# Mark Christman > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Christman > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Christman.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Christman > Source revision: 1278219958 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American baseball player (1913–1976)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Mark Christman |image=Mark Christman.jpg |position=[Third baseman](/source/Third_baseman) / [Shortstop](/source/Shortstop) |birth_date={{birth date|1913|10|21}} |birth_place=[Maplewood, Missouri](/source/Maplewood%2C_Missouri), U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|1976|10|9|1913|10|21}} |death_place=[St. Louis, Missouri](/source/St._Louis%2C_Missouri), U.S. |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=April 20 |debutyear=1938 |debutteam=Detroit Tigers |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=September 23 |finalyear=1949 |finalteam=Washington Senators |statleague = MLB |stat1label=[Batting average](/source/Batting_average_(baseball)) |stat1value=.253 |stat2label=[Home run](/source/Home_run)s |stat2value=19 |stat3label=[Runs batted in](/source/Run_batted_in) |stat3value=348 |teams= *[Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) ({{mlby|1938}}–{{mlby|1939}}) *[St. Louis Browns](/source/St._Louis_Browns) ({{mlby|1939}}, {{mlby|1943}}–{{mlby|1946}}) *[Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1901%E2%80%9360)) ({{mlby|1947}}–{{mlby|1949}}) }} '''Marquette Joseph "Mark" Christman''' (October 21, 1913 – October 9, 1976) was an American professional [baseball](/source/baseball) [third baseman](/source/third_baseman) and [shortstop](/source/shortstop) who appeared in 911 [games](/source/games_played) in [Major League Baseball](/source/Major_League_Baseball) ([MLB](/source/MLB)) for the [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers), [St. Louis Browns](/source/St._Louis_Browns) and [Washington Senators](/source/Washington_Senators_(1901%E2%80%9360)) in nine seasons between {{mlby|1938}} and {{mlby|1949}}. He is perhaps best known as the starting third baseman on the [1944 Browns](/source/1944_St._Louis_Browns_season), the only [St. Louis](/source/St._Louis)–based team to win an [American League](/source/American_League) [pennant](/source/pennant_(sports)). ==Early life and career== Born in the St. Louis [suburb](/source/suburb) of [Maplewood, Missouri](/source/Maplewood%2C_Missouri), he was the elder brother of [Paul Christman](/source/Paul_Christman) (1918–1970), who would become a [quarterback](/source/quarterback) in the [National Football League](/source/National_Football_League) during the 1940s and, later, one of the most accomplished [color commentators](/source/color_commentators) on NFL and [American Football League](/source/American_Football_League) telecasts of the 1960s. Mark Christman threw and batted right-handed, stood {{convert|5|ft|11|in}} tall and weighed {{convert|175|lb}} during his baseball career. After graduating from high school in Maplewood, he failed a tryout for the powerhouse [St. Louis Cardinals](/source/St._Louis_Cardinals) in 1932, but he continued to play semi-professional baseball and was eventually signed to a contract by the [Detroit Tigers](/source/Detroit_Tigers) in 1934;{{cite book|last=Heller|first=David Allen|title=As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781439614723|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmSv2lxYbRAC&q=christman}} coincidentally, the Cardinals and Tigers would battle each other in the hard-fought [1934 World Series](/source/1934_World_Series). He began his pro career in the Tigers' [farm system](/source/farm_system) that season and made the [1938 Detroit](/source/1938_Detroit_Tigers_season) roster after [batting](/source/batting_average_(baseball)) .289 in the [Texas League](/source/Texas_League). He started 65 games at third base and another 22 at shortstop during his [rookie](/source/rookie) season. The following May, he was one of six Detroit players shipped to the Browns, St. Louis' downtrodden American League team, for [pitcher](/source/pitcher) [Bobo Newsom](/source/Bobo_Newsom) and three others; Newsom would pitch the Tigers to the [1940 AL championship](/source/1940_Detroit_Tigers_season), while Christman batted only .216 for the {{mlby|1939}} Browns and would spend 1940–1942 back in the [minor leagues](/source/minor_leagues). ==With St. Louis Browns== As [World War II](/source/World_War_II) raged and hundreds of players were called to military service, Christman—although not [classified 4–F](/source/Selective_Service_System)—was exempt from the draft and was called back to the talent-starved Browns in {{mlby|1943}}. After playing most of that season as a [utility infielder](/source/utility_(baseball)), he replaced the traded [Harlond Clift](/source/Harlond_Clift) as the team's regular third baseman in mid-August. In {{mlby|1944}}, he started 145 of the Browns' 154 regular-season games at third base. Although he hit only six [home runs](/source/home_runs), his 148 [hits](/source/hit_(baseball)) and 83 [runs batted in](/source/runs_batted_in) were second on the club to slugging shortstop [Vern Stephens](/source/Vern_Stephens),[Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet): [https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1944/UPSLA01944.htm 1944 St. Louis Browns regular-season roster] as he helped lead the Browns to their only American League pennant, prevailing by one game over the Tigers. In the [1944 World Series](/source/1944_World_Series), the Browns faced their tenants at [Sportsman's Park](/source/Sportsman's_Park), the Cardinals, who had won their third straight [National League](/source/National_League_(baseball)) championship (with 105 in-season victories, 16 more than the Browns) and were gunning for their second World Series triumph in three seasons. The Browns, considered "sentimental favorites,"[https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-9-1944-st-louis-wins-cardinals-defeat-browns-trolley-car-fall-classic Wolf, Gregory H., ''October 9, 1944: St. Louis Wins! Cardinals Defeat Browns in Trolley-Car Fall Classic.''] [Society for American Baseball Research](/source/Society_for_American_Baseball_Research) won Games 1 and 3 to forge a two games-to-one lead. But, stymied by the Cardinals' superior pitching, they lost the Series' final three games to deny them what would have been their only world title. (Their post-1953 successor franchise, the [Baltimore Orioles](/source/Baltimore_Orioles), would win their first championship in [1966](/source/1966_World_Series).) Christman struggled along with the other Browns' hitters; he collected only two [singles](/source/single_(baseball)) in 22 [at bats](/source/at_bats) (.091), with no [bases on balls](/source/bases_on_balls) and six [strikeout](/source/strikeout)s; in the field, he made one [error](/source/error_(baseball)) in 13 [total chances](/source/chance_(baseball)).[https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/C/Pchrim102.htm Information] at [Retrosheet](/source/Retrosheet) Christman played in only 78 games in {{mlby|1945}}, the last wartime season, after missing much of the action during April and May. He did hit a career-high .277 and held the regular third-base job in {{mlby|1946}}, as MLB players flooded back from military service, hitting .258 in 128 games. But, on the eve of the {{mlby|1947}} season, the 33-year-old veteran was sold to the Washington Senators, where he finished his big-league tenure as the starting third baseman (1947), regular shortstop ({{mlby|1948}}) and utility infielder (1949). His playing career continued in the minor leagues through 1953, where he was a [player-manager](/source/player-manager). Later, he [scouted](/source/scout_(sport)) for the Senators, [New York Yankees](/source/New_York_Yankees), [Oakland Athletics](/source/Oakland_Athletics) and [Los Angeles Dodgers](/source/Los_Angeles_Dodgers). In his nine MLB seasons Christman played in 911 games and had 3,081 at-bats, 294 [runs scored](/source/run_(baseball)), 781 hits, 113 [doubles](/source/double_(baseball)), 23 [triples](/source/triple_(baseball)), 19 home runs, 348 RBI, 17 [stolen base](/source/stolen_base)s, 219 walks, .253 batting average, .306 on-base percentage, .324 slugging percentage, 997 total bases, and 37 sacrifice hits.{{cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chrisma01.shtml|title=Mark Christman Stats|work=[Baseball-Reference.com](/source/Baseball-Reference.com)|access-date=May 7, 2017}} He died in St. Louis at the age of 62. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Baseballstats|br=c/chrisma01}} *{{Find a Grave}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Baseball}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Christman, Mark}} Category:1913 births Category:1976 deaths Category:Alexandria Aces players Category:Beaumont Exporters players Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:Henderson Oilers players Category:Los Angeles Dodgers scouts Category:Major League Baseball shortstops Category:Major League Baseball third basemen Category:Milwaukee Brewers (minor league) players Category:Minor league baseball managers Category:New York Yankees scouts Category:Oakland Athletics scouts Category:St. Louis Browns players Category:20th-century American sportsmen Category:San Angelo Colts players Category:Seattle Rainiers players Category:Baseball players from St. Louis County, Missouri Category:Toledo Mud Hens players Category:Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Category:Washington Senators (1901–60) scouts Category:Wichita Indians players Category:York White Roses players --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mark Christman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Christman) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Christman?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.