Background
Robert Abial Rolfe was born in Penacook, New Hampshire, United States. He was the son of Herbert Wilson Rolfe, the manager of a prosperous sash, door, and blind business, and Lucy Estelle Huff.
coach manager supervisor athletic director Basebal player third baseman
Robert Abial Rolfe was born in Penacook, New Hampshire, United States. He was the son of Herbert Wilson Rolfe, the manager of a prosperous sash, door, and blind business, and Lucy Estelle Huff.
After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1927, Rolfe entered Dartmouth College, where he excelled in basketball and baseball and became one of the school's most celebrated athletes.
In his sophomore year he caught the eye of the New York Yankees scout Gene McCann, and when Rolfe graduated in June 1931, he left Dartmouth with a B. A. in one hand and a Yankees contract in the other.
Rolfe appeared in a Yankees uniform, but only as a pinch runner against Cleveland. He was farmed out to the Albany Senators of the Eastern League, for whom he hit a respectable . 333 in fifty-eight games at shortstop. He was moved up to the Newark Bears of the International League, the Yankees' top minor-league operation, the following year and spent the 1932 and 1933 seasons there. Still playing shortstop, he batted . 330 in 1932, and although his average slipped to . 326 the following year, his all-around performance earned him the league's most-valuable-player award and advancement to the parent club.
The 1934 season marked the beginning of Rolfe's nine-year career with the Yankees, during which he established himself as one of the top third basemen in all of baseball. (He was shifted from shortstop to third base by manager Joe McCarthy. ) Not necessarily a colorful or spectacular performer, he was noted for his steady, consistent play, both in the field and at the plate. Despite a quiet and serious manner, Rolfe was a fierce competitor. His best year was 1939, when he batted . 329 and led the American League in runs scored (139), base hits (213), and doubles (46). He batted . 300 or better in three other seasons and compiled a lifetime average of . 289. In 1936 he tied for the league lead in triples (15). He was also a fine bunter and expert in hitting behind the runner. Usually batting either first or second in the Yankees powerhouse lineup and followed by such sluggers as Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Bill Dickey, he scored more than 100 runs in seven consecutive seasons. An excellent fielder, he topped American League third basemen in fielding percentages in 1935 and 1936. He was selected for the American League allstar team in 1937 and 1939. The Sporting News named him to its major-league all-star team in 1937, 1938, and 1939. When Rolfe moved up to the Yankees in 1934, he began keeping a "black book, " in which he recorded detailed information on pitches thrown to him, and under what circumstances, by all the pitchers in the league. He also recorded data on opposing batters on how frequently, and under what conditions, they would bat the ball in his direction. While such record-keeping is commonplace today, it was then somewhat original. Throughout his life, Rolfe was plagued with a variety of ailments, but he did not miss many games. In one stretch, he played in 300 straight games, which prompted frivolous comparisons with "Iron Man" Lou Gehrig. In spring training of his rookie year, an attack of boils limited his playing time. An osteoma (a growth on the muscles of his right thigh) developed in 1937, which helps explain a . 276 batting average, the lowest of his career. Immediately following that year's World Series, he underwent surgery for the removal of the growth. His play improved sharply after the operation, and he enjoyed his best seasons in 1938 and 1939. In 1941 and 1942 he was troubled by colitis, which brought down his playing time and batting average and hastened his retirement from baseball at the close of the 1942 season. Rolfe was rejected for military service in 1943 because of stomach ulcers, an old problem. His death was due to a chronic kidney ailment. The sportswriter "Red" Smith wondered how great Rolfe might have become if he had enjoyed good health. After leaving professional baseball, Rolfe worked as a college coach and administrator and a professional coach and manager. One of few Ivy Leaguers to achieve success in baseball, he launched his coaching career at Yale. He coached the Bulldog basketball and baseball teams from the fall of 1943 through the spring of 1946, compiling win-loss records of 48-28 in basketball and 56-17 in baseball. In 1946 he returned to the Yankees as a coach, but left in the fall to coach the Toronto Huskies of the infant Basketball Association of America (later merged with the National Basketball League to form the National Basketball Association). The Huskies lasted only one year, and in 1947, Rolfe joined the Detroit Tigers as supervisor of scouting. He became director of the farm system in 1948 and field manager in 1949. Rolfe had a meteoric managerial career with the Tigers. The team finished fourth in 1949, and in 1950 it led the American League for most of the season, only to lose out at the end to the Yankees. But he was voted manager of the year, received a lucrative $42, 500 contract for 1951, and appeared to be on his way to a distinguished career as a baseball manager. Things began to come apart in 1951, when the Tigers finished fourth, and in mid-July 1952, with the team in last place, Rolfe was fired. Stories of dissension among the players were no doubt true, and resistance to Rolfe's demanding standards disrupted the team's performance.
Although Rolfe hoped for another chance to manage in major-league baseball, he returned to the tranquil environment of Dartmouth, where he was athletic director from 1954 until ill health forced his retirement in 1967. As director, he substantially broadened and strengthened the Dartmouth athletic program. Just prior to his death, fans voted him all-time third baseman for the New York Yankees, and Dartmouth renamed its baseball facility Red Rolfe Field
Quotes from others about the person
As one player complained, "He still thinks he's with the Yankees. He wants you to do things you can't do. He drives you crazy. He's a perfectionist. "
On October 12, 1934, after his first full year with New York, he married Maude Isabel Africa; they had no children.