Born: January 5, 1950
Died:
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Bart Cantz debuted in professional baseball in 1884 and played for several clubs in the Keystone Association and the Eastern League from 1884 - 1886. In 1887 he played for Newark in the International Association. He was signed by Chris Von der Ahe in November 1887 to play for the Browns for a salary of $1700, of which $300 was in advance (per the Valley Spirit of Chambersburg, PA). The Spirit also noted that he caught Browns pitcher Ed Knouff when both played for Chambersburg. Instead of playing for the Browns, he wound up on the Whites, for whom he played 32 games in right field and at catcher. When the Whites disbanded in June, he was transferred to the Browns along with catcher Tom Dolan. The Browns already had Jack Boyle and Jocko Milligan as their primary catchers, so Cantz effectively became the fourth catcher. He was released to Baltimore in mid-July without appearing in a game for the Browns. He remained with Baltimore through the end of 1889, but only appeared in 57 games total across both seasons. He was released by Baltimore in September, 1889 and signed with the Philadelphia Athletics for 1890. He played just five games with them before being released in late May, 1890. Cantz retired after this release. The name 'Cantz' pops up umpiring a few amateur games in Philadelphia in the early 1890s, but there is no evidence that he played professional ball again in any capacity. According to the biography in David Nemec's "The Rank and File of 19th Century Baseball", Cantz became a saw maker and ship driller. He died in February of 1943 at the age of 73.
Spring stats for the Whites Date Opponent Pos. AB R BH 2B 3B HR SB BB K 3/25/1888 Browns c 3 0 0 0 1 3/27/1888 Browns c 3 0 1 0 1 3/28/1888 Browns c 4 0 1 0 3/29/1888 Browns c 3 0 0 0 4/1/1888 Prickly Ash c 4 1 2 1 4/7/1888 Browns c 2 1 0 1 1 4/15/1888 Browns c 3 0 0 0 4/17/1888 Bloomington cf 3 0 0 4/18/1888 Bloomington c 4 0 0 4/20/1888 Peoria c 4 0 0 4/21/1888 Davenport c 3 1 1 2 4/23/1888 Rockford c 4 0 1 4/24/1888 Rockford c 3 2 0 2 4/25/1888 Dubuque 3b 4 1 0 1 4/26/1888 Dubuque c 2 0 0 0 Totals (15 G) 49 6 6 0 0 0 7 1 2 1 HBP, 81 putouts, 28 assists, 7 errors and 10 passed balls