Bob Unglaub

Robert Alexander Unglaub (July 31, 1880 – November 29, 1916) was an American first baseman, utility infielder and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Highlanders, Boston Americans, and Washington Senators. He batted and threw right-handed. Unglaub stood and weighed .

A Baltimore native, Unglaub was first exposed to baseball when he served as batboy and mascot for the Baltimore Orioles. He made his major league debut with the Highlanders in 1904 and was traded to Boston later that year. Though he started at first base for Boston in late 1905, he played minor league baseball in 1906 because of a salary dispute. Back with the Americans in 1907, he became their full-time first baseman and even their manager, though the latter role lasted for only 29 games. He was traded to Washington in 1908 and remained with the Senators through the 1910 season. Unglaub then played in the minor leagues for six more years before he was killed in an accident while working at Baltimore's Pennsylvania Railroad shops.

Early life Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 31, 1881, Unglaub was the son of John and Minnie Unglaub. He grew up a mere three blocks away from Union Park, home of the Baltimore Orioles. In his formative years, he served as batboy and mascot for the ballclub, receiving baseball tips and advice from players such as John McGraw, Joe Kelley, Willie Keeler, and Steve Brodie. Unglaub would often catch fly balls hit by the players during batting practice.

Upon Unglaub's graduation from high school in 1897, a representative of the University of Maryland inquired about Unglaub's interest in attending the institution. Unglaub said he wanted to play baseball, then discovered he could do both; the school would pay him $75 a month to play baseball for the Terrapins. Accepting the offer, Unglaub attended the school for three years, pitching under his middle name of Alexander and acquiring an engineering degree. During his time in college, Unglaub also played for a variety of amateur and semipro teams on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He made his debut for Meriden on May 9, 1900, in a 5-4 loss to Bristol Bellmakers. Unglaub went on to appear in 92 games with the Meriden baseball club during 1900 season playing third base and catcher getting 117 hits in 365 at bats and batting .321. Following a good performance in Meriden's 14-6 win against Waterbury in their last home game on September 7, Unglaub was sold to Worcester Farmers of the Eastern League. Unglaub immediately started for Worcester in their 4-2 win against Syracuse on September 10 and stayed on to appear in remaining 12 games with Worcester during the 1900 season. He played an entire 1901 season with Worcester, serving as a third baseman and batting .247.

Following his first full successful season in the Eastern League, Unglaub attracted attention of several other clubs. While he verbally agreed to stay with Worcester for another year and received approximately in advance money from the club's president, he went on trial with Philadelphia Phillies and signed a contract with them in January 1902. Unglaub initially denied signing the contract with another club, but the truth eventually came out and his contract with Philadelphia was nullified. Refusing to return to Worcester, Unglaub crossed the country to join the Sacramento Senators of the independent California State League for the upcoming 1902 season. He made his debut for the Senators on April 5, 1902, in their 6-5 away loss to San Francisco Ponies. Unglaub started the season as a second baseman, but was quickly shifted to shortstop, finishing the season as a first baseman and right infielder. He played his last game for Sacramento on December 7, 1902, in their 4-2 win against San Francisco, finishing the season with .260 batting and appearing in 150 games for the Senators. Still not having played since May 6, he was sent back to the Americans in late July as a player to be named later from an earlier trade for Patsy Dougherty. Much of his playing time came at the end of the year, when he replaced player-manager Jimmy Collins at third base in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Browns on September 22, then served as the starting third baseman for the rest of the season, batting .288 with 13 runs scored and six runs batted in (RBI) in the season's final 16 games. In 43 games, he batted .223 with 18 runs scored, 27 hits, and 11 RBI.

Salary dispute (1906–07) Unglaub would not continue to start at third base for the Americans in 1906.

Washington Senators (1908–10) 1900s card of Unglaub with the Senators, mistakenly spelling his name as "Unglane" Unglaub's move to Washington "revived his career," according to baseball historian Frank Russo.

Death During baseball offseasons, Unglaub worked as an engineer at the Pennsylvania Railroad shops in Baltimore. On November 29, 1916, he was supervising repair work on a locomotive when an accident occurred that crushed and mangled his body, killing him. He was 36. Unglaub was laid to rest at Sunny Ridge Memorial Park in Crisfield, Maryland.

Managerial record Team Year Regular season PostseasonGamesWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % ResultBOA 29920 fired* – – – –Total 29 9 20 0 0 –

As a player-manager, Unglaub returned to being a player only.