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Spook Jacobs
Forrest Vandergrift Jacobs (November 4, 1925 – February 18, 2011) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1954 through 1956 for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1954–56), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1956). Listed at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 155 lb, he batted and threw right-handed. His teammates affectionately called him Spook, a moniker that he used throughout his life.
Born in Cheswold, Delaware, Jacobs graduated from Salem High School, Salem, New Jersey in 1943. Immediately after graduation, Jacobs enlisted in the United States Army where he rose to the rank of sergeant during World War II and was awarded the Asian Pacific Campaign Theatre Medal, the American Campaign Theatre Medal, the United States Army Good Conduct Medal, and the United States Victory Medal.
Following his honorable military discharge, he played professional baseball for 17 seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations, three of them in the majors, while playing for several professional league clubs including the highly competitive Cuban, Panamanian and Puerto Rican winter leagues.
Jacobs won batting titles in Panama in the 1948–49 and the 1949–50 seasons while also helping Panama to its only Caribbean Series championship by having the game-winning walk-off hit against Puerto Rico for the Carta Vieja Yankees, and again in Cuba during the 1955–1956 season while playing for the Leones de la Habana / Reds.
Jacobs also had the game-winning Cuban championship walk-off hit in 1952–1953 for the Azules de Almandares managed by Bobby Bragan. Because of Jacobs's exploits, he was honored by being elected into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cuban Sports Hall of Fame. To date[as of?], he is the only American to receive both prestigious honors.
Jacobs posted a .247 average and a .971 fielding percentage in his major league career. He stole 22 bases, 17 of them in 1954. His build reminded some of Nellie Fox.
On April 13, 1954, in his opening day major league debut, he became the only player in major league history to collect four consecutive hits in his first four major league at bats. He is also one of only three players in major league history to go 4-for-4 in their major league debut, the others being Delino DeShields and Willie McCovey.
Jacobs was a slap hitter who reached base by batting balls through the infield, and gained his ghostly nickname from his tendency to dump hits just over the heads of opposing infielders. A baseball writer gave Jacobs the nickname in 1947 when he was playing with the Johnstown, Pennsylvania club, the Johnnies, of the Middle Atlantic League. Casey Stengel once said of him, "He's always been in our hair."
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Spook Jacobs
Forrest Vandergrift Jacobs (November 4, 1925 – February 18, 2011) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball who played from 1954 through 1956 for the Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics (1954–56), and Pittsburgh Pirates (1956). Listed at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 155 lb, he batted and threw right-handed. His teammates affectionately called him Spook, a moniker that he used throughout his life.
Born in Cheswold, Delaware, Jacobs graduated from Salem High School, Salem, New Jersey in 1943. Immediately after graduation, Jacobs enlisted in the United States Army where he rose to the rank of sergeant during World War II and was awarded the Asian Pacific Campaign Theatre Medal, the American Campaign Theatre Medal, the United States Army Good Conduct Medal, and the United States Victory Medal.
Following his honorable military discharge, he played professional baseball for 17 seasons for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia / Kansas City Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations, three of them in the majors, while playing for several professional league clubs including the highly competitive Cuban, Panamanian and Puerto Rican winter leagues.
Jacobs won batting titles in Panama in the 1948–49 and the 1949–50 seasons while also helping Panama to its only Caribbean Series championship by having the game-winning walk-off hit against Puerto Rico for the Carta Vieja Yankees, and again in Cuba during the 1955–1956 season while playing for the Leones de la Habana / Reds.
Jacobs also had the game-winning Cuban championship walk-off hit in 1952–1953 for the Azules de Almandares managed by Bobby Bragan. Because of Jacobs's exploits, he was honored by being elected into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cuban Sports Hall of Fame. To date[as of?], he is the only American to receive both prestigious honors.
Jacobs posted a .247 average and a .971 fielding percentage in his major league career. He stole 22 bases, 17 of them in 1954. His build reminded some of Nellie Fox.
On April 13, 1954, in his opening day major league debut, he became the only player in major league history to collect four consecutive hits in his first four major league at bats. He is also one of only three players in major league history to go 4-for-4 in their major league debut, the others being Delino DeShields and Willie McCovey.
Jacobs was a slap hitter who reached base by batting balls through the infield, and gained his ghostly nickname from his tendency to dump hits just over the heads of opposing infielders. A baseball writer gave Jacobs the nickname in 1947 when he was playing with the Johnstown, Pennsylvania club, the Johnnies, of the Middle Atlantic League. Casey Stengel once said of him, "He's always been in our hair."