Albert Henry Bridwell (January 4, 1884 – January 23, 1969) was an American

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played for several MLB teams, most notably the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

from 1908 to 1911, when the team was managed by

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager (baseball), manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants. He was also the ...

Baseball career

During his 11-year major league career from 1905 to 1915, Bridwell was regarded as a good fielder but never had a .300

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 ...

. His career-high was .294 in 1909. In 1,252 career games played, Bridwell batted .255 with 1,064

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, 95 doubles, 32

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, 2

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 457

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 ...

, and 350

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

. Bridwell is best known for hitting the apparent walk-off single which led to

Merkle's Boner Merkle's Boner refers to the notorious base running, base-running mistake committed by rookie Fred Merkle of the 1908 New York Giants season, New York Giants in a game against the 1908 Chicago Cubs season, Chicago Cubs on September 23, 1908. Merk ...

in a September 1908 game. The hit was nullified due to baserunner

Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy ...

's failure to touch second base, and because the crowd was already on the field, the game between the Giants and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

was ruled a tie. The two teams ended up tied for first at the end of the season and had to play a makeup game, which the Cubs won. Bridwell never played in a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. Midway through the 1911 season, he was traded by the Giants, who went on to play in the

1911 World Series The 1911 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1911 season. The eighth edition of the World Series, it matched the American League (AL) champion Philadelphia Athletics against the National League (NL) champion ...

, to the Boston Rustlers. On John McGraw's managing style, Bridwell later said: "He knew how to handle men, some players he rode and others he didn't. He got the most out of each man." Bridwell's pugnaciousness fit right in with McGraw's style of play. Bridwell once punched McGraw in the nose, earning a two-game suspension.

Personal life

In 1906, Bridwell married Margaret Lorraine McMahon. The couple's only child, Mary Jane, was born in 1914.Rice, Stephen V
"Al Bridwell"
sabr.org. Retrieved November 5, 2021. Bridwell was interviewed for

Lawrence Ritter Lawrence Stanley Ritter (May 23, 1922 – February 15, 2004) was an American writer who wrote on economics and baseball. Career Ritter was a professor of economics and finance at New York University, and was chairman of the Department of Financ ...

's 1966 book ''

The Glory of Their Times ''The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It'' is a 1966 book, edited by Lawrence Ritter, telling the stories of early 20th century baseball. It is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest book ...

''. Bridwell died in 1969 at age 85.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridwell, Al 1884 births 1969 deaths Major League Baseball shortstops Cincinnati Reds players Boston Beaneaters players Boston Doves players New York Giants (baseball) players Boston Rustlers players Boston Braves players Chicago Cubs players St. Louis Terriers players 20th-century American sportsmen Columbus Senators players Atlanta Crackers players Houston Buffaloes players Houston Buffaloes managers Baseball players from Ohio People from Scioto County, Ohio Spartanburg Pioneers players