Elmer Harrison Flick (January 11, 1876 – January 9, 1971) 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 professional ...

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 c ...

who 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 (AL), ...

from 1898 to 1910 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Athletics, and Cleveland Bronchos/Naps. In 1,483 career games, Flick recorded a .313

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 ...

while accumulating 164 triples, 1,752 hits, 330 stolen bases, and 756

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 ba ...

(RBIs). He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. Flick began his career in semi-professional baseball and played in minor league baseball for two years. He was noticed by George Stallings, the manager of the Phillies, who signed Flick as a reserve outfielder. Flick was pressed into a starting role in 1898 when an injury forced another player to retire. He excelled as a starter. Flick jumped to the Athletics in 1902, but an court injunction prevented him from playing in Pennsylvania. He joined the Naps, where he continued to play for the remainder of his major league career, which was curtailed by a stomach ailment. Flick was known predominantly for his solid batting and speed. He led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

in RBIs in 1900, and led 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 ...

in stolen bases in 1904 and 1906, and in batting average in 1905.

Early life

Flick was born on January 11, 1876, the third of five children of Zachary and Mary Flick, on the family farm in

Bedford, Ohio Bedford is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States located to the east of Cleveland. The population was 13,074 at the 2010 census. It is an eastern first ring suburb of Cleveland. Geography Bedford is located at . It is a first ring sub ...

. His father was a farmer and mechanic who had served in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

. Flick attended Bedford High School, where he played

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

on the school's baseball team. He also played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, wrestled, and boxed. Flick entered semi-professional baseball by chance. When he was 15 years old, he was at a train station to support the local baseball team as it left for a road trip. Only eight of the team's players showed up at the station, so Flick was recruited to go on the trip with the team. Though Flick did not have a uniform or shoes, he hit well in both games of the doubleheader, though Bedford lost both games. He joined the Bedford team on a regular basis, and he continued to play semi-pro baseball throughout his teenage years.

Professional career

Minor league baseball

In 1896, the manager of the Youngstown Puddlers of the

Interstate League The Interstate League was the name of five different American minor baseball leagues that played intermittently from 1896 through 1952. Early leagues Earlier versions of the Interstate League, with years active: *1896–1901: an unclassified ...

signed Flick. Because the team had an established catcher, Flick played in the

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In cricket, baseball a ...

, where he struggled to learn the position. In 31 games, Flick had a .826 fielding percentage. However, Flick had a strong performance offensively. Using his father's lathe, Flick crafted his own

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal club used in the sport of baseball to hit the ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more than in length. Although histor ...

, which he used to hit for a .438

. The next year, Flick played for the Dayton Old Soldiers, also in the Interstate League, as their regular

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

. His defense improved, as he compiled a .921 fielding percentage, and he batted .386. He also led the league with 20 triples and 295 total bases.

Major League Baseball

George Stallings, the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of the

(NL), noticed Flick while he played for Dayton. Stallings signed Flick to the Phillies to serve as a reserve outfielder for the team in the 1898 season. Starting outfielder Sam Thompson injured his back after six games, forcing Stallings to play Flick. In his debut game, Flick went 2-for-3 with two singles against Fred Klobedanz. Thompson returned to the team briefly, but reinjured his back and announced his retirement in May, allowing Flick to play regularly. Flick proved himself a capable big leaguer,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.302 with eight

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, 13 triples and 81

(RBIs). In the 1899 season, he batted .342, with 98 runs scored and 98 RBIs. However, he suffered a serious knee injury in August, and reinjured the knee when he returned to the game too quickly. Before the 1900 season, Philadelphia stars Napoleon Lajoie and

Ed Delahanty Edward James Delahanty (October 30, 1867 – July 2, 1903), nicknamed "Big Ed", was an American professional baseball player, who spent his Major League Baseball (MLB) playing career with the Philadelphia Quakers, Cleveland Infants, Philadelph ...

held out of renewing their contracts with the team. Other members of the team had grown disgruntled. Amid talk of a revival of the American Association, Flick and several other players began to talk about not returning to the team the next year. ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'' reported that Flick's father was in the chair business in Cleveland and that he might require Flick's help with the business. Flick agreed to a contract extension before the season started. That year, he led the NL with 110 RBIs. He finished second in the NL with a .367 batting average, a .545 slugging percentage, 11

s, 59

extra-base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any base hit on which the batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error or opting to make a throw to retire ano ...

s, and 297 total bases. He also engaged in a fistfight with Lajoie that caused Lajoie to miss five weeks due to a broken thumb. The race for the batting title came down to the end of the season. The title winner,

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

, later said, "I've had a lot of thrills, but don't think I was ever happier than in 1900 when I won after battling Elmer Flick to the last day of the season for the title." Flick was one of many star NL players who jumped to the fledgling

(AL) after the 1901 season, playing for the crosstown Philadelphia Athletics. Flick played in 11 games for the Athletics, before the Phillies obtained an injunction from the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Ju ...

prohibiting any player under contract with the Phillies from playing for another team. Though this injunction named Lajoie, Bill Bernhard, and Chick Fraser only, it still applied to Flick as well. As a recourse, Flick and teammate Lajoie signed instead with the

Cleveland Naps 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

, as the Pennsylvania injunction could not be enforced in Ohio. The two players often traveled separately from their teammates for the next year, never setting foot in Pennsylvania in order to avoid a subpoena. Flick spent the remainder of his career in Cleveland, and the contract dispute was resolved when the leagues made peace in September 1903 with the National Agreement. On July 6, 1902, Flick hit three triples in one game. Between 1900 and 2010, 49 players accomplished that feat. By early 1904, Flick did not want to re-sign with Cleveland for the offered $2,500 ($ in current dollar terms). Plans were being made to run a railroad through a corner of Flick's farm and Flick hoped to hire some of his horses to the construction team. "After July 4, my farm work will be along so that I will be able to give considerable attention to independent ball", he said. Flick did return to Cleveland for the 1904 season. That year, Flick tied teammate

Harry Bay Harry Elbert "Deerfoot" Bay (January 17, 1878 – March 19, 1952) was a professional baseball player who played outfield in the major leagues from 1901 to 1908. Bay played for the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Bronchos/Naps. Early life He atte ...

for the league lead with 38 stolen bases. Flick was the AL batting champion in the 1905 season with a .308 average. Only Carl Yastrzemski, who won the batting title with a .301 average in the 1968 season, led the league with a lower average. Flick also led the league with a .462 slugging percentage and 18 triples in 1905. His .383 on-base percentage trailed only Topsy Hartsel. During a 1905 game, Cleveland fielders were charged with seven errors in a single inning, but Flick committed only one of the errors. In the 1906 season, Flick played a league-leading 157 games. He led the league with 700 plate appearances, 624 at-bats, 98 runs scored, 22 triples, and 39 stolen bases (tied with John Anderson). However, Flick was "said to be dissatisfied with the team", and the Naps considered trading him to the Detroit Tigers for

Matty McIntyre Matthew Martin "Matty" McIntyre (June 12, 1880 – April 2, 1920) was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played ten seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics (1901), Detroit Tigers (1904–10), and Chicago White Sox (1911–12). Born in St ...

. Before the 1907 season, the Naps turned down a trade with the Tigers which would have exchanged Flick for the 21-year-old

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder. He was born in rural Narrows, Georgia. Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the ...

Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...

, the Tigers' manager, was tired of dealing with Cobb's abrasive behavior. The Naps refused to part with Flick, even in exchange for Cobb. They countered with

Bunk Congalton William Millar "Bunk" Congalton (January 24, 1875 – August 19, 1937) was a Canadian right fielder in Major League Baseball. A native of Guelph, Ontario, he stood 5'11" and weighed 190 lbs. Congalton was a minor league star who twice led ...

, but the Tigers declined. Flick had been holding out but he signed a few days after the proposed trade. After Cobb was nearly traded away, Jennings attempted to repair the difficult relationships between Cobb and the other Detroit players. "Cobb is too good a hitter to let get away, when a little diplomacy will get the boys together", Jennings said. In the 1907 season, Flick again led the league with 18 triples. However, baseball took its toll on Flick. Before the 1907 season, he considered retiring to pursue other business opportunities. By 1908, he developed stomach problems. Cleveland personnel initially said that the illness was related to Flick's overeating. He left

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

that year, complaining of "train sickness", and returned home to Cleveland. He missed the majority of the 1908 season, playing in only nine games. He missed the beginning of the 1909 season as well, as a doctor recommended Flick have his appendix removed. Now weighing , Flick was afraid of a bad outcome from the surgery, which was a significant risk at the time. He kept his appendix and played in 66 games, batting .255. He played in another 24 games in the 1910 season before he was again sidelined by his stomach ailment.Fleitz 2004, p. 134 The Naps acquired

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

from the Athletics in a trade and had him replace Flick in the lineup. In July 1910, the Naps sold Flick to the Kansas City Blues of the American Association, but Flick refused to report to Kansas City, which cancelled the transaction.

Later career

In 1911, Flick looked to continue his career. Unable to find a major league team willing to sign him, he returned to the minor leagues. The

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

of the American Association purchased him from Cleveland. Flick played for Toledo in 1911 and 1912. He batted .326 in the 1911 season and .262 in the 1912 season, but did not hit for

power Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may a ...

. The Mud Hens released him at the end of the 1912 season. He retired from professional baseball after being released by Toledo, though he briefly played as a second baseman for a local amateur team in Bedford in 1914. Flick retired without playing in a World Series. As of 2003, there were six Hall of Famers without a World Series appearance who played most of their careers after 1903; three of them – Flick, Lajoie and

Addie Joss Adrian "Addie" Joss (April 12, 1880 – April 14, 1911), nicknamed "the Human Hairpin", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Cleveland Bronchos of Major League Baseball, later known as the Naps, between 1902 and 191 ...

– played together with Cleveland from 1902 to 1910.

Later life

Returning to Bedford, Flick hunted, raised horses, built buildings, and became involved in selling

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

. He also scouted for Cleveland. Only four 19th-century baseball players, including Flick, were still alive in 1970. In his later years, Flick still answered requests for autographs from his fans. Proud of his longevity, Flick often completed autographs by writing the date and his age above or underneath his signature. Flick was married to Rosa Ella (née Gates). The couple had five daughters. Flick died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

on January 9, 1971, two days before his 95th birthday, in his hometown of Bedford. He had also suffered from

mycosis fungoides Mycosis fungoides, also known as Alibert-Bazin syndrome or granuloma fungoides, is the most common form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. It generally affects the skin, but may progress internally over time. Symptoms include rash, tumors, skin lesion ...

Honors

When Cobb died in 1961, stories written about him mentioned the attempted trade between Cleveland and Detroit, which revived interest in Flick. Flick was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963 after being unanimously elected by the

Veterans Committee The Veterans Committee is the popular name of various committees of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that elect participants other than recently retired players. Originally, it referenced the National Baseball Hall of Fame Committee ...

(VC). When he received the call from Branch Rickey that he had been selected, Flick did not believe Rickey at first. He said that he did not even realize that he was being considered for election at the time.Fleitz 2004, p. 126. Flick's family had to convince him that the call was real. He was the oldest living inductee in Hall of Fame history. At his induction, the 87-year-old Flick said, "This is a bigger day than I've ever had before. I'm not going to find the words to explain how I feel." Subsequent to his induction, writers have questioned the validity of Flick's Hall of Fame membership. James Vail characterized Flick and three other Hall of Famers as "some of the most dubious VC choices ever". David Fleitz wrote that Rickey's influence on the Veterans Committee led to Flick's election, as Rickey was the only committee member who had seen Flick play. Author Robert E. Kelly pointed out that Flick's career was relatively short and that stronger candidates from Flick's era (such as Sherry Magee) had not been inducted. Flick was enshrined in the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, and the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987. A statue of Flick's likeness was created to be placed in Bedford; it was funded by donations and was ultimately dedicated in September 2013.

Mike Hargrove Dudley Michael Hargrove (born October 26, 1949) is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. He is currently employed as an advisor with the Cleveland Guardians. Hargrove batted and threw left-handed. He played for the Texas Rang ...

was among the baseball figures who attended the dedication ceremony.

References

External links

Elmer Flick
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flick, Elmer 1876 births 1971 deaths People from Bedford, Ohio Baseball players from Ohio Major League Baseball right fielders Philadelphia Phillies players Philadelphia Athletics players Cleveland Bronchos players Cleveland Naps players National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees American League batting champions American League stolen base champions National League RBI champions Youngstown Puddlers players Dayton Old Soldiers players Toledo Mud Hens players 19th-century baseball players Sportspeople from Cuyahoga County, Ohio