Doc Reisling

Frank Carl Reisling

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
• School Ohio University, Ohio State University
• Debut September 10, 1904
• Final Game October 5, 1910
• Born July 25, 1874 in Martins Ferry, OH USA
• Died March 4, 1955 in Tulsa, OK USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Frank "Doc" Reisling pitched in the majors in 1904 and 19005 and again in 1909 and 1910. A number of sites state that he was a pitcher/dentist and this site says that his major league career was interrupted by illness.

The Sporting Life of March 12, 1904 carries a major article on a reserve clause dispute involving him.

Reisling's minor league career ran from at least 1897 to 1915. He managed in the minors in at least 1899, 1902-1903, 1909 and 1914-1915. Although he won over 100 games in the minors as a pitcher, he also played numerous other positions over the years.

The book Muzzy Field: Tales from a Forgotten Ballpark states that he won 23 games for Bristol in 1901. The book spends a paragraph on his early years as a two-way player who could both hit and pitch well during stints in several leagues in the late 19th Century. The book states he worked his way through Ohio Medical College.

He got into most of his major league games at age 35 with the sub-.500 Washington Senators of 1910, for whom he went 10-10. Teammate Walter Johnson was 22 years old at the time.

Reisling is the key protagonist in an article called "Let's Play Three" in the SABR magazine The National Pastime # 23 (2003). Doc, who was managing Tecumseh in 1914, managed to schedule a tripleheader in an effort to win the pennant. The stratagem didn't work, however, due to the league president invalidating the third game.