Babe Ruth played in Sleepy Eye 100 years ago last October. Believe it or not, that wasn’t the most unlikely thing to happen in Brown County baseball in the fall of 1922. How about a local man pitching for New Ulm on a Sunday afternoon and days later pitching for the Cleveland Indians against the Boston Red Sox?
Elmer Joseph Hamann was born in New Ulm on December 21, 1900. He was the first child of Frederick and Dorothea (Greibel) Hamann. Frederick and Dora were first-generation Americans, immigrants from Germany. After Elmer, they had daughters, Edna and Louisa, and another son Clarence. Frederick supported the family as a well-driller.
Elmer grew to be 6-foot-1, an athletic young man. Two years in a row, he led New Ulm High to the state basketball tournament at Carlton College under coach Mickey Church. In 1921, New Ulm lost the championship to Minneapolis Central 19 to 15. Hamann scored 13 of his team’s points and was named all-state.
In May, Hamann debuted as a pitcher for New Ulm’s semi-pro team, a mix of local and paid players. From the New Ulm Review, “In the sixth inning Hamann, the local high school twirler, was put in the box and given a tryout. He held Winthrop to two hits in three innings.”
Baseball was wildly popular in New Ulm a century ago. The ballpark was at the fairgrounds, and the grandstand was regularly filled with 2,000-plus fans. New Ulm’s population was only 6,000.
Hamann quickly became the staff ace. He won 26 and lost 6 that summer. Included in those wins were two one-hitters and a fourteen-inning game.
In July, Hamann threw a “splendid game” at Sleepy Eye, losing 1 to 0. “One of the largest crowds that has ever witnessed a game in this part of the state. A circus could not have drawn better.” A week later, New Ulm prevailed in a rematch in front of “the largest crowd that ever witnessed a baseball game in Brown County,” over 3,000. Hamann shut out the county rivals, 5 to 0.
Somewhere along the line, Elmer took a nickname. In September, it was reported that “Elmer (Doc) Hamann left last week for St. Paul where he is enrolled at St. Thomas College. He will take up accounting.” Doc soon became a star athlete there, too, playing basketball and baseball.
His coach for both was the well-known Joe Brandy. Brandy had been a quarterback at Notre Dame, a teammate of George Gipp, aka the “Gipper.” Hamann was a forward on the Tommie basketball team and ace pitcher on the diamond. That spring, he defeated the University of Minnesota 1-0 and struck out 14 in a 1-1 tie with Carleton College.
Summer, 1922, Hamann was back in New Ulm. “When Doc stepped to the mound, the crowds in the grandstand gave him an ovation no other player has received.” It was another summer of big crowds and fine pitching. From the Review: “Hamman threw a classy game.” and “We cleaned ‘em up! Doc Hamann was the hero of Sunday’s game and easily New Ulm’s best man.”
Meanwhile, for the Cleveland Indians, it was not going well. Future Hall of Famer Tris Speaker had become player-manager in 1920 and led the Indians to their first World Series win. The next year, they battled the Yankees down to the wire. In 1922, the Indians fell out of the race early. The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that they were “in a state of disintegration and needed new blood.”
Scouts were dispatched all over the country to find that new blood, “the most energetic drive for players ever put on.” That September, twenty rookies were in Tris Speaker’s dugout, an amazing assemblage of unproven players. Among those was New Ulm’s Hamann who had drawn attention pitching in St. Paul.
From the September 13 New Ulm Review: “Big Doc Hamann, the sensational pitcher who has been the main factor in the downfall of every baseball team with championship aspirations when they had to face the New Ulm team is on his way to join the Cleveland team of the American League. His admirers hope he will make good in the ‘big show.’”
On September 11, Hamann shut out Hopkins 2 to 0 at the fairgrounds. Eleven days later he pitched in the Major Leagues.
Speaker used his group of rookies sparingly as he was probably unsure what to make of them all. But on September 21, the Indians fell behind the Boston Red Sox 8 to 1 in the fifth inning. It was time to give his young charges a chance. Nine rookies came in for Speaker. They made the game close, and the score was 9 to 5 after eight.
Speaker sent out Hamann to start the ninth. He faced seven hitters: walk, walk, hit-batter, walk, triple, single, single. That was enough for Speaker and Hamann was pulled. Who knows how nervous the 21-year-old from Brown County was on that unfamiliar mound in a strange city?
It was the only game Hamann would appear in. By some measures, it was the worst “career” of any Major Leaguer ever. He is one of 22 pitchers with an infinite ERA, meaning they got no one out. Ironically, two of those were born in New Ulm. Fred Bruckbauer was raised in Sleepy Eye but born In New Ulm. Fred appeared in one game for the Minnesota Twins in 1961.
Hamann was listed in the Review as one of four New Ulm men scheduled to play at Sleepy Eye in Babe Ruth’s barnstorming exhibition October 16. It’s interesting to think of Hamann pitching against Babe Ruth a month after playing in Cleveland. He didn’t play that day, however. Instead, he returned to St. Thomas and the basketball team.
The next spring, Hamann turned down an offer to go to spring training with Cleveland to stay in school. Unfortunately, he and teammate “Jiggs” Donahue were barred from the Tommie baseball team in May after admitting they were paid to play for Austin the week before. The line between pro and amateur was fluid then, but that apparently crossed it.
Hamann pitched briefly in the Dakota League. Then in July, he signed to play with the Minneapolis Millers for $900 a month. The next March, Minneapolis sold his contract to Wichita. Alas, Doc met the fate of so many other overused pitchers: arm trouble.
In an interview, after Hamann had passed, his sister told local historian Carl Wyczawski that her brother had what they called a “sprained ligament.” Elmer went to see a specialist in New York and was told he wouldn’t be able to pitch again, Likely, modern medicine would have saved his career.
Elmer went to work in St. Paul. He married Lila Baumann, and they moved to Milwaukee. At times, Hamann worked as an enameller, pressman, and machinist. They had three sons together. Elmer Hamann died on January 11, 1973, and is buried in Bayside, Wisconsin.
Doc’s was the briefest of Major League careers. In his later years, he told a researcher from the Hall of Fame that he “absolutely” would do it again. I think any of us who ever picked up a glove and dreamt of stepping on a Major League field would agree.
Sources used:
Wikipedia
Society for American Baseball Research, article “Doc Hamann” by Chris Rainey
Newspaper.com
Minnesota Digital Newspaper Hub, Minnesota Historical Society
Baseballreference.com
Article written for State Tournament yearbook, “New Ulm Has Had Its Share of Professional Ballplayer” by Carl Wyczawski