Thursday, September 12, 2024

Quait Bateman

 From Melissa, TX of Collin County - just beyond McKinney. 

Became pro in 1902 at 26 with Fort Worth - 4 for 5 in one game. .344 with .544 SLG and 18-15 record for Fort Worth in 1903. Good with Milwaukee AA 1904-06 - continued to both pitch and play first base. Stopped hitting in 1907, and career ended in 1910.


1907-7-02 (Trenton) "Quate Bateman the ball player recently purchased by Manager Irwin of Altoona from the Milwaukee team of the American Association has been wandering around this city all day in a demented condition and the club management has requested the local police force to exert every effort to locate the unfortunate man.
    "Bateman joined the Altoona team last Thursday at Wilmington as a pitcher and outfielder. He has the reputation of being one of the best players in minor league company but his work with Altoona has not been up to the mark. He has had the appearance of grieving and worrying over something continually, and has been acting strangely both on and off the field
    "Yesterday afternoon at the Tri-State field he hit a pitched ball to second base and instead of running to first base he turned and deliberately walked to the bench. When questioned by Manager Irwin as to why he did not run he replied 'Why I made a safe hit, didn't I, there goes the ball now out in the field." The ball at this moment was in the hands of First baseman Crooks of the Trenton team.
While on the bench later in the afternoon he picked up a bat and handled it in such a peculiar and menacing manner that Catcher Frambes of the Altoona team who was also on the bench at that time took up another bat, thinking he might be called upon to defend himself.
    "He went to the supper table at the Windsor last night and after ordering everything on the bill of fare he ate nothing but sat in the chair at the table until it was time to close the dining room.
    "Towards midnight he was found wandering around the floor at the hotel and taken back to his room. Just before breakfast this this morning he climbed out on the fire escape and, jumping to the roof a short distance below he disappeared and has not been seen or heard, of since
    "The Altoona management has decided to send him back to his home in Milwaukee after his actions yesterday afternoon and at the supper table last night and as soon as he is located this step will be taken. It is thought by those who know him best that his present condition is only temporary and that a few months in a sanitarium will put him back on his feet again."
1907-7-02 (Trenton) Pinch-hit in the 8th of the first game of a double-header.
1907-7-03 (Altoona) Was arrested late last night "for forcing his way into a house in Cadwalader Place, a suburb of [Trenton.]"
    "the man tried to force his way into the home of Fred B. Yard, a wealthy merchant, and when ordered away he insisted that his parents resided there. The police were notified and the man was arrested. At the station he gave his name as Quade Bateman and his age as 28." 
1907-7-03 "became insane during a game [in Trenton] on Monday [7-01.] After making a safe hit he retired to the bench, saying the hit was safe and he need not run. Later he threatened violence, but was quieted, and finally consented to go to bed in a hotel.
    "During the night he escaped by means of a fire escape. Bateman was found last night sitting on a doorstep in an outlying section of town. He is being cared for by his friends on the Altoona team, and will probably be sent to a sanitarium." 
1907-7-04 (Altoona) Was taken to Milwaukee by "Chad" Fisher yesterday morning.
1907-7-04 (Altoona) Chad Fisher is a tobacconist and former ballplayer. 
    "Homesickness is believed to be responsible for Bateman's [condition.] He pined considerably after joining the Altoona team, and frequently stated that he wished he were back with the Brewers. Melancholia, it is believed, so affected him that he was temporarily out of his mind." 

1911-3-21 (FW) "Bateman is now living the simple life on a farm in Denton county."
1920-3-13 (McKinney) Obit of mother. 
1921-4-24 (FW) "Insofar as known, Quate Bateman... holds the Texas League record for a perfect day with four home runs in four trips to the plate."
1927-3-05 (KC quoting Milwaukee) About the Milwaukee 1st baseman jinx. "Quate Bateman, a big Texan who still lives in Milwaukee, was the next victim of the jinx. Batey was with the Milwaukee club in Des Moines, IA., one spring when one of his teammates, in a drunken rage, pulled a knife and stabbed Bateman in the back. For weeks the Grim Reaper waited on his doorstep, but Batey fooled him and pulled through. His successor was not as lucky." 
1929-6-25 (Greenville) Five Milwaukee 1b have met violent death and a sixth has committed suicide.
1951-8-13 (McKinney, TX) 
    "FIFTY YEARS ago baseball was at the height of its great popularity, and any boy who did not at least try to play the game was not thought of as manly. Collin County produced some fine players, but probably the best the country around here ever saw was Quate (Sissy) Bateman, who lived just south of Melissa. Sissy was an all-round player, but pitched mostly, as he could throw a baseball about as hard as any man living. His home runs at old Rambo's Park made baseball history in 1902-03. He played a few games In the Texas League, and then went to Milwaukee in the American Association league. A year or so later he received an injury there from which he never fully recovered. He died there, December, 1936."

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