George Bostic "Possum" Whitted (February 4, 1890 – October 16, 1962) 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 ...

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 ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

. He 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 ...

(MLB) from 1912 to 1922 for the

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

Boston Braves The Boston Braves were a Major League Baseball club that originated in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, and played from 1871 to 1952. Afterwards they moved to History of the Atlanta Braves#Milwaukee, Milwaukee (and became the Milwaukee Braves). ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Brooklyn Robins The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brookl ...

Baseball career

Whitted was the first rookie in history to start at every position (except

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, ...

and

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 ...

) during the season. In

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

, after being traded from the Cardinals to Boston, Whitted was a member of the Braves team that went from last place to first place in two months, becoming the first team to win a pennant after being in last place on the Fourth of July. The team then went on to defeat

Connie Mack Cornelius McGillicuddy (December 22, 1862 – February 8, 1956), better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball catcher, manager, and team owner. Mack holds records for the most wins (3,731), losses (3,948), ties (76), and ga ...

's heavily favored

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 ...

in the

1914 World Series The 1914 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's 1914 Major League Baseball season, 1914 season. The 11th edition of the World Series, it was played between the American League champion and defending Wor ...

. During the 1914 season, Whitted played every position for the Braves except for catcher and pitcher. Whitted then played for the

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 1915, which won 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 ...

(NL) pennant. In 11 seasons, Whitted played in 1,025 games and had 3,630 at bats, 440 runs, 978 hits, 145 doubles, 60 triples, 23 home runs, 451 runs batted in, 116 stolen bases, 215 walks, .269 batting average, .313 on-base percentage, .361 slugging percentage, 1,312 total bases, and 180 sacrifice hits. Defensively, he recorded a .966

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 at every position except catcher and pitcher.

Personal life

Whitted died in

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

at the age of 72 due to cardiac complications. As a United States Army Sergeant First Class in the Quartermaster Corps during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, stationed in France, he met his wife, Isabelle French, and is buried at the

Wilmington National Cemetery Wilmington National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Wilmington, in New Hanover County, North Carolina. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses , and as of the end of ...

. There is presently one survivor of George "Possum" Bostic Whitted, Sr.; his granddaughter, Dr. Tracy Whitted Brown, Neuroscientist and Clinical Neuropsychologist, formerly of the Salk Biological Institute, daughter of Possum's only child, George Bostic Whitted, Jr., of Chapel Hill. George Whitted Sr., and George Whitted, Jr., are buried in the VA Cemetery in Wilmington, NC. Possum's sister, Dr. Bessie Whitted Spence, taught at Duke University, Trinity College of Religion, and was the first female Professor Emeritus.

References

External links

Possum Whitted
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitted, Possum 1890 births 1962 deaths Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball third basemen St. Louis Cardinals players Boston Braves players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Brooklyn Robins players Asheville Tourists managers Savannah Indians players Jacksonville Jays players Jacksonville Tarpons players Toledo Mud Hens managers Toledo Mud Hens players Salisbury Colonials players Durham Bulls players Durham Bulls managers Baseball players from Wilmington, North Carolina Baseball players from Durham, North Carolina Accidental deaths in North Carolina Accidental deaths from falls