Search for top athletes uncovers gem

In March, as the coronavirus brought the world to a halt, an old colleague called to solicit an opinion. He was part of a group that was attempting to identify the five greatest athletes in Columbus history.

He already had called sports columnist emeritus/city historian Bob Hunter, so he should’ve been all set. But he asked me anyway.

Ultimately, they screwed up that list. How can you flip Jesse Owens to Cleveland and hang on to John Havlicek, who was from Martins Ferry? Ohio State is the operative Columbus connection, right? Owens set three world records and tied a fourth in a span of 45 minutes at the 1935 Big Ten track championships — and Havlicek wasn’t even the best player on the great Buckeyes basketball teams of 1960-62. Come on, man.

But I digress.

Amid this conversation, I recently was scrolling through baseball-reference.com, which is wonderfully sortable. America’s Pastime constitutes half our country’s sports history — and there’s always someone hiding in the weeds. And there he was.

Albert Karl “Kip” Selbach.

According to 19th-century reports, Selbach was Columbus’ first major leaguer. He was also, technically speaking, Ohio State’s first “coach.” Maybe in any sport. He was a lifelong Columbus resident, a world-class bowler and owned/operated a bowling alley on the Hilltop for decades, until his death, at age 83, in 1956.

How good a ballplayer was Selbach? Put it this way: During an era when owners squeezed players’ salaries down to lunch money, he owned a 14-room mansion in Columbus in 1895.

Ever hear of him? Certainly, there are some hardcore seamheads (like Hunter or Clippers historian Joe Santry) to whom “Kip Selbach” will ring a bell. What is extraordinary is the lack of indelibility.

Curiously, among the raft of major leaguers Columbus has produced, not a one has made it to the Hall of Fame — unless you count Billy Southworth. And you should. He was born in Nebraska, raised in Columbus and inducted as a manager by the veterans committee in 2008.

Southworth batted .297 over a long career and won a World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1926. Were he playing today, he’d be making, oh, $18 million a year. He went on to manage the Cardinals to World Series titles in 1942 and ’44.

Other Columbus ballplayers have made Hall voters think hard.

Wally Gerber, whose 15-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox ended in 1929, was one of the slickest shortstops of his era. Babe Ruth said so, in fact.

Columbus threw a parade for Hank Gowdy, who hit .545 in the 1914 World Series and propelled the “Miracle” Boston Braves to the world’s championship. Gowdy played in the big leagues for parts of two decades (not counting 1930, his last season).

He is the answer to two trivia answers: Who was the first major-league player to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War I? And, who holds the record for most Hall of Fame induction attempts without being elected (17)?

Frank Howard, aka “The Washington Monument” and “The Capitol Punisher,” was among the most feared power hitters of his generation. He was the National League’s rookie of the year in 1960 and went on to hit 382 homers and drive in 1,119 runs.

Paul O’Neill won an American League batting title (.359 in 1994) and five World Series — one with the Reds and four with the Yankees. He was a five-time All-Star. He retired in 2001 with a .288 average, 281 home runs and 1,269 RBI. In a phrase, dude was clutch.

Where does Selbach rank among Columbus’ best? Arguably, right up there with Southworth.

Selbach played 13 seasons (1894-1906) for the Washington Senators, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants, Baltimore Orioles and Boston Americans (later known as the Red Sox). He was one of those guys who was the best, or one of the best, players on some truly awful teams. His career batting average was .293.

The Society for American Baseball Research is an all-time great website, and its piece on Selbach’s life and career is fascinating. Fourteen-room mansion? Where? He nearly melted his left hand throwing a burning couch out the window? He had two national titles in bowling? The Reds once offered five players for him in a trade? Five-for-one? So that’s how he got the nickname “Kip.”

Go down the rabbit hole. Check out sabr.org/bioproject. Find Selbach’s mansion address in one of Columbus Public Library’s wonderful digital collections. (I tried and failed). Transport yourself back to a different century at the LA84 Digital Library, where the archives of Sporting Life magazine are archived.

Baseball-reference.com’s “bullpen” summation: Although he led the league in triples in 1895, Selbach typically was not a league leader. However, his Adjust OPS+ scores are above average, with a career score of 121, tying him with players such as Dave Parker, Al Oliver (another good Ohio boy) and Cecil Cooper, although he was not as prominent in his time as they were in theirs. Selbach drew a lot of walks, and also stole 334 bases lifetime, which, combined with an ability to hit lots of doubles and triples, made him an offensive force. He is No. 51 on the lifetime list for most triples.”

Selbach for decades lived on the Hilltop near his bowling alley on West Broad Street. The house is still there, the bowling alley is gone.

When Hunter began at The Dispatch, in 1975, he inherited the desk of Lou Berliner — who covered local sports for 44 years. In the bottom drawer, in a stack of leftovers, was a picture of Selbach. It was the first time Hunter had ever heard of the man.

Forty-five years ago, Hunter looked him up. Forty-five years later, he went digging for the picture. marace@dispatch.com

@MichaelArace1