Frederick Charles "Fritz" Maisel (December 23, 1889 – April 22, 1967) was a professional baseball player who 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 ...

in the Major Leagues from 1913 to 1918, and was later a minor league player and manager and a major league scout. In his Major League career, he played for the

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 ...

and St. Louis Browns. Because of his speed on the basepaths, he was known as "Catonsville Flash" or just "Flash" by his fans. In 1914, he 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 b ...

with 74

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 ...

s, and was only

caught stealing In baseball, a runner is charged, and the fielders involved are credited, with a time caught stealing when the runner attempts to advance or lead off from one base to another without the ball being batted and then is tagged out by a fielder whil ...

17 times that year, an 81 percent success rate. Maisel was born in

Catonsville, Maryland Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

. In 1910, he was signed by Jack Dunn of the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

, and started with an Orioles farm team (probably the Elgin Kittens) in Elgin, Illinois. (The Orioles were a minor league team during the period of 1903 through 1953.) After his major league career, he rejoined the Baltimore Orioles as team captain in 1919, and led the team to seven straight

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 ( ...

pennants. In 1929, after the death of Jack Dunn, Fritz became the manager of the Orioles and managed them from the 1929 through 1932 seasons. He was inducted into the

International League Hall of Fame The International League Hall of Fame is an American baseball hall of fame which honors players, managers, and executives of the International League (IL). It was created by the International League Baseball Writers' Association in 1947 to honor t ...

in 1959. Maisel was not regarded by some as a very successful manager for the Orioles of the International League, despite his winning record. He did not have much talent on the team and became a laughing stock of the Baltimore press. He was blamed for all the misfortunes of the team. Maisel was Chief of the

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland and is part of the Baltimore metropolitan area. Baltimore County (which partially surrounds, though does not include, the independent City ...

Fire Department from 1938 to 1951. At the time of his death, he was a scout for the

(the Orioles have been a

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 ...

team since 1954). He was a lifelong resident of

Catonsville Catonsville is a census-designated place (CDP) in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 41,567 at the 2010 census. The community lies to the west of Baltimore along the city's border. Catonsville contains the majority of th ...

External links and sources

Baseball Reference
*

''"Herald-Argus"'' newspaper article, circa 22 April 1967 entitled "Fritz Maisel, Catonsville's Famous Baseball Hero, Dies" * "Professional Baseball Franchises", by Peter Filichia, ''"Facts On File"'', New York, 1993 * ''"The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition"'', edited by Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer, Sterling Publishing, New York, 2007 * Chadwick, Bruce, and David Spindel. ''"The Baltimore Orioles: Memories and Memorabilia of the Lords of Baltimore."'' New York: Abbeville Press, 1995. * Bready, James. ''"Baseball in Baltimore: The First Hundred Years."'' Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.
International League Hall of Fame Entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maisel, Fritz 1889 births 1967 deaths Major League Baseball third basemen American League stolen base champions New York Highlanders players New York Yankees players St. Louis Browns players Wheeling Stogies players Elgin Kittens players Baltimore Orioles (IL) managers Baltimore Orioles (IL) players Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from Maryland Sportspeople from Baltimore County, Maryland People from Catonsville, Maryland

See also

External links and sources