Edward Francis Lafitte (April 7, 1886 – April 12, 1971) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

who played with 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 ...

(1909–12), Brooklyn Tip-Tops (1914–15), and Buffalo Blues (1915). Born in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana, at his family's home located at 319

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (, ) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending twelve blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars and strip clubs. Tourist numbers have b ...

, he batted and threw right-handed.

Baseball career

Lafitte pitched for the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public university, public research university and Institute of technology (United States), institute of technology in Atlanta, ...

baseball team in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

and

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

. He also was a starter in the first intercollegiate basketball game ever played by Georgia Tech. He made his debut with the

in 1909. After an 11-8 season with the 1911 Tigers, Lafitte told manager

Hughie Jennings Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was an American professional baseball player, coach and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won N ...

that he wanted to leave early the following season to resume dental school. Jennings told him if he left early to keep on going. Lafitte did. He became a dentist, but also pitched in the Federal League. Lafitte returned to baseball in 1914 as a member of the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the fledgling

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

. That season he became the first pitcher to throw a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

without throwing a shutout in a 6–2 victory over the Kansas City Packers on September 19. In 1914, he split his final season between the Tip-Tops and the Buffalo Blues.

Personal life

Lafitte graduated from Southern Dental College in 1911. He served in the U.S. Army during both World Wars. He practiced dentistry for 42 years in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania, retiring in 1961. The

Jenkintown, Pennsylvania Jenkintown is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is approximately north of Center City Philadelphia. History The community was named for William Jenkins, a Welsh pioneer settler. The borough was settled in abou ...

, resident died at age 85 at his home and is buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Despite assertions by some authors to the contrary,Dewey, Donald & Acocella, Nicholas (1996). ''Ball Clubs''. HarperCollins Publishers. p. 104; Dewey, Donald & Arocella, Nicholas, ''Total Ballclubs'', (Toronto: Sport Classic Books, 2005), p. 126 Ed Lafitte was not a descendant of the famed New Orleans

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate, privateer, and slave trader who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time u ...

. Ed Lafitte was the son of James Arnauld Lafitte (born March 31, 1846, in Charleston, South Carolina; died March 16, 1907, in Atlanta, Georgia), who was the son of John Baptiste Lafitte (born June 24, 1822, in Augusta, Georgia; died May 21, 1887, in New Orleans, Louisiana), who was the son of James Bertrand Lafitte (born October 16, 1770, in Tartas, France; died November 13, 1838, in Charleston, South Carolina). Since the pirate

's lifespan was c. 1776–1823, it is not possible that Ed Lafitte was his descendant. It is unknown if they were more distantly related.

Notes

References

*Dewey, Donald & Acocella, Nicholas (1996). Ball Clubs. HarperCollins Publishers. .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lafitte, Ed 1886 births 1971 deaths American people of French descent Baseball players from New Orleans Major League Baseball pitchers Detroit Tigers players Brooklyn Tip-Tops players Buffalo Blues players 20th-century American sportsmen Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Jersey City Skeeters players Providence Grays (minor league) players Rochester Bronchos players Atlanta Crackers players United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army personnel of World War II Marist School (Georgia) alumni Burials at Ivy Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia) 20th-century American dentists United States Army officers

Baseball career

Personal life

See also

Notes

References

External links