Herbert Spencer Ellison (Bert, "Babe")

Bats: R
Throws : R
Position: First Baseman / Infielder
Height: 5-11
Weight: 216 lb.
Born: November 15, 1895, Rutland, AR
Club: San Francisco Seals 1921-1927

Before joining the PCL, Babe Ellison was Ty Cobb’s teammate with the Detroit Tigers from 1916-20, hitting a career .216 with 1 homer and 39 RBI in 135 games. His .261 in 1918 was an MLB best for him. His defensive skills and team play kept him with Detroit until 1920, when he was cut by the club. Ellison wasn't ready to hang it up, though, and headed west, signing with the San Francisco Seals.

He played with 'Frisco from 1921 to 1927, and held the title of player/manager for the 1923-26 seasons.

Los Angeles Times, May 29th 1922 - Library Archive of early game photo of Babe Ellison playing for the San Francisco Seals. Caption reads: "Hastening Back to First Base With More Speed Than Elegance - An interesting moment in yesterday's game when Bert Ellison, on one of his several visits to first, strayed far enough from the bag to draw a throw from the Seraph (Los Angeles Angels) heaver Art Griggs reaching for the little pill, which is noted approaching in the middle distance."

Ellison led the Seals to two PCL championships. He was 322-250 as a manager, and his 1925 team is ranked by MiLB.com as the tenth greatest of all time. The Seals finished 128-71 and had four 20-game winners and 10 players who made the league’s first- or second-team All-Star squads. Ellison hit .325 with 22 homers and 160 RBI that year.

Ellison established PCL records with five (5) homers in two games, eight (8) homers in three games, ten (10) homers in a seven-game series and most hits in a seven-game series, going 25-for-37. He held a career batting average of .327.

His greatest season was 1924, when he hit .381 with 33 homers and 188 RBI in 201 games – an amazing 805 at-bats. All of his games were at first base that season.

He died at age 59 in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 1955.

| Eddie Basinski | Dominic “Dom” DiMaggio | Bert Ellison |
| Tommy Lasorda | Dario Lodigiani | Bill Schuster | Bill Weiss |

<<BACK | Top of Story | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | NEXT>>

Past Halls: | 2005 | 2004 |