Henry Nels Erickson (November 11, 1907 – December 13, 1964) 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. Erickson spent seven seasons in professional baseball, one of which was 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 ...

with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. Over his major league career, Erickson batted .261 with nine runs, 23

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, three doubles, two

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 ...

, one

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 ( ...

, and four

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 ...

(RBIs) in 37 games. His only season in the majors was cut short because of injuries he suffered in an

automobile accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collision, collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, Utility pole ...

. In six

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 ...

seasons (1931–1934, 1936–1937), Erickson batted .265 with 333 hits, 49 doubles, 20 triples, and five home runs in 402 games. He played for three teams in the minors; the Double-A

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

of the American Association, the Double-A

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

, and the Class-A Waterloo Reds of the Western League. During his career, Erickson had the nickname "Popeye".

Professional career

Early career

Erickson began his professional career in 1931 with the Double-A

. In eight games that season, Erickson batted .179 with five

, and one

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * I ...

. Erickson spent the next three seasons with the Colonels. In 1932, Erickson batted .301 with 71 hits, nine doubles, six triples, and one

. The next season, 1933, Erickson batted .298 with 105 hits, 18 doubles, four triples, and two home runs in 105 games. Erickson spent his final season with the Colonels in 1934. During that season, he batted .264 with 57 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, two home runs. Erickson was sent to the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, they became the Oakland ...

that season, but was sent back before making an appearance.

Cincinnati Reds

In 1935, Erickson was purchased by the

as a part of a rebuilding phase in the franchise. On April 18, after replacing injured catcher

Ernie Lombardi Ernesto Natali Lombardi (April 6, 1908 – September 26, 1977) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher for the Brooklyn Robins, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and New York Giants durin ...

in a game against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

, Erickson hit his first major league home run. During his time with the Reds, Erickson was given the nickname "Popeye" after the comic strip character. Erickson was involved in an automobile accident in September. He suffered a dislocated right

hip In vertebrate anatomy, the hip, or coxaLatin ''coxa'' was used by Celsus in the sense "hip", but by Pliny the Elder in the sense "hip bone" (Diab, p 77) (: ''coxae'') in medical terminology, refers to either an anatomical region or a joint on t ...

, a broken left

elbow The elbow is the region between the upper arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and t ...

, a

skull fracture A skull fracture is a break in one or more of the eight bones that form the cranial portion of the skull, usually occurring as a result of blunt force trauma. If the force of the impact is excessive, the bone may fracture at or near the site of ...

, a

brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...

injury, and skull

lacerations A wound is any disruption of or damage to living tissue, such as skin, mucous membranes, or organs. Wounds can either be the sudden result of direct trauma (mechanical, thermal, chemical), or can develop slowly over time due to underlying diseas ...

. Early into his hospital stay, Erickson slipped in and out of consciousness. He was unable to play for the remainder of the season. Injured catcher Ernie Lombardi had to take over the bulk of the catching duties while Erickson was out. Erickson played 37 games with the Reds and batted .261 with nine runs, 23 hits, three doubles, two triples, one home run, and four

(RBIs).

Later career

Erickson spent the 1936 season with the Double-A

in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Erickson was sent down by the Reds to receive the bulk of the catching duties in the minors. He batted .216 with 44 hits, five doubles, and two triples in 73 games that season. On November 25, 1936, the Reds sold Erickson to the

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

. However, Erickson played the entire 1937 season with the Class-A Waterloo Reds. With Waterloo, Erickson batted .232 with 51 hits, seven doubles, and two triples in 66 games. 1937 would prove to be Erickson's final season in professional baseball.

Personal

Erickson was born on November 11, 1907, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. According to TheDeadBallEra.com, after his professional baseball career was over, Erickson worked as a stockroom manager in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. He died on December 13, 1964, in Louisville. Erickson was buried at Glen Oak Cemetery in

Hillside, Illinois Hillside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 8,320. It is a suburb of Chicago. Geography Hillside is located at (41.874797, −87.900372). According to the 2021 census gazetteer fi ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erickson, Hank 1907 births 1964 deaths Major League Baseball catchers Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Cincinnati Reds players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Waterloo Reds players Baseball players from Chicago 20th-century American sportsmen