| Phil Weintraub | |
|---|---|
 Weintraub, circa 1942 | |
| First baseman / Outfielder | |
| Born: October 12, 1907 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | |
| Died: June 21, 1987 (aged 79) Palm Springs, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 5, 1933, for the New York Giants | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| August 5, 1945, for the New York Giants | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .295 |
| Home runs | 32 |
| Runs batted in | 207 |
| Teams | |
Philip Weintraub (October 12, 1907 – June 21, 1987) was an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder.[1]
Weintraub played for 13 minor league teams, for whom he had an aggregate batting average of .337, as well as for the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Philadelphia Phillies in Major League Baseball.[2] He was primarily a reserve outfielder in the majors, though he was platooned at first base in the last few years of his career. He posted a .295 career batting average in the major leagues, and a .398 on-base percentage.[3] In one game in 1944, Weintraub had 11 RBIs, one fewer than the major league record, and he still has as of 2024, the third-most runs batted in (RBIs) in a single game (11, behind Jim Bottomley and Mark Whiten) in Major League history.
Author Joe Cox, writing in The Immaculate Inning: Unassisted Triple Plays, 40/40 Seasons, and the Stories Behind Baseball's Rarest Feats (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018), observed: "The biggest mystery of Weintraub is why a hitter with a career .295 batting average and capable power (.440 slugging percentage) could never get more than 361 at bats in a big league season -- or top 1,382 career at bats... One biographer cites anti-semitic theories of the time ...."[4]
Through 2008, Weintraub had the fourth-best career batting average of all Jewish major league baseball players, being surpassed only by Hank Greenberg.[5] With an excellent eye and bat control, he walked 232 times in his career, while striking out only 182 times, for a 1.27 BB/K ratio.
- ^ The Deadball Era – Milton "Mickey" Weintraub obituary
- ^ Phil Weintraub | Society for American Baseball Research
- ^ Phil Weintraub Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ Joe Cox. The Immaculate Inning: Unassisted Triple Plays, 40/40 Seasons, and the Stories Behind Baseball's Rarest Feats.
- ^ Career Batting Leaders through 2008 Archived 2004-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, Jewish Major Leaguers website. Retrieved 2010-02-07.