In August of 1913, the Chicago White Sox sold second baseman Morris “Morrie” Rath to the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.
Morrie Rath
The Chicago Eagle said the sale wasn’t the result of Rath’s .200 batting average, or 16 errors, but because of his performance coaching first base during a game in Philadelphia earlier in the month:
“Morris was coaching at first base and (Manager Nixey) Callahan was at third. (Harry) Lord was at bat. He hit a bounder to one of the infielders and as it was a slow hit he figured he could beat it out. He ran with every ounce of speed and strength that he possessed. The play was mighty close.
Harry Lord
“’Out,’ cried the umpire.
“Lord figuratively hit the ceiling. He threw his cap down and jumped upon it. He picked it up and threw it down again. He howled and he scowled. He allowed that if there ever was a blind umpire that he was working on the bases that day. He assured the ump that in all his experience as a ball player it was the worst decision he ever saw. Then up spoke Rath. His voice was as gentle as could be:
“’Yes, you were out Harry.’
“And Lord collapsed. That beat the other thing. Never in his experience as a ball player had he heard another player agree with the umpire when it meant that one of his pals was out instead of safe. That was beyond the comprehension of Lord. He just wilted and staggered to the bench.
“By this time Callahan was over there. There was fire in his eye, and he was fighting mad. ‘Of all the—‘ he started in and then stopped. For the umpire was laughing.
‘What’s the matter?’ howled Cal.
‘Why Rath here agrees that he was out,’ laughed the ump.
“What did Cal do? What could he do? He also was dazed. It was a new one on him. He had been around ball fields for many years, but never before had a member of his team taken sides with the ump against a teammate.”
It was a long road back to the big leagues for Rath. He played for Kansas City until June of 1915 when he was sold to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1916, He joined the Salt Lake City Bees in the Pacific Coast League, after hitting .300 and .341 he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds after the 1917 season in the Rule 5 Draft.
After spending 1918 in the United States Navy where he was captain of the baseball team at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Rath finally joined the Reds for the 1919 season. He was Cincinnati’s regular third baseman in 1919 and 1920 and appeared in all eight games of the 1919 World Series against his former team.
Rath finished his career with the San Francisco Seals in the Pacific Coast League in 1921.
After his career, he operated a sporting goods store in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. In 1945, suffering from ill-health, he committed suicide.
Baseball History Daily 
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