"The Scot was not the most robust hitter that ever lived, but he was no pigeon at the plate. Save for that, Bobby had only one weakness as a shortstop - that was that he played in the same era as Hans Wagner." — sportswriter Bill Corum, 1952

Rhoderick John "Bobby" Wallace (November 4, 1873 - November 3, 1960) was a Major League Baseball pitcher, infielder, manager, umpire and scout.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Wallace made his major league debut in as a starting pitcher with the Cleveland Spiders. After going 12-14 in , Wallace began seeing time in the outfield as well as on the mound in 1896. In Wallace's transition to an everyday player was completed as he became the team's full-time third baseman, batted .335 and runs drove in 112 runs.

He played for 24 seasons, and still hold the record for the longest career by a player who never played in a World Series.

In 1899, Wallace moved to the St. Louis Perfectos (renamed the Cardinals in) and changed position again, this time to shortstop. He once again had a solid offensive season, hitting .295 with 108 RBI and 12 home runs (second in the league behind Buck Freeman's 25). Wallace jumped teams again in 1902, when he joined the St. Louis Browns.

His playing time began decreasing a decade later, with his last season as a regular coming in 1912. Wallace played in just 55 games in 1913, and never even played that much again for the rest of his career. In July 1917, he returned to the National League and the Cardinals, but played in just eight games that season. After batting .153 in 32 games in 1918, Wallace retired with a .268 career batting average, 1059 runs, 34 home runs, 1121 RBI and 201 stolen bases.

Defense was Wallace's game and he generally was recognized as the AL's best shortstop from 1902 to 1911, when he served briefly as Browns player-manager.

Wallace managed and umpired when his playing time diminished. He managed the and St. Louis Browns and part of the Cincinnati Reds season, compiling 62 wins and 154 losses for a .287 winning percentage. Upon retiring, he also became a scout.

Wallace was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

External links

• The Deadball Era

As retrieved from Wikipedia