Neu Bruderthaler: Mennonite Baseball Hall of Fame

This is an independent blog and is not affiliated with any particular church, group or conference. The term Bruderthaler refers to a specific ethnic or cultural Mennonite heritage, not to any particular organized group. All statements and opinions are solely those of the contributor(s). Blog comprises notebook fragments from various research projects and discussions. Dialogue, comment and notice of corrections are welcomed. Much of this content is related to papers and presentations that might be compiled at a future date, as such, this blog serves as a research archive rather than as a publication. 'tag

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Mennonite Baseball Hall of Fame

Mennonites in Major League Baseball

Mennonite participation in Major League Baseball is a much longer, if much more American story. Of the 13 identified Mennonites, Russian Mennonites and Amish playing professional baseball, only one is known to be of Canadian background -- all others being American (the opposite of the National Hockey League (NHL)).

Mennonites have been quite the characters in the Majors. Overall, six have been catchers and four pitchers. Connie Mack, the longest serving manager, is of Mennonite heritage as was Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the first Baseball Commissioner and Federal Judge who handled both the 1915 Baseball Anti-Trust challenge and the clean-up of Chicago's "Black Sox" scandal when in 1919 the Chicago White Sox were accused of purposefully throwing the World Series.

There is a lot of history in these players' profiles. Early Mennonites -- Landis, Mack and the Bergens, for instance, assuredly knew of each other.

While Klassen is the only hard-core Russian Mennonite (Jantzen is presumed to be Russlander), it is still the story of the United States' national pastime and the unique contributions Mennonite men and boys have made to it. Enjoy -- and catch a game -- especially if anywhere near Chicago's Wrigley Field, Target Field in Minneapolis or Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Play Ball!

Most of the information used to build these profiles is either general in nature or based heavily on guidance from the appropriate Wikipedia articles.

(click read more to see players' profiles)