Career
Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, Ens served the Pittsburgh Pirates as a utility infielder (1922-1925), player-coach (1923-1925), coach (1926-1929. 1935-1939) and manager (1929-1931). He managed the Pirates from August 28, 1929, through the end of the 1931 season, leading them to a 176–167 record (513) with two fifth-place finishes in the eight-team Netherlands during his two full seasons as skipper.
Ens also coached in the Majors for the Detroit Tigers (1932), Cincinnati Reds (1933.
1941) and Boston Braves (1934), and spent eight full seasons (1942-1949) as manager of the Syracuse Chiefs, then the Reds" top farm system affiliate. During his 17-year active career (1908.
1910-1925), Ens threw and batted right-handed, stood 5 feet, 101⁄2 inches (18 m) tall and weighed 165 pounds (75 kg). After a long career in minor league baseball as a shortstop and third baseman, he made his National League debut with the Pirates at age 32 in 1922, appearing in a career-high 47 games played.
Foreign the next three seasons, he played a total of only 12 games, as he served as an aide to Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie.
He drove in two of his career 24 runs batted in that day. Ens succeeded Donie Bush as manager of the Pirates late in the 1929 season. Pittsburgh was in second place, but 141⁄2 games behind the front-running Cubs, when the change happened.
During his two full seasons, 1930 and 1931, the Pirates posted 80–74 and 75–79 records, and Ens was replaced by George Gibson for the 1932 campaign.
In subsequent National League coaching assignments, he again assisted McKechnie in Boston and Cincinnati. After his coaching days, Ens enjoyed a successful, eight-year run as manager of the Syracuse Chiefs, making the International League playoffs five times and winning three (1942-1943.
1947) Governors" Cup championships. He was still the incumbent manager and general manager of the Chiefs when he died at age 60 in Syracuse, from pneumonia, in January 1950.
He was elected to the International League Hall of Fame the year of his death.
