Bob Fothergill

Robert Roy Fothergill
(Fats; Fatty)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10½", Weight 230 lb.

• Debut April 18, 1922
• Final Game July 5, 1933
• Born August 16, 1897 in Massillon, OH USA
• Died March 20, 1938 in Detroit, MI USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Bob Fothergill had a lifetime batting average of .325. He was among the league leaders in batting average several times. He was also one of the top pinch hitters of his time.

Fothergill had grand company in the outfield of the Detroit Tigers. For years, he played alongside Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann, and either Bobby Veach or Heinie Manush. One result of all that outfield talent was that Fothergill got only two seasons when he played more than 100 games in the outfield. In both of those years, he hit at least .359. Ty Cobb was also his manager for six seasons.

Late in his career, he came to the Chicago White Sox. He showed he could still hit, at age 34 in 1932, when he had the highest batting average of the regulars.

After baseball Fothergill was a security guard for the Ford Motor Company and, in January of 1938, had signed to coach at the Lawrence Institute of Technology near Detroit.

Fothergill was a heavy man who was often called "Fats" or "Fatty" while he was a player. He liked to eat and drink and was known as a free spirit, but this behavior took its toll on St. Patrick's Day, 1938. A stroke sent Fothergill to St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital in Detroit, MI where he suffered a second, fatal, stroke three days later.

Notable Achievements

• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1927)

Further Reading

• Matt Monagan: "The man who outdrank Babe and outhit Cobb: ‘I ain’t got the power if I don’t eat’", mlb.com, March 2, 2021. [1]

Related Sites

• Bob Fothergill at the SABR Bio Project