieved March 14, 2011. Page 13.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Edd Roush at the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Pages with broken file links
- Pages using baseballstats with unknown parameters
- 1893 births
- 1988 deaths
- People from Oakland City, Indiana
- American people of French descent
- Baseball players from Indiana
- National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
- Major League Baseball center fielders
- Indianapolis Hoosiers players
- Newark Peppers players
- Cincinnati Reds players
- New York Giants (NL) players
- Chicago White Sox players
- National League batting champions
- Cincinnati Reds coaches
- Evansville Yankees players
- Evansville River Rats players
- Lincoln Railsplitters players
