Lon Knight

Lon Knight
Right fielder/Pitcher/Manager
Born: (1853-06-16)June 16, 1853
Philadelphia
Died: April 23, 1932(1932-04-23) (aged 78)
Philadelphia
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 4, 1875, for the Philadelphia Athletics
Last MLB appearance
October 10, 1885, for the Providence Grays
MLB statistics
Games played 545
Hits 555
Batting average .243
Teams

As Player

As Manager

Alonzo P. "Lon" Knight, born Alonzo P. Letti (June 16, 1853 April 23, 1932), was an American right fielder, right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball. He threw the first pitch in the first game played in the new National League on April 22, 1876.

Born in Philadelphia and a graduate of Girard College,[1] he began playing with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1875 when the team was in the National Association, then stayed with them when they joined the National League in 1876. When the team folded after the 1876 season, he did not play in the major leagues again until 1880, when he joined the Worcester Ruby Legs of the NL for one season, and the Detroit Wolverines for two. In 1883, he was named the manager of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American Association, and the team won the league pennant with Knight also playing right field. In 1884 the team fell back to seventh place in a 13-team league. He finished his career in 1885 when he split the season between the Athletics and the Providence Grays.[2]

On May 21, 1880, he was playing right field at Riverside Park in Albany, New York when Lip Pike hit a ball over the fence and into the river. Few parks at the time had ground rules concerning balls hit over the fence. It was not an automatic home run, so Knight pursued the ball in a boat, eventually giving up.[3]

Knight died of poisoning at age 78 in Philadelphia when his gas line sprung a leak. He is interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in an unmarked grave in Section H, Lot 63-64.[4]

See also

References

Preceded by
Juice Latham
Philadelphia Athletics (AA) Manager
1883–1884
Succeeded by
Harry Stovey
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.