Tony Brottem
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Anton Christian "Tony" Brottem (April 30, 1891 – August 5, 1929) was born April 30, 1891. He was born on the family farm in the northwest corner of Hendrum Township, Norman County, MN, a few miles southeast of Halstad, MN. His father, John Olson Brottem, was an immigrant from Trondheim, Norway, who homesteaded in rural Minnesota in the 1870s. Tony was the youngest of 7 siblings. At a young age his father moved the family to Washington state where Tony blossomed into a
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 ...
player. In primary school at Pacific Lutheran Academy(now
Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...
) he was a standout athlete in basketball and baseball. He was noted to have been the primary catcher for Oscar Harstad who also rose up and played in the majors. Oscar's father,
Bjug Harstad Bjug Harstad (December 17, 1848 – June 20, 1933) was a Lutheran pastor, founding president of Pacific Lutheran University, and first president of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Biography Bjug Aanondson was one of ten children born on the Ha ...
, founded Pacific Lutheran Academy after doing missionary work in Minnesota and the Dakota territories while the Brottem's lived in that area. From 1913 to 1915, Tony played pro ball for three different teams in the Class-B Northwestern League, Victoria, Tacoma, and Vancouver. His season at Vancouver in 1915 was strong; Tony played in 128 games, slugging .429, with 6 Home Runs, and a .283 batting average. This got him the call, and he joined 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 ...
in 1916. Playing sporadically as the backup catcher, Tony was on the big league roster the whole season, but only appeared in 26 games and had a .250 OBP. 1917 saw Tony back in the minors, playing 127 games with Omaha of the Class-A Western League. Most of the 1918 season was spent with Little Rock of the Class-A Southern Association, but he returned to the Cardinals in July for two more big league games, including his first career start. That season was shortened significantly in the minors and a month was taken off in the majors due to WWI. Tony was the starting catcher on a strong
Little Rock Travelers The Little Rock Travelers were an American minor league baseball team located in Little Rock, Arkansas, and members (1902–1910, 1915–1958, 1960–1961) of the Southern Association, which as a Class A, A1 or Double-A circuit was typically tw ...
team from 1918 to 1920 in the Class-A
Southern Association The Southern Association (SA) was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class B (1902-19 ...
. Winning the league pennant in 1920. The Pirates purchased his contract on September 8, 1920, but he didn't report that fall because Little Rock was in a pennant race. By
1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...
he was back in the majors with the Washington Senators. Mid season he was traded to the
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 ...
for cash considerations. Tony played in 30 games in the last half of the season for the Bucs, getting 22 hits in 91 at bats, good for a .242 batting average. August 5, 1921, Tony was the Bucs starting catcher in the first baseball game ever broadcast over commercial radio, Pirates vs. Phillies. Tony was 2–4 with an RBI and threw out 2 base stealers. His time with the Pirates ended on October 15, 1921, when he was released back to Little Rock after the Pirates acquired catcher
Bubber Jonnard Clarence James "Bubber" Jonnard (November 23, 1897 – August 12, 1977) was a Major League Baseball catcher. He played for the Chicago White Sox in 1920, the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1922, the Philadelphia Phillies in 1926, 1927 and 1935, and the S ...
. Even though the Pirates finished in 2nd place in the NL (behind the World Series winning New York Giants) in 1921, the rules of the day gave them a share of the World Series Gate receipts. Tony received a full players share. After being released to Little Rock, he moved up a level to join Louisville of the American Association for the 1922 season. That league was Double-A, which was the top level of the minors at the time. His next 4 seasons were spent playing under manager
Joe McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age 48 in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the mo ...
, who would go on to manage the powerhouse Yankee teams of the 1930s–40s (and was elected to the baseball hall of fame in 1957). After being released by Louisville after just 20 games in 1925, Tony joined Rochester of the International League. He became a player-manager for a semi-pro team in 1926, but he was fired early in the season and saw sporadic action on various Midwest teams until joining Dayton Aviators of the Class-B
Central League The or , also known as the for sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League i ...
for his final season in 1929. Just two weeks after being released from the Aviators, and believing his baseball career was over, he committed suicide by slashing his own throat on August 5, 1929, in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. The
coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
was able to identify the deceased as Brottem with the assistance of MLB
umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French , , and , : (as evidenced in cricke ...
Charley Moran Charles Barthell Moran (February 22, 1878 – June 14, 1949), nicknamed "Uncle Charley", was an American sportsman who gained renown as both a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as a collegiate and professional American football coa ...
. He was 38 years old. He is buried in the family plot in Parkland Lutheran Cemetery in
Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...
. Brottem played primarily as a catcher throughout his career; he batted and threw right-handed. Of his 62 total MLB games played, he is credited with catching both ends of a double header three times. Something that would be very uncommon in today's game.


References


External links


Baseball-Reference player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brottem, Tony 1891 births 1929 suicides 1929 deaths Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Louis Cardinals players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Minnesota Victoria Bees players Tacoma Tigers players Vancouver Beavers players Little Rock Travelers players Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Suicides in Illinois Dayton Aviators players