'Edd J. Roush' (
May 8,
1893 -
March 21,
1988) was a
left-handed Major League Baseball player. He played the majority of his career in
center field.
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 one season with the
Indianapolis Hoosiers and one season with the
Newark Peppers. He returned to the Majors in
1916 and split the season between the
New York Giants and the
Cincinnati Reds.
With the Reds from 1917 to
1926, Roush never batted below .321 and was an instrumental part of the team's
World Series championship in
1919. He won the 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.
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.
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.
Roush was selected 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".
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.
In
1981,
Lawrence Ritter and
Donald Honig included him in their book ''The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time''.
See also
★
List of major league players with 2,000 hits
★
List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples
★
List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs
★
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
★
List of Major League Baseball batting champions
★
Chicago White Sox all-time roster
External links
★
Baseball Hall of Fame
★