Jesse Clyde Milan (; March 25, 1887 – March 3, 1953) was an American 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 who spent his entire career as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

with the Washington Senators (1907–1922). He was not a powerful batter, but was adept at getting on base and was fleet of foot, receiving the nickname "Deerfoot" for his speed. He set a modern-rules record for

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 or out ...

s in a season with 88 in 1912, a mark surpassed three years later by

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 ...

. Milan was mostly a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

. He was born in Linden, Tennessee and was listed as tall and . Like Cobb, Milan batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In 16 seasons with Washington, he batted .285 with 17

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 617

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 ...

over 1982 games. He accumulated 495 stolen bases (tied for 37th all-time with

Willie Keeler William Henry Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923), nicknamed "Wee Willie" because of his small stature, was an American right fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1892 to 1910, primarily for the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn ...

) and 1004

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 ...

. Milan had 2100 hits in 7359 career

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. He ended with a .353 all-time

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

. Defensively, he recorded a .953

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

at all three outfield positions. As a

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

(1922 only), with the Senators, he was 69–85, a .448 lifetime

winning percentage In sports, a winning percentage or Copeland score is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the to ...

, after which he managed minor league teams and spent 17 seasons (1928–29 and 1938 until his death) as a coach with Washington. His brother, Horace Milan, was briefly his teammate with the Senators. Milan suffered a fatal heart attack in

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

on March 3, 1953, during the Senators'

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 ...

camp, where Milan was beginning what would have been his 18th season as a Washington coach.

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* , o
Retrosheet
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SABR Biography Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan, Clyde 1887 births 1953 deaths American League stolen base champions Baseball players from Tennessee Birmingham Barons managers Chattanooga Lookouts managers Clarksville (minor league baseball) players Major League Baseball center fielders Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball player-managers Memphis Chickasaws players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players New Haven Profs players People from Perry County, Tennessee Shawnee Blues players Washington Senators (1901–1960) coaches Washington Senators (1901–1960) managers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Wichita Jobbers players

See also

References

External links