Mike Balenti
American baseball player (1886–1955)
Baseball player
| Mike Balenti | |
|---|---|
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1886-07-03)July 3, 1886 Calumet, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| Died: August 4, 1955(1955-08-04) (aged 69) Altus, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| July 19, 1911, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 22, 1913, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .183 |
| Home runs | 0 |
| Runs batted in | 11 |
| Teams | |
| |
Michael Richard Balenti (July 3, 1886 – August 4, 1955) was a Major League Baseball shortstop and left fielder who played 70 games for the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Browns in 1911 and 1913, respectively.
His maternal grandfather, Charles Rath, was the namesake of Rath City, Texas. Balenti's mother was born of Charles Rath's marriage to a Cheyenne woman named Making-Out-Roads. Balenti himself was born of his mother's marriage to a Hungarian immigrant. Charles Rath's later marriage to a white woman bore him a son named Morrie Rath, against whom Balenti played in the American League without knowing they were related.[1][2]
Balenti married an Alaska Native, Cecilia Baronovich, whom he met while attending Carlisle Indian School. They lived among the Cheyenne in Oklahoma part-time and among Cecilia's people in Alaska during the off-seasons. On at least one occasion it took Balenti two months to travel from his minor league club's home in Chattanooga to his off-season home in Alaska. After retirement, he worked in construction in Altus, Oklahoma.[3]
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chattanooga Moccasins (Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association) (1914) | |||||||||
| 1914 | Chattanooga | 5–4 | 1–3 | 13th | |||||
| Chattanooga: | 5–4 | 1–3 | |||||||
| Total: | 5–4 | ||||||||
References
- ^ Anderson, H. Allen. "Rath, Charles". www.tshaonline.org. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ Weiser, Kathy. "Charles Rath, Buffalo Entrepreneur". www.legendsofamerica.com. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
- ^ Powers-Beck, Jeffrey P. (January 2004). The American Indian Integration of Baseball. U of Nebraska Press. p. 182. ISBN 978-0-8032-3745-2. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
- Mike Balenti at Find a Grave
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Chattanooga Mocs athletic directors
- Mike Balenti (1914–1915)
- Johnny Spiegel (1915–1916)
- Howard Parker Talman (1921–1924)
- Bill Redd (1925–1928)
- Frank Thomas (1929)
- Harold Drew (1929–1931)
- Scrappy Moore (1931–1970)
- Harold Wilkes (1970–1990)
- Ed Farrell (1990–1996)
- Oval Jaynes (1998–2002)
- Steve Sloan (2002–2006)
- Rick Hart (2006–2012)
- David Blackburn (2013–2017)
- Mark Wharton (2017– )
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