Max Patkin

Max Patkin
Patkin in 1967
Pitcher/Coach
Born:(1920-01-10)January 10, 1920 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Died:October 30, 1999(1999-10-30)(aged 79) Paoli, Pennsylvania,U.S.
Batted:Right Threw:Right
Teams
As coach Cleveland Indians(1946–1949)

Max Patkin(January 10, 1920 – October 30, 1999) was an Americanbaseballplayer andclown,best known as theClown Prince of Baseball(a play on "Crown Prince").

Patkin was the third "officially" crowned Clown Prince of Baseball, afterAl SchachtandJackie Price,though that nickname has also been applied toSt. Louis Brownsthird basemanArlie Lathamamong others. Patkin performed for 51 years as a baseball clown.

Career

After an arm injury curtailed his minor league career, Patkin joined the Navy duringWorld War II.

Stationed in Hawaii in1944,Patkin was pitching for a service team, andJoe DiMaggiohomered off the lanky right-hander. In mock anger, Patkin threw his glove down then followed DiMaggio around the bases, much to the delight of the fans—and a career was born.

Later in the 1940s, Patkin was hired as a First Base coach byBill Veeckand theCleveland Indians.After Veeck sold the team in1949,Patkin beganbarnstormingaround the country.

As a barnstormer, Patkin played minor league stadiums throughout the United States and Canada. He had a face seemingly made of rubber which he could contort into various shapes. Patkin was rail thin and wore a baggy uniform with a question mark (?) on the back in place of a number, and a ballcap that was always askew. While some derided his act as corny, he became a beloved figure in baseball circles.

The Clown Prince received a promotion in 1988, when Patkin was namedKing of Baseballat that year'sWinter MeetingsinAtlanta,and can be seen appearing (as himself) alongside Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon in the popular baseball movieBull Durhammade the same year.

Patkin estimated he made more than 4,000 appearances. On July 20,1969,he played to a crowd of four inGreat Falls, Montanaas most fans were home watchingNeil ArmstrongandBuzz Aldrinland on the moon.Between1944and1993,he did not miss an appearance, by his own account.

In May 2020 Patkin was voted into the Shrine of the Eternals by theBaseball Reliquary,a fan driven collective dedicated to fostering an appreciation of baseball culture in all of its forms.

Death

Patkin retired from clowning in1995.He died in 1999, at age 79, inPaoli, Pennsylvaniaof ananeurysm.

In popular culture

In 1988, Patkin was featured as his real life character in theromantic comedysports film,Bull Durham.

Chuck Brodsky,the folksinger and baseball balladeer, has written a song, "Gone to Heaven", about Max. It appeared on his 2000 release,Last of the Old Time,and was later collected on his 2002 album,The Baseball Ballads.

The bluesmanWatermelon Slim(William P. Homans) wrote and released the song "Max, The Baseball Clown" on his 2008 CD,No Paid Holidays(NorthernBlues Music Inc, Ottawa ON). Homans, who grew up in the minor-league town ofAsheville,watched Max Patkin do two shows in successive years in the early 1960s, and wrote a reminiscence of him more than 40 years later.

External links

• Career statistics and player information fromBaseball Reference (Minors)
• Retrosheet
• Baseball Biography Project– profile of Arlie Latham
• Charleston Riverdogs Press Release– Myron Noodleman to be Named Baseball Clown Prince
• Greater Tulsa Reporter– Myron Noodleman Becomes Clown Prince of Baseball