Jake Pitler
Encyclopedia
Jacob Albert Pitler was an American
second baseman
and longtime coach
in Major League Baseball
. Born in New York, New York, he stood 5' 8" (173 cm) tall, weighed 150 pounds (68 kg), and batted and threw righthanded.
of the Class C Southern Michigan Association. When that league disbanded in , Pitler was picked up by the Chattanooga Lookouts
of the Class A Southern Association
. He was batting
a healthy .364 in 42 games when his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates
in the midseason of during the World War I
manpower crisis. He played in 109 games for Pittsburgh that season, and two contests in , compiling a .232 average in 383 at bat
s with no home runs and 23 runs batted in. He then joined the war effort.
During much of the 1920s, Pitler was out of "organized" minor league baseball
, playing in semi-professional or "outlaw" leagues. But in , he joined the Binghamton Triplets
of the New York-Pennsylvania League
and became a fixture in that circuit, playing also for Elmira
and Hazleton
, and beginning his managing
career in with Scranton
.
In , Pitler joined the Brooklyn Dodgers
as a minor league manager, winning back-to-back pennants with the Olean Oilers
of the PONY League in 1939-40. He was promoted to the Dodger coaching staff in and served through the end of the team's stay in Brooklyn in — through six National League
championships and Brooklyn's lone world title, which came in .
Pitler usually served as Brooklyn's first-base coach and worked under Leo Durocher
, Burt Shotton
, Chuck Dressen
and Walter Alston
. Pitler appears in Roger Kahn's memoir The Boys of Summer as a somewhat obsequious aide to Dressen. But with his minor league managing background, he was also hailed as a fatherly figure to Dodger rookie
s. He was cited for that role in poet Marianne Moore
's paean to the 1955 champions
, Hometown Piece for Messrs. Alston and Reese.
After retiring as a coach, Pitler continued his association with the Dodgers (by now based in Los Angeles
) as a scout. He died in Binghamton, New York
, in at the age of 73. In 1991 he was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
.
Pitler also holds a still-standing record for most putouts in a game by a second baseman.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
and longtime coach
Coach (baseball)
In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, or head coach, who determines the lineup and decides how to substitute players during the game...
in 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...
. Born in New York, New York, he stood 5' 8" (173 cm) tall, weighed 150 pounds (68 kg), and batted and threw righthanded.
Baseball career
Pitler, who was Jewish,http://books.google.com/books?id=qJEQTaE7JEAC&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=pitler+baseball++jewish&source=bl&ots=bcytJ8qJLq&sig=JEUDuNoaBjekUXOLzSQTfYdJGAg&hl=en&ei=lR5HTrXWD-b50gG6r5z7Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAg began his professional playing career in at JacksonJackson, Michigan
Jackson is a city located along Interstate 94 in the south central area of the U.S. state of Michigan, about west of Ann Arbor and south of Lansing. It is the county seat of Jackson County. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 33,534...
of the Class C Southern Michigan Association. When that league disbanded in , Pitler was picked up by the Chattanooga Lookouts
Chattanooga Lookouts
The Chattanooga Lookouts are a minor league baseball team based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. They are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team, which plays in the Southern League, has been a Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club since the 2009 season. The Lookouts...
of the Class A Southern Association
Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...
. He was batting
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 :...
a healthy .364 in 42 games when his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
in the midseason of during the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
manpower crisis. He played in 109 games for Pittsburgh that season, and two contests in , compiling a .232 average in 383 at bat
At bat
In baseball, an at bat or time at bat is used to calculate certain statistics, including batting average, on base percentage, and slugging percentage. It is a more restricted definition of a plate appearance...
s with no home runs and 23 runs batted in. He then joined the war effort.
During much of the 1920s, Pitler was out of "organized" minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
, playing in semi-professional or "outlaw" leagues. But in , he joined the Binghamton Triplets
Binghamton Triplets
The Binghamton Triplets were a minor league baseball team in Binghamton, New York, affiliated with the New York Yankees ; the team also had brief affiliations with the Kansas City Athletics and the Milwaukee Braves...
of the New York-Pennsylvania League
New York-Pennsylvania League (early 20th century)
The New York-Pennsylvania League of 1923 through 1937 was an American minor league baseball circuit.The forerunner to the modern Class AA Eastern League, it was a Class B circuit through 1932 and upgraded to Class A for the final five seasons of its existence. It is actually the second of three...
and became a fixture in that circuit, playing also for Elmira
Elmira Pioneers
The Elmira Pioneers are an amateur baseball team based in Elmira, New York. They currently compete in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. Prior to the 2006 baseball season, the team was a professional ballclub with a rich history of league...
and Hazleton
Hazleton, Pennsylvania
Hazleton is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 25,340 at the 2010 census, an increase of 8.6% from the 2000 census count .-Greater Hazleton:...
, and beginning his managing
Manager (baseball)
In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
career in with Scranton
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area. Scranton had a population of 76,089 in 2010, according to the U.S...
.
In , Pitler joined the Brooklyn Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
as a minor league manager, winning back-to-back pennants with the Olean Oilers
Olean Oilers
The Olean Oilers were a minor league baseball team located in Olean, New York. The team played in the Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York League from 1939 to 1951 and 1955 to 1956, and in the New York-Pennsylvania League from 1957 to 1958. It was affiliated with the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939 to 1948,...
of the PONY League in 1939-40. He was promoted to the Dodger coaching staff in and served through the end of the team's stay in Brooklyn in — through six National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
championships and Brooklyn's lone world title, which came in .
Pitler usually served as Brooklyn's first-base coach and worked under Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
, Burt Shotton
Burt Shotton
Burton Edwin Shotton was an American player, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. As manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers , he won two National League pennants and served as Jackie Robinson's first permanent major league manager.-Playing career: Fleet-of-foot outfielder:Shotton was born...
, Chuck Dressen
Chuck Dressen
Charles Walter Dressen , known as both "Chuck" and "Charlie," was an American third baseman, manager and coach in professional baseball during a career that lasted almost fifty years, and was best known as the manager of the powerful Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951–1953...
and Walter Alston
Walter Alston
Walter Emmons Alston , nicknamed "Smokey," was an American baseball player and manager. He was born in Venice, Ohio but grew up in Darrtown. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he lettered three years in both basketball and baseball and is a member of the University's Hall...
. Pitler appears in Roger Kahn's memoir The Boys of Summer as a somewhat obsequious aide to Dressen. But with his minor league managing background, he was also hailed as a fatherly figure to Dodger rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
s. He was cited for that role in poet Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
's paean to the 1955 champions
1955 World Series
The 1955 World Series matched the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Yankees, with the Dodgers winning the Series in seven games to capture their first championship in franchise history. It would be the only Series the Dodgers won in Brooklyn . The last time the Brooklyn franchise won a World...
, Hometown Piece for Messrs. Alston and Reese.
After retiring as a coach, Pitler continued his association with the Dodgers (by now based in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
) as a scout. He died in Binghamton, New York
Binghamton, New York
Binghamton is a city in the Southern Tier of New York in the United States. It is near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers...
, in at the age of 73. In 1991 he was inducted into the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
.
Pitler also holds a still-standing record for most putouts in a game by a second baseman.