Morris Arnovich (November 16, 1910 – July 20, 1959), nicknamed "Snooker", was an American

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. Arnovich played 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 ...

between 1936 and 1946 and played in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

winning team in 1940 as a part of 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 ...

. Playing as a

line drive In the sports of baseball and softball, a batted ball is a pitch that has been contacted by the batter's bat. Batted balls are either fair or foul, and can be characterized as a fly ball, pop-up, line drive, or ground ball. In baseball, a fou ...

hitter, and fielding 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 ...

he began in MLB for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in 1936 where he played four seasons before joining the Reds for a season. After his time in Cincinnati, he joined 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 ...

for the season, and again for one game in after joining the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. A member of the 1939 National League All-Star team, he finished his career with a .287

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 ...

. After retiring, Arnovich coached

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and died in 1959 of a

coronary occlusion A coronary occlusion, or coronary artery disease, is the partial or complete Coronary artery disease, obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery. This condition was first discussed in 1910 by William Osler, Sir William Osler. This condition s ...

Early and personal life

Arnovich was born in

Superior, Wisconsin Superior (; ) is a city in Douglas County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 26,751 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located at the western end of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin, the city l ...

on November 16, 1910. One of the most religious

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

major leaguers, Arnovich kept

kosher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, ), from the Ashke ...

his whole life. He attended

Superior High School Superior High School may refer to any of the following: *Superior Junior/Senior High School Superior Junior/Senior High School is a junior high and high school in Superior, Arizona. It is operated by the Superior Unified School District, which ...

in Superior, Wisconsin. Arnovich was a two-time All-Wisconsin basketball star at the

University of Wisconsin–Superior The University of Wisconsin–Superior (UW–Superior or UWS) is a Public university, public liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin, United States. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The univ ...

. He was later given the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

"snooker", after being prolific in the British game of the same name.

Baseball career

Arnovich's professional baseball career began at age 22 with the

Superior Blues The Superior Blues were a minor league baseball team based in Superior, Wisconsin, USA. From 1933 to 1943 and from 1946 to 1955, the Blues played in the Northern League. History In 1937, the Blues were affiliated with the St. Louis Browns. From ...

, the champions of the newly revived Northern League in . Playing as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

that year, he hit .331 and had a

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, an ...

of .495 with 17 steals. Throughout the season he hit 14

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 ( ...

s, putting him fourth in the league. His .918 fielding percentage was best of any shortstop with 50 or more games that season and made the unofficial All-Star team listed by the ''Spalding Guide''. Returning to Superior in , Arnovich hit .374 to take the Northern League

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

, and his 21 home runs (three in one game) tied for fifth. The

purchased his contract in , where he turned up for

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

with regulars remarking that "he'll never make it". The Phillies assigned him to the

Hazleton Mountaineers The Hazleton Mountaineers were one of the original six franchises in the Eastern Professional Basketball League. The Mountaineers were the league's first team to have an integrated roster, as two former members of the New York Rens, Bill Brown ...

of the

New York–Pennsylvania League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 19 ...

where he hit .305. In , he hit .327 with 19 home runs and 109

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 ...

(RBI) in the minor leagues. He also played his first games in

in 1936, debuting September 14, 1936, where he made .313 batting average over 13 games. He moved to the outfield, playing mostly in

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 ...

for the rest of his career. In , he hit .290 and had a career-high five

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

s from the outfield, and made seven consecutive hits. In , he made the most outfield assists of his career – 18. He was referred to as the "Son of Israel", or the "Next Jewish Star" by the Anglo-Jewish press. When

Phil Weintraub Philip Weintraub (October 12, 1907 – June 21, 1987) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder. Weintraub played for 13 minor league teams, for whom he had an aggregate batting average of .337, as well as for the New Yo ...

entered the armed forces, Arnovich took his spot in the Phillies lineup. For the season he was the top contact hitter in 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 ...

before fading late and finishing fifth in the league with a .324 batting average, and sixth in the league with a .397 on base percentage. He also led all left fielders in

putout In baseball statistics, a putout (PO) is awarded to a defensive player who (generally while in secure possession of the ball) records an out by one of the following methods: * Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base (a tag ...

s, with 335, and in range factor/game, at 2.61. He made the

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

team in his best season, 18th in the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

voting. Although originally not part of the team, a fan petition secured him a place on the roster, but he did not play. Morrie Arnovich Reds

At the age of 29, Arnovich was traded to the

for Johnny Rizzo in June and had a disappointing season, though he continued to hit for solid contact (.284 with the Reds). He made his only

appearance that season, which Reds won 4–3 over the

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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He was sold to the

for $25,000 in December , and had a .280 batting average in 85 games through . Arnovich tried to volunteer for the

, but was turned down because he was missing a pair of molars. He got false teeth and volunteered again after

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

in 1942; this time he was permitted in and spent the next four years in the Army. He was a

staff sergeant Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. History of title In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...

for the Army in the Pacific Theater of Operations. While in the Army, Arnovich played for and managed the Fort Lewis baseball team, before becoming a postal clerk in New Guinea. Out of condition and now 35 years old, Morrie played in one game for the New York Giants in and was sent down to the

Jersey City Giants {{Infobox Minor League Baseball , name = Jersey City Giants , founded = 1937 , city = Jersey City, New Jersey , misc = , logo = , uniformlogo = , class level = , past ...

, where he went 5 for 25 in 10 games before being released in June 1946. In Arnovich hit in the .370s in the Three-I League and

Western Association The Western Association was the name of five different leagues formed in American minor league baseball during the 19th and 20th centuries. The oldest league, originally established as the Northwestern League in 1883, was refounded as the Wester ...

, then batted .353 in limited time in the in the

Southeastern League The Southeastern League was the name of four separate baseball leagues in minor league baseball which operated in the Southeastern and South Central United States in numerous seasons between 1897 and 2003. Two of these leagues were associated w ...

with the

Selma Cloverleafs The Selma Cloverleafs were a baseball team based in Selma, Alabama. The original Cloverleafs played in the Southeastern League and Alabama–Florida League at various times between 1928 and 1962. Independent League In 2002 a new version of th ...

before retiring at the age of 37. In 2010 he was ranked ninth in career batting average among Jewish major league baseball players of all-time.

Career statistics

In 590 games over seven seasons, Arnovich posted a .287

(577-for-2013) with 234 runs, 104 doubles, 12

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 ...

, 22 home runs, 261 RBIs, 17

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions 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 out a ...

and 185

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

. He also had a .350

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

and .383 slugging percentage. Defensively, he recorded a .981

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

playing primarily at left field, but played several games at center and right field.

Later years and death

Arnovich gave out free baseball lessons to teenagers in Superior, Arnovich would manage both the Davenport Cubs, and

of the Cub's

farm team In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a Team sport, team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any s ...

s, and was a basketball coach at a local Catholic high school. He married Bertha Aserson on July 10, 1956, and ran a jewelry and sporting goods shop. On July 20, 1959, he died of a

at his home shortly after his third wedding anniversary. Arnovich was buried at the Hebrew Cemetery in Superior, Wisconsin.

References

External links