Frank Elmer Huelsman (June 5, 1874 – June 9, 1959) 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 ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

, who played 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 ...

(MLB) for the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they ...

(NL),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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 ...

(AL), and Washington Senators. A true baseball nomad, Huelsman started his major league career late in with

of the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

, hitting for a .286

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

(2-for-7) in two

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

. Out of the majors for six full seasons, he later achieved the rare distinction of being the first player in major league history to play for four different teams in a season. Huelsman reached the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

in , appearing in three games with the

before moving to the

, the White Sox again, the new

, and the Washington Senators. He hit .245 (97-for-396) in 112 games that season, including 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 35 RBI. In January , the

Boston Americans 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 ...

obtained

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 ...

George Stone from the Senators. Then, the Browns reclaimed Huelsman from Washington, where he had been on loan, and sent him along with outfielder

Jesse Burkett Jesse Cail Burkett (December 4, 1868 – May 27, 1953), nicknamed "Crab", was an American professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1890 to 1905 for the New York Giants, Cleveland Spiders, St. Louis Per ...

to Boston in exchange for Stone. Boston then sent Huelsman back to Washington in payment for Stone. For Huelsman, it was his eighth transaction in less than a year. Nevertheless, he enjoyed a good season with the Senators, hitting .271 with three home runs and 62 RBI in 121 games, including 48 runs, 28 doubles, eight

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

, and 11

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 – all career-numbers, but he was sent down in 1906, and was never called back up. In a three-season career, Huelsman was a .258 hitter with five home runs and 97 RBI in 235 games. Following his Major League Baseball career, Huelsman became a

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 ...

star, compiling a .342 career average over nearly 20 years, including five batting titles and six RBI titles. While playing for the Salt Lake City Skyscrapers in the Class D

Union Association The Union Association was an American professional baseball league which competed with Major League Baseball, lasting for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelv ...

, Huelsman won two Triple Crowns between 1911 and 1913, narrowly missing a third Triple Crown in 1912 by .002 points in batting average. Huelsman died in

Affton, Missouri Affton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in south St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, near St. Louis. The population was 20,417 at the 2020 United States census. Geography According to the United State ...

, just four days after his 85th birthday.

References

Sources

Baseball Reference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huelsman, Frank 1874 births 1959 deaths Major League Baseball left fielders St. Louis Browns (NL) players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players St. Louis Browns players 20th-century American sportsmen Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Baseball players from St. Louis Danville Champions players Peoria Distillers players Shreveport Giants players Portland Browns players Spokane Indians players Montreal Royals players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Harrisburg Senators players New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players Mobile Sea Gulls players Great Falls Electrics players Salt Lake City Skyscrapers players Albuquerque Dukes players Omaha Rourkes players Sherman Hitters players