Jack Blott
Encyclopedia
Jack Leonard Blott was an All-American
football
center
and place kicker for the University of Michigan
Wolverines
from 1922–1923. He was also a baseball
catcher
for the Wolverines from 1922–1924. After a two-game Major League Baseball
career with the Cincinnati Reds
in 1924, he worked as Michigan’s line coach from 1924–1933 and 1946–1958. From 1934–1940, he was the head football coach at Wesleyan University
.
and College Football Hall of Fame
r Ernie Vick
as Michigan’s center
. Reporters drew similarities between the two: "In the first place, they are of very similar build and Blott now weighs within two pounds of Vick’s playing weight. Both Vick and Blott played fullback in high school and came to Michigan without any experience in the line. Both learned to pass from center, a duty the importance of which very few spectators ever realize, with remarkable ease and within a short time both were unusually accurate."
The 1922 team, led by All-American Harry Kipke, went 6–0–1 and finished in a tie with Iowa
for the Big Ten Conference
championship. The only blemish was a scoreless tie with Vanderbilt
in the second game of the season. The Michigan defense gave up only 13 points during the entire season, outscoring opponents, 183–13.
went 8–0 and outscored opponents 150–12. The Big Ten Conference
ended up with two undefeated teams in Illinois
and Michigan, and though the two teams did not play in 1923, Illinois was widely viewed as the National Champion in 1923. However, the Billingsley service ranked Michigan as the National Champions.
One writer noted that the 1923 Michigan team
lacked brawn, with the exception of Blott who was the “one man of ideal physical properties.” That writer also noted: “Blott, big and powerful, also has intellect.” At the start of the 1923 season, Michigan's Coach Fielding H. Yost tried playing Blott at fullback, but quickly moved him back to center, with additional responsibility for kicking field goals.
After an easy opening win against Case Institute of Technology
(36–0), the Wolverines faced the Vanderbilt Commodores
on October 13, 1923. The Commodores had held the Wolverines to a scoreless tie in 1922 and nearly did so again in 1923. The Wolverines won, 3–0, and Blott’s field goal from the 15-yard line was the only scoring.
After the Vanderbilt game, Michigan went on to convincing wins over Ohio State
(23–0) and Michigan Agricultural College
(37–0).
In the Iowa
game on November 3, 1923, Blott scored Michigan’s only touchdown in a close 9-3 win over the 1922 Big Ten champions. Blott’s score was described as “a very fluky touchdown, earned through the Blott’s quick thinking." One writer wrote: “When Jack Blott, Michigan’s star center, fell on a loose ball, in back of the goal line in the recent Michigan-Iowa game, he performed a feat which is rarely accomplished on the gridiron. Not only did it win the contest for the Wolverines, but it marked one of the few times wherein a center is credited with having scored a touchdown. ... Blott’s performance was all the more unique [sic] in that he passed the ball for Kipke’s attempted drop kick and then raced down the field ahead of any of the other players in time to drop on the leather as it bounded across the final chalk mark after having grazed an Iowa uniform.”
Years later, Harry Kipke recalled the play this way: "Why was it a touchdown? Because, as the ball sailed over the scrimmage line one of the Iowa players touched it. ... Few spectators and not many of the players noticed it. But Blott did, and at least one official noticed it. That official promptly made his ruling and we had six very important points."
However, in the second to last game of the season, an away game against Wisconsin
, Blott “was carried from the field with a broken ankle.” As a result, Blott was unable to play in the team's final game against Minnesota
.
Blott was the only All-American
selected from the 1923 team and the fourth Michigan center to be named All-American. On his selection of Blott, Walter Camp
wrote: “The middle of the line position goes to Blott of Michigan, whose passing this year has been the height of perfection.”
One reporter wrote that Blott was in a class by himself at the center position and “an expert at placement goals, an almost sure thing from any angle or distance.” Another wrote that Blott “will go down into football history as one of the greatest centers ever produced at Michigan.” Despite having to replace All-American Ernie Vick
, Blott’s play in 1922 and 1923 was “so good that Vick, despite his greatness, hasn’t even been missed.”
for the Michigan baseball
teams from 1922–1924. In June 1923, Blott was selected to be the captain of the baseball team for the 1924 season.
In a game against Iowa in 1924, Blott drove in three runs
with a bases-loaded hit to right field, adding to his unpopularity in Iowa after his recovery of a loose ball in the end zone against Iowa in football the previous fall. On April 21, 1924, the last game of a road trip through the South, Blott hit two home run
s in a game marked by intermittent snow flurries. The Wolverines beat the University of Cincinnati
, 9-8, on the strength of Blott’s home runs. “The heavy hitting of Jack Blott who raised two in the stands for home runs was largely responsible for Michigan’s runs.”
.” In the Spring of 1924, three major league teams made offers to Blott: the New York Yankees
, the Cleveland Indians
, and the St. Louis Cardinals
. Miami University
also tried to sign him as its football coach.
Blott received his degree from Michigan’s "literary school" on June 16, 1924 and immediately signed with the Cincinnati Reds
. He chose the Reds after turning down a contract offered by former Michigan coach Branch Rickey
, manager of the Cardinals. Blott reported to the Reds at the end of June 1924 “to become the understudy” of the Reds’ longtime catchers Bubbles Hargrave
and Ivey Wingo
.
Blott appeared in his first major league game on July 30, 1924 — just six weeks after graduation. In all, Blott appeared in only two games, the second on September 3, 1924. He had only one plate appearance
and failed to get on base, for a career .000 batting average
. On the other hand, he made one putout
and no errors
for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage
. The Reds finished the 1924 season in fourth place with an 84–69 record.
At the end of the season, Blott’s status was uncertain. While he had been “a great thrower in college,” Blott broke his shoulder blade in football and was still suffering from the injury when he reported to the Reds. Yet, at the end of the season, Reds’ manager Jack Hendricks
was confident that Blott had entirely recovered and “is throwing as well as ever.”
Blott’s prospects to win a regular spot with the Reds appeared slim. One newspaper account summed it up: “Jack Blott will, as last summer, be the catching understudy
with small chance of seeing much action behind the bat where Bubbles Hargrave
and Ivey Wingo
will hold forth.”
In an interview with syndicated columnist Billy Evans
after the 1924 season, Blott asked the question: “Is it worth while for a college player to consider the professional game?” Blott frankly noted, “I’m not so sure that I am to be a star.” Evans wrote that there were many “ifs” to such a question, including love of the game and other business prospects. However, Evans noted that Blott was left with a decision as to whether to return to the Reds in 1925, realizing he would likely be “sitting on the bench as a substitute possessing just enough ability to fill in when one of the regulars was out of the lineup.” Evans opined that it was a “waste of time” for a collegian to play such a role. Evans later revealed that Blott had confided in him that he liked football best and would prefer to coach a grid team than play baseball.
In February 1925, Blott announced that he was giving up professional baseball and would not be reporting to spring training
with the Reds. Instead, Fielding H. Yost announced that Blott would remain an assistant coach and teach in the four-year coaching course at Michigan. After Blott made his announcement, Billy Evans
wrote in his column: “Baseball has lost another promising player. He is Jack Blott ... Blott has decided to forsake the diamond pastime to become assistant line coach at Michigan. ... While at the Ann Arbor institution Blott was a star of the first magnitude in both football and baseball. ... On the diamond, Blott also ranked high as a backstop. ... And though adorning the bench most of the time, was to have been taken down south for spring training this month. Blott, however, evidently prefers football coaching to the rather uncertainty of making good in the big leagues. ... And according to Blott, wanted to be a major leaguer or nothing. As a gridiron tutor, Blott should go big.”
In mid-March, the Reds announced they were “still plenty sore” about the course of action taken by Blott and noted that he had not returned the bonus given him when he signed. Two years earlier, the Reds had lost the services of Ray Fisher
who left the team to become Michigan's baseball coach.
and 1933
. He was the line coach during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years of Michigan's most famous center, U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.
and Jack Blott, had interviewed for positions at Yale
and other eastern schools. Yost expressed the hope that “his boys” would stay at Michigan, and confidence that “when all the shouting’s over Bennie Oosterbaan and Jack Blott will both be right here.” However, in February 1934, Blott accepted the head coaching job at Wesleyan University
in Middletown, Connecticut
. Blott was the head football coach at Wesleyan from 1934-1940. Blott also coached baseball at Wesleyan. During his seven years as head football coach, Wesleyan’s record was:
In 1938, following the resignation of Harry Kipke as Michigan's head football coach, there were press reports that Blott was being considered (and was Yost’s pick) for the head coaching job at Michigan, but the job went to Fritz Crisler
from Princeton
.
in Detroit
. Blott worked in Ford’s personnel department for six years from 1940 until 1945. In that capacity, he represented Ford in collective bargaining
negotiations with the United Auto Workers
.
. He replaced Biggie Munn
, who accepted the head coaching job at Syracuse
. He was the line coach for the undefeated 1947
and 1948
National Championship teams.
One Blott story that was picked up by the wire services in 1949 told of a husky Michigan lineman limping to the sideline, to be asked by Blott, “What’s the matter son? Legs bothering you?” When the player replied, “Yeah, the muscles are all sore along the back here,” Blott responded: “That’s strange, I was watching you. You couldn’t have got it from charging too fast; it must be from getting up so many times after that little guard knocked you down.”
In his career as a player and coach at Michigan, Blott played on one National Championship team (1923) and was the line coach on four others (1932–1933 and 1947–1948). As a coach, he helped develop some of the school's all-time great linemen, including Chuck Bernard
, Gerald R. Ford, Otto Pommerening
, Alvin Wistert
, and Robert "Brick" Wahl
.
In December 1958, Michigan replaced head coach Bennie Oosterbaan
with Bump Elliott
and also replaced Blott as line coach. It was announced at the time that Blott would be kept on as “overseer of Michigan’s intramural program
.”
home. He was survived by his widow, Helen, and his daughter, Joanne.
As a student the University of Michigan, Blott became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity
.
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
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...
center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
and place kicker for 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...
Wolverines
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
from 1922–1923. He was also a 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...
catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
for the Wolverines from 1922–1924. After a two-game 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...
career with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
in 1924, he worked as Michigan’s line coach from 1924–1933 and 1946–1958. From 1934–1940, he was the head football coach at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
.
1922 season
In 1922, Blott succeeded All-AmericanCollege Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
and College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
r Ernie Vick
Ernie Vick
Henry Arthur "Ernie" Vick was an American football and baseball player. He was selected as an All-American center in 1921, played on the 1926 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.-University of Michigan:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Vick...
as Michigan’s center
Center (American football)
Center is a position in American football and Canadian football . The center is the innermost lineman of the offensive line on a football team's offense...
. Reporters drew similarities between the two: "In the first place, they are of very similar build and Blott now weighs within two pounds of Vick’s playing weight. Both Vick and Blott played fullback in high school and came to Michigan without any experience in the line. Both learned to pass from center, a duty the importance of which very few spectators ever realize, with remarkable ease and within a short time both were unusually accurate."
The 1922 team, led by All-American Harry Kipke, went 6–0–1 and finished in a tie with Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
for the 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...
championship. The only blemish was a scoreless tie with Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program is a college football team that represents Vanderbilt University. The team currently competes in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference...
in the second game of the season. The Michigan defense gave up only 13 points during the entire season, outscoring opponents, 183–13.
1923 season
The 1923 Michigan team1923 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1923 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Ferry Field.-Schedule:...
went 8–0 and outscored opponents 150–12. The 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...
ended up with two undefeated teams in Illinois
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...
and Michigan, and though the two teams did not play in 1923, Illinois was widely viewed as the National Champion in 1923. However, the Billingsley service ranked Michigan as the National Champions.
One writer noted that the 1923 Michigan team
1923 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1923 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Ferry Field.-Schedule:...
lacked brawn, with the exception of Blott who was the “one man of ideal physical properties.” That writer also noted: “Blott, big and powerful, also has intellect.” At the start of the 1923 season, Michigan's Coach Fielding H. Yost tried playing Blott at fullback, but quickly moved him back to center, with additional responsibility for kicking field goals.
After an easy opening win against Case Institute of Technology
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
(36–0), the Wolverines faced the Vanderbilt Commodores
Vanderbilt Commodores football
The Vanderbilt Commodores football program is a college football team that represents Vanderbilt University. The team currently competes in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Southeastern Conference...
on October 13, 1923. The Commodores had held the Wolverines to a scoreless tie in 1922 and nearly did so again in 1923. The Wolverines won, 3–0, and Blott’s field goal from the 15-yard line was the only scoring.
After the Vanderbilt game, Michigan went on to convincing wins over Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
(23–0) and Michigan Agricultural College
Michigan State Spartans football
The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level...
(37–0).
In the Iowa
Iowa Hawkeyes football
The Iowa Hawkeyes football team is the interscholastic football team at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have competed in the Big Ten Conference since 1900, and are currently a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
game on November 3, 1923, Blott scored Michigan’s only touchdown in a close 9-3 win over the 1922 Big Ten champions. Blott’s score was described as “a very fluky touchdown, earned through the Blott’s quick thinking." One writer wrote: “When Jack Blott, Michigan’s star center, fell on a loose ball, in back of the goal line in the recent Michigan-Iowa game, he performed a feat which is rarely accomplished on the gridiron. Not only did it win the contest for the Wolverines, but it marked one of the few times wherein a center is credited with having scored a touchdown. ... Blott’s performance was all the more unique [sic] in that he passed the ball for Kipke’s attempted drop kick and then raced down the field ahead of any of the other players in time to drop on the leather as it bounded across the final chalk mark after having grazed an Iowa uniform.”
Years later, Harry Kipke recalled the play this way: "Why was it a touchdown? Because, as the ball sailed over the scrimmage line one of the Iowa players touched it. ... Few spectators and not many of the players noticed it. But Blott did, and at least one official noticed it. That official promptly made his ruling and we had six very important points."
However, in the second to last game of the season, an away game against Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
, Blott “was carried from the field with a broken ankle.” As a result, Blott was unable to play in the team's final game against Minnesota
Minnesota Golden Gophers football
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are one of the oldest programs in college football history. They compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. The Golden Gophers have claimed six national championships and have an all time record of 646–481–44 as...
.
Blott was the only All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
selected from the 1923 team and the fourth Michigan center to be named All-American. On his selection of Blott, Walter Camp
Walter Camp
Walter Chauncey Camp was an American football player, coach, and sports writer known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Fielding H. Yost, and George Halas, Camp was one of the most accomplished persons in the early history of American football...
wrote: “The middle of the line position goes to Blott of Michigan, whose passing this year has been the height of perfection.”
One reporter wrote that Blott was in a class by himself at the center position and “an expert at placement goals, an almost sure thing from any angle or distance.” Another wrote that Blott “will go down into football history as one of the greatest centers ever produced at Michigan.” Despite having to replace All-American Ernie Vick
Ernie Vick
Henry Arthur "Ernie" Vick was an American football and baseball player. He was selected as an All-American center in 1921, played on the 1926 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.-University of Michigan:Born in Toledo, Ohio, Vick...
, Blott’s play in 1922 and 1923 was “so good that Vick, despite his greatness, hasn’t even been missed.”
College baseball
Blott also starred as the catcherCatcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...
for the Michigan 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...
teams from 1922–1924. In June 1923, Blott was selected to be the captain of the baseball team for the 1924 season.
In a game against Iowa in 1924, Blott drove in three runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...
with a bases-loaded hit to right field, adding to his unpopularity in Iowa after his recovery of a loose ball in the end zone against Iowa in football the previous fall. On April 21, 1924, the last game of a road trip through the South, Blott hit two home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...
s in a game marked by intermittent snow flurries. The Wolverines beat the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, 9-8, on the strength of Blott’s home runs. “The heavy hitting of Jack Blott who raised two in the stands for home runs was largely responsible for Michigan’s runs.”
Professional baseball
At the end of his three years of college baseball, he was “considered by many to be the best back-stopper in the Big Ten ConferenceBig 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...
.” In the Spring of 1924, three major league teams made offers to Blott: the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
, and the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
. Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
also tried to sign him as its football coach.
Blott received his degree from Michigan’s "literary school" on June 16, 1924 and immediately signed with the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
. He chose the Reds after turning down a contract offered by former Michigan coach Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
, manager of the Cardinals. Blott reported to the Reds at the end of June 1924 “to become the understudy” of the Reds’ longtime catchers Bubbles Hargrave
Bubbles Hargrave
Eugene Franklin "Bubbles" Hargrave was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees. He won the National League batting title in 1926 while playing for Cincinnati...
and Ivey Wingo
Ivey Wingo
Ivey Brown Wingo was a Major League Baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. Wingo spent the first four years of his career with the Cardinals and last thirteen years with the Reds....
.
Blott appeared in his first major league game on July 30, 1924 — just six weeks after graduation. In all, Blott appeared in only two games, the second on September 3, 1924. He had only one plate appearance
Plate appearance
In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance each time he completes a turn batting. A player completes a turn batting when: He strikes out or is declared out before reaching first base; or He reaches first base safely or is awarded first base ; or He hits a fair ball which...
and failed to get on base, for a career .000 batting average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
. On the other hand, he made one putout
Putout
In baseball statistics, a putout is given to a defensive player who records an out by one of the following methods:* Tagging a runner with the ball when he is not touching a base...
and no errors
Error (baseball)
In baseball statistics, an error is the act, in the judgment of the official scorer, of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to reach one or more additional bases, when such an advance would have been prevented given ordinary effort by the fielder.The term ...
for a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage
Fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball...
. The Reds finished the 1924 season in fourth place with an 84–69 record.
At the end of the season, Blott’s status was uncertain. While he had been “a great thrower in college,” Blott broke his shoulder blade in football and was still suffering from the injury when he reported to the Reds. Yet, at the end of the season, Reds’ manager Jack Hendricks
Jack Hendricks
John Charles Hendricks was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball as an outfielder, but is best known as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds from 1924 to 1929....
was confident that Blott had entirely recovered and “is throwing as well as ever.”
Blott’s prospects to win a regular spot with the Reds appeared slim. One newspaper account summed it up: “Jack Blott will, as last summer, be the catching understudy
Understudy
In theater, an understudy is a performer who learns the lines and blocking/choreography of a regular actor or actress in a play. Should the regular actor or actress be unable to appear on stage because of illness or emergencies, the understudy takes over the part...
with small chance of seeing much action behind the bat where Bubbles Hargrave
Bubbles Hargrave
Eugene Franklin "Bubbles" Hargrave was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees. He won the National League batting title in 1926 while playing for Cincinnati...
and Ivey Wingo
Ivey Wingo
Ivey Brown Wingo was a Major League Baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds. Wingo spent the first four years of his career with the Cardinals and last thirteen years with the Reds....
will hold forth.”
In an interview with syndicated columnist Billy Evans
Billy Evans
William George Evans , nicknamed "The Boy Umpire," was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927...
after the 1924 season, Blott asked the question: “Is it worth while for a college player to consider the professional game?” Blott frankly noted, “I’m not so sure that I am to be a star.” Evans wrote that there were many “ifs” to such a question, including love of the game and other business prospects. However, Evans noted that Blott was left with a decision as to whether to return to the Reds in 1925, realizing he would likely be “sitting on the bench as a substitute possessing just enough ability to fill in when one of the regulars was out of the lineup.” Evans opined that it was a “waste of time” for a collegian to play such a role. Evans later revealed that Blott had confided in him that he liked football best and would prefer to coach a grid team than play baseball.
In February 1925, Blott announced that he was giving up professional baseball and would not be reporting to spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
with the Reds. Instead, Fielding H. Yost announced that Blott would remain an assistant coach and teach in the four-year coaching course at Michigan. After Blott made his announcement, Billy Evans
Billy Evans
William George Evans , nicknamed "The Boy Umpire," was an American umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1906 to 1927...
wrote in his column: “Baseball has lost another promising player. He is Jack Blott ... Blott has decided to forsake the diamond pastime to become assistant line coach at Michigan. ... While at the Ann Arbor institution Blott was a star of the first magnitude in both football and baseball. ... On the diamond, Blott also ranked high as a backstop. ... And though adorning the bench most of the time, was to have been taken down south for spring training this month. Blott, however, evidently prefers football coaching to the rather uncertainty of making good in the big leagues. ... And according to Blott, wanted to be a major leaguer or nothing. As a gridiron tutor, Blott should go big.”
In mid-March, the Reds announced they were “still plenty sore” about the course of action taken by Blott and noted that he had not returned the bonus given him when he signed. Two years earlier, the Reds had lost the services of Ray Fisher
Ray Fisher
Ray Lyle Fisher was an American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched all or part of ten seasons in Major League Baseball. His debut game took place on July 2, 1910. His final game took place on October 2, 1920...
who left the team to become Michigan's baseball coach.
Assistant football coach at Michigan
Blott initially signed with Michigan on September 24, 1924, as an assistant football coach responsible for line candidates, concentrating on the center and guard positions. He served as a line coach at Michigan from 1924 through 1933, including the Wolverines' National Championship teams of 19321932 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1932 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1932 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
and 1933
1933 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1933 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1933 college football season. The team's head football coach was Harry Kipke...
. He was the line coach during the freshman, sophomore, and junior years of Michigan's most famous center, U.S. President Gerald R. Ford.
Head football coach at Wesleyan
In January 1934, rumors spread that Michigan assistants, Bennie OosterbaanBennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
and Jack Blott, had interviewed for positions at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and other eastern schools. Yost expressed the hope that “his boys” would stay at Michigan, and confidence that “when all the shouting’s over Bennie Oosterbaan and Jack Blott will both be right here.” However, in February 1934, Blott accepted the head coaching job at Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
in Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown, Connecticut
Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated as a town under its original Indian name, Mattabeseck. It received its present name in 1653. In 1784, the central...
. Blott was the head football coach at Wesleyan from 1934-1940. Blott also coached baseball at Wesleyan. During his seven years as head football coach, Wesleyan’s record was:
- 1934: 3–5–0
- 1935: 4–4–0
- 1936: 5–2–1
- 1937: 5–3–0
- 1938: 5–3–0
- 1939: 6–2–0
- 1940: 3–5–0
In 1938, following the resignation of Harry Kipke as Michigan's head football coach, there were press reports that Blott was being considered (and was Yost’s pick) for the head coaching job at Michigan, but the job went to Fritz Crisler
Fritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
from Princeton
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....
.
Ford Motor Company
At the end of the 1940 season, Blott announced he was retiring as head coach at Wesleyan to take a post with the Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Blott worked in Ford’s personnel department for six years from 1940 until 1945. In that capacity, he represented Ford in collective bargaining
Collective bargaining
Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements that regulate working conditions...
negotiations with the United Auto Workers
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers , is a labor union which represents workers in the United States and Puerto Rico, and formerly in Canada. Founded as part of the Congress of Industrial...
.
Second stint as line coach at Michigan
In February 1946, Blott was hired as Michigan’s line coach, this time working under Coach Fritz CrislerFritz Crisler
Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler was an American football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and defense. Crisler developed two-platoon football while serving as head coach at the University of...
. He replaced Biggie Munn
Biggie Munn
Clarence Lester "Biggie" Munn was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator in the United States. He was the head football coach at Albright College , Syracuse University , and most notably Michigan State College , where his 1952 squad won a national championship...
, who accepted the head coaching job at Syracuse
Syracuse Orange football
The Syracuse Orange football program is a college football team that represents Syracuse University. The team is a member of the Big East Conference, which is a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I conference that is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision...
. He was the line coach for the undefeated 1947
1947 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1947 Michigan Wolverines football team, nicknamed the "Mad Magicians", represented the University of Michigan in the 1947 college football season. Coached by Fritz Crisler, the Wolverines finished undefeated and untied with a 10–0 record...
and 1948
1948 Michigan Wolverines football team
The 1948 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan during the 1948 college football season. The team's head coach was Bennie Oosterbaan. The Wolverines played their home games at Michigan Stadium.-Schedule:...
National Championship teams.
One Blott story that was picked up by the wire services in 1949 told of a husky Michigan lineman limping to the sideline, to be asked by Blott, “What’s the matter son? Legs bothering you?” When the player replied, “Yeah, the muscles are all sore along the back here,” Blott responded: “That’s strange, I was watching you. You couldn’t have got it from charging too fast; it must be from getting up so many times after that little guard knocked you down.”
In his career as a player and coach at Michigan, Blott played on one National Championship team (1923) and was the line coach on four others (1932–1933 and 1947–1948). As a coach, he helped develop some of the school's all-time great linemen, including Chuck Bernard
Chuck Bernard
Joseph Charles "Chuck" Bernard was a professional American football center who played for the Detroit Lions in 1934 and was a two-time All-American at the University of Michigan. He was born in Chicago, Illinois....
, Gerald R. Ford, Otto Pommerening
Otto Pommerening
Otto P. Pommerening was an All-American football player for the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1927-1928. He was a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan....
, Alvin Wistert
Alvin Wistert
Alvin Lawrence "Moose" Wistert was an American football player. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he played college football at the tackle position for Boston University in 1946 and at the University of Michigan from 1947 to 1949...
, and Robert "Brick" Wahl
Robert Wahl
Robert Allen "Al" Wahl , nicknamed "Brick" Wahl, is a former football player who was a two-time All-American for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1949 and 1950. Wahl is also a former U.S...
.
In December 1958, Michigan replaced head coach Bennie Oosterbaan
Bennie Oosterbaan
Benjamin Gaylord "Bennie" Oosterbaan was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team and an All-Big Ten Conference baseball player for the baseball team...
with Bump Elliott
Bump Elliott
Chalmers W. "Bump" Elliott is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played halfback at Purdue University and the University of Michigan...
and also replaced Blott as line coach. It was announced at the time that Blott would be kept on as “overseer of Michigan’s intramural program
Intramural sports
Intramural sports or intramurals are recreational sports organized within a set geographic area. The term derives from the Latin words intra muros meaning "within walls", and was used to indicate sports matches and contests that took place among teams from "within the walls" of an ancient city...
.”
Manager of the U-M golf course and ice rink
After 1958, Blott managed the U-M golf course and ice rink. In June 1964, Blott died of a heart attack while mowing the lawn of his Ann ArborAnn Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
home. He was survived by his widow, Helen, and his daughter, Joanne.
Personal life
In 1987, Blott was posthumously inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor for baseball, football and coaching.As a student the University of Michigan, Blott became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity
Lambda Chi Alpha
Lambda Chi Alpha is one of the largest men's secret general fraternities in North America, having initiated more than 280,000 members and held chapters at more than 300 universities. It is a member of the North-American Interfraternity Conference and was founded by Warren A. Cole, while he was a...
.
See also
- 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team1923 Michigan Wolverines football teamThe 1923 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1923 college football season. The team's head football coach was Fielding H. Yost. The Wolverines played their home games at Ferry Field.-Schedule:...
- List of Michigan Wolverines football All-Americans
- University of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorUniversity of Michigan Athletic Hall of HonorThe University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...