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Art Fletcher

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Art Fletcher
Fletcher in 1920
Shortstop / Manager
Born: (1885-01-05)January 5, 1885
Collinsville, Illinois, U.S.
Died: February 6, 1950(1950-02-06) (aged 65)
Los Angeles California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 15, 1909, for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 16, 1922, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Batting average.277
Home runs32
Runs batted in676
Managerial record237–383
Winning %.382
Teams
As player

As manager

As coach

Career highlights and awards

Arthur Fletcher (January 5, 1885 – February 6, 1950) was an American shortstop, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. Fletcher was associated with two New York City baseball dynasties: the Giants of John McGraw as a player; and the Yankees of Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy as a coach.

Career

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Born in Collinsville, Illinois, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).

Fletcher came to the Giants in 1909 after only one season of minor league experience, and became the club's regular shortstop two years later. He played in four World Series while performing for McGraw (1911, 1912, 1913 and 1917). Traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in the midst of the 1920 season, he retired after the 1922 campaign with 1,534 hits, 32 home runs, 676 RBI and a .277 batting average. Fletcher is the Giants' career leader in being hit by pitches (132) and ranks 29th on the MLB career list (141) for the same statistic.[1]

In 1923 he replaced Kaiser Wilhelm as manager of the seventh-place Phillies and led the club through four losing seasons, bookended by last-place finishes in 1923 and 1926. In October 1926, he was replaced by Stuffy McInnis.

Fletcher then began a 19-year tenure (1927–1945) as a coach for the Yankees, where, beginning with the legendary 1927 team, he would participate on ten American League pennant winners and nine World Series champions. On a tragic note, he served as the acting manager of Yankees for the last 11 games of the 1929 season when Huggins, 50, was fatally stricken with erysipelas and pyaemia. Fletcher won six of those 11 games, to compile a career major league managing record of 237–383 (.382).

Managerial record

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Team Year Regular season Postseason
Games Won Lost Win % Finish Won Lost Win % Result
PHI 1923 154 50 104 .325 8th in NL
PHI 1924 151 55 96 .364 7th in NL
PHI 1925 153 68 85 .444 6th in NL
PHI 1926 151 58 93 .384 8th in NL
PHI total 609 231 378 .379 0 0
NYY 1929 11 6 5 .545 2nd in AL
NYY total 11 6 5 .545 0 0
Total 620 237 383 .382 0 0

Post career

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Fletcher retired after the 1945 season and died from a heart attack in 1950 in Los Angeles at the age of 65.

Arthur Fletcher Field, in his Illinois hometown, is named for him. The field is home of the Collinsville High School Kahoks, the Collinsville Miners American Legion team, and the Collinsville Herr Travelers junior legion team.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Career Leaders & Records for Hit by Pitch".
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