Carl Zamloch

Early years

Zamloch was born in Oakland, California, in 1889. His father Anton Zamloch was one of the most famous magicians (performing under the name "Zamloch the Great" and "Professor Zamloch") in the late 19th century and early 20th century. As a boy, Zamloch was the assistant in his father's magic act.

Playing career

Zamloch began playing professional baseball in 1910, at age 19, as a left fielder for a team in San Leandro, California. He played in 1911 for the Sacramento Sacts and the San Francisco Seals, both of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). In 1912, he played for the Missoula, Montana team in the Union Association, appearing in 58 games.

In October 1912, Zamloch was sold to the Detroit Tigers. He made his major league debut with the Tigers on May 7, 1912, and appeared in his last major league game two months later on July 9, 1913. He appeared in a total of 17 major league games, 12 as a relief pitcher and five as a starter. His adjusted ERA+ was 119, and he ranked 10th in the American League with 11 games finished in 1913.

Although his major league career ended in 1913, he continued to play in the minor leagues for several additional years, including stints with the Denver Bears of the Western League in 1914, the Albuquerque Dukes of the Rio Grande Association in 1915, the Spokane Indians of the Northwestern League and Oakland Oaks of the PCL in 1917, Alameda of the Mission League in 1918, the San Francisco Seals of the PCL in 1919, the Seattle Rainiers of the PCL in 1920, the Calgary Stampeders in the Western International League in 1922, the Twin Falls Bruins (as player-manager) in 1926, and the Oakland Oaks for two final games in 1930. In his later years as a player, Zamloch served as a utility player. The San Francisco Chronicle in 1919 described him as "a valuable utility man, for he can pitch, play the infield or outfield, and he is a pretty fair hitter." In nine minor league seasons for which records are available, he appeared in 154 games and compiled a 25–25 win-loss record as a pitcher.

College coaching and military service

In February 1916, Zamloch was hired to coach the California Golden Bears baseball team. He continued to serve as Cal's head baseball coach from 1916 to 1917 and 1919 to 1928. For several years, he coached Cal through their season which ended in April and then played minor league baseball for the balance of the spring and summer months.

In 1917, he attempted to enlist in the United States Army following the United States' entry into World War I, but he was rejected because of the condition of his leg which had been broken three times during his baseball career. He served as the baseball coach at the University of Montana in late 1917. In January 1918, and although his enlistment had been rejected for medial reasons, he received an appointment as an athletic instructor to the Army under the supervision of the Young Men's Christian Association and was initially assigned to Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He was later appointed as the athletic director at the Presidio of San Francisco, training soldiers in basketball and indoor baseball.

Zamloch was released from the Army in January 1919. He returned to Cal, and during his 13-year tenure as Cal's baseball coach, his teams had a record of 146–91–7. In 1928, while coaching at Cal, he gained attention for developing "reversible baseball" which allowed a batter to run the bases in either direction (starting at first or at third base), provided that if there was already a man on base, subsequent batters had to run in the same direction chosen by the man already on base.

He was also the coach of the California Golden Bears soccer team from 1925 to 1931, and during Zamloch's time as head coach, the soccer team had a record of 34–17–7. He worked as an insurance salesman, and later as a stock broker, when he was not coaching.

Oakland Oaks

In October 1929, Zamloch and two others, A. Robert Miller and Victor Devincenzi, purchased the Oakland Oaks baseball team in the Pacific Coast League from J. Cal Ewing for a price estimated to be close to $500,000. As part of the acquisition, it was agreed that Zamloch would leave his position with the University of California and take over as the manager of the Oaks. His resignation as a coach at the university was accepted in early December 1929.

Zamloch served as the team's manager for three years, leading the Oaks to a 91–103 in 1930, an 86–101 record in 1931, and an 80–107 in 1932. After the 1932 season, Zamloch was removed as the manager of the Oaks. He also became involved in litigation with his former co-owners over claims that he failed to share a commission for the purchase of the club in 1929 and that he was owed salary for his service as the club's manager. In December 1934, Zamloch sold his stock in the Oaks to Victor Devincenzi.

Professional magician

Zamloch also worked and performed as a magician for many years. While coaching at the University of California in the late 1920s, he worked as a stock broker in the morning, coached baseball in the afternoon, and performed his magic act in the evenings. Zamloch reportedly was also adept at using "a bit of magic" as an ice-breaker in starting discussions with baseball prospects.

After his baseball career was over, Zamloch performed his magic act at schools, clubs, and other events. His acted included sleight of hand, card tricks, a spirit show, slate writing and cabinet tests, a mysterious trunk, a mailbag escape, driving a car on public street while blindfolded and guided by a "psychic sense," his father's Hindu rope trick, Houdini's needle and thread trick, the Egyptian fire trick, a Chinese silk and water feat, vanishing pigeons, and the mystery of the six boxes. In 1937, he published a book, "17 Simple but Mystifying Tricks to Entertain Your Friends", under the pseudonym "The Great Zam."

Later years

From 1936 until his death in 1963, he worked as a sales executive and legislative consultant for the Signal Oil and Gas Company. He died in August 1963 at age 73 in Santa Barbara, California. He had been hospitalized at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital for several weeks after suffering a stroke on July 3, 1963. He was buried at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California.