Maurice Archdeacon

From BR Bullpen

Maurice John Archdeacon (Flash or Comet)

Bats Left, Throws Left
Height 5' 8", Weight 153 lb.

Debut September 17, 1923
Final Game May 29, 1925
Born December 14, 1897 in St. Louis, MO USA
Died September 5, 1954 in St.Louis, MO USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Maurice Archdeacon hit .402 as a rookie in 1923 and then .319 in 1924, when he had most of his major league at-bats.

Archdeacon, an outfielder, played for Charleston and Rochester before he came to the majors. With Rochester in 1923 he hit .357 with 15 triples (coming very close to winning the batting championship - he hit .35736 while the winner hit .35738).

The 1923 Chicago White Sox were an under-.500 team, with Eddie Collins their best hitter. Archdeacon mostly played center field, a position where Johnny Mostil was the regular.

For the 1924 White Sox, Archdeacon played 77 games in center field, while Mostil appeared in 90 at the position. Mostil's batting average went up to .325 while Archdeacon hit .319. The other two outfielders hit even higher - Bibb Falk hit .352 and Harry Hooper hit .328.

Maurice was famous as a speedster. He once circled the bases in 13.4 seconds while with Rochester. In the majors, there was a sense that he was the fastest - it is said that once, when Christy Mathewson was claiming Rogers Hornsby was really fast, Christy said that he was as fast as Archdeacon.

Mostil continued as the regular in 1925 while Archdeacon didn't get much playing time. He ended up spending most of his time with the minor-league Baltimore Orioles, a prestige minor league team of the time, hitting .310. He stayed with Baltimore in 1926-27, and his batting average went up each year.

His last minor league season was 1932, when he hit .338 for Dubuque.

The book Joe McCarthy: Architect of the Yankee Dynasty, states that in post-season play while with the Orioles, Archdeacon "physically attacked one of the umpires". No action was taken against him, however - he apologized when he took the field and the Orioles went on to win the series.

After his playing career ended, Maurice Archdeacon was a scout for the St. Louis Browns.