Hall of Fame
Jigger Statz was an All-East left fielder for two years on Crusader baseball teams that won 47 games, lost just four and tied one from 1918-19.
Statz led the 1918 Crusaders to the New England Championship and a year later paced the Purple to the Eastern title.
Following his time at Holy Cross, Statz began a long career in organized baseball. He played in the major leagues during eight seasons between 1919 and 1928 with the Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Robins.
Statz also played 18 minor league seasons, all of them for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. In an era when many players had lengthy minor league careers, Statz's statistics surpassed those of his contemporaries, with a grand total of 4,093 major and minor league hits, and a total number of games played which was exceeded only by Pete Rose. He is one of only nine players (along with Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Ichiro Suzuki, Hank Aaron, Minnie Miñoso, Julio Franco, Derek Jete, and Stan Musial) known to have amassed at least 4,000 combined hits in the major leagues and minor leagues. Statz later spent time as a professional manager and scout, and passed away in 1988.
