Ernest Ralph Orsatti (September 8, 1902 – September 4, 1968) was a professional baseball player who was an

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 ...

and

first base 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 ...

for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

from to . Orsatti appeared in four

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the Worl ...

, two of which the Cardinals won. Orsatti's brother Victor was a film producer and talent agent, and Orsatti joined his family's talent agency upon his retirement from baseball.

Early life

Orsatti was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He was the son of Morris Orsatti and Mary Manse, both born in Italy. He had six siblings. He attended

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...

in Los Angeles.

Career

Orsatti batted and threw left-handed. He played for the 1925

Cedar Rapids Bunnies Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

, with whom he batted .347 and hit 6 home runs. He played for the Syracuse team in 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 level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

in 1926 before splitting the next season between the

Houston Buffaloes The Houston Buffaloes, Houston Buffalos, or Buffs were an American minor league baseball team, and were the first minor league team to be affiliated with a Major League franchise, which was the St. Louis Cardinals. The club was founded in 1888 ...

of the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

and the

. In 1928, he spent most of the season with the

Minneapolis Millers The Minneapolis Millers were an American professional minor league baseball team that played in Minneapolis, Minnesota, through 1960. In the 19th century a different Minneapolis Millers were part of the Western League. The team played first in ...

of the American Association, and he hit .381 (sixth-highest in the league) over 123 games; he played 27 games for the Cardinals and appeared in his first

. A Cardinals' regular after that point through 1935, Orsatti appeared in three more World Series (1930, 1931 and 1934). He played in 13 World Series games over those four seasons, hitting .273 in those series but only registering two RBIs, both in 1934. The Cardinals won two of those series (1931 and 1934). After Orsatti had a mediocre season in 1935, the Cardinals were prepared to relegate him to their minor-league club in Rochester. In response, Orsatti wired from California that he was retiring from baseball. He made a brief return to the minor leagues in 1939 before retiring from baseball for good. In 701

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

, Orsatti posted a .306

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 ...

(663-2165) with 306

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, 10

home runs 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 ...

, 237 RBI, an

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 ...

of .360 and a

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, ...

of .416 in nine seasons. His career

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

was .979.

Personal life

Orsatti married opera singer Inez Gorman and had three children. One of his brothers was talent agent and producer

Victor Orsatti Victor Manuel Orsatti (November 25, 1905 – June 9, 1984) was an American talent agent and film producer. As an agent, he represented some of the biggest stars of the 1930s and 1940s, including Judy Garland, Betty Grable, and Edward G. Robin ...

. He joined his brothers in the Orsatti Talent Agency after retiring from baseball. In 1946, the agency was said to be "third from the top where movie actors' agents get together." He also owned a floral and oddity shop with his brothers-in-law and received royalties on the sales of candy bars in Southern California movie theaters. Orsatti died in 1968 in

Canoga Park, California Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...

four days shy of his 66th birthday.

References

External links

*
The Sprouting News Ernie Orsatti
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orsatti, Ernie 1902 births 1968 deaths Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Los Angeles St. Louis Cardinals players Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery