Dutch Ulrich and Peck Lerian: Two Baltimore Buddies, Two Phillies, Two Tragic Endings

Growing up in Baltimore, both Frank (Dutch) Ulrich, born in 1899 and Walter (Peck) Lerian, born in 1903 loved baseball. Frank. originally Franz, was born in Austria, immigrating to the United States as a child, hence his nickname. Lerian was born in Baltimore into a strict German Catholic family. He earned his nickname because of the way he threw a baseball as a catcher. Walter would snap off his throw in a manner that resembled a chicken snapping up corn from the ground, hence he became "Peck." 

Peck Lerian

Dutch and Peck met in 1922, when each was playing for the Brooks All-Stars, a Baltimore area semi-pro team. According to Lerian biographer, T. Scott Brandon, the first time Peck caught Ulrich, he immediately recognized that Ulrich had much better speed, movement, and control than the other Brooks' pitchers. He determined to get to know the new pitcher better and the two became close friends.

Ulrich soon signed a professional contract, joining the Moline Plowboys in the Class B Three-I League and began his climb to the Major Leagues. Lerian had already signed a professional contract with the Baltimore Orioles and had spent one season in 1921 with the Baltimore affiliate at Waynesboro, North Carolina in the Class D Blue Ridge League, but when he wasn't satisfied with Baltimore's offer for 1922, he sat out the year figuring he could make more money playing semi-pro baseball and basketball, while staying closer to home. Peck's father had died when he was just six and he felt he needed to be close by to help his mother and younger sister.

Turning down the Baltimore offer meant that Lerian had to sit out a full year of pro ball, but in 1923, he signed a contract with a new team, the York White Roses of the Class B New York Pennsylvania League and was back on track as a professional ball player. He moved steadily up the minor league ladder until he reached New Haven in the Class A Eastern League. At New Haven he developed a reputation as a fine defensive catcher with a powerful arm. 

While in the minors, Peck also perfected what he called the "Cigar Store Indian" play. With a runner approaching the plate, Lerian would stand still as a statue, decoying the runner into thinking the throw was not coming to the plate. At the final second, Lerian would spring into action, grab the throw in his specially modified catcher's mitt and swipe a tag at the startled runner. He used the play often throughout his career. 

Meanwhile, Dutch Ulrich, four years older than Lerian, was pitching extremely well with Waterbury in that same Eastern League. William F. Baker of the Phillies noticed and purchased Dutch from the Brasscos in 1925. Ulrich went 19-27 with a respectable 3.48 ERA for the lowly Phillies over the next three seasons and appeared to be coming into his own as a Major League pitcher by the end of 1927.

In early spring training of 1928, regular Phillies catcher Jimmie Wilson was injured and Phillies' President Baker sent his manager Burt Shotton to hunt for a bargain priced backstop. Shotton traded three minor leaguers for Lerian and Peck signed his first Major League contract in March of 1928. Playing in Philly would mean Peck was close to home and it also looked like Peck would be reunited with his friend Dutch Ulrich as battery mates with the Phillies. 

Alas, that was not to be. Ulrich missed all of spring training with what was diagnosed as double pneumonia and would never play again. It turned out the pneumonia was just part of the story. Ulrich had been battling tuberculosis. While Ulrich improved a bit in the summer and began training in hopes of a return, he relapsed and died in February 1929. He was 28.

Sharing catching duties with the newly acquired Spud Davis, who came over in a trade that sent incumbent catcher Jimmie Wilson to St. Louis, Lerian had an excellent rookie campaign, hitting .272 and providing rock solid defense. Rogers Hornsby called Lerian, "the best young catcher I have seen come up in quite a while."

His hitting fell off some in 1929, but his defense was so good that he maintained the starting catcher's job throughout the season. The Phillies, somewhat surprisingly, had what was for them a good season, finishing fifth. The New York Times designated Peck as the top defensive catcher in the National League. Rumor had it that the New York Giants' manager John McGraw was interested in acquiring Lerian. He called Peck, "the future catching star of the National League."

The last game of the 1929 season was a record setter. The Phillies' Chuck Klein and the Giants' Mel Ott were tied with 42 home runs each. Klein hit a home run off Carl Hubbell to take the lead, after which the Phillies' pitchers walked Ott six straight times. Klein's home run broke Rogers Hornsby's National League home run record. Batting right after Klein's homer, Lefty O'Doul stroked his 251st hit of the campaign, breaking another of Hornsby's records. No one then knew this would be the last game Lerian ever played.

After that season ending game, Lerian stuck around to watch the Philadelphia A's defeat the Chicago Cubs in the World Series. He returned home to Baltimore on October 15. After attending church on Monday, October 21, Lerian was standing at the trolley stop at Fayette and Mount Streets, when the driver of a Hecht's Department Store delivery truck swerved to avoid a car that was coming at him, jumped the curb, and struck Lerian, crushing him against a brick wall. It took more than an hour to extricate Lerian from the rubble. He was rushed to the hospital, where friends from St. Martin's Parish lined up to offer blood for a transfusion. Before the transfusion could be completed, however, Peck Lerian died of his injuries. He was 26.

The entire Phillies organization was shocked. President Baker said, "To think that such a fine young fellow who was in the prime of his life just a few hours ago can be suddenly taken out of life." The Hecht's company was eventually ordered to pay Lerian's mother $22,500. The truck driver was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and given probation. Without their young catcher, the Phillies fell back into the National League cellar in 1930.

Lerian is buried in New Cathedral Cemetery in Baltimore in a grave with a modest marker, saying simply, "Lerian." Ironically, it is the same cemetery where his admirer John McGraw was buried in a large mausoleum five years later.

Two Baltimore friends. Two fine ballplayers. Two Philadelphia Phillies. Two tragic endings. Baseball can be a strange game indeed.