133: Jake Daubert - MLB

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

Jake Daubert was a star for the Brooklyn Robins and Brooklyn Dodgers during the early 1900s and finished his career with the Cincinnati Reds. He played during baseball's deadball era and was about as good as anyone. His play at first base was second-to-none and, at the plate, you would be hard-pressed to find many who could handle the bat as well as he did. In fact, when Daubert's career came to a tragic end in 1924, not only did he have a career batting average of .303, he was also 7th all-time in hits with 2,326. Now, back in those days, numbers like 3,000 hits weren't discussed. And, this was long before there was a Hall of Fame. However, had Daubert started his career earlier (he didn't break in until he was 26), perhaps he could have amassed 3,000 hits and his name would be much more familiar to baseball fans. As it is, though, he hit .300 or better 10 our of 12 years (including 6 in a row from 1911 through 1916) including 1913 when he hit .350 to lead the Majors and win the Chalmers Award. The Chalmers Award is what was given to the league's MVP at that time. Daubert holds the record for most sacrifices in one year, which was very important to Jake as he was a total team player. Daubert also fught hard for player's right and after the 1918 season in which baseball ad to shut down early because of the flu epidemic and World War I, Daubert fought for his pay. He ultimately won the battle, but was shipped by Charles Ebbets from Brooklyn to Cincinnati for his efforts. With the Reds, Daubert hardly missed a beat, helping Cincy to a World Series Championship over the White in the famous 1919 Series, and he continued to hit. In fact, in 1922, Jake hit .336 and played in all but 14-innings the whole year. Two years later, however, tragedy struck and Jake's career and, more importantly, his life ended tragically. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes I discuss it all with author/sports writer Harry Deitz who recently published a book about the life of Jake Daubert, "Gentleman Jake."