Frank Elmer Huelsman (June 5, 1874 – June 9, 1959) was an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 sy ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the St. Louis Browns (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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

, hitting for a .286

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

(2-for-7) in two

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (su ...

. 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 one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in , appearing in three games with the

before moving to the

, the White Sox again, the new St. Louis Browns, 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 ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s and 35

RBI RBI most often refers to: *Reserve Bank of India *Run batted in RBI may also refer to: Organisations *Radio Berlin International *Raiffeisen Bank International *Reed Business Information *Restaurant Brands International *Ruđer Bošković In ...

. 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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

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 c ...

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 Pe ...

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, and 11 stolen bases – 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 N ...

star, compiling a .342 career average over nearly 20 years, including five batting titles and six

titles. While playing for the Salt Lake City Skyscrapers in the Class D

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

, 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 a 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 Affton is located at 38°33'4" North, 90°19'25" West (38.5510 ...

, just four days after his 85th birthday.

References

Sources

1904 Detroit TigersBaseball LibraryBaseball 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 Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 19th-century baseball players 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