Zack Wheat

Zachariah Davis Wheat (May 23, 1888 – March 11, 1972), nicknamed "Buck", was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a left fielder from 1909 to 1927, most notably as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers who were known as the Robins at that time. After 18 seasons in Brooklyn, he played his final season with the Philadelphia Athletics.

Although Wheat spent the first part of his career playing in the Dead ball era, he hit over .300 in 13 seasons and won the National League batting championship in 1918. He ended his career with a .317 career batting average and remains the Dodgers all-time franchise leader in games, at bats, plate appearances, hits, doubles, triples, and total bases. Wheat was also known as a stylish and graceful outfielder, leading National League left fielders in putouts seven times and fielding percentage twice.

Early life Born in Hamilton, Missouri, he was the son of Basil and Julia Wheat. His father was of English descent. For many years, it was believed that Wheat was at least partially of Cherokee descent but, according to the Society for American Baseball Research, this was likely untrue.

Career Wheat began his professional baseball career in 1906 for Enterprise in the Kansas League, followed by Wichita in 1907, the Shreveport Pirates of the Texas League in 1908, and the Mobile Sea Gulls of the Southern Association in 1909. It was during that 1909 season that the Brooklyn Superbas of the National League purchased Wheat for $1,200,

What Lajoie was to infielders, Zach Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all ... Wheat is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals. — —Baseball Magazine, 1917

During the 1917 and 1918 seasons, Wheat hit well, but missed many games due to injuries. He had tiny feet, around size 5, and this is believed to be the cause of the many nagging ankle injuries that caused to miss many games in his career. Wheat's statistics climbed during this new live era of baseball, reaching double-digit home runs for the first time with 14 in 1921, and again three more times in the next four years. Wheat hit .320 or higher every season from 1920 through 1925, topping out with .375 in consecutive seasons. He failed to lead the league in hitting those two seasons, not getting enough at bats in 1923 to qualify, and Hornsby topped the league with .384, and in 1924, his .375 was a distant second to Hornsby's .424.

A subtle but longstanding friction existed between Wheat and his manager, Wilbert Robinson. The friction reportedly stemmed from Robinson's belief that Wheat pursued the manager's job behind his back. Wheat later became a police officer.

Due to the long-held belief about his supposed Cherokee ancestry, Wheat was featured in "Baseball's League of Nations: A Tribute to Native Americans in Baseball", a 2008 exhibit at the Iroquois Indian Museum in Howes Cave, N.Y.

Wheat died of a heart attack on March 11, 1972.