Robert Phillip Maier (September 5, 1915 – August 4, 1993) was a professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player from 1937 to 1945. He played one season in

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 ...

as a

third baseman 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 Baseball scorekeep ...

for the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

during their 1945 World Series championship season. Maier was born in Dunellen, New Jersey, in 1915. He played minor league baseball from 1937 to 1944, including four years with the

Salisbury Cardinals Salisbury ( , ) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in ...

in the Eastern Shore League (1938–1941), two years with the Hagerstown Owls in the Interstate League (1942–1943), and one year with the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of 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 (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. In 1943, he set an Interstate League single season record with 52 doubles. The 52 doubles were also a high for all of professional baseball in 1943. Maier played only one season in the big leagues, but he spent that season on a championship team. Maier played in 132 games for the 1945 Detroit Tigers, batting .263 in 486 at bats with 58 runs, 34 RBIs, 25 doubles, 7 triples, and 7 stolen bases. He was one of three Tigers with ten at bats in a 24-inning, 1–1 tie with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

that season. The game remains as the longest in Detroit Tigers history. Though he was the starting

during the regular season, the starting job went to Jimmy Outlaw in the

1945 World Series The 1945 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1945 season. The 42nd edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Detroit Tigers against the National League champion Chicago Cubs. Th ...

, as Outlaw moved from the outfield to third base to make room for

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", and "the Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB), p ...

who had returned from military service late in the season. Maier appeared in Game 6 of the World Series as a pinch hitter for catcher Paul Richards. His one at bat in the World Series proved to be his last in professional baseball, and he hit a single off

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 ...

pitcher Claude Passeau for a lifetime batting average of 1.000 in the postseason. Maier was replaced as the Tigers starting third baseman in

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

by future Hall of Famer

George Kell George Clyde Kell (August 23, 1922 – March 24, 2009) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from 1943 to 1957, most prominently as a member of the D ...

. Maier died in 1993 in

South Plainfield, New Jersey South Plainfield is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in northern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is situated on the border with Union County, New Jersey, Union County in the Raritan Riv ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maier, Bob 1915 births 1993 deaths Hagerstown Owls players Minor league baseball managers Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball third basemen Baseball coaches from New Jersey People from Dunellen, New Jersey Baseball players from Middlesex County, New Jersey 20th-century American sportsmen

Further reading

References