Luzerne Atwell "Lu" Blue (March 5, 1897 – July 28, 1958) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played in

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 ...

(MLB) for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

, St. Louis Browns,

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

, and

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

between 1921 and 1933."Lu Blue Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved May 20, 2017. A native of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Blue played professional baseball, principally as a

, for 18 years from 1916 to 1933, including 13 years in

for the

from 1921 to 1932, the St. Louis Browns from 1928 to 1930, the

in 1931 and 1932, and the

for one game in 1933. Blue was a switch-hitter who had a career

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

of .402 and was one of the best fielding first basemen of his era. He interrupted his baseball career for military service in World War I and was later honored with burial at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

. In 2001, baseball historian

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books about baseball history and statistics. His a ...

ranked Blue as the 77th best first baseman of all time.

Early life

Blue was born in Washington, D.C., in 1897. He was one of two sons born to Charles H. Blue, a New Jersey native born in 1852, and Ida Mae (Reamer) Blue, a Pennsylvania native born in 1856. His parents divorced when he was a child. Blue grew up a fan of the Washington Senators. Despite discouragement from his family, who thought baseball was a waste of time, Blue was determined to play baseball. He attended Briarly Hall Military School in

Poolesville, Maryland Poolesville is a U.S. town in the western portion of Montgomery County, Maryland, Montgomery County, Maryland. The population was 5,742 at the 2020 United States census. It is surrounded by (but is technically not part of) the Montgomery County, M ...

, where his play for the school's baseball team drew the attention of professional scouts.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Blue began playing Martinsburg Blue Sox of the Blue Ridge League. He compiled a disappointing .216 batting average in 1916, but his average jumped to .319 with a .517

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

in 1917. A switch-hitter, Blue reportedly hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game during the 1917 season. The

purchased Blue's contract in the fall of 1917. He did not make the team in 1918 and was drafted into the U.S. Army, serving at Camp Lee in Virginia during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, the Tigers assigned Blue to the

Portland Beavers The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL. Franchise history Many baseball teams h ...

in the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. Blue appeared in 174 games for the Beavers in 1919 and compiled a .281 batting average. The following year, he appeared in 165 games for Portland and compiled a .291 average.

Detroit Tigers

In 1921, with

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

as the Tigers' new player-manager, Blue finally made it to the big leagues at age 24. He immediately became the Tigers' regular first baseman, starting 152 games at the position in 1921, and compiling a .308 batting average and a .416 on-base percentage. Blue later gave credit to Cobb for helping him to improve his performance as a hitter. Blue remained entrenched as the Tigers' starting first baseman for seven seasons, from 1921 to 1927. Blue was a reliable hitter in his years at Detroit, hitting above .300 four times, including a .311 season in 1924. He finished among the leaders in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award three times for the Tigers: 10th in 1922, 19th in 1924, and 12th in 1925. In addition to hitting for average, Blue had a keen eye and a talent for drawing walks. He was among the league leaders in bases on balls ten times in his career (1921–1923, 1925–31). He finished his career with 1,092 walks. Driven largely by his ability to draw walks, Blue was also among the league leaders in

four times, including a career-high .430 on-base percentage in 1931 – second best in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

. Blue's career on-base percentage was .402 – 115 points above his .287 career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

. With his ability to get on base, Blue was also a top run scorer, with 1,151 runs scored in his career, including six seasons with 100 or more runs and a career-high 131 runs as the leadoff hitter for the 1921 Detroit Tigers. Blue was also an excellent fielding

. In 1,571 games at first base, Blue had 15,644

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

s and a career range factor of 10.60 – almost 3.00 full points above the league average of 7.64 for first basemen in his era. In 1922, his range factor was 11.2 – more than 4.20 points higher than the league average of 6.94. He had 1,506 putouts in 1922 and led

first basemen in putouts in 1929 (1,491) and 1931 (1,452). He also led American League first basemen in assists in 1928 (107) and

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s (121). Often among the league leaders in fielding percentage, Blue would get to balls other first baseman could not touch. On September 8, 1922, Blue had two unassisted double plays in a single game. On June 19, 1923, Blue was knocked unconscious after being hit in the head by a ball during fielding practice. Blue nevertheless went to bat in the first inning and hit a single to right field. Blue was woozy from the pre-game blow and barely made it to first base. The Yankees agreed to allow a courtesy runner, and Blue later returned to finish the game. In 1927, Blue clashed with the Tigers' new manager, George Moriarty. Moriarty moved Blue from the leadoff spot to the seventh spot in the batting order. Blue's relationship with Moriarty deteriorated through the season, with Blue announcing at the end of the season that he would never play another game for the Tigers.

St. Louis Browns

On December 13, 1927, the Tigers traded Blue and Heinie Manush to the St. Louis Browns in exchange for Harry Rice, Elam Vangilder and a player to be named later. Blue and Manush both became stars for the Browns. In 1928, Blue appeared in 154 games, all at first base, and compiled a .281 batting average and 80 RBIs. He ranked among the American League's leaders in 1928 with 105 bases on balls (second), 116 runs scored (fourth), 14 home runs (sixth), 263 times on base (sixth), 57 extra base hits (eighth), a 4.7 wins above replacement rating (eighth among position players), and 250 total bases (tenth). He also led the American League's first basemen with 107 assists and 121 double plays turned. With former Tigers Blue and Manush in the lineup, the Browns compiled an 82-72 record and finished third in the American League. In 1929, Blue appeared in 151 games for the Browns, all at first base, and compiled a .293 batting average. He led the American League with 296 total times on base and ranked second with 126 bases on balls and sixth with a .422 on-base percentage. He also led the American League's first basemen with 1,491 putouts and ranked fourth with 88 assists. In 1930, Blue appeared in only 117 games, 111 at first base. He suffered from a sore arm in 1930, and his batting average slipped to .231.

Chicago White Sox

After a poor performance in 1930, the Browns sent a new contract to Blue reducing his salary of $14,500 to less than half that amount. Blue refused to sign on those terms, and on April 3, 1931, the Browns sold Blue to the

. Blue returned to the leadoff spot for the White Sox and responded with one of the best seasons of his career. He compiled a .304 batting average and ranked among the American League leaders with 15 triples (second), 127 bases on balls (second), 309 times on base (third), a .430 on-base percentage (fifth), 119 runs scored (sixth) and 13 stolen bases (tenth). He also had an outstanding season defensively, leading the league's first basemen with 1,452 putouts, and ranking among the league leaders with 81 assists (third), 105 double plays turned (fourth), and a 10.14 range factor per nine innings (fourth). His 16 errors also ranked second in the league. He wound up 17th in the voting for the 1931 American League Most Valuable Player award. In 1932, Blue appeared in 112 games for the White Sox, including 100 as the team's starting first baseman. His batting average dropped to .249–55 points lower than the prior season. However, he ranked among the American League's leaders with 17 stolen bases (fifth) and 88 assists at first base (second), 106 double plays at first base (fourth), and a 10.91 range factor per nine innings at first base (second). He was eventually benched in favor of Billy Sullivan and released on February 2, 1933.

Brooklyn and Toronto

On April 19, 1933, Blue was signed as a free agent by the

. He appeared in only one game for the Dodgers on April 25, 1933, failing to hit in a single plate appearance. He was released by the Dodgers on April 29, 1933. Blue played 13 seasons in the major leagues and compiled a career batting average of .287 and a career on-base percentage of .402. He totaled 2,365 total bases, 1,696 hits, 1,152 runs scored, 1,092 bases on balls, 319 doubles, 109 triples and 151 stolen bases. On May 8, 1933, Blue signed with the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. He appeared in 113 games for Toronto and compiled a .259 batting average.

Later life

Blue was married at least twice. On June 9, 1924, he was married in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

to Pauline Chambers, a native of Texas.Census entry for Luzerne Blue, baseball player. Census Place: Queens, Queens, New York; Roll: 1594; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0276; Image: 564.0; FHL microfilm: 2341329. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census atabase on-line He was later married to Helen Blue. After retiring from baseball, Blue became a chicken farmer in Colesville, Maryland. He later operated a chinchilla farm.Death certificate for Luzerne Atwell Blue, died July 28, 1958. Ancestry.com. Virginia, Death Records, 1912-2014 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Virginia, Deaths, 1912–2014. Virginia Department of Health, Richmond, Virginia. He also operated one of the first "baseball schools" in the country. Blue died at his home in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

in 1958 at age 61. He was buried in

. Blue's cause of death was acute congestive heart failure due to bronchopneumonia with chronic arthritis as a contributing condition.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue, Lu Major League Baseball first basemen Brooklyn Dodgers players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Martinsburg Blue Sox players Portland Beavers players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Army personnel of World War I Baseball players from Washington, D.C. Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 1897 births 1958 deaths Deaths from pneumonia in Virginia Deaths from bronchopneumonia