1872
Born February 3, 1872
Elkhart, IN, USA
Lou Criger Marquee
b. February 3, 1872 · Cleveland Spiders 1896–1898, St. Louis Perfectos 1899, St. Louis Cardinals 1900, Boston Americans 1901–1907, Boston Red Sox 1908, St. Louis Browns 1909, 1912, New York Highlanders 1910
Criger's career rested on sixteen seasons behind the plate. He caught 984 games, compared with only 12 appearances elsewhere. His best offensive season came with Cleveland in 1898, when he hit .279 with 80 hits, 43 runs, 40 walks and 32 runs batted in.
He finished with 709 hits, 86 doubles, 50 triples, 342 runs batted in and a .221 average across 1,012 games. Criger never reached 100 hits in a season, yet remained a regular catcher through the physically demanding baseball of the 1890s and 1900s.
After Cleveland and two St. Louis club identities, Criger joined the Boston Americans in 1901 and stayed through their transition to the Red Sox. He later played for the Browns and Highlanders, finishing in 1912. His Hall of Fame record includes votes in five elections and a nominating vote. He died in 1934, at sixty-two.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 1 | 1908 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 | CLV | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| 1897 | CLV | 39 | 138 | 15 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 23 | 12 | 5 | .225 |
| 1898 | CLV | 84 | 287 | 43 | 80 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 32 | 40 | 22 | 2 | .279 |
| 1899 | STL | 77 | 258 | 39 | 66 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 44 | 28 | 10 | 14 | .256 |
| 1900 | STL | 80 | 288 | 31 | 78 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 38 | 4 | 4 | 5 | .271 |
| 1901 | BOS | 76 | 268 | 26 | 62 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 11 | 9 | 7 | .231 |
| 1902 | BOS | 83 | 266 | 32 | 68 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 28 | 27 | 18 | 7 | .256 |
| 1903 | BOS | 96 | 317 | 41 | 61 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 31 | 26 | 31 | 5 | .192 |
| 1904 | BOS | 98 | 299 | 34 | 63 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 34 | 27 | 27 | 1 | .211 |
| 1905 | BOS | 109 | 313 | 33 | 62 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 36 | 54 | 20 | 5 | .198 |
| 1906 | BOS | 7 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | .176 |
| 1907 | BOS | 75 | 226 | 12 | 41 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 19 | 17 | 2 | .181 |
| 1908 | BOS | 84 | 237 | 12 | 45 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 13 | 14 | 1 | .190 |
| 1909 | SLB | 74 | 212 | 15 | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 22 | 2 | .170 |
| 1910 | NYY | 27 | 69 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 0 | .188 |
| 1912 | SLB | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 1012 | 3202 | 337 | 709 | 86 | 50 | 11 | 342 | 309 | 225 | 58 | .221 |
On this day & linked events
1934
Died May 14, 1934
1896
Major-league debut: Lou Criger
Lou Criger made a major-league debut on September 21, 1896.
1912
Final major-league game: Lou Criger
Lou Criger played a final major-league game on June 3, 1912.
Image: Public domain