Rollie Zeider | |||
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Infielder | |||
Born: Auburn, Indiana |
November 16, 1883|||
Died: September 12, 1967 Garrett, Indiana |
(aged 83)|||
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MLB debut | |||
April 14, 1910, for the Chicago White Sox | |||
Last MLB appearance | |||
September 11, 1918, for the Chicago Cubs | |||
MLB statistics | |||
Batting average | .240 | ||
Home runs | 5 | ||
Runs batted in | 253 | ||
Stolen bases | 223 | ||
Teams | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Rollie Hubert Zeider (November 16, 1883 – September 12, 1967) was a professional baseball player. An infielder (playing over 100 games at all four infield positions in his career), he played nine seasons in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox (1910–13), New York Yankees (1913), Chicago Chi-Feds/Chicago Whales in the Federal League from 1914–15, and lastly the Chicago Cubs (1916–18). He is one of only a few players to play for three different Chicago teams in his career, and one of two to do it in the 20th century. He is the only player to hit home runs for all three Chicago major league teams in the twentieth century. Along with Dutch Zwilling he is the only 20th century player to play in the same city in three different major leagues: American League (White Sox), Federal League (Chi-Feds/Whales), and the National League (Cubs).
Strangely, Zeider contributed to another odd record along with Zwilling. The 1916 Cubs were one of the few teams in history, and the most recent until 1999, to have three players whose last names begin with "Z": Zeider, Zwilling, and Heinie Zimmerman. The 1999 Texas Rangers were the first and only since then with Jeff Zimmerman, Todd Zeile, and Gregg Zaun.
His nickname Bunion was the result of a spike wound when Detroit Tigers outfielder Sam Crawford spiked his "bunion" during a play. Zeider's bunion became a news item when he was traded after the injury and his new club, the New York Yankees, later protested that the White Sox had not informed them that Zeider was injured at the time of the trade.