Oscar Emil "Happy" Felsch (August 22, 1891 – August 17, 1964) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the c ...

in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago White Sox from 1915 to 1920."Happy Felsch Statistics and History"
''baseball-reference.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-24. He is best known for his involvement in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Early life

Felsch was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to German immigrant parents. He dropped out of school in the sixth grade and played baseball on Milwaukee sandlots."Happy Felsch's Obit"
''thedeadballera.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-24. He began his professional baseball career in the Wisconsin-Illinois League in 1913. The next season, he batted .304 and slugged .512 for the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

, and was purchased by the White Sox.

Major league career

From 1916 to 1920, Felsch was one of the best hitters in the American League, finishing in the top 10 in more than a few major batting categories. His 102 runs batted in was good enough for second place in 1917, as the White Sox won the World Series. He missed most of the 1918 season due to military service. Felsch continued his good hitting and fielding in 1919. He had a strong throwing arm and was highly regarded as a center fielder; He led the AL in outfield putouts and assists in 1919. The White Sox won the pennant going away. That fall, Felsch agreed to join a group of White Sox players that planned to intentionally lose the

1919 World Series The 1919 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1919 season. The 16th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League champion Chicago White Sox against the National League champion Cincinnati Reds. ...

in exchange for monetary payments from a network of gamblers. He was reluctant to go along with the plan at first but then eventually did because of the money."Hap Felsch"
1919blacksox.com. Retrieved 2010-10-24. There was little doubt of Felsch's guilt on the field, as he not only hit poorly, but also misplayed flyballs in key situations. Chicago lost the series, five games to three. For his part in the fix, Felsch received $5,000, which was more than his entire regular season salary of $2,750. However, after the scandal broke in late 1920, Felsch, along with seven other players, was made permanently ineligible for organized baseball by

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Kenesaw Mountain Landis. 1920, his last season in the majors, was his best. He hit .338 with 14 home runs and 115 runs batted in and it is possible that he would have put up more big numbers in the

live-ball era The live-ball era, also referred to as the lively ball era, is the period in Major League Baseball beginning in (and continuing to the present day), contrasting with the pre-1920 period known as the "dead-ball era". The name "live-ball era" comes ...

. Felsch later said, as quoted by the '' Chicago American'':

Well, the beans are spilled and I think I'm through with baseball. I got $5,000. I could have got just about that much by being on the level if the Sox had won the Series. And now I'm out of baseball—the only profession I know anything about, and a lot of gamblers have gotten rich. The joke seems to be on us.

Career statistics

In 749 games over 6 seasons, Felsch posted a .293 batting average (825-for-2812) with 385 runs, 135 doubles, 64

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 38

home runs 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 i ...

, 443 RBI, 88

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled 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 ...

, 207

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .347

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .427

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He finished his career with a .975

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

playing primarily at center field. In the 1917 and 1919 World Series, he hit .229 (11-for-48) with 6 runs, 1 home run and 6 RBI.

Later life

Felsch spent the next 15 years touring the country with various amateur and semi-pro teams, including Scobey, Montana Outlaws in 1925 and 1926; Regina, Saskatchewan in 1927 (Regina Balmorals of the Southern Saskatchewan Baseball League), in Virden, Manitoba of the Winnipeg Senior League; and finally in Plentywood, Montana in 1928. After his playing days ended, he opened up a grocery store as well as a number of drinking establishments. Felsch died of a liver ailment in Milwaukee in 1964, just five days before his 73rd birthday. He was survived by his wife Marie and three children. He is buried at Wisconsin Memorial Park in Brookfield, Wisconsin. In the 1988 film '' Eight Men Out'', Felsch was portrayed by Charlie Sheen."Eight Men Out Cast"
''allmovie.com''. Retrieved 2010-10-24.

References

External links