Del Pratt
Like most players who performed well for the St. Louis Browns, Del Pratt remains relatively anonymous except to the most ardent baseball historians. Yet, from 1912 to his final season in 1924, he was one of the finest second baseman in the American League. In 1916, he led the American League in RBI, and he batted better than .300 six times, including his final five seasons. |
Full bio ⇓Played For
St. Louis Browns (1912-1917)
Boston Red Sox (1921-1922)
Detroit Tigers (1923-1924)
All-Time Rankings
Del Pratt ranks #15 among the Top 50 all-time at 2B. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1916
If there had been Gold Gloves in his time, Pratt would probably be more appreciated and better remembered. As it was, he was a very good player, comparable to Bobby Grich. In '16, with a team that finished 5th and scored just 588 runs, Pratt led the American League with 103 RBI. He became just the 2nd second baseman to do that (Nap Lajoie was the other). He drove in 17.5% of the Browns runs. According to Total Baseball's Total Player Rating, Pratt was the third best player in the league that season, right behind Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb.
Full Bio
He was born Derrill Burnham Pratt in South Carolina. He played baseball for the University of Alabama from 1907 to 1909. After two minor league seasons he was purchased by the St. Louis Browns, where he played regularly at second base for the next six years. In his first five seasons (1912-1916), he averaged 31 doubles, 13 triples, 31 steals, 80 RBI, 169 hits, and played more games than any other man in the American League. Over that stretch his 846 hits ranked 5th in the league, directly behind his chief competition at second base – Eddie Collins. Never as great a hitter or base stealer as Collins, Pratt did lead the AL in putouts five times at second base.
When Pratt took part in a lawsuit against Browns owner Phil Ball (Ball insinuated that Pratt and shortstop Doc Lavan had thrown games), his days in St. Louis were numbered. He was traded to the Yankees in the Urban Shocker deal, and played three seasons with New York. But soon he was involved in more front office wrangling (this time over third-place money) and was shipped to the Red Sox. With Boston in 1921 he posted a career-best .324 average and plated 102 teammates. The trade proved a good one for New York, as they received catcher Wally Schang and pitcher Waite Hoyt from the BoSox.
Ty Cobb, always an admirer, helped bring Pratt to Detroit for the 1923 and 1924 seasons, where he again batted over .300. In his final season he drove in 77 runs in just 121 games. In 1925 he moved on to be the player/manager of the Waco, Texas League team, staying through the 1930 season. He managed Galveston and Fort Worth in the same league until his retirement following the 1934 schedule.
Born
Derrill Burnham Pratt was born on January 10, 1888, in Walhalla, SC.
Died
September 30, 1977, Texas City, TX
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Primary Position: 2B
Primary Team: SLA
Major League Debut
April 11, 1912
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1912
Rabbit Maranville
Cy Williams
Del Pratt
Bobby Veach
Ray Schalk
Casey Stengel
Buck Weaver
Ray Chapman
Herb Pennock
Similar Players
Larry Doyle, Bobby Grich, Ryne Sandberg
Related Players
Wally Schang, Waite Hoyt, Doc Lavan
Notes
Finished 10th in 1914 American League MVP voting.
Hitting Streaks
23 games (1922)
Replaced
Frank LaPorte, a utility-type player, whow as shifted to the outfield and later traded after Pratt arrived on the scene in St. Louis.
Replaced By
Veteran Frank O'Rourke, who was just warming the second base slot for the Tigers until Charlie Gehringer was ready.
Best Strength as a Player
Defensive range
Largest Weakness as a Player
Pratt was a poor percentage base stealer. In one season he swiped 37 bags , but was thrown out 28 times. We're missing five years of his caught stealing data, but it's safe to assume that his success rate was probably around 55%.
Learn More about Del Pratt
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