Mahlon Jesse Higbee (August 16, 1901 – April 7, 1968) 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 ...

player. He played three games 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) as an

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 ...

for the 1922 New York Giants during the final week of the season.

Biography

Higbee was born in 1901 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 ...

. His professional baseball career spanned 1922 to 1927, primarily in

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

, where he played over 300 games (records of the era are incomplete). He began the 1922 season with the Hopkinsville Hoppers of the KITTY League, and dominated the Class D circuit, leading the league with a .385

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, 161 hits and 101 runs scored. The

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

purchased his contract in July for $2,500 , with plans for him to join the team after the minor-league season. The Giants went on to clinched 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 ...

pennant on September 25, and brought "Hy" Higbee to New York City. With the Giants, Higbee did not disappoint, batting 4-for-10, with five

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) and two runs scored. All three of Higbee's games were played at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 to 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built for the ...

as the second game of doubleheaders, and all were Giant victories. His five RBIs are the most for any major-league player who appeared in three games or fewer. Higbee hit the first, and only,

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 ( ...

of his major-league career in his final major-league at bat. In the field, he played

left field 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 syst ...

and

right field A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In t ...

for a total of 25 innings, recording two putouts and no

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

s. Higbee did not play in the

1922 World Series The 1922 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1922 Major League Baseball season, 1922 season. The 19th edition of the World Series, it matched the National League (baseball), National League champion 1922 New ...

, a victory in four games for the Giants over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, and was returned to the minor leagues. Higbee played for the

Denver Bears Denver ( ) is a consolidated city and county, the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Western United States, in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains east of th ...

of the Class A Western League in 1923, then spent two seasons with the

Portsmouth Truckers The Portsmouth Truckers were an American professional baseball team in Minor League Baseball. Based in Portsmouth, Virginia, and primarily competing in the Virginia League, the team existed on-and-off from 1895 to 1928. The team played in the Pied ...

of the Class B

Virginia League The Virginia League was a minor league baseball affiliation which operated in Virginia and North Carolina from 1906 to 1928. It was classified as a "C" league from 1906 to 1919 and as a "B" league from 1920 to 1928, folding in June. The most fa ...

, batting .273 in 153 games. After not playing in 1926, Higbee returned in 1927 with the Evansville Hubs of the Three-I League, retiring after hitting just .188 in 16 games. Higbee died in 1968 at the age of 66 in

Depauw, Indiana Depauw is an unincorporated community in Blue River Township and Spencer Township, Harrison County, Indiana. The population of Depauw is officially unknown but is estimated to be 120 as of 2020 and is slowly decreasing. History Depauw was plat ...

. He was survived by his wife and two children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higbee, Mahlon 1901 births 1968 deaths Baseball players from Louisville, Kentucky Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders New York Giants (baseball) players Hopkinsville Hoppers players Denver Bears players Portsmouth Truckers players 20th-century American sportsmen

Biography

See also

References

External links