Arndt Ludwig "Art" Jorgens (May 18, 1905 – March 1, 1980) was a
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 catcher ...
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) ...
who played from through 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 o ...
.
Biography
Jorgens was born in
Modum
Modum is a municipality in Buskerud in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Vikersund. The municipality of Modum was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).
The area has a long tr ...
,
Buskerud
Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Har ...
County,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
. His family moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, where he attended
Lane Tech High School
In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in each ...
in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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. His brother
Orville Jorgens
Orville Edward Jorgens (June 4, 1908 – January 11, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Jorgens played for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1935 to 1937. He batted and threw right-handed. Jorgens was the brother of fellow Major Leaguer Ar ...
also played in the majors.
Art Jorgens batted and threw right-handed. He was slender for a catcher, at 5' 9" 160-lb.
Jorgens was purchased by the New York Yankees from
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, an ...
(Western) on August 24, 1928. His debut game with the New York Yankees was on April 26, 1929. Jorgens played his entire major league career with the Yankees serving as a
backup catcher for
Bill Dickey
William Malcolm Dickey (June 6, 1907 – November 12, 1993) was an American professional baseball catcher and manager. He played in Major League Baseball with the New York Yankees for 19 seasons. Dickey managed the Yankees as a player-manager in ...
in eleven consecutive seasons.
In 1934, he posted career-highs in
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 ...
(38),
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 ...
(20) and
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...
(58). He had a career-high .270
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 i ...
in 1931. Jorgens was a career .238 hitter with four
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 is ...
s and 89 RBI in 307 games. He has been one of only three Norwegian-born players to reach the major leagues. His final games with the New York Yankees was on August 2, 1939.
''Arndt Ludwig Jorgens'' ( Tripod.com/Baseball fan)
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Jorgens died in Wilmette, Illinois
Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...
, at age of 74. He is buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois
Skokie (; formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, neighboring the City of Chicago's northern border. Its population, according to the 2020 census, was 67,824. Skokie lies approximately north of Chicago's do ...
.
Notable achievements
* Jorgens has the dubious distinction of having played on teams that won five pennants and five world championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
(the New York Yankees in 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938 and 1939), yet never making a single appearance in a World Series game.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
References
External links
Art Jorgens New York Yankees Baseball cardJorgens stats
at ''Baseball Almanac''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgens, Art
1905 births
1980 deaths
People from Modum
Norwegian emigrants to the United States
New York Yankees players
Major League Baseball catchers
Major League Baseball players from Norway
Rock Island Islanders players