Floyd Ritter

Floyd Alexander Ritter

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 155 lb.

• Debut June 4, 1890
• Final Game June 4, 1890
• Born June 1, 1870 in Dorset, OH USA
• Died February 7, 1943 in Stevenson, WA USA

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Biographical Information

Anyone can have a bad day. Floyd Ritter had one in the major leagues, and the press roasted him for it. Floyd was an amateur who apparently appeared in just one big league game. He played nine innings at catcher for the Toledo Maumees on June 4, 1890, making two errors and allowing five passed balls, although he did throw out three of five runners trying to steal bases. He had just turned 20 years of age a few days earlier.

"Some of the Eastern papers have started a paragraph going the rounds that Toledo is weak in the box. The writer must have got tangled up with the catchers when they were both disabled . . . Sprague would have won the only ball game he pitched at Columbus had he had any support behind the bat, but an amateur named Ritter, and by whom all Columbus seems to swear, caught such poor ball that the game was made a farce, and Columbus writers immediately jumped onto Sprague and roasted him. Any sane man . . . must know that a pitcher cannot pitch to a catcher who cannot support him." - from Sporting Life, June 21, 1890