| Overall UK Wins: 1 | Overall UK Losses: 0 | Win % 100 |
Date of Birth: January 7, 1902
Date of Death: March 8, 1985
Hometown: Elmira, NY
Alma Mater: Mansfield State Teachers College
For a generalized listing of officials, please consult this page.
| Date | Matchup | W/L | Score | UK Fouls | Opp Fouls | UK FTA | Opp FTA | UK DQ | Opp DQ | Technicals | Officiating Crew |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/26/1944 | Kentucky vs. Wyoming | W | 50 - 46 | 13 | 15 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 1 | - | Pat Kennedy and Al Todd |
Obituary - Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette (March 9, 1985)
Former Major Leaguer Al Todd Dead at 81
by Al Mallette
Alfred (Al) Todd, who left the Eclipse Machine Division semi-pro baseball team in 1928 to fashion a 26-year professional baseball career, died at St. Joseph's Hospital Friday. He was 81.
Todd, a member of the Elmira Baseball Hall of Fame, had been ill for several months. He was a resident of the Chemung County Nursing Facility.
Todd's major league career started with the Philadelphia Phils in 1932. He was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936, the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1939 and the Chicago Cubs in 1940-43.
He compiled an 11-season, 863-game major league career batting average of .276, his best season coming in 1934 when he hit .318.
Todd, a 225 pound hard-nosed catcher, had many memorable moments during his playing days.
He still holds the major league record for most consecutive games caught without a passed ball, 128 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1937.
A year later Todd was the Pirate catcher in the season finale when pitcher Mace Brown served up an 11th-inning pitch as dark was rapidly descending, the pitch that Chicago Cubs catcher Gabby Hartnett hit out of the park to give the Cubs the National League pennant over the Pirates. The Pirates had led the NL most of that season, and a Pittsburgh reporter, noting that lateness of the game, wrote that Hartnett's blast left the Pirates "Moanin' in the gloamin'."
Todd was the Philadelphia Phils catcher in major league baseball's first night game at Cincinnati, May 24, 1935.
Still it is not a baseball feat for which Todd is remembered.
The "feats" for which Todd's name appears in most history books are fist fights - one he won, one he lost.
The most famous involved Jerome Herman (Dizzy) Dean and occurred when Todd and Dean were playing in the Texas League. Todd was playing with Dallas, Dean pitching for Houston.
This was Todd's story:
"Dean knocked me down three times with pitches. Naturally, I got a little burned and shouted at him. He made a motion with his arm that invited me to the mound. There were 6,000 people watching. What could I do?
"Of course, what Dean didn't know was that I like to box, that I was pretty good with my dukes, that I had been taught a lot about boxing by my buddy Art Skykes. He taught me to throw a left jab.
"Well, I walked to the mound, shot out one punch and Dean dropped in his tracks. He grabbed me around the knees, but I kept punching away until he had enough.
"He was a great pitcher, though. One of the greatest ever in my opinion. We became pretty good friends later when we were in the majors."
Todd's other memorable fight was with Zeke Bonura when the two ex-major leaguers were managing in the Northern League, Todd at Duluth and Bonura at Fargo. And Bonura was even bigger than Todd.
"There had been bad blood between us all season," Todd once said about this brawl. "Then one night it just bubbled over. Zeke and I rushed at each other like two bull elk. Both of us got in some good punches before players, umpires and fans got us apart.
"Then, after we'd been separated, I thought I heard Zeke say something. And I rushed him again. This time, I never quite made it. Zeke came at me sorta from the side, clipped me really good on the side of the head and down I went.
"I'll tell you, it was one of the best scraps I've ever seen, anywhere.
"Some smart reporter the next day, noting the sizes of Zeke and myself, headlined it 'the battle of the bulges.'"
Todd was born in Troy, N.Y., in January 1905, raised as a youth in Arnot, Pa., and moved to Elmira in 1920. He lived in Elmira during his baseball career (1928-43) and stared his managerial career here in 1944. He retired from baseball in 1954.
He has lived in Horseheads since retirement, owned and operated a liquor store, worked as a salesman for Consolidated Brick and was a car salesman for Van Brunt Motors.
Todd was playing in Mansfield when he got his first tryout with Elmira of the New York-Penn League in 1926. The next year, he had a try with Jeannette, Pa. Then in 1928 Wilkes-Barre (NY-P) beckoned and the baseball/basketball whiz from Mansfield/Eclipse was on his way.
he spent three seasons in the Detroit organization, then was traded to Dallas in the Texas League. He was purchased from Dallas by the Phillies prior to the 1932 season.
Following his playing days Todd turned manager. His first job was in his native Elmira with the 1944 Pioneers. Todd was successful as a manager/catcher, battling .326. But his Pioneers finished sixth and he found the loud second-guessing from the grandstand more than he could take - especially from his own hometown fans.
He went back to playing in 1945, then started a nine-year minor league managerial career.
Although Todd retired from full-time pro baseball in 1954, he stayed close to the game as a scout for the Yankees in the late 1950s and the Mets in the early '60s.
Todd is survived by his wife, Mary Jane, and by three sons, Alfred Jr., Ralph (Butch) and Henry (Hank). All three boys were standout athletes, Al and Butch at Elmira Free Academy, Hank at Horseheads.
The Van Buskirk-Lynch Funeral Home in Horseheads is handing funeral arrangements. Calling hours will be Sunday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home Monday morning at 10.
