Player Profile
Aside from his temper, Elberfeld became known as one of the best shortstops in the early years of the 20th Century. He was known as a tough competitor who challenged baserunners to slash him out of their way. They sometimes did precisely that. On May 1, 1908, Elberfeld was severely spiked in the foot by Bob Ganley‚ essentially ending his season. Elberfeld batted only 56 times in 1908. During Ty Cobb's rookie season, he had a basepath meeting with the Tabasco Kid. Cobb slid head first into second base, only to have Elberfeld dig his knee into the back of Cobb's neck, grinding his face in the dirt. According to a Cobb biographer, that was the last time Cobb slid headfirst into a base. Shortly before his death, Elberfeld was quoted as saying "Ty found out my feet were harder than his head. Then he started coming in spikes first. I had to protect myself." Elberfeld's legs were badly scarred from years of highly flying spikes, and he reportedly poured raw whisky into spike wounds to cauterize them.
Further showing his toughness as a ballplayer, Elberfeld was not afraid of being hit by a pitch. He led the American League in being hit by a pitch in 1903 and 1911 and was among the league leaders in the category nine times. In 1911, he was hit by a pitch 25 times, setting an American League record that was not broken until 1986 when Don Baylor was hit by a pitch 35 times. In his career, Elberfeld was hit by a pitch 165 times—13th most in the history of Major League Baseball.
Despite 458 errors at the shortstop position, Elberfeld had great range in his early years. In 1901, Elberfeld made 332 putouts and had a range factor rating of 6.14—87 points higher than the league average for shortstops. He also had a career best 459 assists at shortstop the following season with the Tigers. He once collected 12 assists in a single game in 1901. As injuries and age slowed him down, Elberfeld's range was more limited later in his career.
Read more about this topic: Kid Elberfeld
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