I was a bit surprised that Zack Wheat ranks so high. He didn’t have much black ink (finishing first in an important offense category). He won a batting title and a slugging title. Zack Wheat just missed playing in the right era. Looking at his batting stats and reading a description of his batting style he would have been better off playing in the 1920s more. Wheat turned 32 in 1920 and played 8 years. He had his two best hitting years in 1924 and 1925. He had a great hitting season in 1923 also but missed a lot of games because of injury. Wheat loved the lively ball. His last year he didn’t play as much but he still hit 324.
One of the things mentioned in Wheat’s SABR biography was that he married Daisy Kerr Forsman who was his second cousin during the 1912 season. Even though they were related he had only known her for two months. This marriage seemed to work. She was his agent. Daisy told the story how she told Wheat to hold out 7 times and got a raise each time. How true this was I don’t know, but Zack knew who the boss was in the family concerning money. Her and their two sons also traveled with Wheat on road trips, which is highly unusual. I love these stories and I would have liked to hang with their family.
