Walter Arlington Latham (March 15, 1860 – November 29, 1952) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played from through for the Buffalo Bisons, St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Senators, and New York Giants. He also served as player-manager of the Browns in 1896.
Latham stole 129 bases during the 1887 season. His career total of 742 ranks seventh all-time in the majors. As a player-coach for the 1909 Giants, Latham, at age 49, became the oldest MLB player to steal a base.
After his retirement as a player, he became what is acknowledged as the first full-time base coach in baseball history. For years he served as a coach and manager in the minor leagues.
After retiring from baseball, Latham traveled to Great Britain, where he organized baseball matches for soldiers during World War I and taught baseball to the British. He later worked in baseball as a press box attendant.
Early life
Latham's father was a bugler in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Latham became interested in baseball when soldiers returning from the battlefield brought the game of baseball with them. In 1877, he played for a team in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as a third baseman. He played for Cincinnati through 1895, and was traded to the Browns after the 1895 season with Ed McFarland, Morgan Murphy, Tom Parrott and cash for Red Ehret and Heinie Peitz. The Browns released Latham after the 1896 season.
Latham then returned to the minor leagues. He played for the Columbus Buckeyes/Senators of the Western League and Scranton Miners of the Eastern League in 1896. He played for the Mansfield Haymakers of the Interstate League in 1897. In 1898, he applied to become a NL umpire; instead, he played for the New Britain Rangers of the Connecticut State League and Hartford Cooperatives of the Atlantic League in 1898. Latham returned to the major leagues with the Washington Senators in 1899. He played for the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League in 1902.
He made a handful of cameo appearances as a player for the New York Giants of the NL in 1909, becoming the oldest man in Major League history to steal a base, at the age of 49, a record that still stands today. which led to Latham making weak or half-hearted attempts to field ground balls.
Return to minor league baseball
Latham became an umpire in 1903 in the International League. In 1906, Latham managed the Jacksonville Jays of the Southern League. He also served as an umpire for the league and the South Atlantic League.
Coaching career
Latham was Major League Baseball's first full-time coach. During his playing days, he would stand on the third base line and yell insults at the other team's pitcher, attempting to distract him and give the Browns an advantage. One of his techniques was to scream while running up and down the third base line during the pitcher's delivery. The coach's box was introduced to prevent him from doing this. This led McGraw, realizing the need for a full-time coach, to hire Latham for the role, the first full-time coach in MLB. Latham tried to do the same things in New York as he had done years earlier in St. Louis, but times had changed and screaming obscenities was not looked well upon, as baseball was being changed into more of a family-friendly game by then. In the opinion of Giants player Fred Snodgrass, however, he was "probably the worst third base coach that ever lived".
In 1914, Latham coached with the Lynn Fighters of the New England League; in July 1914, he resigned from the team. Latham announced his retirement from professional baseball in 1915. He wrote for The Pittsburgh Press in 1915. Latham lived in England during World War I, where he organized baseball for the soldiers, and taught King George V about baseball. He returned to the United States in 1923, and opened a delicatessen on Saint Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan. He also served as a press box attendant for the Giants at the Polo Grounds and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Personality
Known for his on-field antics, Latham was considered one of the funniest personalities in baseball. Nicknamed "The Freshest Man on Earth", Latham was a colorful player known for playing practical jokes, including on Browns owner Chris von der Ahe and manager Charles Comiskey. In one famous stunt, he lit a firecracker under third base in an effort to "wake himself up", after Comiskey had been complaining about him falling asleep on the job. Also he would occasionally put on a clown's nose while walking behind von der Ahe.
A practical joke Latham pulled on Cy Seymour in March 1909 caused a fight between the two at the team's hotel, prompting McGraw to discharge Seymour from the team and seek a buyer.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball career runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball career stolen bases leaders
- List of Major League Baseball annual runs scored leaders
- List of Major League Baseball player-managers
- List of St. Louis Cardinals team records
- List of Major League Baseball single-game hits leaders