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Early Big League Baseball Player Charlie Ganzel On What It Was Like Playing In 19th Century
The National Pastime looked quite a bit different back in its earlier days, but former players like Ganzel had many great stories and memories of their careers
Charlie Ganzel was a solid big-league catcher who spent 14 years in the major leagues (1884–1897). While he wasn’t a star, his career overlapped with an intriguing time of change and evolution for baseball. He had a unique bird’s eye view of it all and shared his perspective in an extensive interview he gave the year after he retired from playing.
Like most catchers of his time, Ganzel was a relatively light hitter, Playing for four teams (most notably, he spent nine years with the Boston Beaneaters), he hit a combined .259 with 10 home runs and 412 RBIs. Any offensive deficiencies were offset by his superior receiving skills. Considered one of the finest catchers in baseball, he occasionally played all the other non-pitcher positions, but was primarily a backstop. Pitchers enjoyed throwing to him and he caught 44 percent of would-be base stealers during his career.
In an interview that appeared in the January 25, 1898 issue of the Record-Journal (Meriden, CT), Ganzel spoke at…
