Bancroft, David E.
Baseball
b. April 20, 1892, Sioux City, IA
d. Oct. 9, 1972
One of baseball's first switch hitters, Bancroft won the nickname "Beauty" during his minor league days because of his habit of saying "Beauty" if a pitch went past him for a called third strike.
He arrived in the major leagues as the starting shortstop for the NL's Philadelphia Phillies in 1915. Though not exceptionally fast, Bancroft was very quick and had great lateral range. He often led the league in both chances and errors.
During the 1920 season, Bancroft was traded to the New York Giants, where he became a favorite of manager John McGraw because he was both crafty and fiery. McGraw appointed Bancroft team captain and batted him second.
His highest average with Philadelphia had been .273, but Bancroft hit .318, .321, and .304 in his three full seasons in New York, and in 1922 he set a record with 984 chances in the field. The Giants won pennants all three of those years.
In 1924, Bancroft became playing manager of the Boston Braves. An appendectomy limited him to just 79 games that season. He batted .319 in 1925 and .311 in 1926, then slumped to .243 and was released.
After two seasons as a player and unofficial assistant manager of the Brooklyn NL team, Bancroft returned to the Giants as a player-coach in 1930. He appeared in only 10 games that season before retiring as a player. Bancroft coached with the Giants for two more years and later was a minor league manager.
Bancroft led NL shortstops in fielding percentage in 1920 and 1925.