Arlie Latham

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Arlie Latham
Runs batted in
563
Stolen bases742
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams
As player

As manager

Career highlights and awards

Walter Arlington Latham (March 15, 1860 – November 29, 1952) was an American

player-manager
of the Browns in 1896.

Latham stole 129 bases during the 1887 season. His career total of 742 ranks seventh all-time in the majors. As a player-coach for the 1909 Giants, Latham, at age 49, became the oldest MLB player to steal a base.[1]

After his retirement as a player, he became what is acknowledged as the first full-time base coach in baseball history. For years he served as a coach and manager in the minor leagues.

After retiring from baseball, Latham traveled to Great Britain, where he organized baseball matches for soldiers during World War I and taught baseball to the British. He later worked in baseball as a press box attendant.

Early life

Latham's father was a

Union Army during the American Civil War. Latham became interested in baseball when soldiers returning from the battlefield brought the game of baseball with them.[2] At the age of fourteen, he played with a local team from Stoneham, Massachusetts, as their catcher, fielding barehanded.[3] In 1877, he played for a team in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as a third baseman.[2]

Playing career

Man in baseball cap
Latham baseball card from 1886

Latham made his

Buffalo Bisons of the National League (NL) in 1880; he is considered the first man from New Hampshire to play in MLB.[2] He played for the Philadelphia Athletics of the Eastern Championship Association in 1881, and the Philadelphia Phillies of the League Alliance
in 1882.

Latham returned to the major leagues with the

runs scored (152) during the 1886 season, batted .316, and stole 142 bases, plus another 12 stolen bases in the playoffs.[2] In 1887, as a member of the Browns, he stole 129 bases. This record is not recognized by Major League Baseball, as stolen bases were defined differently prior to 1898
. He led the league in stolen bases with 109 during the 1888 season.

In 1890, he jumped to the Chicago Pirates of the Players' League. He returned to the NL with the Cincinnati Reds in July 1890 to serve as a utility player and coach.[4] He played for Cincinnati through 1895, and was traded to the Browns after the 1895 season with Ed McFarland, Morgan Murphy, Tom Parrott and cash for Red Ehret and Heinie Peitz. The Browns released Latham after the 1896 season.

Latham then returned to the minor leagues. He played for the

Denver Grizzlies of the Western League in 1902.[2][6]

He made a handful of cameo appearances as a player for the New York Giants of the NL in 1909, becoming the oldest man in Major League history to steal a base, at the age of 49, a record that still stands today.[1] Latham ended his career with 742 stolen bases.[2] Latham's baserunning expertise was apparently purely instinctive.

He holds the career record for errors at third base, with 822, more than 200 more than the next player on the list.[2] Latham's arm had been injured in a throwing contest with a teammate,[7] which led to Latham making weak or half-hearted attempts to field ground balls.

Return to minor league baseball

Latham became an umpire in 1903 in the

Jacksonville Jays of the Southern League. He also served as an umpire for the league and the South Atlantic League.[2][9]

Coaching career

Latham was Major League Baseball's first full-time coach. During his playing days, he would stand on the third base line and yell insults at the other team's pitcher, attempting to distract him and give the Browns an advantage. One of his techniques was to scream while running up and down the third base line during the pitcher's delivery. The coach's box was introduced to prevent him from doing this.[1]

While

home plate. When Giants manager John McGraw asked why, Seymour made an excuse about having the sun in his eyes.[10] This led McGraw, realizing the need for a full-time coach, to hire Latham for the role, the first full-time coach in MLB.[11] Latham tried to do the same things in New York as he had done years earlier in St. Louis, but times had changed and screaming obscenities was not looked well upon, as baseball was being changed into more of a family-friendly game by then. In the opinion of Giants player Fred Snodgrass, however, he was "probably the worst third base coach that ever lived".[1] After the 1910 season, Latham was let go by the Giants.[12]

In 1914, Latham coached with the

Saint Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan. He also served as a press box attendant for the Giants at the Polo Grounds and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.[2][19]

Personality

Known for his on-field antics, Latham was considered one of the funniest personalities in baseball.[20] Nicknamed "The Freshest Man on Earth", Latham was a colorful player known for playing practical jokes, including on Browns owner Chris von der Ahe and manager Charles Comiskey.[2] In one famous stunt, he lit a firecracker under third base in an effort to "wake himself up", after Comiskey had been complaining about him falling asleep on the job. Also he would occasionally put on a clown's nose while walking behind von der Ahe.

A practical joke Latham pulled on Cy Seymour in March 1909 caused a fight between the two at the team's hotel, prompting McGraw to discharge Seymour from the team and seek a buyer.[21][22]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Coaching is on the rise in the major leagues". Victoria Advocate. April 1, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Arlie Latham". SABR. November 29, 1952. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  3. Newspapers.com
    .
  4. ^ "Arlie Latham Signed". The Deseret News. July 26, 1900. p. 5. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  5. ^ "Arlie Latham". Mansfield Daily Shield. February 8, 1898. p. 3. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  6. Newspapers.com
    .
  7. ISBN 0816017417
    .
  8. ^ "Arlie Latham Still Having His Troubles". The Pittsburgh Press. July 10, 1903. p. 20. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  9. ^ "Arlie Latham's Own Baseball Stories". The Pittsburgh Press. August 28, 1915. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  10. University of Nebraska
    . p. 120.
  11. ^ Mathewson, p. 121
  12. ^ "Arlie Latham to Go". Milwaukee Sentinel. October 25, 1910. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013.
  13. ^ "Arlie Latham Will Coach". The Pittsburgh Press. April 27, 1914. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  14. Newspapers.com
    .
  15. ^ "Artie Latham has Quit the Diamond for All Time Now". The Pittsburgh Press. May 8, 1915. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  16. ^ Latham, Arlie (October 3, 1915). "Over the Plate; Arlie Latham's Own Baseball Stories". The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  17. ^ "Old Artie Latham is Still Playing". The Pittsburgh Press. July 16, 1917. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  18. Newspapers.com
    .
  19. ^ Rice, Grantland (May 16, 1945). "Old Artie Latham Booster for Cobb". Edmonton Journal. p. 6. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  20. ^ "Prize Cut-Up". Youngstown Vindicator. May 8, 1908. p. 11. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
  21. Newspapers.com
    .
  22. ^ "Brutal Assault Made on Arlie Latham". The Deseret News. March 13, 1909. p. 10. Retrieved January 20, 2025 – via Google News Archive.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arlie Latham.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arlie_Latham&oldid=1273244997"