Athletes - Bob Elliott

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	Athletes - Bob Elliott

Robert Irving Elliott (November 26, 1916 - May 4, 1966) was an American third baseman and right fielder in Major League Baseball. In 1947-48, Elliott contributed some of the happiest memories to the final years of the Boston Braves. As the Most Valuable Player of the National League in 1947, Elliott earned the nickname "Mr. Team." The following season, Elliott's power hitting helped lift Boston to its second "modern era" (since 1901) National League pennant, the Braves' last before relocating to Milwaukee. He batted .333 with two home runs in the 1948 World Series, which Boston lost in six games to the Cleveland Indians.

A native of San Francisco, California, Elliott came to the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates as an outfielder in 1939. As a righthanded batter (and thrower), his power hitting was hampered by the spacious left field at Forbes Field, but in eight years with the Pirates, Elliott compiled more than 100 runs batted in three times. After the 1946 season, he was traded to the Braves in a deal for second baseman Billy Herman, then 37. Herman eventually would join the Baseball Hall of Fame, but this deal proved to be lopsided in Boston's favor.

With a friendlier target at Braves Field, Elliott exceeded the 20 home run mark three times in his five years in Boston. In his 1947 MVP campaign, Elliott did not lead his league in any offensive category; however, he hit .317, with 22 home runs and 117 runs batted in. The following year, when the Braves won the pennant, Elliott batted .283 with 23 homers and 100 RBI. Although his numbers declined somewhat thereafter, Elliott enjoyed productive years from 1949 through 1951. His playing career began to wind down in 1952, as he struggled with the New York Giants, and ended after a 1953 campaign split between the St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox. Over 15 years (1939-53) and 1,978 games, Elliott collected 2,061 hits and 170 home runs to go with a career batting average of .289.

Elliott then returned to California and became a manager in the Pacific Coast League, with the San Diego Padres (1955-57) and the Sacramento Solons (1959). After a third-place finish in Sacramento, Elliott received his only major league managing opportunity when he took over the Kansas City Athletics for the 1960 season. It was bad timing; the A's were one of the weakest teams in the American League, and the team's owner, Arnold Johnson, died suddenly just before the 1960 season began. The A's won only 58 games while losing 96 (.377), in Elliott's only season at the helm. He was fired by new owner Charles O. Finley at season's end, and replaced by Joe Gordon. In 1961, Elliott was a coach for the expansion Los Angeles Angels during their maiden American League campaign.

Less than five years later, Elliott died at age 49 in San Diego after suffering a ruptured vein in his windpipe.

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