Jigger Statz

Arnold John "Jigger" Statz (October 20, 1897 – March 16, 1988) was an American professional baseball player, manager and scout. An outfielder, Statz appeared in 683 games played in Major League Baseball, but had a lengthy and notable minor league career, playing in almost 2,800 games. He is one of only eight players known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major and minor leagues. The native of Waukegan, Illinois, threw and batted right-handed, and was listed as 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m) tall and 150 pounds (68 kg).

Jigger Statz
Statz in 1922
Outfielder
Born: (1897-10-20)October 20, 1897
Waukegan, Illinois
Died: March 16, 1988(1988-03-16) (aged 90)
Corona del Mar, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 30, 1919, for the New York Giants
Last MLB appearance
September 30, 1928, for the Brooklyn Robins
MLB statistics
Batting average.285
Home runs17
Runs batted in215
Teams

Early life

Statz attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he moved from Illinois along with his parents at an early age. He played baseball for two years at Holy Cross before enlisting in the U. S. Navy during World War I. Though he signed with the Giants in 1919, Statz continued his studies at Holy Cross and graduated with his class in 1921.[1]

Major league career

Statz played in the major leagues during eight seasons from 1919 to 1928 for the Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, Boston Red Sox, and Brooklyn Robins. His best season was in 1923 with the Cubs, when he played in all 154 games, compiling a .319 batting average, with 10 home runs and 70 runs batted in.

Minor league career

Statz played 18 minor league seasons, all of them for the Los Angeles Angels of the top-level Pacific Coast League. In an era when many players had lengthy minor league careers, Statz's statistics surpassed those of his contemporaries, e.g. a grand total of 4,093 major and minor league hits, and a total number of games played which was exceeded only by Pete Rose.[1]

Statz had a distinguished career in the Pacific Coast League. He holds the PCL records for games played (2,790), hits (3,356), doubles (597), triples (136), and runs scored (1,996). His career PCL batting average was .315.[2] The year after his playing career ended, he was a member of the first group of players elected to the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.[3]

Total hits
Statz taking batting practice in 1920.

Statz is one of only eight players (along with Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Julio Franco, Hank Aaron, Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, and Stan Musial) known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major leagues and minor leagues.[4] (Jake Beckley and Sam Crawford may also have hit 4,000, but data for some of their minor league seasons are missing.)[5]

Post–playing career

Statz managed for five years in the minor leagues. He was the Angels' player-manager during 1940–1942, and managed the Visalia Cubs of the California League in 1948–1949.

Jigger Statz played himself in the 1929 Paramount film, Fast Company, and in 1952 served as a technical advisor for The Winning Team, a fictionalized Warner Bros. biography of Grover Cleveland Alexander which starred Ronald Reagan.[6]

References
  1. Jigger Statz at the SABR Bio Project, by Bill Nowlin, retrieved 2011-11-01
  2. Jigger Statz at BR Bullpen, accessed 2011-11-01
  3. Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame at BR Bullpen, accessed 2011-11-01
  4. The incomparable Ichiro's 4,000 hits, Jim Caple, ESPN.com, accessed 2013-08-23
  5. Chasing 4000, Devon Young, Baseballmusings.com, accessed 2013-08-23
  6. Jigger Statz at IMDb
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