 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Clyde Engle" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Clyde Engle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Utility player | |
| Born:(1884-03-19)March 19, 1884 Dayton, Ohio, U.S. | |
| Died: December 26, 1939(1939-12-26) (aged 55) Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 12, 1909, for the New York Highlanders | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 9, 1916, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .265 |
| Home runs | 12 |
| Runs batted in | 318 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Arthur Clyde "Hack" Engle (March 19, 1884 – December 26, 1939) was autility player who played inMajor League Baseball between1909 and1916. Listed at 5' 10", 190 lb., Engle batted and threw right-handed. He was born inDayton, Ohio.
Engle was a sort of super-utility man at all positions butpitcher andcatcher, playing mainly atfirst base andthird. He entered the majors in 1909 with theNew York Highlanders of theAmerican League, playing for them one and a half seasons before joining theBoston Red Sox (1910–14). In his rookie year for New York, he hit for a .278batting average with a career-highs of 20doubles and 71RBI in 135 games. His most productive season came with Boston in 1913, when he posted career-numbers in average (.289),runs (75),triples (12) andstolen bases (28). He was also a member of the Boston Red Sox1912 World Series champion team which defeated theNew York Giants in eight games.
During the 1914 midseason, Engle joined a significant number of players who jumped to theBuffalo teams of the outlawFederal League (1914–15), returning to the American League with the Cleveland Indians in 1916, his last major league season.
In an eight-season career, Engle was a .265 hitter (748-for-2822) with 12home runs and 318 RBI in 836 games, including 373 runs, 101 doubles, 39 triples, 128 stolen bases, and a .335 on-base percentage. He made 748 appearances as a fielder at first base (255), third base (163),left field (142),center field (111),second base (81),right field (25) andshortstop (9).
Following his majors career, Engle was the athletic director andcoached theUniversity of Vermont football team, and he later coached the freshman baseball team atYale University, where the coach of the varsity squad was his former teammate and close friendSmoky Joe Wood. In 1921, the Vermont baseball team needed an umpire for its season. Engle wrote his friendDolly Stark and invited him to take the position. Stark had not previously umpired, but he accepted the position, and would go on to umpire in the National League from 1927 to 1940.[1]
Engle died inBoston, Massachusetts at age 55.
Engle will be known forever as the man who hit the ball thatFred Snodgrass missed in the eight and final game of the 1912 World Series. The Series lasted eight games, due to a 6–6 tie in Game 2 when the game was called by darkness after 11 innings. Engle had appeared twice before during the Series inpinch-hitting duties. In Game 6, he hit a two-run RBI double off Giants pitcherRube Marquard that scored Boston's only runs in a 5–2 losing effort. The decisive Game 8 atFenway Park faced Joe Wood for Boston andChristy Mathewson for the New York Giants, who had broken a 1–1 tie by scoring a run in the first half of the 10th inning. The Red Sox started its half andmanagerJake Stahl sent Engle to pinch-hit for pitcher Wood. Then, he hit a fly ball off Mathewson that came toward CF Snodgrass, who dropped the ball. Snodgrass made a fine catch on the next batter,Harry Hooper, but Mathewson walkedSteve Yerkes, gave up asingle toTris Speaker, and Engle went on to score the tying run. Another walk toDuffy Lewis and asacrifice fly byLarry Gardner scored Yerkes with the winning run to give Boston the game and the series.