Robert Frank Roth (August 28, 1892 – September 11, 1936), nicknamed Braggo, was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

over parts of eight seasons with the

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, Washington Senators, and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

Early life

Robert Frank Roth was born in Burlington, Wisconsin, on August 28, 1892. Roth's parents resided in Chicago, but vacationed in Burlington each summer at his mother's brother's house on the Fox River. Roth's brother, Frank, was 14 years older than Bobby. He was a catcher in the major leagues between and .

Baseball career

Braggo began his minor league career in 1910 with Green Bay of the Class-D

Wisconsin–Illinois League The Wisconsin State League was a class D baseball league that began in 1905, changing its name to the Wisconsin–Illinois League in 1908 and operating through 1914. The league re–organized under that name in 1926. Another Wisconsin State Leagu ...

. After less than three months, Roth was released and he signed with the Red Wing Manufacturers of the Class-D

Minnesota–Wisconsin League The Minnesota–Wisconsin League, known as the "Minny" League, was a professional minor baseball league that existed from 1909 to 1912. It was a Class D league in 1909, 1910 and 1912 and a Class C league in 1911. As its name suggests, it featured ...

. In 1912, he played for the St. Joseph Drummers of the Western League. He played for the Kansas City Blues of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

in 1913 and 1914. Roth played

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the first four years of his career, but was converted into an

in 1914. He also earned the nickname "Braggo" during the 1914 season due to his boastful attitude about hitting. Roth made his MLB debut with the

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

, when they purchased him from the Blues in August 1914. He was switched back to third base, but his playing time decreased in 1915 due to his poor defensive play and the acquisition of

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

, resulting in the White Sox trading Roth with a player to be named later (later decided to be

Larry Chappell La Verne Ashford "Larry" Chappell (February 19, 1890 – November 8, 1918) was a professional baseball player who played from 1913 to 1917 for the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians and Boston Braves. Early life Born in McClusky, Illinois, Cha ...

), Ed Klepfer and $31,500 to the

for Shoeless Joe Jackson in August 1915. Roth hit three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in the final week of the 1915 season to increase his season total to seven, one more than

Rube Oldring Reuben Henry "Rube" Oldring (May 30, 1884 – September 9, 1961) was a professional baseball player who played outfield in the major leagues from 1905 to 1918. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Early life Oldring was ...

. Braggo struck out often, leading the American League in strikeouts in 1917, and finishing among the leaders four other times. However, he also drew decent numbers of walks for the times, with a lifetime .367

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

. He was several times among the

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe o ...

leaders, finishing as high as second in the league in 1918. He led the league in hit-by-pitch in 1918 and was two other times among the leaders. With the Indians seeking pitching, they traded Roth to the Philadelphia Athletics for

Larry Gardner William Lawrence Gardner (May 13, 1886 – March 11, 1976) was a third baseman in Major League Baseball. From 1908 through 1924, Gardner played for the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Indians. He was a four-time World Series ...

Charlie Jamieson Charles Devine "Cuckoo" Jamieson (February 7, 1893 – October 27, 1969) was an American baseball player, an outfielder for the Washington Senators (1915–17), Philadelphia Athletics (1917–18) and Cleveland Indians (1919–32). Professional ...

and Elmer Myers before the 1919 season. However, Roth's loud personality clashed with the reserved Connie Mack, so Mack traded Roth with

Red Shannon Maurice Joseph "Red" Shannon (February 11, 1897 – April 12, 1970) born in Jersey City, New Jersey was an infielder for the Boston Braves (1915), Philadelphia Athletics (1917–1919 and 1920–21), Boston Red Sox (1919), Washington Senators (1 ...

to the

for Jack Barry and Amos Strunk in June 1919. Before the 1920 season, the Red Sox traded Roth and Shannon to the Washington Senators for

Eddie Foster Edward Cunningham Foster (February 13, 1887 – January 15, 1937) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1910 to 1923 for the New York Highlanders, Washington Senators, Boston Red S ...

Harry Harper Harry Clayton Harper (April 24, 1895 – April 23, 1963) was an American professional baseball pitcher, businessman, and politician. He played in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Brooklyn ...

, and Mike Menosky. Roth had his best season of his career with the Senators, with 92 RBI. After the season, he was traded by the Senators to the New York Yankees for Duffy Lewis and George Mogridge. Roth missed a substantial portion of the 1921 season with a knee injury. Before the 1922 season, Roth declared his knee fit for play, but the Yankees released him due to his knee injury, which did not respond to treatment. In 1923, Roth played for the Blues and

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

, also of the American Association. He played for the Hollywood Stars of 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Ba ...

in 1928. In 811 games over eight seasons in the major leagues, Roth posted a .284 batting average (804-for-2,831) with 427 runs, 30

s, 422

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the b ...

, and 190

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

Death

Roth died in an automobile accident with a newspaper truck at the age of 44 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

on September 11, 1936.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Braggo 1892 births 1936 deaths Major League Baseball right fielders Philadelphia Athletics players Chicago White Sox players Cleveland Indians players Boston Red Sox players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players New York Yankees players American League home run champions St. Joseph Drummers players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players St. Paul Saints (AA) players Hollywood Stars players Baseball players from Wisconsin People from Burlington, Wisconsin Road incident deaths in Illinois Virginia Ore Diggers players

Early life

Baseball career

Death

See also

References

External links