Gus Hetling

August Julius Hetling (November 21, 1885 – October 13, 1962) was an American professional baseball player from 1904 to 1917. He appeared in two games for the Detroit Tigers in October 1906 and played 14 years of Minor League Baseball, including three seasons in Springfield, Missouri (1904–06), four years in Wichita, Kansas (1907–1908, 1915–1916), and four years with the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League (1911–14). After compiling more than 200 hits and a .297 batting average in 1912, he was selected as the Most Valuable Player in the Pacific Coast League.

Early years Hetling was born in November 1885 at St. Louis, Missouri.

Baseball player

Major leagues Hetling played only one day in Major League Baseball, appearing as a third baseman in both games of a double-header for the Detroit Tigers on October 6, 1906. Hetling had one hit in seven at bats for a .143 batting average. He handled five total chances with three putouts, two assists, and no errors. Early in the 1909 season, while Hetling was playing for Kansas City in the American Association, Sporting Life wrote:"Gus Hetling is the real article at third. Here is the star of the flock of Blue 1909 recruits. Hetling is a finished product. He handles himself with natural ease born of ability and confidence. He wings the pill to first with unerring accuracy, although he has a peculiar motion in throwing. In the exhibition games he has been hitting as if he intends to show the A. A. pitchers a sample of the .318 batting pace he stepped in the Western Association."

He spent several years of his career in the Pacific Coast League playing for the Portland Beavers in 1910, the Oakland Oaks from 1911 to 1914, and the Vernon Tigers in 1915. He appeared in a career high 202 games with 708 at bats and a .297 batting average for the Oaks in 1912.

Hetling concluded his career with the Wichita Witches (1915–16) and San Antonio Bronchos (1917).

Family and later years In September 1918, and at the time of the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses, Hetling was living in Wichita, Kansas, with his wife Rose E. (Young) Hetling. He was employed in 1918 as a salesman, in 1920 as a travelling salesman, and in 1930 in the cigar business.

Hetling died in October 1962 at Wichita, Kansas.