Fred Applegate

Frederick Romaine Applegate, who won one of three decisions pitching for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1904, was born on May 9, 1879. His father, James, emigrated from England to America in 1871. James settled in Williamsport, Pennsylvania’s timber-industry hub, where he worked as a grocer. In April 1878 he married New York native Mary Williams.1 The newlyweds moved to Tarport, a village just east of Bradford, Pennsylvania, where James opened a grocery.2 Fred arrived a year later.3 The family had returned by 1883, settling south of the Susquehanna River, an area soon incorporated as South Williamsport.4 Eight years later a second son, James, arrived.

Fred Applegate’s baseball career first gained attention in 1894, as he pitched for the Burlingame Juniors.5 Locals nicknamed him Snitz, after the Pennsylvania Dutch treat of dried apples.6 Williamsport possessed a thriving baseball scene and, in the years ahead, Applegate honed his skills alongside Jimmy Sebring, Bucky Veil and Johnny Lush. A genial sort, who eventually gained a reputation as “a real humorist,” Applegate played football alongside these mates during the fall and hunted with them in the winter.7 The right-hander grew into a 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame.

By 1899, Williamsport’s Demorest Manufacturing Company employed Snitz as a machinist. He also starred as their team’s pitcher.8 Prior to the Demorests’ season-opener, at Lewisburg on April 15 vs. Bucknell University, Applegate cut his left hand on the job.9 Bandaged, he played left field and pitched in relief the next day. Bucknell, with Christy Mathewson starting in the box, romped, 12-4.10 Two weeks later in Williamsport, Applegate bested Mathewson, 7-6.11

Blood poisoning sent Applegate to the hospital in June. Whether this was attributable to a re-infection or a new injury is unclear. Applegate returned home by late July, but typhoid fever returned him to the hospital for nearly two months. In November, doctors amputated his right little finger to address its “chronic affliction.”12

For the next two seasons, Applegate played company or semipro ball in Billtown (as Williamsport residents often called their city) or in nearby towns. Then, in April 1902, he signed with the North Carolina League’s New Bern Truckers.13 Applegate was winless in five decisions before New Bern released him in May. The circuit’s Charlotte team promptly signed him.14 With Applegate’s assistance, the Hornets won 25 games in a row before disbanding on July 9.15 Applegate then signed with Newark, the Eastern League’s cellar dwellers, went 1-5, and was released.16

Applegate began the 1903 campaign with the Eastern League’s Worcester Riddlers. In late June, adrift in the standings and seeking to raise capital, Worcester sold Applegate and Charlie Frisbee to the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern League for $1,500.17 On August 17 Applegate told skipper Zeke Wrigley he was too overworked to take the ball that afternoon in Memphis. The last-place Pelicans released the pitcher. Memphis picked him up, and he pitched sporadically for the first-place Egyptians. Applegate’s 1903 ledger: 5-4 with Worcester and a combined 4-12-1 with New Orleans and Memphis.18

Despite the unimpressive beginning to his professional career, Applegate demonstrated potential. Employing a side-arm crossfire delivery, he used “speed across the inside corner mixed with springy shoots that slant across the outer edges of the plate.”19 Observers consistently noted the effectiveness of his drop curve.20 He only lacked control. “Applegate is the great untamed,” a Worcester sportswriter commented. “He is the wildest there is that isn’t behind bars.”21

Applegate returned to the Eastern League in 1904, signing with Toronto in February. His first start, in Newark on May 4, did not bode well: Despite allowing only three singles, he walked four in the fifth inning and suffered a 5-1 defeat. But Applegate pitched better that summer, three-hitting Jersey City en route to a 2-1 win on July 30 and throwing a two-hit shutout against Rochester on August 9.

Meanwhile, Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics were battling for the AL pennant. In mid-August Chief Bender and Eddie Plank missed time to illness, and Rube Waddell and Weldon Henley tired picking up the extra starts. Mack recalled Andy Coakley and Jim Fairbank. For a reported $2,000, he also purchased Applegate from Toronto, with an understanding that the pitcher would report to the Athletics on September 29.22

Applegate went 1-5 with Toronto in September, to finish 1904 with a 12-16 record for the 67-71 Maple Leafs.23 He joined the Mackmen during a lengthy season-concluding road trip. When they ventured into Detroit’s Bennett Park on September 30, the Athletics were out of the race, in fifth place, 9½ games behind the Boston Americans.24 It was the fourth of nine doubleheaders the season’s final two weeks held for them.

In the first game on September 30, Detroit’s defense gave Plank a victory. In the second, Applegate took the mound. His wildness surfaced in the second inning, as a hit batsman, a single, and a walk loaded the bases. Applegate retired his rookie pitching counterpart, Charlie Jaeger, for the third out. In the next inning, he wasn’t so fortunate: His two walks fueled a four-run frame. The Athletics rallied in the seventh to cut the Tigers’ lead to 5-4. Umpire Tommy Connolly then called the game as darkness overtook the field.25

Three days later, at Cleveland’s League Park, Coakley began another doubleheader by shutting down the Naps, 2-0. In the second game, Mack again handed Applegate the ball.  Cleveland pounced upon his crossfire and capitalized on his wildness. After six innings, umpire Silk O’Loughlin sent the chilled crowd home in the dusk. Applegate’s line in the 7-2 loss: 10 hits, a hit batsman, a wild pitch, two walks, all runs earned.26

Applegate’s third start came in Washington on October 10, opening another twin bill. It was the season’s final day. Via the “big blackboard in left field,” fans followed the pennant-deciding doubleheader between Boston and New York as they humored their last-place Senators.27 Applegate pitched scoreless ball for six innings as the Athletics, aided by one of his two hits in the game, put five runs across the plate in the fourth. Washington hit him hard in the final three frames – and Philadelphia’s fielding behind him weakened – but he held on for a 7-6 victory. The Senators beat Waddell in the abbreviated second game, 4-3, concluding a dreadful 38-113 season.

The Athletics finished in fifth place, 12½ games behind Boston. After Applegate’s start in Cleveland, Mack declared that “the loss of Danny] Hoffman and Harry Davis put us out of the championship.”28 Certainly their absences hurt; both the dynamic young outfielder Hoffman (badly beaned on July 1) and the veteran field general Davis (a broken hand sliding into home on September 9) were among the league’s OPS leaders when they were lost.

But a lack of pitching depth also characterized Philadelphia’s 1904 campaign. After Waddell and Plank, who both set career highs in innings pitched, the staff was uncertain. In their sophomore seasons, neither Henley (15-17, with an ERA+ of 107) nor Bender (10-11, an ERA+ of 94) demonstrated great promise. Coakley (4-3, an ERA+ of 144) had not yet experienced a full major-league season’s competition.

Consequently, Mack planned on bringing Applegate to spring training in March 1905.29 Perhaps his delivery could be refined, his composure steadied, his wildness tamed. If not, he could be returned to Toronto.

Yet when Mack’s contract reached him in Williamsport, Applegate balked at the offer, which was reportedly less than what Toronto had paid him in 1904.30 Conveniently for the pitcher, the fledgling Tri-State League was outside the National Commission’s orbit and had a well-backed Williamsport Millionaires franchise. Applegate agreed to terms with the Millionaires; then Toronto manager Dick Hartley visited him in Williamsport in March.31 Several weeks later he signed a six-month Maple Leafs contract at $325 per month.32 Mack, who had signed 20-year-old spitballer Jimmy Dygert in February, released Applegate to Toronto.33

Applegate pitched for Toronto for two months, compiling a 3-4 record. In early June, Williamsport manager Max Lindheimer recruited the pitcher back to the Millionaires fold, reportedly at a monthly salary of at least $350.34 Billtown fans enjoyed a memorable summer. After beginning August in fourth place with a 43-37 record, their team roared to the pennant by winning 35 of its final 42 games.35 Jimmy Sebring’s midseason arrival provided the key spark. Lew Richie paced the staff with a 24-9 record.36 Walter Manning came over from the Tri-State’s Lebanon squad and won 15 straight for Williamsport.37 Applegate, 8-7 with the Millionaires, was a lesser light.

Just before the Millionaires caught fire, Toronto sold Applegate’s rights to the Boston Beaneaters.38 Several months later, the National Commission confirmed Boston’s rights to him, and the team announced plans to bring him to their 1906 spring training.39 Applegate re-signed with Williamsport.40

After battling injuries early in the 1906 season, Applegate asked for and was granted a release from the Millionaires.41 Several weeks later he signed with the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Johnnies, one of Williamsport’s Tri-State rivals.42 He concluded the campaign with an overall 11-15 record.43

In January 1907, negotiations brought the Tri-State League into Organized Baseball. Applegate was awarded to Toronto. The Leafs won the Eastern League pennant. Applegate, with a 9-9 record, added rotational depth. In a postseason series with the American Association’s Columbus Senators, he won the fifth and deciding game.44 Remaining with Toronto in 1908, Applegate contributed an 8-12 record as the team tumbled into sixth place.

Snitz started the 1909 season back with the Millionaires, but after an 0-2 beginning, he was released.45 The New York State League Wilkes-Barre Barons picked him up. The Barons, like the 1905 Millionaires, caught fire to win the pennant. Languishing in seventh place with a 10-16 record on June 5, Wilkes-Barre went 78-37 the rest of the way. Unlike 1905 in Williamsport, Applegate drove this surge, leading the Barons’ staff with a 22-7 record.46

For the 1910 season, Applegate returned to Wilkes-Barre. Then, in early 1911, he began to plan for a post-baseball career, purchasing 97 acres north of Williamsport to start a fruit orchard business and announcing his candidacy for county auditor.47 He spent the 1911 summer in Nebraska, pitching for the Western League’s Lincoln Railsplitters. He returned home that autumn to win, as a Republican in a mostly Democratic county, one of the three auditor seats.48

Applegate bounced around lesser teams over the next two seasons: Elmira (New York State League), York (Tri-State League), and Guelph (Canadian League) in 1912, Newport News (Virginia League) and Newburgh (New York-New Jersey League) in 1913. In 1914 he umpired in the Tri-State League.

In March 1915, Applegate married Mary Noll, a Williamsport native. The marriage did not produce any children. Applegate settled into a politician’s life. In 1933 a taxpayers’ committee accused several local officials, including Applegate, then a county commissioner, of misusing public funds for private home improvements.49 The allegations cost Applegate re-election two years later.50 He stayed active in his local fire department and Elks lodge. Mary died in 1962. Fred Applegate followed her on April 21, 1968, dying from heart disease in Williamsport. He rests in the city’s Wildwood Cemetery.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author accessed Ancestry.com, the Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, and the following sites:

archive.org/details/orangeandblue_01_reel01

canadiana.ca

jvbrownpublic.advantage-preservation.com 

Photo credit: Fred Applegate, National Baseball Hall of Fame Library

Notes

1 “Married,” Williamsport Sun and Lycoming Democrat, April 17, 1878: 5.

2 “Minor Locals,” Williamsport Sun and Lycoming Democrat, June 12, 1878: 5. See also Luella A. Harris, “A History of Bradford, PA,” Back to Bradford, www.backtobradford.com/HistoryOfBradford.pdf, accessed January 13, 2022.

3 His death certificate lists East Bradford as his birthplace.

4 This is the first post-1878 city directory in which James Applegate is listed.

5 “The Ball Field,” Williamsport Sun and Banner, June 18, 1894: 1; “Demorest’s Big Benefit,” Pennsylvania Grit (Williamsport), July 29, 1894: 8.

6 For the origins of the nickname, see “Harrisburg Was Retarded,” Williamsport Sun, August 9, 1905: 6.

7 “Sporting Review,” Lincoln (Nebraska) Star, October 5, 1911: 9.

8 “Now for Baseball,” Williamsport Sun and Banner, April 18, 1899: 1. For his employment as a machinist, see the 1899 Williamsport city directory.

9 “Has a Badly Cut Hand,” Pennsylvania Grit, April 16, 1899: 1.

10 “Bucknell-Demorest,” Orange and Blue (Bucknell student newspaper), April 18, 1899: 1.

11 “Demorest-Bucknell,” Orange and Blue, May 2, 1899: 1.

12 For these events, see “South Williamsport Events,” Pennsylvania Grit, July 16, 1899: 2; “South Side Notes,” Williamsport Evening News, April 18, 1899: 4; “South Side,” Williamsport Sun and Banner, September 23, 1899: 2; “South Williamsport Affairs,” Pennsylvania Grit, November 5, 1899: 2.

13 “The Newbern Team,” Charlotte Observer, April 13, 1902: 12.

14 “Wilmington Shut Out,” New Bern Observer, July 1, 1902: 4; “Home Runs,” Charlotte News, May 22, 1902: 5.

15 “They All Want Ashenback,” Charlotte Observer, July 25, 1902: 6.

16 “Louis Bruce Is Premier Artist,” Worcester (Massachusetts) Spy, September 22, 1902: 3; “Jersey City Club Defeated Buffalo,” Jersey City Journal, August 2, 1902: 8.

17 “Two Go to New Orleans,” Pittsburgh Press, June 25, 1903: 14.

18 Henry Chadwick, ed., Spalding’s Base Ball Guide 1904 (New York: American Sports Publishing Co., 1904), 148, 168.

19 “Pelicans Take Second,” New Orleans Times-Democrat, July 30, 1903: 11; “Baseball Chat,” New Orleans Item, July 20, 1903: 8.

20 “Eastern League Season Opens,” Jersey City Journal, April 30, 1903: 9; “Pelicans Playing a Winning Game,” New Orleans Picayune, July 21, 1903: 14.

21 “Sporting Notes,” Worcester Spy, June 18, 1903: 2.

22 “Athletics Suffer a Setback,” Philadelphia North American, August 29, 1904: 13; “Base Ball,” Philadelphia Item, August 31, 1904: 4; “Right Off the Bat,” Buffalo Evening News, September 1, 1904: 24.

23 Applegate’s 1904 season record per Chadwick, Spalding’s Base Ball Guide 1905, 163. Applegate’s September ledger with Toronto: a 3-1 loss at Buffalo on September 2; a 6-4 loss vs. Montreal on September 6; a 6-2 loss vs. Buffalo on September 10; a 5-2 loss in Montreal on September 15; a 4-2 loss vs. Newark on September 22; and a 4-3 victory over Providence on September 26.

24 For more on the A’s 1904 season, see Norman Macht, Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007), 325-332.

25 “Custom Called for Division,” Detroit Free Press, October 1, 1904: 9.

26 “Winning Streak Was Broken,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 4, 1904: 10; “Athletics Stop Winning Streak,” Cleveland Leader, October 4, 1904: 8.

27 “Sports of All Sorts,” Washington Evening Star, October 11, 1904: 9. See also, “Closed with Victory,” Washington Post, October 11, 1904: 8.

28 “Notes of the Game,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 4, 1904: 10.

29 “Mack’s Athletics,” Williamsport Evening News, December 1, 1904: 5; “Mack Will Take 22 Players to Train,” Philadelphia North American, January 30, 1905: 4.

30 “Applegate May Stay,” Williamsport Evening News, January 26, 1905: 5; “The Unjust Draft Rule,” Williamsport Evening News, January 31, 1905: 8.

31 “Are After Our ‘Snitz,’” Williamsport Evening News, March 15, 1905: 1.

32 “Promised Lindheimer,” Williamsport Evening News, April 5, 1905: 1; “Applegate Has a Nice Contract,” Williamsport Sun, April 8, 1905: 6.

33 “Hurrah! They Come to Toronto,” Toronto World, April 13, 1905: 3.

34 “‘Snitz’ Joins Grays,” Williamsport Evening News, June 7, 1905: 1; “Baseball Bunts from Many Sources,” Buffalo Evening News, January 8, 1906: 10.

35 George M. Graham, “Millionaires Captured Thirty-Five Out of Forty-Two Games, Including Strings of Eight and Fourteen Consecutive Victories,” Philadelphia North American, September 17, 1905: 13.

36 “A Few Season’s Records,” Pennsylvania Grit, September 17, 1905: 2.

37 “Manning Is Signed,” Pennsylvania Grit, January 7, 1906: 2.

38 “Baseball Brevities,” Toronto World, August 25, 1905: 3.

39 “Will Try Out Applegate,” Boston Globe, November 18, 1905: 8.

40 “Local Stars Signed,” Pennsylvania Grit, November 26, 1905: 2.

41 “Sporting News,” Williamsport Sun, June 4, 1906: 6; “Tri-State Notes,” Williamsport Evening News, June 5, 1906: 5.

42 “Sporting News,” Williamsport Sun, June 27, 1906: 6.

43 “The Tri-State Averages,” Sporting Life, January 5, 1907: 14.

44 “Class A Battle,” Sporting Life, October 12, 1907: 17.

45 Applegate’s 1909 Williamsport record per Francis C. Richter, ed., The Reach Official American League Base Ball Guide for 1910 (Philadelphia: A.J. Reach Co., 1910), 283. For his release, “Evidence Will Show Carpenter Decision Wrong,” Williamsport Evening News, June 16, 1909: 1.

46 “Applegate Leading Pitcher in League,” Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, September 29, 1909: 16.

47 “Social Realm and Social Mention,” Williamsport Sun, March 22, 1911: 10; “South Side,” Williamsport Gazette and Bulletin, March 7, 1911: 6.

48 “Samuel Stabler Next Mayor of Williamsport,” Williamsport News, November 8, 1911: 1.

49 “Says Officials Used Fund to Improve Homes,” Wilkes-Barre Evening News, February 4, 1933: 3.

50 “Offices Are Divided in Lycoming County,” Scranton Tribune, November 7, 1935: 3.