Monday, April 30, 2012

Second Basemen, A to Z: Rollie Zeider

Player: Rollie Zeider
Born: 11/16/1883 in Auburn, Indiana
Died: 9/12/1967 in Garrett, Indiana
Major League Career: 1910-18
Games Played at Second Base: 335
Most Games Played For: Chicago White Sox


Photo via Wikipedia

Zeider's nickname was Bunions for the fact that Ty Cobb once spiked him in the foot, causing blood poisoning.  In addition to versatility, having played more than 100 games at each of the four infield positions, Zeider's great asset was speed.  He stole 223 bases over his nine-year career.

It is only fitting to wrap up this year's A to Z Challenge with Zeider.  Chicago is far and away the best-represented city among my A-Z second basemen.  Four of my 26 spent more of their careers with the Cubs than any other franchise - highest total for one team.  The White Sox tied for second with the Detroit Tigers at three each.  Zeider played for the Cubs, White Sox and also the Chicago Whales of the short-lived Federal League.  He is, in fact, the only player to hit home runs for all three clubs.

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For last year's A-Z Challenge, I featured players of the Baltimore Orioles/St. Louis Browns organization, my favorite baseball team. I managed to cover every position on the field except for one: second baseman. As such, I decided to devote this year's challenge entirely to the second base position, honoring the individuals who earned their keep playing one of the game's most demanding defensive positions.

Head on over to Blogging from A to Z April Challenge to find others joining the adventure.





6 comments:

  1. This was a great idea! Congratulations on finishing!

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  2. Glad you got to the end. Your subject took some research and was always interesting. Thanks.

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  4. Thanks for an interesting & informative final post :)

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  5. Confess to knowing very little about baseball, and while I am very unlikely to remember all of these facts, I know where to come if I need one! Photos are pretty cool too- a remarkably specialist A-Z, well done! :-)

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  6. The baseball player theme was a good choice for the A to Z Challenge. Even though I'm not much of a baseball fan, I do enjoy random facts about the players. There are so many great characters and stories in the sport.

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