Frank M. "Wildfire" Schulte (September 17, 1882 – October 2, 1949) was an American

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 ...

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), ...

(MLB) who played for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, and Washington Senators from 1904 to 1918. He helped the Cubs win four

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 ...

(NL) championships and two

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 World ...

. In 1911, he won the NL Chalmers Award, a precursor to the modern-day MVP award; that year, Schulte had become the first of only seven players in history to join the 20–20–20–20 club, hitting 30 doubles, 21 triples, and 21 home runs, and stealing 23 bases.

Career

Schulte was born in Cochecton, New York, in 1882 to German immigrants. He played independent baseball as a teenager, despite his father's opposition to the idea. From 1902 to 1904, he played for the

New York State League The New York State League was an independent baseball league that played six seasons between 2007 and 2012 in New York State and the New York City metro area. Over 500 NYSL players have been signed by professional teams. Players from forty-eight ...

's Syracuse Stars. He was purchased by the Chicago Cubs in August 1904.Turner, Scott
"Frank Schulte"
sabr.org. Retrieved February 1, 2013. Schulte made his major league debut for the Cubs in September 1904. He played on the Cubs teams that won National League pennants in 1906, 1907, 1908, and 1910. They won the World Series in 1907 and 1908. In his four World Series appearances, Schulte had an overall

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 ...

of .321."Frank Schulte Statistics and History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013. In 1910, Schulte led the NL with 10

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 1911, he led the NL in home runs (21),

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 ...

(107), and slugging percentage (.534). He also became the first player in major league history to have more than 20 doubles, triples, home runs, and stolen bases in a season. The feat was not accomplished again until

Willie Mays Willie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931), nicknamed "the Say Hey Kid" and "Buck", is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Regarded as one of the greatest players ever, Mays ranks second behind only Babe Ruth on most all-tim ...

did it in 1957. Schulte won the 1911 NL Chalmers Award. In July 1916, Schulte was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. His hitting declined, and he then played for the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Senators until the 1918 season, his last as a major leaguer. Schulte played in the International League and Pacific Coast League from 1919 to 1922. In 1,806 MLB games over 15 seasons, Schulte posted a .270 batting average (1766-for-6533) with 906 runs, 288 doubles, 124 triples, 92 home runs, 793 runs batted in, 233 stolen bases, 545 bases on balls, a .332 on-base percentage, and a .395 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .966 fielding percentage.

Personal life

Schulte acquired his nickname, "Wildfire", after seeing a play called "Wildfire" in Mississippi. He then named one of his race horses "Wildfire" and was eventually known by that name, as well. Schulte married his wife, Mabel Kirby, in 1911. He eventually settled in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

, where he died in 1949.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
SABR Biography Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schulte, Frank 1882 births 1949 deaths American people of German descent Baseball players from New York (state) Binghamton Bingoes players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chicago Cubs players Major League Baseball outfielders Minor league baseball managers National League home run champions National League RBI champions Oakland Oaks (baseball) players People from Cochecton, New York Pittsburgh Pirates players Philadelphia Phillies players Seattle Indians players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links