| Art Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 Fletcher in 1920 | |
| Shortstop /Manager | |
| Born:(1885-01-05)January 5, 1885 Collinsville, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: February 6, 1950(1950-02-06) (aged 65) Los Angeles California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1909, for the New York Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 16, 1922, for the Philadelphia Phillies | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .277 |
| Home runs | 32 |
| Runs batted in | 676 |
| Managerial record | 237–383 |
| Winning % | .382 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| As player As manager As coach | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Arthur Fletcher (January 5, 1885 – February 6, 1950) was an Americanshortstop,manager andcoach inMajor League Baseball. Fletcher was associated with two New York City baseball dynasties: theGiants ofJohn McGraw as a player; and theYankees ofMiller Huggins andJoe McCarthy as a coach.
Born inCollinsville, Illinois, he batted and threw right-handed, stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall and weighed 170 pounds (77 kg).
Fletcher came to the Giants in1909 after only one season ofminor league experience, and became the club's regular shortstop two years later. He played in fourWorld Series while performing for McGraw (1911,1912,1913 and1917). Traded to thePhiladelphia Phillies in the midst of the1920 season, he retired after the 1922 campaign with 1,534hits, 32home runs, 676RBI and a .277batting average. Fletcher is the Giants' career leader in being hit by pitches (132) and ranks 29th on the MLB career list (141) for the same statistic.[1]
In1923 he replacedKaiser Wilhelm as manager of the seventh-place Phillies and led the club through four losing seasons, bookended by last-place finishes in 1923 and 1926. In October 1926, he was replaced byStuffy McInnis.
Fletcher then began a 19-year tenure (1927–1945) as a coach for the Yankees, where, beginning with thelegendary 1927 team, he would participate on tenAmerican League pennant winners and nine World Series champions.
Miller Huggins was sent toSt. Vincent's Hospital inGreenwich Village on September 20, 1929 with a case ofinfluenza on recommendation of Dr. Edward King, the Yankees' team doctor. With that, Fletcher andCharley O'Leary would take control of the team in his absence.[2] Despite ablood transfusion on September 23,Ed Barrow stated that the health of the Yankees' manager was in bad shape due toerysipelas and that a priest had been called.[3] Fletcher and O'Leary, coaching the Yankees at a game atFenway Park inBoston, Massachusetts on September 25, were told by team secretary Mark Roth that Huggins died in Manhattan. Fletcher, O'Leary and pitching coachBob Shawkey felt heartbroken about their passing and kept it quiet when they were notified on the news. Players for theBoston Red Sox were made aware as well about what had happened and the game had become quiet. After the fifth inning, players from both teams went to home plate with the umpires and watched as theAmerican flag at Fenway was lowered to half-mast in honor of Huggins. Fletcher, enthralled with the opportunity Huggins gave him, turned down three opportunities to become a manager for differentAmerican League teams to be able to stay with Huggins. Fletcher, speaking for the team, who also talked to the press, chose to comment on the upcomingWorld Series and predicted that thePhiladelphia Athletics would win it over theChicago Cubs. Fletcher and O'Leary took a train from Boston after the game forWashington D.C. but were going to attend the funeral of Huggins first.[4]
Immediate speculation was that Fletcher would replace Huggins as the manager for the1930 season. Fletcher was considered the likeliest candidate and that while O'Leary was given the position as manager for the rest of the 1929 season, he feltJacob Ruppert would put in Fletcher to continue the clubhouse Huggins had built.[5] Huggins' funeral was held in Manhattan at theChurch of the Transfiguration on September 27. Fletcher, Shawkey and O'Leary, along withBabe Ruth,Herb Pennock,Lou Gehrig,Earle Combs andTony Lazzeri served as pallbearers of their manager's coffin before it was sent toCincinnati, Ohio by train for burial.[6] On October 17, 1929, Ruppert announced that Shawkey would become the manager of the Yankees for 1930 after Fletcher rejected the position. Ruppert noted that Huggins asked the ownerc. 1924–1925 that his successor should be decided and pressured him to choose Fletcher. Before the death of Huggins, Ruppert asked Fletcher to take the position and he refused the position then. Following Huggins' death, Ruppert approached Fletcher with the option to manage in 1930, but rejected it a third time, stating that he would rather be a coach and not have the extra responsibility of being the manager.[7]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| PHI | 1923 | 154 | 50 | 104 | .325 | 8th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1924 | 151 | 55 | 96 | .364 | 7th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1925 | 153 | 68 | 85 | .444 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI | 1926 | 151 | 58 | 93 | .384 | 8th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| PHI total | 609 | 231 | 378 | .379 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| NYY | 1929 | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYY total | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total | 620 | 237 | 383 | .382 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Fletcher, who had been serving as a part-time manager in 1945 withJoe McCarthy ill, suffered aheart attack on September 10 during a game against theCleveland Indians while standing in the third base coach box. He suffered a second heart attack and he was rushed to St. Elizabeth's Hospital inWashington Heights, Manhattan, where he was placed in serious condition.[8][9] Dr. Robert Walsh, who was serving as the team's physician told Fletcher that the heart attack was not a serious one but that he would have to stop coaching for the 1945 season to recover from it. At that time period, Fletcher had been considered a candidate to manage the team in the1946 season if McCarthy chose to retire.[10]
Fletcher suffered a third heart attack and was considered out of danger by September 18. However, he told the Yankees that he intended to retire after the 1945 season due to losing his interest for the travel and preparation for each season. He planned on moving toCalifornia and purchasing home in retirement. With a large inheritance from his father, a banker from Collinsville, he felt that he could move on.[11] Fletcher would also end up suffering frompneumonia at the hospital, but by the beginning of October 1945, he was able to have visitors, with McCarthy the first to visit.[12] On October 12, 1945, McCarthy announced thatBill Dickey would replace Fletcher as the second-level coach on the Yankees.[13] Fletcher was released from the hospital on October 30 to his home in New York a week before he would leave for his home in Collinsville.[14]
Fletcher died of another heart attack on February 6, 1950 while sitting in a car inLos Angeles, California with his wife, Irene on vacation from Collinsville.[15] His funeral was held at Presbyterian Church in Collinsville on February 12. Fletcher would be buried in Glenwood Cemetery.[16] McCarthy visited for the funeral, staying inSt. Louis, Missouri before attending the service. It was while in the area he learned about the death of former teammateKiki Cuyler.[17]
· Baseball Almanac