Harry Elliott

Harry Lewis Elliott

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 175 lb.
• School University of Minnesota
• High School Watertown (MN) High School
• Debut August 1, 1953
• Final Game September 25, 1955
• Born December 30, 1923 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died August 9, 2013 in Little River, KS USA

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Biographical Information

Despite a very late start to his pro baseball career, outfielder Harry Elliott reached the majors for parts of two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Elliott attended the University of Minnesota in the late 1940s, serving as a punter on the school's football team as well as playing baseball. He began his pro career as a 27-year-old in 1951, playing for the Alexandria Aces of the Evangeline League. He roughed up the circuit's pitchers with a league-leading 221 base hits and 52 doubles, as well as 23 home runs and a .391 batting average. This performance earned him a jump up to the Texas League with the Shreveport Sports in 1952. He had another big year for the Sports, leading the league with 204 hits and 48 doubles, while hitting .321 with 7 homers. Following the season, his contract was purchased by the Cardinals.

Elliott spent most of 1953 with the Houston Buffaloes, hitting .328 in 115 games, but earned a late-season call-up to St. Louis. He made his big league debut against the Brooklyn Dodgers on August 1st, pinch hitting for pitcher Joe Presko and being struck out by Preacher Roe in his only plate appearance. Exactly a month later, again facing Brooklyn, he hit his first home run in the majors, a solo blast off Roe. Overall, in 24 games for the Cardinals, he posted a .254 average.

Back in the minors in 1954, Elliott spent the year with the San Diego Padres and led the Pacific Coast League with 224 hits, 42 doubles, and a .350 average. He then spent all of 1955 with St. Louis, hitting .256 with 1 homer in 68 games. Playing in his final big league game on the season's last day, he went 1-for-1 against the Milwaukee Braves.

Elliott was back with San Diego in 1956, hitting .291, the first time in his minor league career he went below .300. He spent the next two years with four different clubs and called it a career after the 1958 season. Overall, in seven minor league seasons, he appeared in 854 games, went to the plate 3,173 times, and collected 1,034 base hits, including 205 doubles and 65 homers, for a .325 batting average. In 96 big league contests, he hit .256 with a pair of home runs.

After baseball, Elliott became a physical education teacher and the baseball coach at El Cajon Valley High School in El Cajon, California. He later retired to Yuma, Arizona and died in Kansas at age 89.

Related Sites

• Harry Elliott at the SABR Bio Project