Carl Lundgren
Encyclopedia
Carl Leonard "Lundy" Lundgren (February 16, 1880 – August 21, 1934) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 and football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player and coach.

Lundgren played football and baseball for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and played eight seasons of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 as a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 for the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

. In eight years with the Cubs, he compiled a record of 91 wins and 55 losses. His best season was 1907 when he won 18 games, pitched 207 innings without allowing a home run, threw seven shutouts, and gave up only 27 earned runs in 28 games. His 1.17 earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 was the second lowest in the Major Leagues, and his average of 5.652 hits allowed per nine innings was the lowest in the Major Leagues.

Control problems held him back from greater renown. The Atlanta Constitution in 1913 summarized Lundgren's strengths and weaknesses: "He had everything including speed to burn green hickory and an assortment of curves that would keep a criptograph
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...

 specialist figuring all night but he was wild as a March hare
Mad as a March hare
To be as "mad as a March hare" is an English idiomatic phrase derived from the observed antics, said to occur only in the March breeding season of the Hare, genus Lepus...

 in a cyclone and couldn't locate the plate with a field glass."

After retiring as a player, Lundgren became a coach. He was the head baseball coach and assistant football coach at the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 from 1914 to 1921. He was the head baseball coach and assistant athletic director at the University of Illinois from 1921 until his death in 1934. Lundgren's baseball teams at Michigan and Illinois won eight Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 baseball championships, a total exceeded by only three other coaches in Big Ten history.

Early years

Lundgren was born in Marengo, Illinois
Marengo, Illinois
Marengo is a city in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,355 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Marengo is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Major Streets:...

 in 1880. His father, Pehr Hjalmar Lundgren, was born in Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, emigrated to the United States in 1868 and worked as a house painter, contractor and interior decorator. His mother, Delilah (Renwick) Lundgren, was born on a farm outside Marengo. His father purchased a farm north of Marengo, where the family lived until 1900. Lundgren graduated from Marengo High School in 1898. He was the oldest of four children, having a younger brother, Franz Emil, and two younger sisters, Eva and Alma.

University of Illinois

Lundgren enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1898, studied civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...

, and graduated in 1902. As a senior, he published a paper titled, "Comparative strength of gravel and broken-stone concretes". While at Illinois, he played at the halfback
Halfback (American football)
A halfback, sometimes referred to as a tailback, is an offensive position in American football, which lines up in the backfield and generally is responsible for carrying the ball on run plays. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the halfback position was both an offensive and defensive...

 and fullback
Fullback (American football)
A fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...

 positions for the Illini football
Illinois Fighting Illini football
The Illinois Fighting Illini are a major college football program, representing the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. They compete in NCAA Division I-A and the Big Ten Conference.-Current staff:-All-time win/loss/tie record:*563-513-51...

 team for three years. He was also a pitcher for the Illini baseball team from 1899 to 1902 and was the team captain in 1902.

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs saw Lundgren pitch in an exhibition game between the Illinois college team and the Cubs. The Cubs gave Lundgren a tryout, and he made his Major League debut for the Cubs on June 19, 1902, shortly after completing his studies at the University of Illinois. As one sports writer noted that "the Cubs had a new pitcher, and the world lost a civil engineer." In his rookie season, Lundgren pitched 17 complete games (in 18 appearances) and had an earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 of 1.97.

Lundgren played for the Cubs from 1902 to 1909 and compiled a 91-55 (.623) record and career earned run average
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 of 2.42. During his best years from 1904 to 1907, he compiled a record of 65-27. The Cubs with the help of Lundgren won three straight pennants in 1906, 1907, and 1908 and World Series championships in 1907 and 1908. During the 1906 and 1907 seasons, Lundgren compiled records of 17-6 and 18-7.

In 1907, Lundgren pitched 207 innings without allowing a home run, threw seven shutouts, and gave up only 27 earned runs in 28 games. His 1.17 earned run average was the second lowest in the Major Leagues (trailing teammate Jack Pfiester
Jack Pfiester
John Albert Pfiester , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1903-1911....

 who had a 1.15 ERA), and his average of 5.652 hits allowed per nine innings was the lowest in the Major Leagues. His pitching was a key element in the success of the Cubs' World Series championship team of 1907. However, he did not pitch in any of the Cubs' World Series games.

His earned run average jumped from 1.17 in 1907 to 4.22 in 1908. He appeared in only two games for the Cubs in 1909, pitching his last Major League game on April 23, 1909. At the end of April 1909, the Cubs placed Lundgren on waivers for a price of $1.50.

Lundgren's biggest weakness as a pitcher was lack of control. Even in 1907, his best year, Lundgren averaged 4.0 walks per 9 innings pitched. In 1909, he averaged 8.3 walks per 9 innings before being released. A profile of Lundgren published in 1913 by The Atlanta Constitution discussed his strengths and weaknesses:
"He had everything including speed to burn green hickory and an assortment of curves that would keep a criptograph
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...

 specialist figuring all night but he was wild as a March hare
Mad as a March hare
To be as "mad as a March hare" is an English idiomatic phrase derived from the observed antics, said to occur only in the March breeding season of the Hare, genus Lepus...

 in a cyclone and couldn't locate the plate with a field glass. ... He had a strange hold on the art of steering the ball away from the plate that would make Wild Willie Donovan and Cy Seymour
Cy Seymour
James Bentley "Cy" Seymour was an American center fielder and pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1896 through , Seymour played for the New York Giants , Baltimore Orioles , Cincinnati Reds and Boston Braves...

 look like a brace of pikers who had been touched for their meal tickets."


Lundgren was called "the best cold-weather pitcher in the profession" by the Reach Baseball Guide. He developed a reputation for pitching well in the spring and fall, but not faring as well during the hot summer months.

While pitching for the Cubs, he worked in the off-season as a draftsman from 1902 to 1904 and as a dairy farmer after 1904.

In the summer of 1909, Lundgren appealed from a decision by the Cubs management to deny him a share of the team's $10,000 World Series bonus for 1908. In June 1909, he won what was described as "a moral victory" when a non-binding decision was entered declaring the exclusion of Lundgren to be unjust.

Minor leagues

After his Major League Baseball career ended in April 1909, Lundgren played minor league baseball for several years. In the spring of 1909, several teams expressed interest in Lundgren. Bill Armour
Bill Armour
William Reginald Armour was an American manager in Major League Baseball who led the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians in the early 1900s. Armour was Ty Cobb's first manager in 1905....

, manager of the Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

 team, reportedly lost interest because of Lundgren's reputation as a cold-weather pitcher: "Armour, however, discovered that Lundgren is a good man in the spring and fall, but during the hot months, when his services would be most in demand, he is unable to stand the strain."

The Cubs sold Lundgren to Brooklyn, and Brooklyn farmed him out to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern League
Eastern League
Eastern League may refer to:*Eastern League , a professional baseball minor league in the United States*International League, a baseball minor league known as the Eastern League from 1884 to 1912...

 for the 1909 season. However, he was suspended in June 1909 by Toronto manager Joe Kelley
Joe Kelley
Joseph James Kelley was an American left fielder in Major League Baseball who starred in the outfield of the powerful Baltimore Oriole teams of the 1890s.-Career:...

. A newspaper account on the suspension noted: "Lundgren is not in shape for a hard game, and the Toronto Club does not intend to pay him a big salary to get into shape when he's not half trying." In August 1909, he was reported to be "pitching independent ball around Chicago."

During the 1910 season, he played for the Hartford Senators
Hartford Senators
The Hartford Senators were a minor league baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. They operated in the Connecticut League from 1902-1912, the Eastern Association from 1913-1914, the Eastern League from 1916-1932 and the Northeastern League in 1934. For the 1932 season they were affiliated...

 in the Connecticut State League compiling a record of 6-3. At the end of the 1910 season, The Hartford Courant wrote: "Lundgren was regarded as the ablest pitcher in this league last season and he outclassed the other boxmen." Lungren also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1910, compiling a 1-4 record. In November 1910, he was sold to Topeka in the Western League.

In 1911, he played for the Troy Trojans
Troy Trojans (minor league baseball)
The Troy Trojans, based in Troy, New York, were a minor league baseball team that existed on and off between 1888 and 1916. They first appeared in the International Association in 1888. They played in the Eastern Association in 1891, and in the Eastern League from 1892 to 1893...

 in the New York State League
New York State League
This article refers to the modern New York State League. For the original incarnations of the New York State League see New York State League ...

, compiling a 13-12 record in 31 games. He ended his playing career in 1912 with the Hartford Senators, compiling record of 6-3 in 16 games. In what appears to have been Lundgren's last professional baseball game, he pitched a shutout against the Bridgeport Orators
Bridgeport Orators
The Bridgeport Orators were a minor league baseball team in the now defunct Connecticut League from 1902 to 1914. They were nicknamed the Orators to coincide with the nickname of the team's owner and manager, Baseball hall of famer Jim "The Orator" O'Rourke. In 1904, the team won a league record...

 on September 10, 1912.

There were newspaper reports in June 1913 indicating that Lundgren had a tryout with the Mobile team in the Southern League and that he had signed with the Atlanta Crackers
Atlanta Crackers
The Atlanta Crackers were minor league baseball teams based in Atlanta, Georgia, between 1901 and 1965. The Crackers were Atlanta's home team until the Atlanta Braves moved from Milwaukee in 1966....

 or the Charleston Sea Gulls
Charleston RiverDogs
The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Charleston, South Carolina. They play in the class A South Atlantic League and are an affiliate of the New York Yankees. Their home stadium is at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park...

, but no record has been found of his playing for those teams.

Coaching career

In March 1912, Lundgren was hired to assist Boileryard Clarke
Boileryard Clarke
William Jones "Boileryard" Clarke , was an American Major League Baseball player from New York City who played catcher from 1893 to 1905...

 in coaching the pitchers at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 in 1912. After a short stint with Princeton, Lundgren returned to the field as a player with Hartford in June 1912. In January 1913, the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 expressed interest in hiring Lundgren as its baseball coach, but it appears that the deal fell through after the Iowa Board of Athletics was asked to meet his salary demands. In February 1913, he was also interviewed, but not hired, for the position of manager of a baseball team in Keokuk, Iowa
Keokuk, Iowa
Keokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County. The other county seat is Fort Madison. The population was 11,427 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Sauk Chief Keokuk, who is thought to be buried in Rand Park...

.

In August 1913, he was hired by the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 to succeed Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...

 as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines baseball
Michigan Wolverines baseball
The Michigan Wolverines baseball team represents the University of Michigan in NCAA Division I college baseball. Along with most other Michigan athletic teams, the baseball team participates in the Big Ten Conference...

 team. He was the baseball coach at Michigan from 1914 through 1920, compiling a record of 93-43-6. Lundgren developed several Major League players at Michigan, including George Sisler
George Sisler
George Harold Sisler , nicknamed "Gentleman George" and "Gorgeous George," was an American professional baseball player for 15 seasons, primarily as first baseman with the St. Louis Browns...

, who became one of baseball's greatest players. He was also an assistant football coach at Michigan under the legendary football coach, Fielding H. Yost. In his final three years at Michigan (1918-1920), Lundgren's baseball teams won consecutive Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 championships with records of 9-1, 9-0 and 9-1 in conference play. While coaching at Michigan, Lundgren worked in the off-season as a traveling salesman.

In June 1920, Lundgren left Michigan to become the baseball coach at his alma mater
Alma mater
Alma mater , pronounced ), was used in ancient Rome as a title for various mother goddesses, especially Ceres or Cybele, and in Christianity for the Virgin Mary.-General term:...

, the University of Illinois. He was Illinois' baseball coach for 14 years until his death in 1934. His Illini teams won Big Ten championships in 5 of Lundgren's 14 years as coach and tied for another. Lundgren also served as the assistant athletic director at Illinois under George Huff
George Huff (coach)
-External links:...

.

Lundgren's Michigan and Illinois baseball teams won eight Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 baseball championships. Only three coaches have won more Big Ten baseball championships -- George Huff of Illinois, Dick Siebert
Dick Siebert
Richard Walther Siebert was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career from 1932, 1936-1945. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and St...

 of Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are the college sports team for the University of Minnesota. The university fields both men's and women's teams in basketball, cross country, gymnastics, golf, ice hockey, swimming, tennis, and track and field. Men's-specific sports include baseball, football, and...

, and John Anderson
John Anderson (baseball coach)
John Anderson is the head coach of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers baseball team. In 27 seasons, Anderson has led the Golden Gophers to a record of 1,000 wins, 639 losses and three ties...

 of Minnesota.

Family and death

Lundgren married S. Maude Cohoon in September 1904. He died in August 1934 of a heart attack at age 54.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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