View source for Ox Eckhardt

{{Short description|American football and baseball player (1901–1951)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Ox Eckhardt
| image         = 1929 Zeenut Ox Eckhardt.jpg
| caption       = Eckhardt in 1929
| birth_name    = Oscar George Eckhardt
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1901|12|23}}
| birth_place   = [[Yorktown, Texas]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1951|4|22|1901|12|23}}
| death_place   = Yorktown, Texas, U.S.
| module        = {{Infobox NFL biography
| embed       = yes
| name        = Ox Eckhardt
| image       =
| image_size  = 
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| number      = 0
| position    = [[Fullback (gridiron football)|Fullback]]
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 1
| weight_lb   = 190
| high_school = [[Stephen F. Austin High School (Austin, Texas)|Stephen F. Austin]] <br> ([[Austin, Texas]])
| college     = [[Texas Longhorns football|Texas]]
| pastteams   = * [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1926}})
| highlights  = 
| statlabel1  = Rushing [[touchdown]]s
| statvalue1  = 2
| pfr         = E/EckhOx20 
}}
| module2       = {{Infobox baseball biography
| embed         = yes
| name          = Ox Eckhardt
| position      = [[Right fielder]]
| bats          = Left
| throws        = Right
| debutleague   = MLB
| debutdate     = April 16
| debutyear     = 1932
| debutteam     = Boston Braves
| finalleague   = MLB
| finaldate     = May 15
| finalyear     = 1936
| finalteam     = Brooklyn Dodgers
| statleague    = MLB
| stat1label    = [[Batting average (baseball)|Batting average]]
| stat1value    = .192
| stat2label    = [[Home run]]s 
| stat2value    = 1
| stat3label    = [[Run batted in|RBI]]
| stat3value    = 7
| teams         = 
* [[Boston Braves]] ({{MLB Year|1932}})
* [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] ({{MLB Year|1936}})
| highlights    =
}}
}}

'''Oscar George''' "'''Ox'''" '''Eckhardt''' (December 23, 1901 – April 22, 1951) was an American professional [[baseball]] and [[American football|football]] player. He was an [[outfielder]] for the [[Boston Braves (baseball)|Boston Braves]] and [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] of [[Major League Baseball]], and a [[Fullback (American football)|fullback]] for the [[New York Giants]] of the [[National Football League]].

Eckhardt holds the known{{Cref2|A}} all-time professional baseball record for [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]], counting both major and minor league stats with .365.

([[Ty Cobb]] holds the major league record, .366, but Cobb's minor league average of .304 lowers his total professional-ball average to .364, second behind Eckhardt. [[Ike Boone]] holds the minor league record, .370, but his major league average of .321 also lowers his total professional-ball average to .364 (just behind Cobb if their averages are expanded to further digits). Eckhardt hit .192 in the major leagues, but in just 52 at bats, so his known minor league average of .366 was lowered just one point.)

On May 28, 2024, [[Major League Baseball]] announced that it had integrated [[Negro League]] statistics into its records, giving [[Josh Gibson]] the highest professional career batting average, his major league average being .373 (according to [[Baseball Reference]])  and his average outside the major leagues being .374. However, a good portion of Gibson's statistical record is missing.

==Football career==
Eckhardt played [[college football]] as a [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] and [[quarterback]] for the [[Texas Longhorns football|Texas Longhorns]]. He intercepted a pass in the Longhorns 16–0 upset win over Vanderbilt in 1923.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aJFLAAAAYAAJ|title = Illustrated Football Annual|year = 1933|publisher = Fiction House}}</ref>

In 1926, he professionally as a [[Fullback (gridiron football)|fullback]] in 11 games for the [[New York Giants]] of the [[National Football League]] (NFL).<ref name=SABR/>

==Baseball career==
In spite of his outstanding ability to hit for average, Eckhardt – a poor fielder who lacked much home run power – was never able to establish himself in the major leagues. He spent a few years as a football coach and assistant professor at West Texas State Teachers College (now [[West Texas A&M University]]), so he was already 26 when he started seriously playing minor league ball,<ref name=SABR/> which is older than the average age of major league debuts.<ref name=DXXXVIII/> He was invited to [[spring training]] by the Detroit Tigers in 1929,<ref name=SABR/> 1930,<ref name=Seamheads/> and 1931,<ref name=SABR/> but he didn't make the team. He played in spring training for the Boston Braves 1932, and did go north with the Braves, but was sent back to the minors after eight at bats as a pinch hitter. The next year, 1933, he hit .414 for the [[San Francisco Missions]], which is the PCL ([[Pacific Coast League]]) record. In 1935, he again won the PCL batting title, edging out 20-year-old [[Joe DiMaggio]], .399 to .398.<ref name=SABR/>

This finally earned him a slot on a major league club, the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers, with a chance to win a job as a regular. But Eckhardt was 36 years old by then, was still a poor fielder with little power, and in ten starts hit just .182 in 44 at bats. He was sent back to the minors, never to return.<ref name=SABR/>

Eckhardt was inducted into the [[Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame]] in 2003.

==Head coaching record==
{{CFB Yearly Record Start | type = coach | team = | conf = | bowl = | poll = no }}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subhead
 | name      = [[West Texas A&M Buffaloes football|West Texas State Buffaloes]]
 | conf      = [[Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
 | startyear = 1925
 | endyear   = 1927
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1925 college football season|1925]]
 | name         = West Texas State
 | overall      = 4–4
 | conference   = 1–3
 | confstanding = T–10th
 | bowlname     =
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1926 college football season|1926]]
 | name         = West Texas State
 | overall      = 2–6
 | conference   = 0–4
 | confstanding = 9th
 | bowlname     =
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Entry
 | championship =
 | year         = [[1927 college football season|1927]]
 | name         = West Texas State
 | overall      = 6–3–1
 | conference   = 2–2
 | confstanding = T–5th
 | bowlname     =
 | bowloutcome  =
 | bcsbowl      =
 | ranking      = no
 | ranking2     = no
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record Subtotal
 | name       = West Texas State
 | overall    = 12–13–1
 | confrecord = 3–9
}}
{{CFB Yearly Record End
 | overall  = 12–13–1
 | bowls    = no
 | poll     = no
 | polltype =
 | legend   = no
}}

==Notes==
{{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha|colwidth=40em}}
{{Cnote2|A|Early baseball minor league records are incomplete and most of the missing data is lost to history, so whether Eckhardt would still hold the record if data was complete can never be known with certainty, but is probable since most relevant records are known. The cutoff for consideration is (arbitrarily) set at 1,000 at bats.}}
{{Cnote2 End}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name=SABR>{{cite web |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ox-eckhardt/ |title=Ox Eckhardt |author=Chris Rainey |date=<!--undated--> |publisher=SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) |access-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=DXXXVIII>{{cite web |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nobody-wants-baseballs-30-something-free-agents-anymore-%F0%9F%98%9E/ |title=Nobody Wants Baseball's 30-Something Free Agents Anymore |author=Travis Sawchik |date=November 8, 2018 |work=Five Thirty Eight |access-date=July 18, 2020}}</ref>

<ref name=Seamheads>{{cite web |url=https://seamheads.com/blog/2014/08/03/the-ox-that-ate-the-georgia-peach/ |title=The Ox That Ate The Georgia Peach |author=Scott Ferkovich |date=August 3, 2014 |work=Seamheads.com |access-date=July 19, 2020}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{Baseballstats|br=e/eckhaox01|brm=eckhar001osc}}
* {{Find a Grave}}

{{West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coach navbox}}
{{PCL Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eckhardt, Ox}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1951 deaths]]
[[Category:American football fullbacks]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball right fielders]]
[[Category:Boston Braves players]]
[[Category:Brooklyn Dodgers players]]
[[Category:New York Giants players]]
[[Category:Texas Longhorns baseball players]]
[[Category:Texas Longhorns football players]]
[[Category:West Texas A&M Buffaloes football coaches]]
[[Category:Austin Senators players]]
[[Category:Amarillo Texans players]]
[[Category:Beaumont Exporters players]]
[[Category:Dallas Rebels players]]
[[Category:Indianapolis Indians players]]
[[Category:Memphis Chickasaws players]]
[[Category:Mission Reds players]]
[[Category:Seattle Indians players]]
[[Category:Toledo Mud Hens players]]
[[Category:Wichita Larks players]]
[[Category:People from Yorktown, Texas]]
[[Category:Players of American football from DeWitt County, Texas]]
[[Category:Baseball players from DeWitt County, Texas]]
[[Category:Coaches of American football from Texas]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]