Henry Krug

Henry Charles Krug

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7"

• Debut July 25, 1902
• Final Game September 30, 1902
• Born December 4, 1876 in San Francisco, CA USA
• Died January 14, 1908 in San Francisco, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Henry Krug played the second half of the 1902 season with the Philadelphia Phillies, playing at least six games at four different positions in the infield and outfield. He was the team's fourth outfielder, as well as being the most frequent backup at second base and shortstop.

A California boy, he was born the same year as another Californian, Frank Chance. In the minors he played for years for California teams, but also appeared elsewhere; for example, he played for Atlanta in parts of 1902 and 1904-1905. He sometimes pitched while in the minors.

Krug was involved in a major "shake-up" while at Atlanta right before his major league debut and was heavily criticized by Sporting Life. It was said Henry had a tendency to sulk and play indifferent ball, with the fans tiring of his behavior. It came to a head in mid-July when a ball hit Krug in the mouth during practice (as a result of a bad bounce, per the publication). Krug lost his temper and then, when he made a couple of errors in the actual game, lost his temper again, throwing a ball hard into the stands. The team owner, who had previously had a talk with him, at that point demanded that manager Ed Pabst remove Krug. Pabst resigned and the owner took over the managing duties for the rest of the game. One fan brought charges against Krug, and Krug was fined for endangering the fans by throwing the ball so hard into the stands.

It's possible there was more to the story than that, because it didn't keep the Phillies from using him frequently during the remainder of the season, and in 1904 and 1905, Krug came back to play a couple more seasons with Atlanta. A look at the 1902 Atlanta batting averages shows that the top hitters on the team, by far, were Pabst and Krug, so Krug's hitting ability may have played a role in the Phillies keeping him and Atlanta hiring him back in 1904.

He died young. Sporting Life reported it as "heart failure".

Related Sites

• Baseball History Daily story on Henry Krug