Mike Balenti

Mike Balenti
Shortstop
Born: (1886-07-03)July 3, 1886
Calumet, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died: August 4, 1955(1955-08-04) (aged 69)
Altus, Oklahoma, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 19, 1911, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
September 22, 1913, for the St. Louis Browns
MLB statistics
Batting average.183
Home runs0
Runs batted in11
Teams

Michael Richard Balenti (July 3, 1886 – August 4, 1955) was a Major League Baseball shortstop and left fielder who played 70 games for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Browns in 1911 and 1913, respectively.

His maternal grandfather, Charles Rath, was the namesake of Rath City, Texas. Balenti's mother was born of Charles Rath's marriage to a Cheyenne woman named Making-Out-Roads. Balenti himself was born of his mother's marriage to a Hungarian immigrant. Charles Rath's later marriage to a white woman bore him a son named Morrie Rath, against whom Balenti played in the American League without knowing they were related.[1][2]

Balenti married an Alaska Native, Cecilia Baronovich, whom he met while attending Carlisle Indian School. They lived among the Cheyenne in Oklahoma part-time and among Cecilia's people in Alaska during the off-seasons. On at least one occasion it took Balenti two months to travel from his minor league club's home in Chattanooga to his off-season home in Alaska. After retirement, he worked in construction in Altus, Oklahoma.[3]

  1. ^ Anderson, H. Allen. "Rath, Charles". www.tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  2. ^ Weiser, Kathy. "Charles Rath, Buffalo Entrepreneur". www.legendsofamerica.com. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  3. ^ Powers-Beck, Jeffrey P. (January 2004). The American Indian Integration of Baseball. U of Nebraska Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8032-3745-2. Retrieved August 21, 2020.