Richard Wendell Reichle (November 23, 1896 – June 13, 1967) 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 who appeared in 128 games for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

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) during the 1922 and 1923 seasons. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Reichle was also a

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player, and played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) during the 1923 season.

Biography

Reichle was a native of Lincoln, Illinois; he first attended Lincoln College, and later the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. His college career was interrupted by service in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during World War I; he played for the 1918 Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl. Reichle was also a member of the 1919 Illinois Fighting Illini football team. In a short professional baseball career, 1922 to 1924, Reichle was primarily 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 ...

who also played some games as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He appeared in 164

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 ...

games and 128 major league games. Reichle's major league debut was on September 19, 1922, appearing for the

against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

; he went hitless in four

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 in a 7–4 loss. Reichle got his first major league hit the next day, singling against

George Uhle George Ernest Uhle (September 18, 1898 – February 26, 1985) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his playing career with his hometown Cleveland Indians. After ten seasons, during which time he led the ...

of the Indians in a 5–2 loss. With the 1922 Red Sox, Reichle went 6-for-24 for a .250

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 ...

in six games with Boston. Reichle played in 122 games with the 1923 Red Sox, a team that compiled a 61–91 record. On April 20, 1923, Reichle hit the only

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 ( ...

of his career, coming off of Waite Hoyt of 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 ...

; it was also the first home run hit by a visiting player at

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

, which had officially opened two days earlier. For the season, Reichle batted .258 with 39 RBIs. Overall, Reichle appeared in 128 major league games, all with the Red Sox, recording a .257 batting average with one home run and 39 RBIs. In 101 defensive appearances (99 in the outfield, 2 at first base) he posted a .978 fielding average. Reichle played in six games with the 1923 Milwaukee Badgers of the

at right end. He was a second-team selection to the 1923 All-Pro Team by '' Collyer's Eye''. After his brief professional sports career, Reichle pursued a career in insurance. Per his April 1942 draft registration card, he was employed by Investors Syndicate (present-day Ameriprise Financial) in St. Louis. Reichle died at the age of 70 in Richmond Heights, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis.

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reichle, Dick 1896 births 1967 deaths American football ends Major League Baseball outfielders Boston Red Sox players Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets football players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Evansville Evas players Hartford Senators players Milwaukee Badgers players Mobile Bears players San Antonio Bears players United States Navy personnel of World War I Lincoln College (Illinois) alumni People from Lincoln, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Baseball players from Logan County, Illinois 20th-century American sportsmen

Biography

Notes

References

Further reading

External links