Andy Lotshaw

Andrew David Lotshaw
(Doc)

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 180 lb.

• Born January 27, 1880 in Cold Springs, IN USA
• Died February 21, 1953 in Indianapolis, IN USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Andy Lotshaw was an outfielder/first baseman for 13 years (1906-1914;1917-1919;1922), all in the minors, losing most of one year to the Military and four years to inactivity.

He broke into Organized Baseball in 1906 at age 26 and played for Jacksonville in the Kitty League (1906); Charleston in the Eastern Illinois League (1907); Marion & Portsmouth in the Ohio State League (1908); Bearstown in the Illinois-Missouri League (1909); Galesburg in the Central Association (1910); Canton in the Illinois-Missouri League (1911-1912); Covington in the Federal League (1913); Champaign in the Illinois-Missouri League (1914); Indianapolis in the American Association (1917-1918); when he enterred the Medical Corps, where he served during World War I. Mustered out of the Service, he played for Flint & Brantwood in the Michigan-Ontario League (1919); and Indianapolis in the American Association (1922); ending his playing career at age 42.

He led his league in home runs six times, triples four times and was batting champion twice. His best year was 1911, when he hit .355 with 28 doubles, 11 triples and 29 homeruns in 122 games. Overall, he played in 950 Games with 154 Doubles, 99 Triples, 98 homeruns, 182 Stolen Bases and a lifetime deadball Batting Average of .275.

He also played professional basketball. He was the trainer for many years for the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears. He actually started as a trainer for the A. E. Staley Team before they became the Bears. He was the trainer for the Cubs from 1922 through 1952.

He died at age 73 in Indianapolis.

Career Highlights

• Led Kitty League in Triples (24) and Homeruns (11), 1906
• Led Eastern Illinois League in Triples (9) and Homeruns (10), 1907
• Led Illinois-Missouri League in Triples (14) and Batting Average (.329), 1909
• Led Illinois-Missouri League in Hits (160); Homeruns (29) and Batting Average (.355), 1911
• Led Illinois-Missouri League in Homeruns (11), 1912
• Led Illinois-Missouri League in Hits (108); Doubles (21); Triples (14) and Homeruns (10), 1914
• Led Michigan-Ontario League in Homeruns (13), 1919

Quotes

With Babe Ruth facing Charley Root in the 1932 World Series, Lotshaw joined in with the Cub's hecklers and yelled, "If I had you, I'd hitch you to a wagon, you potbelly," Ruth said afterwards, "I didn't mind no ballplayers yelling at me, but the trainer cutting in -- that made me sore." As he waited to bat in the first inning, according to Richards Vidmer in the New York Herald Tribune, "He paused to jest with the raging Cubs, pointed to the right field bleachers and grinned." And then, so the story goes, .......

Sources

Principal sources for Andy Lotshaw include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) SABR's Minor League Baseball Stars, Volume III and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Andy Lotshaw at the SABR Bio Project
• Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)