How did a 30-year old man from France wind up playing in one game for the St. Louis Browns in 1903? That is the story of Claude Gouzzie (pronounced Goo-ZAY), the first person born in France to play in the major leagues. It is also a story that may never have been told, were it not for a chance encounter between two baseball historians at the organizational meeting for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in 1971. And that is a story in its own right.
On July 22, 1903, the Browns were in Cleveland for the first game of a four-game series against the Cleveland Naps (so called because of team captain and future Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie). The Browns were in 7th place, 15 games behind Boston. Jesse Burkett, the top hitter on the club, was home in Worcester because his wife was ill. Burkett left the club at the start of the previous series, in Philadelphia, and was expected back before the end of the series against Cleveland. To fill his place, Claude Gouzzie was brought in from Niles, Ohio, where he was playing for an independent minor league club. In the first game of the series, Emmet Hendrick, the center fielder for the Browns, wrenched an ankle in the sixth inning. Bill Friel moved from second base to center field and Gouzzie took over at second. Gouzzie got one at-bat (he made an out facing Earl Moore), fielded one chance without an error, and otherwise had an unremarkable appearance in a 7-0 Browns loss. A few days later Burkett was back with the Browns. Gouzzie went back to the minors, his improbable major league career over.
Claude Gouzzie was the first person born in France to play in the major leagues.
Larry Ressler, born in France, played 27 games for the Washington Nationals in 1875 in the National Association.
He appeared in just the one game for the St. Louis Browns, on July 22, 1903. For many years, he was identified as "Gonzzle" in the baseball records. While he was correctly identified in the box score and article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer the day after the game. the box scores in many other newspapers, including the St. Louis Globe Democrat, the St. Louis Republic and the New York Times all had 'Gonzzle' in the box scores. Early compilers of baseball records then got the name Gonzzle from an incorrect box score, which led to very little being known about the player for many years. That error was corrected in 1971, after a chance discussion at the SABR meeting in August 1971, when Tom Shea told Joseph Simenic that the player's name was in fact Gouzzie. Simenic corrected the record in an article entitled "The Man with the Peculiar Name" in the SABR Baseball Research Journal, Volume 1, published in 1972. Simenic was able to locate Claude's youngest sibbling, Albert, still alive in 1971 at age 84. Albert was able to fill in some of the gaps, and an article located from 1907 after Claude's death helped fill in other details. The SABR article from 1972 was a key reference for this biography.
Joseph Simenic told the tale in an article in the first volume of the SABR Baseball Reserach Journal in 1972.
According to the 1900 Census, Claude Gouzzie was born in France in 1873. He was the oldest of five children of Anthony and Rosa Gouzzie (both born in France), all living with the parents. Claude and his parents came to the United States when Calude was one year old. His next youngest sibling, a sister named Louise, was age 21 in 1900 and born in Pennsylvania. By age 17, Gouzzie was playing baseball in his adopted hometown of Charleroi, Pennsylvania. In an article from the Charleroi Mirror, from October 11, 1907, the manager of the local Charleroi club for many years, William Eckel, described how he met Claude in 1890 and started him playing professional baseball as a shortstop.
He wanted to be a catcher, but I told him no, I wanted to make a shortstop out of him, and I did. When he got started there was no one had anything on him at that position in 1890 and I don't think the great Hans Wagner could play that position any better than my old friend Claude did that year. There never was a harder worker nor a more willing player donned a uniform. Whoever saw him quit in a game? He never gave up until the last man was out.It seems likely that Gouzzie played for Charleroi's club through most of the 1890s. In 1895 Gouzzie appears in an article in the Pittsburgh Daily Post about a game between Charleroi and Belle Vernon (September 25, 1895). A few years later, he appears with Charleroi in the box score of an exhibition game against Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 10, 1898). In the spring of 1903, Eckel got Gouzzie a tryout with the club in Indianapolis, then playing in the American Association. He was released a month later and signed with the club in Niles, Ohio. Later that summer, he got his one game in the majors with the St. Louis Browns, at the age of 30.
A thirty-year old career minor leaguer seems like an odd choice to fill in for a few games. Gouzzie had a reputation as an outstanding defensive second baseman and was well known at the time in Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The Browns manager, Jimmy McAleer, was from Youngstown, Ohio, and played or managed in Cleveland most seasons from 1889 through 1901. It seems reasonable that he at least knew of Claude Gouzzie, which may be why McAleer brought him to Cleveland.
After his one game with the Browns, Gouzzie returned to the minors. He played for Niles and Sharon (PA) in 1904 and was signed by Evansville for 1905. He must not have made the Evansville club, as he started the season with the club in Chester (PA) and finished with Pottstown (PA). The following season he was with Punxsutawney (PA) and Monessen (PA). During the winter of 1906, his health began to fail. He moved out to Denver in the hopes that the change in climate would help. He died in Denver of tuberculosis on September 21, 1907. He is buried in the Charleroi Cemetery.
Posted May 31, 2020