Carl Zamloch

Carl Eugene Zamloch
(also Zamlock or Zamlocke)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 176 lb.

• Debut May 7, 1913
• Final Game July 9, 1913
• Born October 6, 1889 in Oakland, CA USA
• Died August 19, 1963 in Santa Barbara, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Carl Zamloch pitched 17 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1913. Although he went 1-6, his ERA was 2.45.

Born in California, he played most of his minor league career for Western teams. He was primarily a pitcher through 1916, but, after an arm injury which put an end to his major league career, then mostly played first base and outfield for another decade. Played for the semi-pro Merced Bears in the Central California League in 1921.He both pitched and played as a position player when he managed the Twin Falls Bruins in 1926.

His minor league pitching record (may not be complete) was 29-26 while his minor league batting average was .312.

Zamloch scouted for the Washington Senators and Cleveland Indians, signing Bob Loane and Mike McCormick. He was the head baseball coach at University of California, Berkeley in 1916-1917 and 1919-1929. During that time, he invented the game of reversible baseball (also called "left-handed baseball") and had his squad play it occasionally.

Zamloch managed the 1926 Twin Falls Bruins, then was the part-owner of the Oakland Oaks from 1929 to 1932 and managed the club from 1930 to 1932.

His father, Anton Zamloch, was a famous magician [1] and Carl himself was a professional magician. He even published a book on the subject of magic tricks.

Zamloch's surname is also in official United States records as "Zamlocke." Zamloch appears to be an Americanized version of "Zemlicka," a Czech surname given to bakers.[2][3] Perhaps "Zamloch" is the Germanized version of "Zemlicka," and "Zamlocke" is the Americanized version of Zamloch

Further Reading

• Dan Schoenholz: "Third Things First: Carl Zamloch and the Brief History of Reversible Baseball", in Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 50, Nr. 1 (Spring 2021), pp. 76-79.

Related Sites

• Carl Zamloch at the SABR Bio Project