Frank Scheibeck

Frank S. Scheibeck

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 145 lb.

• Debut May 9, 1887
• Final Game September 13, 1906
• Born June 28, 1865 in Detroit, MI USA
• Died October 22, 1956 in Detroit, MI USA

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Biographical Information

Shortstop Frank Scheibeck was born and died in Detroit, MI, and played for Detroit (as well as Cleveland) in two leagues. He was in the majors for eight seasons with seven teams in all, and in professional baseball much longer.

His obituary in the Sporting News referred to him as a "pitcher-outfielder-infielder", although in the majors he pitched in only one game and was in the outfield for only nine. In his one game as a pitcher, while a raw rookie in 1887, he gave up 18 runs in nine innings. In his nine games as an outfielder, he had a fielding percentage of .786.

Primarily he was a shortstop, who was better than average at drawing a walk when at the plate.

In a game in 1901, Cleveland came from behind to win by scoring nine runs with two outs in the ninth inning. Scheibeck hit a double as part of that winning effort.

Cleveland later got rid of Scheibeck in favor of John Gochnauer, a famously bad hitter.

He was with Toledo in 1890 when it was in the majors, and again in 1902 when it wasn't.

The March 9, 1907 Sporting Life claims that the University of Michigan came looking for Scheibeck one night to hire him as the baseball coach, but when he was not at home, they ended up hiring Bobby Lowe instead. The article stated that Scheibeck had been a professional player since the mid 1880's, and mght go into business in Detroit instead. The following year, 1908, the Sporting Life identified him as a member of the Grove Gun Club, a group of prominent businessmen in Detroit.

The SABR biography of George Nicol says that Scheibeck was playing for Los Angeles in 1893 when the league's finances became shaky, and he jumped to Erie.