St. Louis Browns second baseman Ike Rockenfield was born on November 3, 1876, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a well-travelled infielder who played for 12 teams over a 12-year professional baseball career. He would spend over ten seasons in the minor leagues, and his entire MLB career would be with the St. Louis Browns.
His career holds a bit
St. Louis Browns second baseman Ike Rockenfield was born on November 3, 1876, in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a well-travelled infielder who played for 12 teams over a 12-year professional baseball career. He would spend over ten seasons in the minor leagues, and his entire MLB career would be with the St. Louis Browns.
His career holds a bit of a mystery, because there is are no published transactions that include Ike Rockenfield on record. In seven of his 12 years in baseball, he would spend time with multiple teams in a single season (three teams in 1903, two teams in 1904, 1906-08, 1911-12). The professional career of Ike Rockenfield began with the Seattle Clamdiggers in 1901. He was 24 years old in his 'rookie' season, but it is understood that he played several years of semipro baseball before playing for Seattle. He would spend most of his early career playing in the Pacific northwest. Rockenfield played for the Clamdiggers (1901, 03), Tacoma Tigers ((1902-03), Olympia Senators (1903), Oakland Oaks (1903), Portland Beavers (1904), and the Spokane Indians (1904).
Ike Rockenfield began is MLB career with the Browns in 1905. He would make his major league debut on May 5, 1905, going hitless in two at bats against the Detroit Tigers. He would be the Browns primary second baseman, platooning with Dick Padden and Charles Moran. He appeared in 95 games and batted just .216 with 40 runs scored and 16 RBIs. His best game came on the last day of the season against the New York Highlanders, when he had four hits, including a double, driving in a run, and scoring two runs himself.
Rockenfield was sent to the St. Paul Saints and later the Seattle Siwaches to start the 1906 season.
He returned to the Browns for the final two months of the season, and increased his average to .236. It was not able to keep his position on the team, for he played for the Little Rock Travelers in 1907. He would finish his career in the minor leagues, playing for the Jersey City Skeeters (1908), Montgomery Senators (1908-09), Tacoma Tigers (1910-11), Kansas City Blues (1911-12), and the Quincy Old Soldiers (1912).
Ike Rockenfield would retire from baseball after the 1912 season, and work in the cigar industry as a salesman. His career numbers with the Browns included 91 hits in 122 games. He would tally 11 doubles, 24 RBIs, 43 runs, 11 stolen bases, with a .221 batting average. He would eventually settle in San Diego, where he he had the opportunity to tell baseball stories from his travels and career.
TRANSACTIONS
1921 - Browns 2B Joe Gedeon receives a lifetime ban from baseball for his involvement in the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal. Gedeon had played with the Browns from 1918-20, where he led the American League in fielding percentage twice (1918-19), and assists from second base in 1918. He was considered one of the best fiel
TRANSACTIONS
1921 - Browns 2B Joe Gedeon receives a lifetime ban from baseball for his involvement in the 1919 Chicago Black Sox scandal. Gedeon had played with the Browns from 1918-20, where he led the American League in fielding percentage twice (1918-19), and assists from second base in 1918. He was considered one of the best fielding second basemen of the era. He was also friends with many of the players involved in the famous baseball gambling scandal. His connections to White Sox LHP Lefty Williams and SS Swede Risberg, gave him first hand knowledge of the scenarios surrounding the World Series. It was said that Gedeon won between $600-700 betting along with players from the White Sox. After the scandal broke, he became the primary focus of the Grand Jury looking into players associations with gambling and the Series. He fully cooperated with the investigation, and recieved no protection from the courts in exchange for his testimony. On November 3, 1921, MLB Commissioner Judge Keenesaw Mountain Landis banned Gedeon for life. he cam to be known as the "Nineth Man Out" in this infamous baseball scandal.
BROWNS BIRTHDAYS ON THIS DAY
1876 - 2B Ike Rockenfield (1905-06)
1886 - Catcher Clyde Southwich (1911)
The manager of the 1920 St. Louis Browns was a career baseball man named Jimmy Burke. Burke would spend 38 seasons as a player, coach, and manager in the minor and major leagues.
He would serve as the Cardinals player manager in 1905 where he would lead them to a 34-56 record. He would begin his full time managerial career for the Kansas
The manager of the 1920 St. Louis Browns was a career baseball man named Jimmy Burke. Burke would spend 38 seasons as a player, coach, and manager in the minor and major leagues.
He would serve as the Cardinals player manager in 1905 where he would lead them to a 34-56 record. He would begin his full time managerial career for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. After time with the Detroit Tigers coching staff, he joined the Browns staff in 1918.
The Browns shuffled their managerial staff in 1918, when Jimmy Austin replaced Fielder Jones, and Burke replaced Austin on June 28. Known as "Sunset Jimmy" Burke, he would increase the Browns win totals each season he led the team (1918-20) In 1920, he developed the team that would go on to challenge for the American League pennant reaching a 76-77 record. He grew with his young team taking his enthusiastic and optimistic nature and using it to motivate his team. He would manage the Browns to a 172-180 record over three seasons.