Bitsy Mott, from Phillies to Elvis
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Bitsy Mott, of the Phillies, makes a grimace as he goes down in a cloud of dust at third, after attempting to reach the sack on a single by teammate (John) Antonelli, in the third inning of today’s game with the Chicago Cubs. Stan Hack, Chicago third baseman, makes the putout. The Cubs chalked up their ninth straight victory with a 12-6 win. (ACME, 7/8/45)
Phillies Alumnus Elisha Matthew “Bitsy” Mott had more of an interesting career after baseball than on the diamond.
Mott, listed as 5-foot-8, 155 pounds, owed playing in the Majors to World War II (1941-45). More than 500 Major League players swapped their baseball uniforms for military attire during the war, including future Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams.
With so many established players unavailable, clubs scrambled to fill their rosters with over-the-hill veterans, not-ready-for-primetime teenagers and career Minor Leaguers. The pseudo seasons of 1942-45 didn’t match the standards of traditional Major League Baseball, but they provided enough of a semblance of the real thing to entertain Americans desperate for distractions from the war.
Born in 1918 in Arcadia, Fla., Bitsy was a career Minor Leaguer who could play shortstop and second base. His professional baseball career began in 1939 with the Brooklyn Dodgers-affiliated Americus Pioneers (Class D Georgia-Florida League). The Phillies signed him as a free agent in March 1944 and sent him to the Utica Blue Sox (Class A Eastern League). He spent the year there playing for manager Eddie Sawyer.
Mott’s moment in the show came in 1945 when he played the entire season with the Phillies. He wore No. 1. The Phils were in the throes of three consecutive disastrous decades. They finished 46-108, 52 games behind the league champion Chicago Cubs. They were also last in attendance at Shibe Park, 285,057.
In 90 games, Mott hit .221. He had eight doubles, no triples or home runs among his 64 hits. Playing mostly at shortstop, he committed 27 errors. His age? 27. But let the world know that he singled in both his first and last at-bat. Chances are he’s one of the few who could boast of that oddity.
With the war ended and with Major League players returning, Mott was sent back to the Minors again the following year. A 14-season Minor League career ended in Tampa in 1957 at age 39.
Having played only one season in the Show, his life after baseball turned to show business. His brother-in-law was Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley’s manager.
Mott became Presley’s personal security manager, a role he would play until 1973. He spent about 11 months of each year on the road with Presley and Colonel Parker. Mott’s duties included arranging travel between cities, screening Presley's phone calls and handling personal problems that might arise on the road. He also appeared in four of Presley's films and was one of the select few invited to attend Presley's funeral in 1977.
After he retired from work at Graceland, Mott became a clown, entertaining children at parties and other events.
Mott died on Feb. 25, 2001, in Brandon, Fla., at age 82.
(Sources: Bob Warrington, Philadelphia native, SABR member, author and baseball historian; baseball-reference.com)