Monte Pfeffer

The short shortstop drew the shortest straw.

On September 29, 1913, diminutive (5-foot-4) 21-year-old rookie Monte Pfeffer started at shortstop for the American League champion Philadelphia Athletics. The “Lilliputian wonder” had recently been promoted to Connie Mack’s squad from the Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Barons of the Class B New York State League, a team he had temporarily jumped two months prior.1 The Barons were skippered by Joe McCarthy, in his first ever managerial role, who was also the starting second baseman and Pfeffer’s double play partner.

So, whom did Pfeffer, in his only major-league game, draw as the opposing starting pitcher in front of 15,000 at Washington’s National Park? None other than the Senators’ fireballer Walter “Big Train” Johnson, vying for his 36th victory of his magical season. Pfeffer’s big-league career ended with a thud the very next day, getting knocked out cold by a ball during pregame warmups. The following is his story.

Montague Pfeiffer was born on October 7, 18902 in New York City to Samuel Joseph Pfeiffer, a Polish-born Jewish stone mill merchant, and Lena (“Fanny,” née Topper) Pheiffer, 14 years younger and also from Poland.3 This was Samuel’s third marriage and Lena’s second. Not much is known about Monte’s childhood, but the 1910 census shows Samuel, Lena, 18-year-old Montefiore (listed as a ball player), and four other siblings all living in Manhattan. Pfeiffer played for a Plainfield, New Jersey, semipro team that year. He was also a member of a local group called the “Park Gang.” He was a witness to a tragic shooting of a 12-year-old during a fight with a rival gang in October 1910.4

Pfeiffer’s first professional baseball appearance, for the Haverhill (Massachusetts) Hustlers of the Class B New England League, came unexpectedly. (Newspapers began regularly printing his last name as “Pfeffer,” which became the common spelling.) On Opening Day, April 24, the youngster was pressed into action by manager Bannon in the first inning, when captain and starting shortstop Harry “Chub” Aubrey was ejected after pushing an umpire. Pfeffer scored both of Haverhill’s runs in the 5-2 loss to Brockton (Massachusetts).5 In his second pro game, playing center field, Pfeffer and his Haverhill teammates were victims of a no-hitter by Brockton’s James Ward.6 Still, “Kid” Pfeffer quickly assumed the starting shortstop job and was “declared not only to be a good man at shortstop, but also a flash on the bases.”7 Pfeffer would relinquish the job back to Aubrey by May. However, later in the season, Pfeffer manned second base while Herman Young played shortstop after being sent down by the Boston Rustlers. Pfeffer ended with the second-worst fielding percentage for second basemen (.924) with at least 25 games (26 in his case) and hit but .185 in 41 games overall for the last-place Hustlers.

Pfeffer signed a Haverhill contract for 1912 but was released by April.8  He played for a couple of weeks with a Poughkeepsie Fogarty semipro squad in New York City. In late April, he signed with the McKeesport (Pennsylvania, southeast of Pittsburgh) Tubers – the town was known as “Tube City” – of the Class D Ohio-Pennsylvania League.9  According to a late June report, “Pfeiffer, McKeesport’s speedy shortstop, reminds one of Honus Wagner. He has lots of ‘pep’ and plays as though he enjoyed it.”10 Several days prior, Pfeffer had been appointed McKeesport’s manager.11 The club  disbanded in mid-July after a huge regional flood hurt the area. Pfeffer hit .254 in 58 games for McKeesport.12

In August, George Stallings, manager of the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AA International League and future manager of the New York Highlanders, recommended Pfeffer to his friend Bill Clymer, manager of the Wilkes-Barre Barons. The tiny infielder first filled in for injured shortstop Paul Dietz on August 24 as the Barons won their 13th game in a row.13 In his debut, “Pfeffer made some of the grandest stops ever seen at Boulevard Park yesterday, and brought the fans to their feet several times throughout the contest.”14 Other initial reports commented: “Clymer surely can dig them up. No one ever heard of that new short stop until he appeared on the landscape Saturday.”15 The Wilkes-Barre Record also quipped, “Pfeffer is a sawed off giant. There is a lot of hitting power in his broad shoulders” and “If that safety pin ever gives way on the rear of Pfeffer’s cap it is liable to fall on him and smother him.”16 The Barons won 25 in a row,17 yet somehow didn’t win the pennant, losing by a half game to Utica in a controversial ruling by league president John Farrell.

Pfeffer returned to Harlem in upper Manhattan after the season. “Midget” owned a stake in a Bronx pool hall, where he worked during the offseason, then returned to the Barons to begin 1913.18 He  drew comparisons to the Detroit Tigers infielder Donie Bush.19 Pfeffer’s double play partner was usually Joe McCarthy, recently also appointed as a professional manager for the first time, replacing Clymer, who ironically replaced Stallings as skipper in Buffalo.

Pfeffer started to get some major-league interest, including from Brooklyn scout Billy Gilbert, who came to Wilkes-Barre in July to get a look at the prospect, who gave a sterling fielding exhibition.20 However, soon after – and against the pleadings of McCarthy – Pfeffer jumped the Barons.21 He claimed that teammates were ragging on him and his New York girlfriend. Teammates allegedly said to Pfeffer’s companion that he was “a Jew and a tightwad who never spent a nickel.”22 Pfeffer said he was going back to run his pool hall in the Bronx and quit professional ball. McCarthy threatened to blacklist Pfeffer. Neither ended up happening – Pfeffer was back with Wilkes-Barre four days later.23

Pfeffer played shortstop in the season-ending doubleheader sweep on September 14 for the second-place Barons against nearby foe and last-place Scranton. The first game, a 1-0 affair, was completed in 42 minutes; the seven-inning, 4-1 nightcap took an equally brisk 45 minutes.24 Pfeffer hit .252 in 135 games.

The next day, Pfeffer was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics, the same day his Barons teammate Leon Cadore was snagged by the St. Louis Browns.  The Wilkes-Barre Evening News wrote that “Pfeffer’s ability to shine higher up is doubtful, but with a manager like Connie Mack to look after him he may develop into a sensation.”25 A week later, Mack sent a telegram to Wilkes-Barre management asking for Pfeffer’s address.26 A draft put in by Milwaukee of the American Association for the player was disallowed because Philadelphia had already claimed Pfeffer.27

Pfeffer made his major-league debut on September 29, part of Mack’s “kindergarten brood” of new recruits in the lineup that day.28 Starting third baseman Harry Fritz, second baseman Press Cruthers, and catcher Wickey McAvoy joined Pfeffer in also making their big-league debuts in the same game; 19-year-old right fielder George Brickley had done so three days prior. Rookie Billy Orr, a shortstop by trade, started at first base. Pfeffer, batting sixth and playing shortstop, went 0-for-3 against the great Walter Johnson but reached first when hit by a Johnson pitch that grazed Pfeffer’s sleeve.29 The Senators won 1-0 in front of 15,000; Johnson’s four-hit shutout earned him his 36th and final win of an incredible 1913 season. No major-league hurler has won that many in a single season since.

Pfeffer made an error (on a Danny Moeller grounder) as did the entire infield.30 Nonetheless, the game reports were kind to him.

• The Evening News wrote, “Little Monte Pfeffer broke into fast company by standing up before Walter Johnson. Surely it must have looked like the old battle of David and Goliath when Hassan stepped to the plate to solve the dazzling speed of the giant Senator.”31
• The Philadelphia Public Ledger commented, “The bright spot of the contest was the brilliant shortstopping of Pfeffer, the Wilkes-Barre recruit. He handled four of his five chances in great style, and his stop and throw of (Clyde) Milan’s grass cutter in the third inning brought the fans to their feet.”32
• The Washington Herald wrote, “Ray Morgan made a great stop of Pfeffer’s grounder between first and second in the sixth frame. Mack’s new shortstop is some speedy getting down to first, and it took a hurried throw from an awkward position.”
• The Herald added, “after Pfeffer had bungled Moeller’s grounder, he came through with a swell play on Milan in the third, racing in on his grounder and making a fast play to Orr.”
• Last, “he threw (George) McBride out after making a fine play on his grounder in the eighth.”33

The next day during pregame practice, Pfeffer “was struck on the head by a batted ball and rendered unconscious. He was carried off the field but recovered later. However, Mack refused to let him play,”34 and he penciled in another rookie shortstop, John “Doc” Lavan. Lavan played in four final-week games in which Pfeffer might have seen action. After the Athletics defeated the New York Giants four games to one in the World Series, Lavan received a full World Series winners share of $3,246. which helped put him through medical school. Monte Pfeffer never played in another major-league game.

Philadelphia sent Pfeffer to the Kansas City Blues of the Class AA American Association in early 1914. Spring training reports stated that Pfeffer “covers a lot of ground and heaves them over to first in (Lee) Tannehill fashion,” but also, “at bat Pfeffer looks as if he had borrowed Andy Oyler’s crouch.”35 Pfeffer started the season as the Blues shortstop but was benched in May for “light hitting.”36 A slide in Columbus later in May caused a severely sprained ankle and cost him two weeks. In his first game back, “Midget” Pfeffer collided with left fielder Bob Roth and was sent to the hospital with a broken leg,37 sitting out [for] multiple weeks and being replaced by Chuck Wortman.

In early July Pfeffer was purchased by last-place Topeka of the Western League.38 Five days later, he was returned to Kansas City. Pfeffer tried to latch on with the Kansas City Feds, but to no avail.39 In early August, he was loaned to the Marinette-Menominee (Wisconsin) Twins of the Wisconsin-Illinois League. Still, at the end of the season, Kansas City exercised its option on Pfeffer for the next season.

In October, the 24-year-old Pfeffer married 18-year-old Rose Schachter in Manhattan.40 The next August, the couple welcomed a daughter, Frances (“Fanny”).

Pfeffer was placed on the suspended list by Marinette in March 1915.41 He latched on with the St. Boniface (Manitoba, Canada, near Winnipeg) Saints of the Class C Northern League from May through July. He hit .169 in 72 games, the lowest batting average of any player in the league with over 100 at-bats.42 That was the final stop on Pfeffer’s organized baseball journey. However, he played on a Detroit-area manufacturers’ league team against the New York Giants in an August exhibition.43

Pfeffer’s May 1917 World War I draft card listed him as a New York City resident, single, and a signal repairman. Presumably, his young wife Rose passed away between August 1915 and May 1917. The 1920 US Census shows Pfeffer twice: once as a widowed patient at Riverside Hospital in New York City, with a second citation showing him as a widowed electrician living in New York City with mother Lena, younger sisters Sadie and Hannah, and younger brother Isadore. The 1930 census shows him as a subway electrician. By the 1940 census, railroad machinist Pfeffer lived in New York City with Sadie and a brother-in-law.

Monte Pfeffer died on September 27, 1941, in Manhattan of heart disease, with his occupation listed as signal repairman. He was buried at Acacia Cemetery in Ozone Park, New York, and survived by daughter Frances.

 

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Bill Lamb and Rory Costello and fact-checked by Larry DeFillipo.

 

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com, StatsCrew.com, and MyHeritage.com.

 

Notes

1 “Fans Can See Monte Pfeffer and Bush Play,” (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Evening News, July 22, 1913: 10.

2 Other sources, such as the 1910 census, erroneously list Pfeffer’s first name at Montefiore and his birth year as 1891.

3 Our subject’s birth certificate lists the family surname as spelled “Pfeifer.”

4 “Deny Boy Was Made Shield,” Providence (Rhode Island) Daily Journal, October 20, 1910: 6.

5 “Brockton 5, Haverhill 2,” Boston Globe, April 25, 1911: 7.

6 “No-Hit, No-Run Sign Out Early,” Boston Globe, April 26, 1911: 7.

7 “Baseball Notes,” (Lynn, Massachusetts) Daily Evening Item, April 27, 1911: 7.

8 “Contracts and Releases,” New Bedford (Massachusetts) Evening Standard, April 9, 1912: 14.

9 “M’Keesport Players are Training Hard in Gotham,” (East Liverpool, Ohio) Evening Review, April 27, 1912: 8.

10 “Baseball Bits,” Salem (Ohio) News, June 24, 1912: 7.

11 “M’Keesport Franchise to Change Hands,” Pittsburgh Gazette Times, June 18, 1912: 12.

12 H.A. Friedman, “Averages of the Ohio-Penn League for Half Season,” Pittsburgh Press, July 21, 1912: 15.

13 “Riggert Was ‘My Hero’ in Saturday’s Game,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Evening News, August 26, 1912: 12. Monte’s last name is spelled ‘Preefer’ in this article.

14 B.S. Lave, “Dapper Daily Doings for the Fickle Fans,” Wilkes-Barre Evening News, August 26, 1912: 14.

15 “From the Foul Lines,” Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Record, August 26, 1912: 9.

16 “From the Foul Lines,” Wilkes-Barre Record, August 29, 1912: 9.

17 “Freeman’s Bunch Stops the Champs by a Lucky Win,” Wilkes-Barre Evening News, September 3, 1912: 10. The streak tied for second place in minor league history at that time for consecutive wins, with Charlotte of the Carolina Association during the same year and two behind Corsicana in the Texas League (27) in 1902. See “Wilkes-Barre’s 25 Unbroken Wins Go Down in History,” Wilkes-Barre Record, September 5, 1912: 15.

18 “More Barons Report,” Wilkes-Barre Record, April 16, 1913: 10.

19 “Fans Can See Monte Pfeffer and Bush Play,” Evening News, July 22, 1913: 10.

20 “Scribblings from Bub’s Score Card,” (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Tribune-Republican, July 23, 1913: 10.

21 “Pfeffer, Baseball Player Quits Team Because of Ill Feeling,” Wilkes-Barre Evening News, July 22, 1913: 1.

22 “Pfeffer Jumps to Join Summer Team,” Wilkes-Barre Record, July 23, 1913: 15; “Quits Game Because Girl Heard Stories,” Boston Globe, July 23, 1913: 7.

23 “Pfeffer Returns, Prodigal Repents, Plays with Team,” Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader, July 26, 1913: 13; “Pfeffer Back in the Fold,” New York Sun, July 27, 1913: 13.

24 “Battle Now Over,” Wilkes-Barre Record, September 15, 1913: 11.

25 “Cadore, Pfeffer, and Giddo Drafted by Major League,” Wilkes-Barre Record, September 16, 1913: 12.

26 “May Try Out Pfeffer,” Pittston (Pennsylvania) Gazette, September 24, 1913: 6.

27 “Scibblings from Bub’s Score Card,” (Scranton, Pennsylvania) Tribune-Republican, September 26, 1913: 13.

28 “Johnson Had No Cinch Winning,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 30, 1913: 12.

29 William Peet, “First Game of Series Against Athletics Won by Nationals,” Washington Herald, September 30, 1913: 10.

30 Third baseman Fritz, second baseman Cruthers, and first baseman Orr all also committed errors.

31 “Sport Comment,” Wilkes-Barre Evening News, September 30, 1913: 13.

32 “From the Foul Lines,” Wilkes-Barre Record, October 1, 1913: 16 (originally reported in the Philadelphia Public Ledger).

33 “Notes of the Game,” Washington Herald, September 30, 1913: 10.

34 “From the Foul Lines,” Wilkes-Barre Record, October 2, 1913: 16 (reprinted from the Philadelphia Press).

35 “Eleven Players in Camp,” Kansas City Times, March 11, 1914: 6.

36 “Barons Lead Race,” Wilkes-Barre Record, May 9, 1914: 30.

37 “Pulled Brewers Down,” Kansas City Times, June 1, 1914: 10; “Blues Take Double Bill from Champs,” Kansas City Journal, June 1, 1914: 7.

38 “Monte Pfeffer Sold,” Los Angeles Evening Express, July 4, 1914: 10.

39 H.A. Miller, “’Hinch’ Sends Jack Scheneberg Home,” Columbus (Ohio) Evening Dispatch, August 4, 1914: 12.

40 His first name was listed simply as ‘Monte’ on the marriage certificate.

41 “Pfeffer Suspended,” Scranton (Pennsylvania) Times, March 16, 1915: 16.

42 “Duluth Ball Club Had Six Batters in the 300 Class,” Duluth (Minnesota) News-Tribune, October 18, 1915: 10.

43 “M’Graw’s Giants Oppose S.&S. at Mack Park,” Detroit Free Press, August 8, 1915: 17.