Otto Rettig

Adolph John Rettig

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 165 lb.
• School Seton Hall University
• Debut July 19, 1922
• Final Game August 5, 1922
• Born January 29, 1894 in New York, NY USA
• Died June 16, 1977 in Stuart, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

"King for a Day" - title of an article about Otto Rettig's famous major league debut, reproduced here [1]

Otto Rettig became quite famous as a bush leaguer given a chance at the majors by Connie Mack. A lengthy biography appears here [2].

Rettig was a successful semi-pro player who legend says was given a tryout by Mack, but insisted that he would only be at his best in an actual game. Per the story, Mack actually let him pitch in a real game against the 1922 St. Louis Browns, which he in fact won. Because the Browns lost the pennant by one game, the lore states that the loss of the pennant was due to Mack letting an obscure player pitch a game. Newspapers would recount that story years later. He actually pitched four games, winning one and losing two.