Jigger Statz

Who was Jigger Statz?

Arnold John "Jigger" Statz was a Major League Baseball outfielder who also had a lengthy minor league career. He is one of only seven players known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major leagues and minor leagues. Jake Beckley and Sam Crawford may also have hit 4,000, but data for some of their minor league seasons is missing.

Statz attended Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he moved from Illinois along with his parents at an early age. He played baseball for two years at Holy Cross before enlisting in the U. S. Navy during World War I. Though he signed with the Giants in 1919, Statz continued his studies at Holy Cross and graduated with his class in 1921.

Jigger Statz played in the major leagues during eight seasons from 1919 to 1928 for the Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, Boston Red Sox, and Brooklyn Robins. His best season was in 1923 with the Cubs, when he played in all 154 games, compiling a .319 batting average, with 10 home runs and 70 runs batted in.

Statz also played 18 minor league seasons, all of them for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. In an era when many players had lengthy minor league careers, Jigger Statz's statistics surpassed those of his contemporaries, e.g. a grand total of 4,093 major and minor league hits, and a total number of games played which was exceeded only by Pete Rose.