Heinie Peitz

Half of the most famous version of the “Pretzel Battery,” catcher Heinie Peitz was a noted “coacher”—more of a bench jockey in modern parlance—whose mouth gained him nearly as much attention as his play. For nine years of his 16-season (1892–1906, 1913) career, he was a Cincinnati Reds mainstay. When he retired, Peitz ranked 12th in games caught over the major leagues’ first four decades.1 Among catchers, he was fifth in OPS and sixth by the retroactive WAR metric, but none of these early backstops were voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as players.2

Henry Clement “Heinie” (or Heine) Peitz was born in St. Louis, Missouri, reportedly on November 28, 1870.3 He was the youngest of Henry and Angeline (Beeder) Peitz’s four children. The elder Henry, a laborer, and his homemaker wife were immigrants from northwest Germany’s Westphalia region. In the US, the couple welcomed daughter Annie, followed by sons Herman, Joe, and Henry.

The St. Louis Globe-Democrat said Peitz grew up in “that part of the city from which Pat Tebeau, Jack O’Connor and Billy Joyce were graduated.”4 (Tebeau’s older brother George also played in the majors.) Peitz’s family lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood.5 

In 1886, Peitz began his amateur career with the 19-and-under I X L Base Ball Club.6 His brother Joe manned third base, and Heinie recalled, “I played shortstop for them nearly three seasons.”7 

According to The Sporting News’ contract card database, Peitz began 1889 with a team in Hillsboro, Illinois. He finished that season deeper into the Prairie State with a Jacksonville-based club that he remained with through 1891.8 Regarding the nature of the competition, Chicago’s Inter Ocean noted after a 12–4 Jacksonville home defeat, “The charge was freely made that the visitors were nearly professionals, which may account for the results.”9

Initially, Peitz agreed to return to Jacksonville in 1892 for a $125 monthly salary and a $100 advance. (A Jacksonville franchise joined the professional Illinois-Iowa League that year.) But a St. Louis newspaperman—claiming he had brokered the deal—demanded $10 of the advance, and Peitz refused to sign. When Charlie Levis offered Peitz the same terms to join the Class-B Southern Association team he managed, the Montgomery (Alabama) Lambs, Peitz agreed.10 Levis signed two of Peitz’s former I X L teammates, too.11

Peitz was listed as a shortstop in spring 1892.12 But he made most of his appearances as a catcher, the position he first played as a fill-in in 1889.13 In 113 games, he batted .227. Back home that fall, he happened to be at the train station as the National League’s St. Louis Browns assembled to travel to Kansas City for their season finale. The Browns’ backup catcher, Grant Briggs, did not show up.14 Regular backstop Dick Buckley had just broken his arm.15 On the recommendation of Ed Joy, manager of the Brown Reserves, Peitz was hired for $10/game.16

On October 15, 1892, Pink Hawley, the Browns’ hard-throwing rookie, two-hit the Chicago Colts but lost, 1–0.17 Although Peitz went 0-for-3 against Chicago’s Bill Hutchison, he recalled, “I handled Hawley’s hot shot to [Browns secretary George] Munson’s satisfaction that day, and on our return he advised President Chris] Von Der Ahe to sign me.”18 The Browns paid the Lambs $500.19

After Peitz caught southpaw Theodore Breitenstein’s preseason victory at Sportsman’s Park in 1893, the Globe-Democrat wrote, “The Browns had their pretzel battery oiled.”20 (In late-19th century professional baseball, when each half of a pitcher-catcher combo had German roots, it was common to refer to them as a “pretzel battery.”21) Despite Breitenstein’s league-leading ERA, St. Louis finished 10th in the 12-team NL in 1893. Peitz, the club’s youngest regular, was the primary catcher and played six positions. In 96 games, he batted .254 and ranked second best on the team in walks and triples (tied).

In 1894, the Browns placed ninth, and Peitz’s brother Joe joined the club briefly.22 Heinie Peitz hit .263 in 99 contests, though he saw more action at third base (47 games) than catcher (39). “Henry Peitz… objects to playing third base,” one paper reported. “He says I feel more at home behind the bat.”23

Peitz credited veterans like Buckley and Joe Quinn for tips that helped him polish his catching skills. He learned to receive the ball in throwing position; to request high, outside pitches when he anticipated steals; to give signals; and to decode those flashed by opponents. Peitz identified foul tips and wild pitchers as a catcher’s greatest hazards. “It is commonly accepted that a swift delivery is harder to catch than a less speedy one. That is not my experience,” he said. “Pitchers are a queer lot. They have to be jollied along as well as coached by their catchers.”24

Shortly after the 1894 season concluded, Peitz married Martha Viola “Mattie” Davis in Mount Vernon, Indiana. According to various censuses, she was born in Germany, in Tennessee, or at sea.25

Peitz was late to training camp in 1895 because he held out for more money. Eventually, he agreed to a $1,600 salary, matching St. Louis’ veteran catchers, Art Twineham and George Miller. After Browns manager Al Buckenberger was informed by telegram, Buckenberger bought three bottles of ginger ale and a box of cigarettes and invited Miller and Denny Lyons to “whoop it up with him.”26

After St. Louis slipped into 11th place in June, Buckenberger resigned. Peitz had already replaced Miller as team captain when the latter stepped down in May.27 Catching regularly, Peitz raised his batting average to .284, with career highs in RBIs (65) and triples (12). He was limited to 90 games after dislocating a finger when he was hit by a foul tip during a July 4 doubleheader.28

That fall, the Buffalo Enquirer reported, “When disabled, [Peitz] was suspended without pay by von der Ahe, because he replied in kind when cursed and abused by the former.”29 In November 1895, Peitz and pitcher Red Ehret were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for 35-year-old third baseman Arlie Latham, hurler Tom Parrott, two catchers—Morgan Murphy and Ed McFarland—and cash.

Later, Peitz reflected, “The trouble with Chris [von der Ahe] was that he had too many advisers in whom he had great confidence and who really knew nothing about the game.” Peitz said team secretary Benjamin Muckenfuss drafted the advisers’ critiques into speeches for the owner to deliver. “It was really funny to hear him try to pronounce some of the words that Muck would put into these speeches.”30

Prior to the 1896 season, Ehret proclaimed Peitz “the best catcher in the National League.”31 Quinn opined that Peitz had been baseball’s best backstop for two years, adding, “I never saw a player so much interested in the success of his team. And never mind how often we lost, Peitz and his voice were always on the line, encouraging our players and trying to rattle the other fellows.”32 In Chicago that summer, Peitz’s utterances provoked Colts manager/first baseman Cap Anson to try to grab him by the throat, prompting the newspaper subheading, “For the first time on record, the veteran baseballist loses his temper.”33

The 1896 Reds held first place as late as August 20, when they commenced an 11-game losing streak. Peitz suffered a season-ending split finger on September 7.34 Although he appeared in just 68 games, he batted .299, with personal bests in slugging (.431) and on-base percentage (.386). Peitz “received a handsome increase in salary.”35

Listed at 5-feet-11 and 165 pounds, Peitz’s weight reportedly swelled to 200 in his first season with Cincinnati.36 To improve his conditioning, he shared a cottage in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for two weeks with Ehret, Lyons, and Boston’s George Yeager.37 Peitz credited the experience for what he later called his “best year in baseball” in 1897.38

The reunion of the pretzel battery also invigorated him; Cincinnati had purchased Breitenstein from St. Louis. The Browns’ Murphy told the Globe-Democrat, “‘Breit’ and Peitz are almost inseparable companions, and wherever you see one you invariably see the other.”39

In 1897, Breitenstein went 23–12, Peitz hit .293 in 77 games, and the Reds remained within striking distance of first place until another August swoon. By Defensive WAR, Peitz was the NL’s seventh-best gloveman. He also pitched twice, including a start in a darkness-shortened September 22 contest at Pittsburgh, which Cincinnati lost, 8–4. After Peitz pitched in relief earlier that season, one sportswriter described, “Peitz… starts his arm, then halts and throws on with the motion. It is a question whether or not it is a legal delivery.”40

Peitz had several run-ins with arbiters in 1897. During Cincinnati’s April sweep of visiting Cleveland, umpire Jack Sheridan ordered him to the bench after Peitz attempted to rattle Spiders pitcher Zeke Wilson during an eighth-inning rally.41 With the Spiders back in town on August 1, Peitz socked umpire Tim Hurst in the jaw during a Reds victory.42 When comparing him to some of the outstanding catchers to that point in baseball history, the Cubs’ Jimmy Callahan opined, “Heine Peitz shows many symptoms of ability, but his think-tank is of a rougher and less brilliant band than King] Kelly’s was.”43

Following the 1897 season, Peitz announced, “I am now a full-fledged citizen of Cincinnati.”44 He joined the city’s Beefsteak Club, a bowling and social organization with members like Ehret, Lyons, and the Orioles’ Jake Stenzel.45 Although Breitenstein remained a St. Louis resident, the Globe-Democrat noted that he spent Christmas at Peitz’s.46

Breitenstein described how he and Peitz initiated mock arguments during difficult situations. Then, while hitters were distracted by Peitz’s complaints about his batterymate, Breitenstein would quick pitch and surprise the opponent. “We have pulled out of many a tight hole with that trick,” Breitenstein said.47

With Peitz catching on April 22, 1898, Breitenstein no-hit Pittsburgh. (Peitz also caught Noodles Hahn’s no-hitter in 1900.) Breitenstein won 20 games that year, but Cincinnati’s ace was another ex-Brown, Hawley, who went 27–11 after arriving via trade. “Pink Hawley was a queer fellow, but a great pitcher,” Peitz recalled. “The old boy always used to like to have me wear a glove that made a noise like an angry mother spanking a three-year-old. When he heard the slap of the ball in the mitt he knew that he had his speed and got brimful of confidence.”48

Peitz batted .273 in 105 games. That summer, an article referencing the 50-ounce bat used by his friend Elmer Smith noted, “Heine Peitz carries the same kind of a fat cane when he ambles to the plate.”49 The 1898 Reds topped the standings on September 6 but fizzled to third place. When Peitz belted the Orioles’ John McGraw with an uppercut during a September defeat at Baltimore, he injured his thumb and missed the series finale. Baltimore won, 3–2, to complete a sweep.50

In January 1899, Peitz battled the grippe.51 In July he suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him for a month.52 In August, a foul ball bent his catcher’s mask and caused a jagged head wound.53 Through it all, he hit .270 and caught in 92 of his 94 appearances, but the Reds—never serious contenders—finished sixth. After the season, Peitz fractured his ankle during an exhibition.54

Peitz endured a different type of pain in 1900. That summer, he welcomed a son, Jacob Elmer Theodore Peitz, named after three of his closest friends: Stenzel, Smith, and Breitenstein. But the infant died on July 16.55 Meanwhile, after replacing manager Buck Ewing with first-year skipper Bob Allen, the Reds slumped to seventh place in the now eight-team NL. Peitz ranked second in the NL in games caught and batted .255 in 91 contests overall. That offseason, The Battery—the saloon he owned with former teammate “Still Bill” Hill—went out of business.56

In 1901, rookie Bill Bergen supplanted him as the primary catcher, and 21 of Peitz’s 82 appearances came at second base. While Breitenstein and Hawley completed their careers with other teams, Cincinnati finished last under another new manager, Bid McPhee.

That summer, following a dispute over the ballplayer’s noisy pet parrot, Peitz’s neighbor told the Pittsburgh Press that the baby who died the previous year wasn’t Peitz’s. Dr. J.C. Ludwig alleged that Mattie Peitz obtained multiple infants from city hospitals over the years—most of whom had died—because she was barren and her husband loved children.57 In a sworn deposition, a self-described friend of Mrs. Peitz supported the doctor’s claims and confessed her own role in the scheme.58 “Heine, it is believed, wants to get away from Cincinnati for obvious reasons,” read one offseason report.59

But Peitz returned to the Reds in 1902 for a $2,400 salary. After starting slowly, Cincinnati switched managers twice and rode a strong second half to a .500 finish. Peitz saw more action at second base (48 games) than catcher (47) and produced career highs in games, hits, runs, doubles, and batting average (.315). He cracked the NL Top 10 in slugging, on-base percentage, OPS, RBIs, and at-bats per strikeout. “If Henry Peitz could only run he would be one of the most valuable players in the business,” said Chicago manager Frank Selee.60

Peitz reclaimed the catcher’s job from the light-hitting Bergen in 1903. Cincinnati had a winning season but was never within 10 games of first place after May 30. In 105 games Peitz batted .260 and, according to Retrosheet.org, led the NL with five ejections: four for bench jockeying.

In 1904, Peitz was ejected from two of the Reds’ first eight contests. At 33, he was older than Cincinnati manager Joe Kelley and all but one of his teammates that season. Rookie Admiral Schlei did most of the catching and the Reds—tied atop the standings on June 14—finished 18 games behind the Giants. Peitz’s average slipped to .243 in 84 games. Nevertheless, during the final month of the campaign, Pittsburgh Pirates owner Barney Dreyfuss remarked, “[Peitz] is a corking good man for a team because he always knows what to do and how to do it, and what better do you want? A catcher of the Peitz kind runs the whole game from behind the bat. I wish we had him.”61

That offseason, Cincinnati’s board of directors appointed Peitz as an inspector of the city’s streets.62 The position paid $3.50/day.63 But Peitz would not be home often during the baseball season. In February 1905, he was traded to the Pirates for a younger catcher, Ed Phelps. “A change of clubs does a player a world of good at times,” Peitz said. “It sort of wakes you up, and makes you feel that you have got to start all over again.”64 The Pirates had finished one game behind the Reds the previous year, but Peitz predicted, “If Pittsburg[h] don’t win the pennant, we will finish ahead of Cincinnati at any rate.”65

During Pirates training camp in Hot Springs, one Pittsburgh newspaper reported, “[Peitz] is already one of the most popular men on the team…. The Cincinnati German is the speediest man by far on the team at repartee.”66

The Pirates’ regular catcher, Harry Smith, was sidelined by a sore arm in spring training.67 Peitz wound up appearing in 87 games behind the plate—his most in six years—and participating in a career-high 14 double plays. He batted just .223, but the Pirates went 96–57, nine games behind the World Series champion Giants, but well ahead of the fifth-place Reds. “Before we had Heinie Peitz with our team, I considered him a fine player,” said Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke. “But since he has been with us he has developed qualities that I never looked for in him. In my opinion there is no better man for pitchers in the business than Peitz.”68

On March 5, 1906, the Pittsburgh Press erroneously claimed that Peitz had been stabbed by a jealous woman and sustained a near fatal wound near his heart.69 After Peitz, slightly weakened by pleurisy, arrived at Hot Springs 15 days later, he said, “The story caused me trouble without end and I received scores of inquiries concerning the affair from newspapers and from personal friends.”70

Rookie George Gibson became Pittsburgh’s primary catcher in 1906, but Peitz continued to influence games by targeting opponents from the coaching box. “No more aggravating coacher can be found in fast company to-day,” opined the Wilkes-Barre Leader. “He puts a veneer of laughter on his sharpest barbs.”71 One of Peitz’s former teammates said, “Before and after a game with the Reds, Peitz loves his old comrades. But during the game he knows nothing but our weaknesses, and never fails to take advantage of them.”72

When Peitz went too far, there were consequences. In 1905, for example, umpire Hank O’Day had him barred from the coaching lines indefinitely.73 That suspension was lifted after a few weeks.74 But after Peitz used indecent language toward an official at the Polo Grounds later that same season, NL President Harry Pulliam temporarily banned him again.75 Those incidents were minor compared to what took place on July 24, 1906, at Exposition Park, however.

On a Thursday afternoon with 9,000 in attendance, the Pirates built a 4–1 lead through four innings against the Giants’ Joe McGinnity. Peitz wasn’t playing, but from the first-base coach’s box, he engaged in a back-and-forth dialogue with New York catcher Roger Bresnahan. When McGinnity told Peitz, “Get out, you big Dutchman,” Peitz retorted that the “Iron Man” wasn’t fooling anybody with the curveball. After the third out, McGinnity complained to O’Day, and Peitz laughed when the umpire ruled that nothing out of line had been said. McGinnity then slugged Peitz in the left eye. Although Peitz tried to fight back, he spent most of the altercation on his back while McGinnity kept pounding away.76

Allegheny mayor Charles Kirschley—in the stands that day—had McGinnity arrested.77 Pulliam described the assault as an attempt to “make a slaughter house out of a ballpark.” He suspended McGinnity for 10 days and fined him $100. For violating the coaching rules, Peitz’s punishments were five days and $50, respectively, while O’Day was penalized $50 for letting him get away with it. Although Peitz was eligible to return to action on July 31, he missed an additional five days because of his injured eye.78 “Several players allowed they had been expecting Peitz would provoke some player beyond the limit for some time,” read one report.79

Cubs manager/first baseman Frank Chance used a different tactic to silence Peitz. After ignoring attempts to get under his skin, Chance looked over and said, “Why hello, Heine. Are you still with the Pittsburgh team? Dreyfuss was asking waivers on you a few days ago.”80 Peitz did finish the season with Pittsburgh, but he hit .240 in just 40 appearances. The Pirates won 93 games, but Chance’s 116–36 Cubs won the pennant.

By December 1906, Peitz was rumored to be the next manager of the Louisville Colonels, the George Tebeau-owned Class A American Association club that sent outfielder Bill Hallman to the Pirates late in the season.81 But the Colonels would not guarantee that Peitz’s $2,800 salary would remain intact, and Duff Cooley took the job instead.82 In late May 1907, Peitz joined the Colonels as a catcher.83

Peitz returned to Louisville in 1908. In 1909, he served as player-manager of the Colonels, earning a 93–75 record and Louisville’s first pennant in 19 years. On the season’s final day, he was presented with a three-carat diamond ring in appreciation.84

In June 1910, Peitz resigned from the Colonels, explaining that he intended to farm the 25 acres of land he had purchased in Florence, Kentucky, in eastern Boone County, 10 miles southwest of Cincinnati.85 However, in July, he agreed to manage the Lancaster Links.86 Peitz quit that Class D Ohio State League club in September.87

Peitz’s farmhouse burned down on October 11, 1911.88 In December, the Reds announced that he would assist the club’s newly hired skipper—former umpire Hank O’Day—by working with the team’s young pitchers.89 After the 1912 season commenced, scouting became Peitz’s major duty. “It gets mighty lonesome,” he told the Dayton Herald. “I drift home and act up on the coaching lines every once in a while. I’d hate to have to stay out from one end of the season to the other. I’d die sure.”90

In 1913, Peitz returned to St. Louis’ NL franchise (renamed the Cardinals in 1900) as a coach under Miller Huggins, the club’s veteran second baseman and first-year manager.91 After the Cardinals’ first homestand, Peitz was fined $50 and suspended three days for umpire baiting.92 Asked to reflect on his professional baseball career, which was now in its third decade, Peitz insisted that the old-timers were just as skilled as the current stars. “No, sir; baseball is not any faster today than it was in my day.”93

Peitz, 42, appeared in three games for St. Louis in 1913. With the catching corps banged up, he started what proved to be his final major-league appearance on June 1. The Cardinals lost to the Cubs, 4–2, but Peitz tripled and scored against Chicago’s Larry Cheney.

In September, Peitz was released to another George Tebeau-owned club, the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.94 Peitz’s job was to work with the club’s young pitchers, a role he retained through 1914.95

In 1915, the Class B Central League hired Peitz as an umpire, a career in which he had expressed interest before. (He had previously officiated at least three NL games, including one behind the plate in 1906.) However, an illness forced Peitz to give up the job in late May.96

Peitz returned to the Reds in 1916. In late April, a premature report suggested, “Manager [Buck] Herzog would be glad to keep him on the staff as a coacher, but the rule limiting the number of players makes it necessary to cut down and Heine has to go.”97 Instead, as an Ohio paper described two weeks later, “Herzog… has decided to keep Heinie Peitz as a warm-up catcher, even if he has to sacrifice a second baseman to stay in the 21-man limit. Peitz also will act as a coacher at third base.”98

After baseball, Peitz was a plater, a painter for the American Laundry Machine Company, a wood finisher, and a painter for an auto body factory, according to censuses and Cincinnati directories. By 1930, he and his wife lived in the Norwood suburb with their daughter Viola, her husband, and the former player’s two grandsons.

On August 21, 1932, at Redland Field, Peitz joined more than 135 old-timers, most of whom played in an exhibition after that afternoon’s Reds-Pirates contest. At least five of the attendees that day were eventually inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame after it opened in 1939.99 No such honor was forthcoming for Peitz, who batted .271 in 1,235 major-league games. He received just one vote in the museum’s 1939 balloting when Ewing, his former teammate and manager, was the only backstop selected by the Old Timers Committee.100

On October 23, 1943, at Cincinnati’s General Hospital, Peitz succumbed to a lingering illness. He was 72. He was buried in an unmarked grave in that city’s Saint Mary Cemetery.

Acknowledgments

The biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Abigail Miskowiec and fact-checked by members of the SABR Bio-Project factchecking team.

Photo credit: Heinie Peitz, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted https://www.ancestry.com/, https://www.baseball-reference.com/, https://www.retrosheet.org/, and https://sabr.org/bioproject.

Notes

1 When Peitz retired, he ranked 12th all-time in games behind the plate, trailing Deacon McGuire, Wilbert Robinson, Charles Zimmer, Malachi Kittridge, Red Dooin, Johnny Kling, Billy Sullivan, Jack Clements, Jack Warner, Duke Farrell, and Lou Criger.

2 Peitz’s .703 OPS trailed only Clements (.769), Farrell (.723), McGuire (.713), and Zimmer (.708). The backstops that compiled more WAR than Peitz’s 19.6 were Farrell (31.1), Zimmer (29.4), Kling (29.1), Clements (26.8), and McGuire (24.7). Robinson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a manager in 1945.

3 One version of the 1880 census—stamped “first enumeration rejected”—recorded Peitz’s age as eleven. A second version said eight.

4 “Captured Young Clarkson,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, January 1, 1893: 11.

5 “Veteran Heine Pietz Talks on Baseball,” Daily Record (Long Branch, New Jersey), July 10, 1913: 13.

6 “The Little Diamond,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 4, 1887: 3.

7 Henry Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, September 23, 1894: 15.

8 Newspapers sometimes referred to the team as the “Jacksonville Reds.” “Clinton, 10; Jacksonville 4,” Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois), September 18, 1891: 3.

9 “Base-Ball at Jacksonville,” Inter Ocean, August 13, 1891: 2

10 Although the Buffalo Times article said a Tallahassee, Florida-based team offered Peitz a contract to return in 1892 based on his strong play the previous year, other sources confirm that he spent the 1891 campaign with a club in Jacksonville, Illinois. (There was a Jacksonville, Florida-based team in the 1892 Florida State League—that version of the circuit’s lone year of existence—which may have caused the confusion.) “Signed Wrapping Paper Contract,” Buffalo (New York) Times, April 19, 1903: 23.

11 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

12 “Base Ball Notes,” Chattanooga (Tennessee) Daily Times, April 6, 1892: 6.

13 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

14 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

15 “Base Ball,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 13, 1892: 8.

16 “Veteran Heine Pietz Talks on Baseball.”

17 “At Kansas City,” Nebraska State Journal, October 16, 1892: 5.

18 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

19 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

20 “The St. Louis Browns Shut Out the J.L. Hudsons,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 17, 1893: 9.

21 For example, German pitcher Charles Getzien formed the 1886-1888 Detroit Wolverines’ pretzel battery with catcher Charlie Ganzel. “The Game This Afternoon,” Kansas City Journal, September 14, 1886: 2. In 1888, the Tri-State League’s Canton Nadjys featured the “pretzel battery” of George Bausewine and Gus Hoeneman. “General Ball News,” Wheeling (West Virginia) Daily Intelligencer, April 14, 1888: 1..

22Joe Peitz batted .423 (11-for-26) in seven games. As late as 1896, he remained on the Browns’ reserve squad, but he never received another opportunity, leading to the following report: “Peitz’ friends are incensed at the treatment he is receiving from the St. Louis club.” “Joe Peitz’ Kick,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 27, 1896: 12. In 1899, Pat Tebeau said, “Heine Peitz had a brother who I thought would make a great player. His name was Joe, and he was a third baseman, but he gave it up.” “Gossip of the Game,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 6, 1899: 12. By the 1900 census, Joe Pietz was an iron worker. Later, he became a street inspector before he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1919.

23 “Base Ball Notes,” Butte (Montana) Miner, December 1, 1894: 3.

24 Peitz, “Dangerous Work Behind the Bat.”

25 The 1900 U.S. Census, accessed through ancestry.com, said Mattie Peitz was born at sea. But the 1910 Census listed Germany, and the 1920 version recorded Tennessee.

26 “Peitz Will Join the Team,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 15, 1895: 4.

27 “Peitz’ Promotion,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 25, 1895: 8.

28 “The Colonels Won One Game,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 5, 1895: 5.

29 “Catcher Peitz’s Record,” Buffalo Enquirer, October 19, 1895: 8.

30 “’Twas ‘Muck’s’ Fault,” Western Newspaper Union (from Cincinnati Times-Star), November 5, 1898: 4.

31 “St. Louis Will Miss Him,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 8, 1896: 8.

32 “Threw a Bat,” Buffalo Enquirer, February 18, 1896: 8.

33 “The Anger of Anson,” Logansport (Indiana) Pharos-Journal July 4, 1896: 22.

34 “Kennedy Pitched Great Ball,” Philadelphia Times, September 8, 1896: 8.

35 “Live Sporting Notes,” Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) Daily Independent, February 23, 1897:5.

36 “Baseball Gossip,” Kansas City Journal, March 21, 1897: 5.

37 “Our Own Heine Peitz,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 25, 1897: 5.

38 “Heinie Peitz in Condition,” Pittsburgh Press, February 6, 1905:11.

39 “Series of Three Games,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 4, 1897: 15.

40 “Heine Peitz as a Pitcher” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 23, 1897: 5.

41 “Baseball Brevities,” Pittsburgh Press, April 29, 1897: 5.

42 “Sporting Notes,” Herald and Review (Decatur, Illinois), August 3, 1897: 6.

43 “Good Catchers,” Buffalo Enquirer, August 21, 1897: 8.

44 “Our Own Heine Peitz.”

45 “On the National Game,” Saint Paul (Minnesota) Globe, January 8, 1898: 5.

46 “Chicago’s Pitching Staff,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, December 25, 1897: 4.

47 “Tricks Known to the Game,” Times Leader (Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania), November 2, 1898: 3.

48 “Peitz Says Hawley Was a Great Pitcher,” Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), December 25, 1904: 3.

49 “Heavy Baseball Bats,” Little Falls (Minnesota) Weekly Transcript, August 21, 1898: 8.

50 “Baltimore, Sept. 17,” Journal News (Hamilton, Ohio), September 17, 1898: 8.

51 “Some Base Ball Talk,” Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, January 9, 1899: 5.

52 “Baseball Chatter,” Pittsburgh Post, July 11, 1899: 7.

53 “Baseball Notes,” Topeka (Kansas) State Journal, August 23, 1899: 5.

54 “Sporting Items,” West Bend (Wisconsin) Pilot, November 1, 1899: 7.

55 “Not Playing the Game,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 20, 1900: 9.

56 “With the Ball Players,” Topeka State Journal, February 15, 1901: 2.

57 The 1900 census, enumerated when their infant son was still alive, reported the Peitz family had seven children, two of whom were still alive. The 1910 census said one of their nine children remained alive. Their daughter Viola (b.1898) lived to adulthood. “Catcher Henry Peitz is Not a Papa at All,” Pittsburgh Press, August 7, 1901: 1.

58 “Believed Him to be His Son,” Joplin (Missouri) Globe, August 9, 1901: 8.

59 “Baseball Gossip,” Pittsburgh Press, October 12, 1901: 3.

60 “National League Notes,” Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington), July 13, 1902: 23.

61 “Fred Clarke Willing to Sign Heinie Peitz,” Pittsburgh Press, September 12, 1904: 10.

62 “Sport Gossip,” Butte (Montana) Daily Post, December 24, 1904: 7.

63 “Baseball Glints,” Pittsburgh Press, December 8, 1904: 16.

64 “Heinie Peitz in Condition,” Pittsburgh Press, February 6, 1905:11.

65 “Jack O’Connor is as Nervy as Ever,” Pittsburgh Press, March 20, 1905: 10.

66 “Heinie Peitz is a Favorite,” Pittsburgh Press, March 17, 1905: 18.

67 “Harry Smith is Improving,” Pittsburgh Post, May 5, 1905: 9.

68 “Peitz More Valuable to Pirates Than Phelps,” Pittsburgh Press, April 17, 1905: 12.

69 “Peitz Was Stabbed by Jealous Woman,” Pittsburgh Press, March 5, 1906: 8.

70 “Heinie Peitz Arrives Weak but Enthusiastic,” Pittsburgh Post, March 21, 1906: 10.

71 “Heine Peitz is a Great Coacher,” Wilkes-Barre Leader, May 4, 1905: 3.

72 “Heinie Peitz and His Friends in Red Hose,” Pittsburgh Press, May 15, 1905: 10.

73 Ralph S. Davis, “Fair Play is the Basis of Successful Umpires,” Pittsburgh Press, May 21, 1905: 19.

74 “Chat of the Diamond,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 5, 1905: 8.

75 “Cheerful Chats,” Pittsburgh Press, July 18, 1905: 16. “War to the Death,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), July 26, 1905: 11.

76 “Affidavits for Pulliam,” Pittsburgh Press, July 29, 1906: 18.

77 “Baseball Reviewed,” Pittsburgh Post, July 29, 1906: 26.

78 “Fist Fight Was Costly,” Pittsburgh Press, July 31, 1906: 12.

79 “Heine Peitz is a Champion Kidder,” Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pennsylvania), August 1, 1906: 8.

80 “Heine Peitz is a Champion Kidder.”

81 “Louisville Colonels are Looking for Peitz,” Pittsburgh Post, December 19, 1906: 10.

82 “‘Heine’ Peitz,” Pittsburgh Press, February 8, 1907: 18.

83 “The National Game,” Chronicle (Wilkesboro, North Carolina), May 29, 1907: 2.

84 “Game at Louisville Delayed to Present Ring to Peitz,” Owensboro (Kentucky) Messenger, September 28, 1909: 1.

85 “Back to Farm,” Owensboro Messenger, June 26, 1910: 7.

86 “Assorted Baseball Brevities from Abe’s Diary,” San Francisco Bulletin, July 9, 1910: 8.

87 “Manager Heine Peitz Quits Lancaster Club,” Pittsburgh Press, September 14, 1910: 3.

88 “Ball Player’s Home Burned,” Cairo (Illinois) Bulletin, October 12, 1911: 1.

89 “Will Coach the Red Pitchers the Coming Year,” Lima (Ohio) News, December 23, 1911: 3.

90 Tom Swope, “Scouting is the Loneliest Job in Baseball Says Heinie Peitz, a Vet,” Dayton Herald, August 17, 1912: 8.

91 “Heine Peitz with Cardinals,” Savonburg (Kansas) Record, January 31, 1913: 4.

92 “Heine Peitz Fined $50 for Baiting ‘Ump.’ Here,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 19, 1913: 9.

93 “Game Has Not Grown Faster in Recent Years Declares Heine Peitz” Missoula (Montana) Sentinel, May 24, 1913: 6.

94 “Heine Peitz to Coach Kansas City’s Pitchers,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 9, 1913: 9.

95 “Heine Peitz Coach Only,” Chattanooga Daily Times, January 9, 1914: 8.

96 “Umpire Heinie Peitz Ill,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), May 28, 1915: 20.

97 “Reds Release Heine Peitz,” Pittsburgh Press, April 27, 1916: 24.

98 “Will Retain Henie Peitz,” Portsmouth (Ohio) Daily Times, May 9, 1916: 10.

99 Future Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Tris Speaker, Charles Bender, Edd Roush, and Dave Bancroft were all on hand. Associated Press, “Old Time Heros of Baseball Play Burlesque Game,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 22, 1932: 5.

100 No other catchers were inducted until 1945, when the Old Timers Committee voted in Roger Bresnahan, Mike “King” Kelly, and (as a manager) Wilbert Robinson.