Athletes - Luke Appling

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	Athletes - Luke Appling

Lucius Benjamin Appling (April 2, 1907 - January 3, 1991) was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Chicago White Sox.

Appling was born in High Point, North Carolina. He attended Oglethorpe College, but left during his sophomore year when he was signed by the Southern League Atlanta Crackers in 1930. He was a good hitter in his first year, but committed 42 errors in 104 games. The Chicago Cubs showed some interest at first, but decided not to sign him, and the White Sox ended up purchasing him from the Crackers for $20,000. He seemed a poor pickup initially, as his hitting fell off and his fielding failed to improve, but in 1933 he stopped trying to be a power hitter and had his first of nine straight .300 seasons.

Appling was a good leadoff hitter who topped the .400 mark in OBP eight times (1933-1934, 1937, 1940, 1943, 1947) and drew over 100 walks three times (1935, 1939, 1949), though he often batted third due to a lack of offensive talent on the White Sox. Indeed, this lack of talent insured that Appling, who spent his entire 20-year career with the White Sox, never had a chance to play in a World Series. His best season was 1936, when he batted .388, knocked in 124 runs (his only 100-RBI season), scored 111 times, recorded 204 hits, and had a team-record 27-game hitting streak. His .388 average was good for the first batting title ever won by a shortstop and was the highest batting average recorded by a shortstop in the 20th century. Appling won another batting title in 1943 with a .328 average and also led the league in OBP that year (.419). Appling was selected to seven All-Star teams (1936, 1939-1941, 1943, 1946-47).

Appling was famous among his teammates for complaining day in and day out about minor ailments such as a sore back, a weak shoulder, or shin splints. While much of this complaining was probably for show, it earned him the moniker "Old Aches and Pains." He did suffer one serious injury: a broken leg that cost him much of the 1938 season.

Appling was well known for his ability to foul off pitches, leading to the story that he once fouled off 10 pitches in a row on purpose when ownership refused to give some baseballs to autograph because they were too expensive; he was supposedly never refused a ball again.

Appling remained a solid contributor into his forties, but ownership was dedicated to a youth movement and he retired after the 1950 season. At his retirement, Appling was the all-time leader for most games played and for double plays by a major league shortstop, and the all-time leader for putouts and assists by an American League shortstop. These records were later broken by Luis Aparicio, who also spent the majority of his career with the White Sox.

Appling was a successful minor league manager after his playing days were over, winning pennants with Memphis in the Southern Association and Indianapolis of the American Association and being named minor league manager of the year in 1952; but his only chance to manage at the major league level was as a late-season replacement for Alvin Dark as manager of the Kansas City Athletics in 1967, leaving his major league managerial record at 10-30. He later worked as a batting instructor for the Atlanta Braves in the 1980s. At age 75, he appeared in an old-timers game and hit a home run off Warren Spahn.

Appling was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. He died in Cumming, Georgia at age of 83.

YEAR TEAM AGE G AB R H 2B 3B HR HR% RBI BB SO SB CS AVG SLG OBA OPS 1930 Whitesox 23 6 26 2 8 2 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 2 0 .308 .385 .308 .692 1931 Whitesox 24 96 297 36 69 13 4 1 0.34 28 29 27 9 2 .232 .313 .303 .616 1932 Whitesox 25 139 489 66 134 20 10 3 0.61 63 40 36 9 8 .274 .374 .329 .703 1933 Whitesox 26 151 612 90 197 36 10 6 0.98 85 56 29 6 11 .322 .443 .379 .822 1934 Whitesox 27 118 452 75 137 28 6 2 0.44 61 59 27 3 1 .303 .405 .384 .788 1935 Whitesox 28 153 525 94 161 28 6 1 0.19 71 122 40 12 6 .307 .389 .437 .826 1936 Whitesox 29 138 526 111 204 31 7 6 1.14 128 85 25 10 6 .388 .508 .473 .981 1937 Whitesox 30 154 574 98 182 42 8 4 0.70 77 86 28 18 10 .317 .439 .407 .846 1938 Whitesox 31 81 294 41 89 14 0 0 0.00 44 42 17 1 3 .303 .350 .392 .742 1939 Whitesox 32 148 516 82 162 16 6 0 0.00 56 105 37 16 9 .314 .368 .430 .798 1940 Whitesox 33 150 566 96 197 27 13 0 0.00 79 69 35 3 5 .348 .442 .420 .862 1941 Whitesox 34 154 592 93 186 26 8 1 0.17 57 82 32 12 8 .314 .390 .399 .789 1942 Whitesox 35 142 543 78 142 26 4 3 0.55 53 63 23 17 5 .262 .341 .342 .682 1943 Whitesox 36 155 585 63 192 33 2 3 0.51 80 90 29 27 8 .328 .407 .419 .825 1945 Whitesox 38 18 58 12 21 2 2 1 1.72 10 12 7 1 0 .362 .517 .471 .989 1946 Whitesox 39 149 582 59 180 27 5 1 0.17 55 71 41 6 4 .309 .378 .384 .762 1947 Whitesox 40 139 503 67 154 29 0 8 1.59 49 64 28 8 6 .306 .412 .386 .797 1948 Whitesox 41 139 497 63 156 16 2 0 0.00 47 94 35 10 4 .314 .354 .423 .777 1949 Whitesox 42 142 492 82 148 21 5 5 1.02 58 121 24 7 12 .301 .394 .439 .833 1950 Whitesox 43 50 128 11 30 3 4 0 0.00 13 12 8 2 0 .234 .320 .300 .620 TOTALS 2422 8857 1319 2749 440 102 45 0.51 1116 1302 528 179 108 .310 .398 .399 .798 LG AVERAGE 8472 1226 2356 422 100 149 1.75 1139 965 754 107 75 .278 .404 .354 .758 POS AVERAGE 8344 1163 2262 406 87 90 1.07 986 943 719 114 80 .271 .373 .348 .720

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Athletes - Luke Appling

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