Frederick Charles Merkle
December 20, 1888 - March 2, 1956

As a young boy my grandfather dreamed of playing baseball. That dream came true for him when he was 19 years old and joined the New York Giants baseball team in 1907. He was just beginning his career and looking forward to many more years of play. On September 23, 1908 the Giants had the home field advantage at the Polo Grounds against the Chicago Cubs. It was the bottom of the ninth and the game was tied 1-1. My grandpa was on first and the winning run was on third. Al Bridwell singled to centerfield and the winning run scored. But my grandpa didn't touch second base, opting instead to head straight to the entrance of the players locker room in center field to avoid the crowd of fans that had stormed onto the field. The Cub's Johnny Evers got the ball, got the umpire's attention, and tagged second base. Merkle was ruled out on the force at second, thereby nullifying the run. The inning was over with the game still tied. They had to finish the delayed game at a later date. It was eventually won by the Cubs who wound up winning the pennant amd went on to win the World Series. My grandfather was blamed for the loss and lived with the name "bonehead Merkle" for the rest of his life. He didn't give up though - he played baseball for another 18 years and had a very successful career. The Cubs haven't won another World Series since.



Various pictures of Merkle during his baseball career.

He was part of the 1913-1914 World Tour and you can click the book cover to find out more about the tour.



In 1917 the Merkle family celebrated the baptism of Fred's oldest daughters; he helped coach the 1926 NY Yankees and in 1935 Fred posed with his youngest daughter, Marianne, my mother.

In 1950 after 23 years of self imposed exile from the big leagues my grandfather returned to New York City to participate in the Oldtimers Celebration at the Polo Grounds. My mother was able to join him on this special trip and meet his long-time friend, Larry Doyle. After so many years of being called "bonehead Merkle" it was a joy for my grandfather to hear the cheers and applause from the crowd that day - it made it all worth while.

In 2003 our family visited the Coke Museum in Atlanta, Georgia where a Fred Merkle Coke ad is on display and we also visited a loyal Fred Merkle fan in Watertown, Wisconsin (my grandfather's birthplace). Dave Stalker has an extensive collection of Merkle memorabilia and we enjoyed meeting him.


You can see this monument in Watertown, Wisconsin.


A recent Wall Street Journal article makes a comparison between Fred Merkle and Steve Bartman. You can click on the Wall Street Journal graphic to see the article.


Here are a few other web sites that I have found about my Grandfather.


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Most recent revision: January 24, 2008

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