Henry Seymour Courtney (November 19, 1898 – December 11, 1954), was a professional baseball

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, ...

who played in the Major Leagues from – for the Washington Senators and

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 ...

. He also played for the Washington Senators of the American Professional Football Association in 1921. That season signed with the football Senators for their November 20 game against a team from

Clarksburg, West Virginia Clarksburg is a city in Harrison County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 16,039 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, tenth-most populous city ...

. However Clark Griffith, the owner of the baseball Senators, found out about Courtney moonlighting as a football player. Griffith ordered Courtney to stop playing football or risk finding himself without a job in baseball. Courtney gave up his football career and continued to focus only on baseball. He was born in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

and died in

Lyme, Connecticut Lyme is a New England town, town in New London County, Connecticut, New London County, Connecticut, United States, situated on the eastern side of the Connecticut River. The town is part of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Conn ...

External links

* GRIFF ORDERS COURTNEY TO CUT OUT FOOTBALL. (1921, November 27). The Washington Post (1877–1954),p. 22. Retrieved October 28, 2007, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877–1991) database. (Document ID: 284298722). * GALAXY OF GRID STARS IN PRO CONTEST TODAY (1921, November 27). The Washington Evening Star, p. 27. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from Evening Star Historical Archive. 1898 births 1954 deaths Major League Baseball pitchers Players of American football from Asheville, North Carolina Washington Senators (NFL) players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from Asheville, North Carolina 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-baseball-pitcher-1890s-stub