Rollie Zeider

Rollie Zeider
Infielder
Born: November 16, 1883
Cass County, Indiana
Died: September 12, 1967 (aged 83)
Garrett, Indiana
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 14, 1910 for the Chicago White Sox
Last MLB appearance
September 11, 1918 for the Chicago Cubs
Career statistics
Batting average .240
Home runs 5
Runs batted in 253
Stolen bases 223
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • Federal League pennant: 1915
  • National League pennant: 1918
Rollie Zeider, while playing for the Chicago White Sox in 1912.

Rollie Hubert Zeider (November 16, 1883 – September 12, 1967) was a professional baseball player. An infielder (playing over 100 games at all four infield positions in his career), he played nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1910–13), New York Yankees (1913), Chicago Chi-Feds/Chicago Whales in the Federal League from 1914–15, and lastly the Chicago Cubs (1916–18). He is one of only a few players to play for three different Chicago teams in his career, and one of two to do it in the 20th century. He is the only player to hit home runs for all three Chicago major league teams in the twentieth century. Along with Dutch Zwilling he is the only 20th century player to play in the same city in three different major leagues (American League (White Sox), Federal League (Chi-Feds/Whales), and the National League (Cubs).

Strangely, Zeider contributed to another odd record along with Zwilling. The 1916 Cubs were one of the few teams in history, and the most recent until 1999, to have three players whose last names begin with "Z": Zeider, Zwilling, and Heinie Zimmerman. The 1999 Texas Rangers were the first and only since then with Jeff Zimmerman, Todd Zeile, and Gregg Zaun.

His nickname Bunions came from the blood poisoning he received when Detroit Tigers outfielder Sam Crawford rammed his spike into his "bunion" during a play.[1]

Playing career

Zeider began his professional career in 1905, which he split between the Crookston Crooks and Winnipeg Maroons of the Northern League. In 1909, he played third base for the minor-league San Francisco Seals.[2] On August 17 of that year, Zeider was acquired from the Seals by the White Sox for $5,500 and two players.

The right-handed Zeider was one of the fastest players in the game, even at the time. With the White Sox, as a rookie, Zeider accomplished what would end up being his career-high in stolen bases with 49. Not only that, but his 49 stolen bases stood as the record for stolen bases by a rookie until 76 years later, when John Cangelosi, another White Sox player, broke it in 1986 with 50.

He reached the top 5 in stolen bases twice (1910, his rookie season, and 1912). Besides those two season, Zeider's early career came as a utility player. Not until 1914 did he begin to play regularly every year. By that point, his speed had decreased, but he still came in eighth in the league in steals with 35 that year (tied with Tom Downey and Baldy Louden). It was also, arguably, his best full season.

In a nine-season career, he batted .240 with 5 home runs and 253 RBIs in 941 games. He stole 223 bases in his career and scored 393 runs. He had 769 hits in 3210 at bats. In his only World Series appearance (1918 with the Cubs), Zeider had two plate appearances and walked twice.

After the 1918 season, Zeider returned to the minor leagues. He played for the Toledo Mud Hens in 1919,[3] and finished his career in 1924 with the Paris North Stars of the class-D East Texas League.

Personal life

Zeider was born in the small town of Hoover near Logansport in Cass County, Indiana, where his father was a farmer, and grew up in Auburn, Indiana, where his father took a job in a sawmill. Zeider was married twice, first to Alberta Doyle, who died of tuberculosis in 1916, then to Margaret Pilgrim.

After retiring from professional baseball, he ran a restaurant in Garrett, Indiana, called Polly's Tavern. ("Polly" was his local nickname.) He moved to Orland, Indiana, in neighboring Steuben County in 1959. Zeider was inducted into the Northeast Indiana Baseball Association Hall of Fame in 1965.[4]

Zeider died in a hospital in Garrett, aged 83, and was interred beside his first wife in Woodlawn Cemetery in Auburn.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Wright, Craig, A Page From Baseball's Past, November 7, 2014 (subscription only): "Phony reports of [Ty] Cobb spikings still go on today. If someone tells a story about a player being spiked and doesn’t know who did it, they often give in to the temptation to dress up the story by saying it was the notorious Ty Cobb. You may remember in a story from this year how Rollie “Bunion” Zeider got his nickname from being laid up when he was spiked in his bunion. ... But if you research it, you will find that when it happened over 100 years ago Zeider reported who spiked his bunion. It was Sam Crawford."
  2. ↑ MiLB.Com: 1909 San Francisco Seals
  3. ↑ Toledo Mud Hens: Players that have Played at Fifth Third Field
  4. ↑

See also

External links