Fred Merkle

    Whenever anyone hears the name Fred Merkle, one thing immediately comes to mind - Merkle's Boner. Merkle's Boner was a baserunning mistake that he made in September 1908 that affected the pennant race between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs, a race that the Cubs ultimately won. Although it's unfair to define any player's career by one solitary rookie mistake, Merkle had a reputation as a bonehead for the rest of his career (and his life). That's quite the shame, especially considering how good a player he really was. 

    Fred Merkle made his Major League debut on September 21, 1907 at the age of 18, driving in a run against the Reds. He played 15 games that season and 38 in 1908, and did pretty well. However, the teenager made the one mistake in 1908 that tarnished his entire career. Who knows how good Merkle could have been if he had popular support? He soon became one of the best first basemen in the league, gaining a reputation as a strong hitter, an excellent baserunner, and a decent fielder, and even received MVP votes in 1911 and 1912, but the press still referred to him as Bonehead. What an insult to one of the headiest players in the game, the only player who manager John McGraw would consult for strategy. 

    In April 1917, Merkle's contract was purchased, of all teams, by the Cubs. He gave them four solid seasons before his release in 1921. He then played five seasons for Rochester in the International League, batting a combined .343 in 699 games. The Yankees purchased his contract in midseason 1925 and he played in seven games for the Bronx Bombers, going 5-for-13. He played one game for the Yanks in 1926 before returning to the International League in 1927, batting .307 in 38 games as a player-manager for the Reading Keystones. One day, a player referred to him as a bonehead, and he simply walked off the diamond, never to return. All told, he had more than 2,700 hits in his pro career. 

    Growing up a Giants fan, Fred Merkle is a name that I've been familiar with since a very young age. I never thought it was fair to remember him as a bonehead, considering his long and successful career. Let us instead remember Fred Merkle as a star first baseman throughout the 1910's and 1920's, one of the truly underappreciated players of all time.