Otto Rettig

Biography

Adolph John “Otto” Rettig was the Doherty Silk Sox’s first great star. After being hired by Harry Doherty to pitch a 1915 game, it was Rettig who convinced Doherty that he was sitting on a baseball goldmine. After helping arrange the construction of the Doherty Oval, Rettig led the Silk Sox to three consecutive winning seasons, going 37-20-1 and beating Hall of Famer Cyclone Joe Williams in three games while losing just one. A broken forearm suffered in a 1918 game derailed Rettig’s career. Incredibly, the “Handsome Devil” Rettig finally pitched in the major leagues in 1922 for the Philadelphia A’s, beating the St. Louis Browns and Urban Shocker. The Browns lost the pennant by a single game, and their manager Leo Fohl pointed to Rettig’s unlikely win as the cause.