Baseball

Area baseball beat: After Solons traded him, Ross Eldred soared in Seattle

By Mark McDermott

Bee Correspondent

Updated May 30, 2015 11:58 PM

During a Pacific Coast League game in the spring of 1920, Sacramento Solons manager William “Raw Meat” Rodgers accused his 27-year-old outfielder of loafing and fined him $50. The player was so upset over the accusation he refused to suit up and play the next day.

Rodgers immediately suspended him and within 72 hours traded him within the league to the Seattle Indians.

The trade may have been the worst in Solons history.

The player was Ross Eldred, who honed his skills on the diamond at Sacramento High School in 1910 and became the most accomplished minor leaguer to come from the schoolyards of this region.

Eldred, whose 5-foot-6, 180-pound stature landed him the nickname “Brick,” played a little more than two seasons with the Solons, hitting .264 in 1918 and .311 in 1919.

But from 1920 through 1925, Eldred set off on a Hall of Fame career. The right-handed batter was a hitting machine, with at least 200 hits in five of those six seasons – 231 for Sacramento/Seattle in 1920, 260 for Seattle in 1922, 262 in 1923, 240 in 1924 and 242 in 1925.

Seattle Times reporter Alex Shults once wrote, “Brick Eldred made Coast League pitchers moan for a decade.”

Eldred is immortalized in the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame at The Baseball Museum of the Pacific Northwest on the main concourse at Safeco Field. Although a minor leaguer, his name is alongside major-league greats Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki.

In his 11 years in the PCL, Eldred played in 1,709 games, with 2,034 hits, 516 doubles, 219 stolen bases and a .332 batting average. He was posthumously inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame in 2003; he died Dec. 22, 1976, in Sacramento at 84.

Eldred, who played before the major leagues reached the West Coast, hit .327 in 13 minor-league seasons between 1916 and 1930. He never played in the majors.

In 1928, The Seattle Times described Eldred as “the niftiest sticker ever to wear the spangles of the Seattle Indians. When some young pitcher got the idea that he could breeze a fastball past Brick or fool him with a change of pace, it was cruel to watch. Brick would dip his knees, level the hickory and knock the pitch off the boards.

“We recall years ago when Brick whammed Satchel Paige’s change-of-pace over the left wall at Bakersfield in a spring training game for one of the few hits off the speedy hurler.”

Catching up

▪ Clearwater (Fla.) Threshers catcher Andrew Knapp (Granite Bay) was named Florida State League Player of the Week for April 27-May 3 after going 9 for 24 (.375), with two doubles, two triples, four RBIs and nine runs. The Philadelphia Phillies’ No. 13 prospect seems fully recovered from Tommy John surgery in October 2013.

▪ Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts first baseman Rowdy Tellez (Elk Grove) was named Midwest League Player of the Week for May 11-17 after going 10 for 28 (.357) with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. Tellez is the Toronto Blue Jays’ No. 23 prospect.

▪ The CIF recently announced its All-Century baseball team. The 100 student-athletes included Dusty Baker (Del Campo, 1967), Derrek Lee (El Camino, 1993) and J.P. Howell (Jesuit, 2001). The list also included National Baseball Hall of Famers Walter Johnson (Fullerton, 1905), Joe Cronin (Sacred Heart-San Francisco, 1924), Joe DiMaggio (Galileo-San Francisco, 1931), Ted Williams (Hoover-San Diego, 1935), Bobby Doerr (Fremont-Los Angeles, 1936), Jackie Robinson (Muir-Pasadena, 1937), Bob Lemon (Wilson-Long Beach, 1938), Frank Robinson (McClymonds-Oakland, 1953), Don Drysdale (Van Nuys, 1954), Willie Stargell (Encinal-Alameda, 1959), Robin Yount (Taft-Woodland Hills, 1973), Rickey Henderson (Oakland Technical, 1976) and Tony Gwynn (Long Beach Poly, 1977).

Mark McDermott is a freelance writer specializing in Sacramento-area baseball. Contact him at egmacker@yahoo.com

Sacramento’s top minor leaguers

Most statistics before 1960 for runs, RBIs, stolen bases, starts, complete games, shutouts and strikeouts are incomplete; some players may be missing.

GAMES PLAYED

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	1,851
Henry Steinbacher	1930-1945	Sacramento	1,702
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	1,546
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	1,446
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	1,435
Joe Marty	1934-1952	Christian Brothers	1,391
Billy Hulen	1892-1909	Dixon	1,359
Lenny Backer	1925-1938	Sacramento	1,341
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	1,302
Les Sheehan	1916-1929	Sacramento	1,279

AT-BATS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	6,740
Henry Steinbacher	1930-1945	Sacramento	6,584
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	5,433
Billy Hulen	1892-1909	Dixon	5,404
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	5,240
Lenny Backer	1925-1938	Sacramento	5,015
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	5,006
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	4,966
Joe Marty	1934-1952	Christian Brothers	4,826
Les Sheehan	1916-1929	Sacramento	4,607

AVERAGE (500)

Player	Years	High School/College	Avg.
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	.346
Frank Demaree	1930-1950	Winters	.332
Stan Hack	1931-1933	Sacramento	.329
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	.327
Joe Borcich	1945-1953	Christian Brothers	.326
Jimmy O’Connell	1919-1922	Sacramento	.322
Frank Mascaro	1948-1953	McClatchy	.321
Tommy Agosta	1953-1960	Sacramento	.321
Pete Scott	1920-1933	Woodland	.320
LaSchelle Tarver	1981-1987	Sacramento State	.312

RUNS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	772
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	736
Dave Hajek	1990-1999	San Juan	692
Ted Wilborn	1976-1987	McClatchy	652
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	636
Jermaine Clark	1997-2006	Will C. Wood/Sacramento City	627
Max Venable	1976-1989	Cordova	600
Bill McNulty	1965-1975	Highlands	593
Trace Coquillette	1993-2005	Casa Roble/Sacramento City	592
Jim Bowie	1986-1997	Sacramento City	584

HITS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	2,204
Alex Kampouris	1932-1948	Sacramento	2,085
Henry Steinbacher	1930-1945	Sacramento	1,996
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	1,878
Billy Hulen	1892-1909	Dixon	1,584
Lenny Backer	1925-1938	Sacramento	1,544
Joe Marty	1934-1952	Christian Brothers	1,490
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	1,476
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	1,466
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	1,418

DOUBLES

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	531
Henry Steinbacher	1930-1945	Sacramento	359
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	335
Lenny Backer	1925-1938	Sacramento	324
Joe Marty	1934-1952	Christian Brothers	289
Dave Hajek	1990-1999	San Juan	289
Les Sheehan	1916-1929	Sacramento	287
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	279
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	272
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	257

TRIPLES

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Bevo LeBourveau	1918-1934	Marysville	129
Henry Steinbacher	1930-1945	Sacramento	94
Ross Eldred	1916-1930	Sacramento	90
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	72
Billy Hulen	1892-1909	Dixon	70
Ted Wilborn	1876-1987	McClatchy	67
George Valine	1937-1949	Sacramento JC	64
Jermaine Clark	1997-2006	Will C. Wood/Sacramento City	57
Ray Rohwer	1923-1931	Dixon	57
Max Venable	1976-1989	Cordova	57

HOME RUNS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Bill McNulty	1965-1975	Highlands	227
Ray Rohwer	1923-1931	Dixon	182
Gary Rushing	1956-1964	Sacramento	180
Dave Revering	1971-1977	Bella Vista	129
Alex Kampouris	1932-1948	Sacramento	124
Bob Oliver	1963-1979	Highlands/American River	118
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	118
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	118
Ken Hottman	1968-1974	Elk Grove/Sacramento City	117
Joe Marty	1934-1952	Christian Brothers	116

RBIs

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Jim Bowie	1986-1997	Sacramento City	703
Bill McNulty	1965-1975	Highlands	648
Bob Oliver	1963-1978	Highlands	629
Neill Sheridan	1943-1954	Sacramento	602
Joe Thurston	1999-2012	Sacramento City	591
Spider Jorgensen	1941-1960	Folsom/Sacramento JC	556
Trace Coquillette	1993-2005	Casa Roble/Sacramento City	534
Dave Hajek	1990-1999	San Juan	526
Dave Sax	1978-1992	Marshall/Cosumnes River	525
Tony Torcato	1998-2006	Woodland	517

STOLEN BASES

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Jermaine Clark	1997-2006	Sacramento City	277
Ted Wilborn	1976-1987	McClatchy	272
Rusty McNealy	1980-1987	Grant	267
LaSchelle Tarver	1981-1987	Sacramento State	249
Jason McDonald	1993-2002	Elk Grove/Sacramento City	230
Eric Farris	2007-2014	Johnson	224
Max Venable	1976-1989	Cordova	208
Leon Brown	1967-1980	Grant	199
Aaron Fuller	1993-1998	McClatchy	190
Kristopher Negron	2006-2014	Cosumnes River	187

GAMES PITCHED

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Walter Mails	1914-1936	Christian Brothers	602
Darryl Scott	1990-2000	Yuba City	480
Charley Schanz	1938-1954	Christian Brothers	455
Manny Salvo	1931-1949	Sacramento	419
Frank Nelson	1938-1952	Elk Grove	410
Bobby O’Keefe	1903-1921	Folsom	385
Gordon Jones	1949-1965	Sacramento	373
Pete Daglia	1925-1937	Sacramento	360
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	365
Joe Horgan	1996-2011	Cordova	357

ERA (minimum 300 innings)

Player	Years	High School/College	ERA
Ken Forsch	1968-1986	Johnson	2.47
Elmer Myers	1913-1929	Elk Grove	2.54
Brad Kilby	2005-2010	Laguna Creek	2.65
Ryan Larson	2000-2004	Rocklin/Sacramento City	2.70
Preston Guilmet	2009-2015	Oakmont	2.76
Thor Skogan	1969-1974	Placer/Sierra	2.84
Spider Thomas	1965-1971	Winters/Sacramento State	2.92
Steve Andrade	2001-2008	Woodland/American River	2.95
Mike Jones	1988-1990	Cosumnes River	2.96
Dan Greenhalgh	1972-1978	Folsom	3.11
Steve Senteney	1979-1985	Casa Roble	3.11

WINS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Walter Mails	1914-1936	Christian Brothers	226
Bobby O’Keefe	1903-1921	Folsom	187
Charley Schanz	1938-1954	Christian Brothers	145
Pete Daglia	1925-1937	Sacramento	144
Manny Salvo	1931-1949	Sacramento	143
Elmer Myers	1913-1929	Elk Grove	139
Frank Nelson	1938-1952	Elk Grove	126
Tom Flynn	1927-1936	Sacramento/Sacramento JC	109
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	99
Gordon Jones	1949-1965	Sacramento	98

SAVES

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Darryl Scott	1990-2000	Yuba City	105
Preston Guilmet	2009-2015	Oakmont	100
Chris Lemp	1991-1996	Valley/Sacramento City	91
Mike Neu	1999-2005	Sacramento City	76
Travis Welch	1993-1998	Del Oro/Sacramento City	74
Clyde Keller	1989-1992	Del Campo/Sacramento City	68
David Sells	1968-1976	Vacaville	59
Josh Roenicke	2006-2015	Nevada Union	56
Kevin Price	1981-1988	Bella Vista/Cosumnes River	51
Steve Andrade	2001-2008	Woodland/American River	40

INNINGS PITCHED

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Walter Mails	1914-1936	Christian Brothers	3739.2
Bobby O’Keefe	1903-1921	Folsom	2883.2
Charley Schanz	1938-1954	Sacramento	2510.2
Elmer Myers	1913-1929	Elk Grove	2275.0
Manny Salvo	1931-1949	Sacramento	2273.1
Pete Daglia	1925-1937	Sacramento	2253.2
Frank Nelson	1938-1952	Elk Grove	2007.2
Tom Flynn	1927-1936	Sacramento/Sacramento JC	1862.0
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	1708.1
Fernando Arroyo	1970-1986	Burbank	1512.2

STARTS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	218
Dave Zancanaro	1990-2001	Del Campo	190
Fernando Arroyo	1970-1986	Burbank	190
Johnny Briggs	1952-1962	Folsom	188
Jeremy Powell	1994-2010	Highlands	182
Jeffrey Marquez	2004-2012	Sacramento City	173
Steve Finch	1976-1986	Cordova	170
Steve Brown	1978-1985	Davis/UC Davis	164
Kevin Brown	1986-1995	Sacramento State	160
Charlie Zink	2001-2010	Oak Ridge/Sacramento City	156

COMPLETE GAMES

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	57
Fernando Arroyo	1970-1986	Burbank	56
Steve Brown	1978-1985	Davis/UC Davis	55
Lowell Palmer	1966-1977	Norte Del Rio	49
Butch Metzger	1970-1980	Kennedy	48
Tim Jones	1972-1978	Ponderosa	47
Randy Lerch	1973-1986	Cordova	40
Roger Osenbaugh	1952-1959	McClatchy	39
Rich Rodas	1979-1985	Oakmont/Sierra/Sacramento City	38
Thor Skogan	1969-1974	Placer/Sierra	37

SHUTOUTS

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Fernando Arroyo	1970-1986	Burbank	12
Thor Skogan	1969-1974	Placer/Sierra	12
Roger Osenbaugh	1952-1959	McClatchy	11
Jeff Chandler	1973-1978	Davis/Sacramento City	10
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	9
Butch Metzger	1970-1980	Kennedy	9
Dan Greenhalgh	1972-1978	Folsom	9
Lowell Palmer	1966-1977	Norte Del Rio	9
Larry Prewitt	1975-1980	Placer/Sierra	9
Ken Forsch	1968-1986	Johnson/Sacramento City	8
Joe Bitker	1984-1991	Ponderosa/Sacramento City	8
Mike Baldwin	1969-1975	Johnson/Sacramento City	8

STRIKEOUTS (1960-present)

Player	Years	High School/College	Total
Mike Griffin	1976-1989	Woodland	1113
Lowell Palmer	1966-1977	Norte Del Rio	961
Marcus Moore	1989-1999	Sacramento City	954
Matt Riley	1998-2008	Sacramento City	860
Justin Reid	1999-2006	Jesuit/UC Davis	792
Gordon Jones	1949-1965	Sacramento	785
Zach Phillips	2005-2013	Galt/Sacramento City	779
Jermey Powell	1994-2010	Highlands	778
David Zancanaro	1990-2001	Del Campo	753
Jim Converse	1990-1999	Casa Roble	731

Source: Baseball Reference

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 4:13 PM with the headline "Area baseball beat: After Solons traded him, Ross Eldred soared in Seattle."