Orville Frantz
| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 1, 1876 Roanoke, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | July 14, 1961 (aged 84) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard College |
| Playing career | |
| 1901 | Harvard |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1903 | Harvard (Freshmen) |
| 1904 | Harvard |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 17–5 |
Orville Gish "Home Run" Frantz (August 1, 1876 – July 14, 1961) was an American baseball player who played for and coached for the Harvard Crimson baseball team.
Early life
[edit]Frantz was born in Roanoke, Illinois on August 1, 1876 to Henry Jackson and Maria Jennie (Gish) Frantz.[1] He attended Wellington High School in Wellington, Kansas, where he played one season of baseball.[2]
Harvard
[edit]Frantz entered Harvard College in 1898.[1] He played second base for the freshman baseball team in 1899 and made the varsity team in 1901.[3] He started the season at second base, but was moved to first base by Captain Bill Reid.[4] Known for his power hitting, he earned the nickname "Home Run Frantz".[5] He was described by sportswriter Charles E. Patterson as "the finest college first baseman seen in many a day. He is of ideal build for the place, can take anything that comes along, high or low, straight or wide, and higts the ball a mile". He was named to Outing magazine's 1901 All-America team.[6] That fall, Frantz was chosen to direct cheering and singing in the student section during Harvard Crimson football games.[4] He also served as president of the Harvard YMCA, chairman of the university's Bible study and religious meetings committees, and was credited by Henry Lee Higginson with making the new Harvard Union a success.[7][3]
Prior to the 1902 season, two of Frantz's teammates Tom Murphy and I. F. Story, were declared ineligible because they played summer league baseball. After reading the eligibility rules, Frantz informed the Harvard Athletic Commission that he had received $36 from a team in Winfield, Kansas in 1895 to cover his expenses, including board. The athletic commission chose to suspend him for at least one season.[8] In January 1903, it was announced that his suspension was permanate.[9] He instead coached the freshman baseball team.[10]
Frantz earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard College in 1903.[1] Despite having average grades, he was accepted to Harvard Law School.[5] He was head coach of Harvard's baseball team in 1904 and led the Crimson to a 17–5 record.[11]
Despite only playing one season for the Crimson, Frantz was elected to the Harvard Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1967.[12]
Later life
[edit]In 1906, Frantz left Harvard to serve as private secretary to his brother, Frank Frantz, who was the governor of Oklahoma Territory.[13]
Prior to its inaugural season, the newly-formed South Central League offered Frantz the figurehead position of league president. He declined, but accepted an offer to be a hands-off vice president. He became president on May 26, 1906, after J. M. McAllister resigned to become manager of the Shawnee Blues. Frantz resigned on June 14 and was succeeded by P. D. Harper. The league folded after one season and was replaced by the Oklahoma–Arkansas–Kansas League.[14]
In 1908, Frank and Orville Frantz purchased the 50,000-acre Prince Ranch, located 75-miles south of San Antonio. They resold the property in small tracts.[15]
In 1917, Frantz and Walter E. Templeman incorporated the Labette Oil Company, with Frantz serving as president and treasurer.[16] The company held leases on 2,500 acres in Labette County, Kansas, one mile south of Mound Valley, Kansas.[17] In 1920, they organized the Templeman Oil Corp, which was headquartered in Denver and controlled acerage in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Wyoming, and Montana.[17]
Frantz died in Tulsa, Oklahoma on July 14, 1961.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Harvard College Class of 1903 Decennial Report. Cambridge, Mass. June 1913. p. 178. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "Statistics of the Harvard Nine". The Harvard Crimson. June 19, 1902. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ a b "Harvard Athletes Who Are Leaders In Religious Life". The Boston Globe. November 16, 1902.
- ^ a b "Frantz The Leader". The Boston Globe. November 26, 1901.
- ^ a b McLeod, Darren (May 4, 2011). "An Early Tale of Amateur Athletics". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "The Eastern College Baseball Season 1901". Outing. August 1901.
- ^ "Frantz Ineligible". The Boston Globe. April 7, 1902.
- ^ "Frantz Is Ineligible". Boston Evening Transcript. April 2, 1902. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "Frantz of Harvard Disqualified". The New York Times. January 17, 1903.
- ^ "Harvard's New Baseball Coach". The New York Times. November 5, 1904.
- ^ "Baseball Media Center: All-Time Coaching Records". Go Crimson. Harvard University. Archived from the original on July 19, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "Orville Gish Frantz". Harvard Varsity Club. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "The Frantz Family". The Oklahoman. January 7, 1906. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ Pierce, Peter (2013). Red Dirt Baseball, The First Decades: Small Town Professional Baseball in Oklahoma, 1904-1919. Oklahoma Heritage Association. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-938923-05-0. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "Ex gov. Frantz buys big Texas ranch". Ada Evening News. September 8, 1908. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ "New Incorporations In Reporter Markets". Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter. 91 (22): 76. May 21, 1917. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ a b World Petroleum Register. 1922. pp. 288, 346. Retrieved December 15, 2025.
- ^ Frantz Families -- Kith & Kin An Incomplete Encyclopedia of Information Regarding Immigrant Michael Frantz, His Descendants, and Allied Families · Volume 1. L. F. Edwards. 1996. p. 353.