Phil Geier

Philip Louis Geier
(Little Phil)

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

• Debut August 17, 1896
• Final Game October 8, 1904
• Born November 3, 1875 in Washington, DC USA
• Died September 25, 1967 in Spokane, WA USA

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Biographical Information

Phil Geier played five seasons in the majors, spread out at three different times. He came up with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1896-97. He was one of the youngest players in the league in 1896, at age 20. He had come from the Fall River team, and so had 21-year-old Nap Lajoie. There is a story, unclear if true, that the Phils wanted Geier and that Lajoie was just a throw-in. Lajoie was an immediate success as a hitter with the Phillies while Geier was not so much.

Geier came back in 1900 and 1901, first with the National League and then with the new-born American League.

In 1903 Geier did well with the St. Paul Saints, leading the minor league American Association with a .361 average. He outhit his teammate Miller Huggins.

Geier came back to the majors in 1904, at this point 28 years old, to get 580 at-bats. He hit .243, which is better than it sounds since the dead-ball era had started and his team had an average of .237. Even his slugging percentage of .284 was only 16 points below the team average of .300.

In 1910, he managed the Burlington Pathfinders of the Central Association.

". . . little Phil Geier . . . has turned out to be a wonder with the stick, and any time he picks up the ash you can gamble that he will hit the ball." - comment by Sporting Life's Norfolk correspondent in 1895"