Lu Blue

First baseman

Born: March 5, 1897
Washington, D.C.

Died: July 28, 1958 (aged 61)
Alexandria, Virginia

Batted: Switch

Threw: Left

MLB debut

April 14, 1921, for the Detroit Tigers

Last MLB appearance

April 25, 1933, for the Brooklyn Dodgers

MLB statistics

Batting average

.287

Hits

1696

Runs batted in

695

Teams

Detroit Tigers (1921–27)
St. Louis Browns (1928–30)
Chicago White Sox (1931–32)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1933)

Career highlights and awards

Led the AL in times on base with 296 in 1929
Holds the Baltimore Orioles single season record for walks (126 in 1929)
Top 20 in MVP voting four times: 1922 (10), 1924 (19), 1925 (12), and 1931 (17)
Top 5 in walks nine times, 1921–23, 1925–26, 1928–31

Luzerne Atwell "Lu" Blue (March 5, 1897 – July 28, 1958) was a Major League Baseball player.

A native of Washington, D.C., Blue played professional baseball, principally as a first baseman, for 18 years from 1916 to 1933, including 13 years in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers from 1921 to 1932, the St. Louis Browns from 1928 to 1930, the Chicago White Sox in 1931 and 1932, and the Brooklyn Dodgers for one game in 1933. Blue was a switch-hitter who had a career on-base percentage of .402 and was one of the best fielding first basemen of his era. He interrupted his baseball career for military service in World War I and was later honored with burial at Arlington National Cemetery. In 2001, baseball historian Bill James ranked Blue as the 77th best first baseman of all time.

Blue was born in Washington, D.C., in 1897. He was one of two sons born to Charles H. Blue, a New Jersey native born in 1852, and Ida Mae (Reamer) Blue, a Pennsylvania native born in 1856. His parents divorced when he was a child.

Blue grew up a fan of the Washington Senators. Despite discouragement from his family, who thought baseball was a waste of time, Blue was determined to play baseball. He attended Briarly Hall Military School in Poolesville, Maryland, where his play for the school's baseball team drew the attention of professional scouts.

Blue began playing Martinsburg Blue Sox of the Blue Ridge League. He compiled a disappointing .216 batting average in 1916, but his average jumped to .319 with a .517 slugging percentage in 1917. A switch-hitter, Blue reportedly hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in the same game during the 1917 season.

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Wikipedia