Carl Zamloch

Carl Zamloch

Carl Zamloch
Pitcher
Born: (1889-10-06)October 6, 1889
Oakland, California
Died: August 19, 1963(1963-08-19) (aged 73)
Santa Barbara, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 7, 1913, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
July 9, 1913, for the Detroit Tigers
MLB statistics
Earned run average 2.45
Win–loss record 1–6
Strikeouts 28
Teams

Carl Eugene Zamloch (October 6, 1889 – August 19, 1963) was an American baseball player, manager, and coach, and magician.

The son of famed magician Anton Zamloch, he performed as a boy in his father's vaudeville magic act. He then played professional baseball player for 20 years, principally as a right-handed pitcher, between 1911 and 1930, including one season in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers in 1913. He compiled a 1–6 win–loss record and a 2.45 earned run average (ERA) in the major leagues. In nine minor league seasons for which records are available, he appeared in 154 games with a 25–25 record.

For 13 seasons from 1916 to 1917 and 1919 to 1928, he compiled a 146–91–7 record as the head baseball coach for the University of California Golden Bears baseball team. Zamloch also served as the manager of the Twin Falls Bruins in 1926 and the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League from 1930 to 1932. He was also a part owner of the Oaks from 1929 to 1934. He also performed for much of his life as a magician.

Early years

Zamloch was born in Oakland, California, in 1889.[1] 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.[2] As a boy, Zamloch was the assistant in his father's magic act.[3]

Baseball career

Playing career

Zamloch began playing professional baseball in 1910, at age 19, as a left fielder for a team in San Leandro, California.[4] He played in 1911 for the Sacramento Sacts and the San Francisco Seals, both of the Pacific Coast League (PCL).[5] In 1912, he played for the Missoula, Montana team in the Union Association, appearing in 58 games.[5]

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.[1]

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,[6] the Spokane Indians of the Northwestern League and Oakland Oaks of the PCL in 1917,[7] Alameda of the Mission League in 1918,[8] the San Francisco Seals of the PCL in 1919,[9] the Seattle Rainiers of the PCL in 1920,[10] the Calgary Stampeders in the Western International League in 1922,[11] the Twin Falls Bruins (as player-manager) in 1926,[12] 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."[9] 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.[5]

College coaching and military service

In February 1916, Zamloch was hired to coach the California Golden Bears baseball team.[13] He continued to serve as Cal's head baseball coach from 1916 to 1917 and 1919 to 1928.[14] 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.[15] 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.[16] He was later appointed as the athletic director at the Presidio of San Francisco, training soldiers in basketball and indoor baseball.[17]

Zamloch was released from the Army in January 1919.[18] He returned to Cal, and during his 13-year tenure as Cal's baseball coach, his teams had a record of 146–91–7.[19] 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.[20][21]

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.[22] He worked as an insurance salesman, and later as a stock broker, when he was not coaching.[23][24]

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.[25] 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.[25] His resignation as a coach at the university was accepted in early December 1929.[26]

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.[27] After the 1932 season, Zamloch was removed as the manager of the Oaks.[28] 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.[29] In December 1934, Zamloch sold his stock in the Oaks to Victor Devincenzi.[30]

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.[3] Zamloch reportedly was also adept at using "a bit of magic" as an ice-breaker in starting discussions with baseball prospects.[31]

After his baseball career was over, Zamloch performed his magic act at schools, clubs, and other events.[32][33] 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.[34][35][36][37] In 1937, he published a book, "17 Simple but Mystifying Tricks to Entertain Your Friends", under the pseudonym "The Great Zam."[27]

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.[38] 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.[39][40] He was buried at Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California.[1]

Head coaching record


Season Team Overall Conference Standing
California (1916–1929)
1916 California 11–11–2 no
1917 California 12–8–1 no
1919 California 7–5–0 no
1920 California 22–10–1 no
1921 California 10–8–1 no
1922 California 12–6–1 no
1923 California 12–7–1 no
1924 California 13–11–0 no
1925 California 11–2–0 no
1926 California 8–6–0 no
1927 California 4–9–0 5th no
1928 California 8–4–0 2nd no
1929 California 16–7–0 1st no
California: 146–91–7
Total: 146–91–7

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Carl Zamloch". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  2. ↑ Fitzhamon, E.G. (April 3, 1927). "Magician's Bees Replace Black Art: ‘Zamloch the Great,’ Past 70, and Wife Retire Here After a Half Century of Mystifying U.S. Audiences". Oakland Tribune.
  3. 1 2 Russ J. Newland (January 3, 1935). "Scouting Western Sports". Reno Gazette-Journal. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "San Leandro to Put Fast Nine in Field". Oakland Tribune. February 16, 1910. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 "Carl Zamloch Minor League Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  6. ↑ "U. of C. Captain Hurt". Arizona Republic. March 22, 1916. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Turned Back To Spokane Reds". The Seattle Star. May 3, 1917. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Is Unable To Pitch Alameda to Victory". Oakland Tribune. July 15, 1918. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 "Carl Zamloch Signs To Play With Seals". San Francisco Chronicle. February 5, 1919. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Zamloch and Eldred Should Help Seattle". San Francisco Chronicle. May 16, 1920. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Lands Job With Cincinnati Reds". Oakland Tribune. July 5, 1922. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Will Not Make Hawaiian Trip". Oakland Tribune. April 1, 1926. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Will Coach U.C.". Oakland Tribune. February 10, 1916. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "The Centennial of The University of California, 1868–1968". content.cdlib.org. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Carl Zamloch, Former Oak, Visits Family". San Francisco Chronicle. December 30, 1917. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Lands Army Instructor Berth". San Francisco Chronicle. January 1, 1918. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ "Zamloch Is Made Presidio Athletic Director". Oakland Tribune. December 12, 1918. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Gets Release From Army". San Francisco Chronicle. January 12, 1919. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "California History | California Golden Bears". cstv.com. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Reversible Baseball Next". The Indianapolis Star. March 25, 1928. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ↑ George Moriarty (April 20, 1928). "Reversible Baseball Drawing Serious, Humorous Comment: Carl Zamloch's Experiment With College Teams Has Veterans of Two Minds - Some Pick Flaws". Lincoln Evening Journal. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "2012 Golden Bears Record Book" (PDF). University of California. 2012. p. 11. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Peddles Insurance; Likes Job". San Francisco Chronicle. December 16, 1916. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Sells Stock in Spare Time". The News-Herald. January 31, 1929. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. 1 2 "Ewing Sells Oaks Team, Franchise". Oakland Tribune. October 24, 1929. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Zamlock Quits As Bear Coach". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. December 6, 1929. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. 1 2 "Carl Zamloch". William B. Shubb. 1999. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  28. ↑ "New Bombshell Due In Oak Shakeup: Owners Silent on Zamloch Ouster". Oakland Tribune. November 30, 1932. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ↑ "Zamloch Claims Fee Legal As Parter Sues Ex-Oak Manager". Oakland Tribune. December 2, 1932. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ↑ "Vice President Purchases Stock Owned by Zamlock in Local Coast League Team". Oakland Tribune. December 23, 1934. p. 10A – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ↑ Mulligan, B. (2005). The 1940 Cincinnati Reds: A World Championship and Baseball's Only In-Season Suicide. McFarland & Company. p. 101. ISBN 9780786420902. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Carl Zamloch Guest At Vallejo Luncheon". Oakland Tribune. June 7, 1936. p. 59 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ↑ "Program of Magic Given Wednesday for Kiwanis Club". Nevada State Journal. June 29, 1939. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ↑ "Crowd Baffled as Zamloch Performs Magic". Woodland Daily Democrat. February 4, 1933. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ↑ "Zamloch Follows Dad's Act; Old Man From Soquel". Santa Cruz Sentinel. May 13, 1933. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. ↑ "Magic Program for Traffic Commission". Oakland Tribune. August 26, 1934. p. 33.
  37. ↑ Art Cohn (April 3, 1937). "Cohn-ing Tower". Oakland Tribune. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ↑ "Former Pro Pitcher Zamloch Dies". Kalispell Inter Lake (UPI story). August 21, 1963. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ↑ "Carl E. Zamloch, One-Time Pilot of Baseball, Dies". Humboldt Standard. August 21, 1963. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. ↑ "Carl Zamloch, Ex Tiger Hurler, Succumbs At 73". The Fresno Bee (AP story). August 21, 1963. p. 3D – via Newspapers.com.
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