Lou Criger

Small and agile, light-hitting Lou Criger lasted 16 years in the majors because of his ability as a catcher. Beginning in 1896, he was the batterymate of Cy Young in Cleveland and St. Louis of the National League, and Boston in the American League. Criger caught most of Young’s 511 victories; the two played together until Criger’s December 1908 trade to the Browns. During the first World Series, played in 1903 between the Boston Pilgrims (later the Red Sox) and Pirates, gamblers offered Criger a bribe to throw the games. Criger spurned it, and caught every inning of the eight games in the Boston victory.