Leo Fishel (December 13, 1877 – May 19, 1960) was a

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played one game for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in 1899. He also attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

after his professional baseball career was over. Fishel stood at 6' 0" and weighed 175 lbs."Leo Fishel Statistics and History"
Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2010-12-29.

Biography

Leo Fishel was born in

Babylon, New York The Town of Babylon is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Its population was 218,223 as of the 2020 census. Parts of Jones Beach Island, Captree Island and Fire Island are in the southernmost part of the town. It borde ...

, as the youngest of eight children to Leopold and Theresa Fishel.Jacobs, Jane
"Leo Fishel"
. ''bioproj.sabr.org''. Retrieved 2010-12-29. He entered Columbia in the fall of 1894 and pitched for the baseball team there while also playing for various semi-pro teams around New York and New Jersey. He was once offered US$20 plus expenses to pitch in a game for White Plains. On May 3, 1899, Fishel made his major league debut for the New York Giants, pitching a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

and taking the loss. He was the first Jewish pitcher in Major League Baseball. Later that summer, he played for the New London Whalers and New Haven Blues of the

Connecticut State League The Connecticut League, also known as the Connecticut State League, was a professional baseball association of teams in the state of Connecticut. The league was a minor league for most of its existence. It began as offshoot of the original Connecti ...

. Fishel went 2-4 in the CSL and did not play any professional baseball after 1899. Fishel graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1900 and was admitted to the

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later that year. He became coach of the Columbia baseball team in early 1901"Will Hear Ball Players"
''query.nytimes.com''. Retrieved 2010-12-29. and over the next few years played and coached various teams in the area while setting up his law practice. In 1905, he won a championship while coaching the Freeport High School team. Fishel was married twice. His first marriage to Mary Blossom Searle in 1903 produced one daughter, but it ended in divorce. He later married Laura Duerstein, and his second child, a son, was born in 1917. Fishel died in

Hempstead, New York The Town of Hempstead is the largest of the three towns in Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead and Oyster Bay) on Long Island, in New York, United States. The town's combined population was 793,409 at the 2020 census. It occupies the s ...

, in 1960.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishel, Leo 1877 births 1960 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Columbia Law School alumni Columbia Lions baseball coaches Columbia Lions baseball players Jewish American baseball coaches Jewish American baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New Haven Blues players New London Whalers players New York Giants (baseball) players New York (state) lawyers People from Babylon, New York Baseball players from Suffolk County, New York