Maurice Archdeacon

Maurice John Archdeacon
(Flash or Comet)

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 8", Weight 153 lb.

• Debut September 17, 1923
• Final Game May 29, 1925
• Born December 14, 1897 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died September 5, 1954 in St. Louis, MO USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Maurice Archdeacon hit .402 as a rookie in 1923 and then .319 in 1924, when he had most of his major league at-bats.

Archdeacon, an outfielder, played for Charleston and Rochester before he came to the majors. With Rochester in 1923, he hit .357 with 15 triples (coming very close to winning the batting title - he hit .35736 while the winner, Clarence Pitt, hit .35738). He led the 1921 IL with 166 runs scored, the 1922 IL in runs scored (155) and steals (55) and the 1923 IL with 162 runs scored and 228 hits.

The 1923 Chicago White Sox were an under-.500 team, with Eddie Collins their best hitter. Archdeacon mostly played center field, a position where Johnny Mostil was the regular. For the 1924 White Sox, Archdeacon played 77 games in center field, while Mostil appeared in 90 at the position. Mostil's batting average went up to .325 while Archdeacon hit .319. The other two outfielders hit even higher - Bibb Falk hit .352 and Hall of Famer Harry Hooper hit .328. Mostil continued as the regular in 1925 while Archdeacon did not get much playing time. He ended up spending most of his time with the minor league Baltimore Orioles, the prestige minor league team of the time, hitting .310. He stayed with Baltimore in 1926-27, and his batting average went up each year. His last minor league season was 1932, when he hit .338 for Dubuque.

Maurice was famous as a speedster. He once circled the bases in 13.4 seconds while playing with Rochester. In the majors, there was a sense that he was the fastest - it is said that once, when Christy Mathewson was claiming Rogers Hornsby was really fast, Christy said that he was as fast as Archdeacon.

The book Joe McCarthy: Architect of the Yankee Dynasty, states that in postseason play while with the Orioles, Archdeacon "physically attacked one of the umpires". No action was taken against him, however - he apologized when he took the field and the Orioles went on to win the series.

After his playing career ended, Archdeacon was a longtime scout for the St. Louis Browns. He died in 1954.

Related Sites

• Maurice Archdeacon at the SABR Bio Project
• Find-A-Grave Memorial for Maurice Archdeacon