boys of summer Elmer Flick

Elmer Harrison Flick (January 11, 1876 - January 9, 1971) was an American player in Major League Baseball from 1898 until 1910. He was an outfielder known predominantly for his solid batting and speed.

Born in Bedford, Ohio, Flick joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1898, filling in for the injured Sam Thompson, and proved himself a capable big leaguer, batting .302 with 8 home runs, 13 triples and 81 RBI. After the 1901 season, Flick was one of many star National League players who jumped to the fledgling American League, playing for the crosstown Philadelphia Athletics; but the Phillies obtained an injunction from the state Supreme Court prohibiting any player under contract with the Phillies from playing for another team. As a recourse, Flick and teammate Nap Lajoie signed instead with the Cleveland Naps, as the Pennsylvania injunction could not be enforced in Ohio; the two players often traveled separately from their teammates for the next year, never setting foot in Pennsylvania in order to avoid a subpoena. (While teammates with the Phillies, the pair had once engaged in a fistfight in which Lajoie's hand was broken.) Flick would spend the remainder of his career in Cleveland, and the contract dispute would be resolved when the leagues made peace in September 1903 with the National Agreement.

Flick was the AL batting champion in 1905 with a .308 average; in major league history, only Carl Yastrzemski won a batting title with a lower mark (.301 in 1968). Flick also led the league in slugging percentage in 1905, one of his several productive seasons. He batted over .300 eight times in his career and finished with a .313 average, leading the league in RBI once (with 110 in 1900), stolen bases twice (1904 and 1906) and triples three times (1905-07). His value was such that after the 1907 season, the Naps turned down a trade with the Detroit Tigers which would have exchanged Flick for the 21-year-old Ty Cobb; however, Flick would soon develop stomach problems which would limit him to 99 games over the next three years. After never before hitting under .296, he batted .254 from 1908-10; he played two more seasons in the minor leagues before retiring. Despite his talent, Flick was never able to propel his team to a league championship.

Flick was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. He died in Bedford at age 94.

Batting Statistics
Year Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1898 Philadelphia 134 453 84 137 16 13 8 81 86 x .302
1899 Philadelphia 127 485 98 166 22 11 2 98 42 x .342
1900 Philadelphia 138 545 106 200 32 16 11 110 56 x .367
1901 Philadelphia 138 540 112 180 32 17 8 88 52 x .333
1902 Phi/Cle 121 461 85 137 21 12 2 64 53 x .297
1903 Cleveland 140 523 81 155 23 16 2 51 51 x .296
1904 Cleveland 150 579 97 177 31 17 6 56 51 x .306
1905 Cleveland 132 500 72 154 29 18 4 64 53 x .308
1906 Cleveland 157 624 98 194 34 22 1 62 54 x .311
1907 Cleveland 147 549 80 166 15 18 3 58 64 x .302
1908 Cleveland 9 35 4 8 1 1 0 2 3 x .229
1909 Cleveland 66 235 28 60 10 2 0 15 22 x .255
1910 Cleveland 24 68 5 18 2 1 1 7 10 x .265

Career statistics
Batting average  .313
Hits  1752
Home runs  48
Runs batted in  756