Nick Altrock
Born: September 15, 1876(1876-09-15) Cincinnati, Ohio
Died: January 20, 1965 (aged 88) Washington, D.C.
Batted: Both	Threw: Left
MLB debut
July 14, 1898 for the Louisville Colonels
Last MLB appearance
October 1, 1933 for the Washington Senators
Career statistics
Wins-Losses	83-75
Strikeouts	425
ERA	2.65
Teams
Louisville Colonels (1898) Boston Americans (1902-1903) Chicago White Sox (1903-1909) Washington Senators (1909, 1912-1915, 1918-1919, 1924, 1931, 1933)
Career highlights and awards
Member of 1903 World Series Champion Boston Americans team. Member of 1906 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox team. Member of 1924 World Series Champion Washington Senators team. Chicago White Sox All-Time Leader in Walks/9IP (1.49) Longest-tenured coach (42 consecutive years) for one franchise (Washington, 1912-53) in MLB history

Nicholas Altrock (September 15, 1876 – January 20, 1965) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Altrock was one of the better pitchers in baseball for a brief period from 1904 to 1906 with the Chicago White Sox. He was instrumental in the White Sox World Series championship in 1906, going 20-13 with a 2.06 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 with a Series-best 1.00 ERA against the Chicago Cubs.

Police protect Nick Altrock from crowds after pitching a 4 hitter during game 1 of the 1906 World Series. Notice that they are on the infield, as it was commons practice for fans to walk on the field after a game.

An arm injury after 1906 ruined his career, but he hung on with the White Sox and Washington Senators until 1924, though he pitched very little after 1908 and made sporadic pinch-hitting appearances after that, including one in 1933 (facing Rube Walberg of the Philadelphia Athletics) at 57 years of age.

Altrock became a coach for the Senators in 1912 and remained on the Washington staff until 1953, a 42-year skein that represents the longest consecutive-year tenure of a coach with the same franchise in baseball history.

During that time, he was noted for his antics in the coaching box and teamed with Al Schacht, the "Clown Prince of Baseball," for a dozen years to perform comedy routines on baseball fields in the days before official mascots. Schacht and Altrock also took their antics to the vaudeville stage where they appeared in a comedy routine.^[1]

An anecdote, probably apocryphal, has been printed in some baseball books about a quip by Altrock during his coaching days with the Senators. A batter had hit a ball into the stands and it was not known whether it was fair or foul. The umpire, who had been the target of Altrock's gibes, made the call and shortly afterward a woman was carried from the stands on a litter. The umpire asked Altrock if the ball had hit the woman. In his clear voice, Nick answered, "No. You called that one right and she passed out from shock."

He was the second oldest pitcher ever to play Major League Baseball when he played his last season in 1933.

Altrock died at age 88 in Washington, D.C. in 1965.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube