Career Zack Wheat

baseball magazine, 1917

wheat played first full season in 1910. played every game superbas season regular left fielder, leading league in games played. batted .284 season, second-lowest average of career, led team, , among league leaders in hits, doubles, , triples. in 1911 reputation slugger began take hold. along hitting .287, finished eighth in league 13 triples, , slugged 5 home runs. in era when players hit double-digit home runs season, 5 enough people take notice.

wheat continued steady , consistent climb batting charts in 1912, hitting .305, , finished season among league leaders in home runs , slugging percentage. on next 4 seasons, continued among leaders of many offensive categories; such home runs, batting average, slugging, hits, doubles, triples, , rbis. during 1912 season wheat married daisy kerr forsman, , became default agent, encouraging him hold out better contract each season. players in day signed one-year contracts before every season. each time held out, received more money, club not wanting lose 1 of best players , team s popular player. tactic of threatening hold out served him during throughout career, including during world war era, when raised , sold mules united states army pack animals. claimed did well, didn t need play during summer. team, fearing might lose great player during prime of career, succumb demands every year.

zack wheat baseball card, 1911 gold borders (t205)

in 1916, topped off string of seasons finish in top ten in above categories, topping league in total bases , slugging. had career-high hitting streak, reached 29 games. brooklyn robins won national league pennant season. in world series, faced boston red sox, had formidable pitching rotation of ernie shore, dutch leonard, carl mays, , babe ruth. red sox won series 4 games one, holding robins .200 batting average, , wheat paltry .211.

during 1917 , 1918 seasons, wheat hit well, missed many games due injuries. had tiny feet, size 5, , believed cause of many nagging ankle injuries caused miss many games in career. did, however, lead league in batting average time in career .335 batting average, highest average point. interestingly, player known slugger, , consistently in top ten in offensive categories including home runs, hit 0 season, , 1 season prior.

starting in 1919, wheat returned league slugging leaders once again, baseball began become livelier, proved offensive output likes of ruth, , rogers hornsby. robins made second world series appearance in 1920, time facing off against cleveland indians. robins lost series well, 5 games 2, although wheat s hitting improved time around, batting .333. wheat s statistics climbed during new live era of baseball, reaching double-digit home runs first time 14 in 1921, , again 3 more times in next 4 years. wheat hit .320 or higher every season 1920 through 1925, topping out .375 in consecutive seasons. failed lead league in hitting 2 seasons, not getting enough @ bats in 1923 qualify, , hornsby topped league .384, , in 1924, .375 finished distant second hornsby s .424.

a subtle, longstanding friction existed between wheat , manager, future hall of famer wilbert robinson. friction reportedly stemmed robinson s belief wheat seemed pursue manager s job behind back. when owner charles ebbets died in 1925, new team president ed mckeever reassigned robinson front office , named wheat player-manager. newspapers confirm managed dodgers 2 weeks. mckeever caught pneumonia @ ebbets funeral, , died afterward, , robinson returned managers position. turned out, wheat never again managed in majors, disappointment. add insult injury, wheat s 1925 managerial stint never made official records. in 1931, steve mckeever, ed s brother, hired wheat coach, leading widespread speculation zack being groomed manager s spot, threatening robinson s job second time in 7 years, , treated former star coldly ever.

wheat signed philadelphia athletics after release brooklyn in 1927. after season, released again; time signed , played minor league minneapolis millers of american association. played little season due heel injury, , retired playing following season. still holds dodger franchise records hits, doubles, triples , total bases.