Christian Frederick Albert John Henry David "Bruno" Betzel (December 6, 1894 – February 7, 1965) was an American

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

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 ...

and a longtime manager at the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

level. In 26 years as a minor league skipper, between the years of

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

and

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

(he did not manage in 1931,

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

(when he was a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

), nor in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

– 55), Betzel compiled a record of 1,887 victories and 1,892 losses for a winning percentage of .499. Born in Chattanooga, Ohio, a small town in Mercer County on the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

border, Betzel played his entire, five-year Major League career for the St. Louis Cardinals, between 1914 and

1918 The ceasefire that effectively ended the World War I, First World War took place on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of this year. Also in this year, the Spanish flu pandemic killed 50–100 million people wor ...

. A right-handed batter and thrower, he appeared in 448 games and batted .231 with 333 hits, including 37 doubles, 25 triples, two

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 and 94

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 ...

. He was the Redbirds' regular

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 ...

in 1915 and

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

in 1916. An old-time ballplayer who roomed with Rogers Hornsby in his tenure with the Cardinals, Betzel once beaned

Ty Cobb Tyrus Raymond Cobb (December 18, 1886 – July 17, 1961), nicknamed "the Georgia Peach", was an American professional baseball center fielder. A native of rural Narrows, Georgia, Cobb played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent ...

with an infield ground ball that set off a rare brawl in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. In spite of his business-like, win at all costs baseball life, he was known to share what he hunted and fished for with orphanages near his home. In 1927 Bruno began his managing career with the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

of the Class AA American Association; the following season, he won his first pennant. He would win six more championships, all of them in the higher levels of the minor leagues, over the course of his managing career. After

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

s were adopted in the 1930s, Betzel piloted minor league affiliates of the Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and Cincinnati Reds. He was integral in the process which sent the first black player to the Major Leagues. As manager of the Jersey City Giants, whose nemesis was the Montreal Royals team, Betzel said of Jackie Robinson (Montreal's second baseman), "I don't care if he is polka-dotted, he will be a big league player", and "I'd tuck him into bed at night if necessary to have him play for me in the big leagues". In his final season as a manager, 1956, he led the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

to 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 ...

pennant, although the Leafs dropped the Governors' Cup playoff series to the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

in seven games. Betzel was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame in 1957. He died in

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb in the Miami metropolitan area. The population of Hollywood was 153,067 as of 2020, making it the Broward County#Communities, third-largest city in Broward County, th ...

, at the age of 70. According to ''Official Baseball 1945'', Betzel was endowed with six given names to honor all six of his uncles; he gained his lifelong nickname "Bruno" after a St. Bernard Dog of his youth that used to follow him around.O'Connor, Leslie M., ed., ''Official Baseball 1945.'' New York: A.S. Barnes & Co., 1945, page 382

References

*Reichler, Joseph, ed. ''The Baseball Encyclopedia.'' New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1979. *Lloyd Johnson, ed., ''The Minor League Register.'' Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1994.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betzel, Bruno 1894 births 1965 deaths Baseball players from Ohio Binghamton Triplets managers Binghamton Triplets players Bristol Boosters players Durham Bulls managers Indianapolis Indians managers Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Athletics scouts Louisville Colonels (minor league) managers Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball infielders Montreal Royals managers New York Yankees scouts Sportspeople from Mercer County, Ohio St. Louis Cardinals players Syracuse Chiefs managers Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) managers Fort Wayne Chiefs players 20th-century American sportsmen