Batting average .273 Role Baseball player Name Tillie Shafer | Runs batted in 83 Home runs 5 | |
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Died January 10, 1962, Los Angeles, California, United States | ||
Education University of Notre Dame | ||
Arthur Joseph "Tillie" Shafer (March 22, 1889 – January 10, 1962) was a Major League Baseball infielder with the New York Giants from 1909 to 1913.
Career
While attending Santa Clara University, Shafer was one of the most accomplished college athletes on the west coast, winning numerous track and field medals, in addition for playing baseball for the then-Missionites of Santa Clara. He was once timed at 3.2 seconds running from the batter's box to first base.
However, his time in Major League Baseball wasn't very happy for him. A young, shy man from a wealthy family, Shafer was hassled from the moment he first entered the Giants' clubhouse as a rookie. Outfielder Cy Seymour gave him the feminine nickname "Tillie", which stuck. Throughout his tenure in New York, Shafer was branded as a "momma's boy" and razzed by his teammates.
After two seasons of sitting on the bench, Shafer took 1911 off to go home and also to play baseball in Japan. He returned the following season, and in 1913, he was a regular in the Giants' starting line-up for the first time. He got to play in the 1912 and 1913 World Series.
On December 16, 1913, Shafer announced his retirement. He summed up his time with the Giants with: "I have satisfied every ambition in a baseball way. Now I want to forget I was ever in it. It is an episode in my life that I am trying hard to forget."