Elias Calvin "Liz" Funk (October 28, 1904 – January 15, 1968) was an American left-handed baseball center fielder.
Funk played professional baseball from 1925 to 1941, including four seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees (1929), Detroit Tigers (1930), and Chicago White Sox (1932–1933). He played only two full seasons in the majors. In 1930, he was Detroit's starting center fielder and compiled a .275 batting average with 26 doubles, 11 triples, 65 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases. In 1932, he was Chicago's starting center fielder with a .259 batting average, 40 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. Known for his speed, his range factor in the outfield ranked second in the American League in both 1930 and 1932.
During his minor league career, Funk also played for the Oklahoma City Indians (1925–1926), St. Paul Saints (1927–1928), Hollywood Stars (1929), Louisville Colonels (1931-1932), San Francisco Seals (1933–1934), Tulsa Oilers (1935–1936), Salina Millers (1939), and Pueblo Rollers (1941).
Early years
Funk was born in 1904 on a farm near La Cygne, Kansas. He moved to Oklahoma City and attended Oklahoma City Central High School. In high school, he played baseball (as a pitcher and outfielder) and American football (as a quarterback and an all-state halfback) from 1921 to 1923. He then attended the University of Oklahoma for a year, though he did not play football or baseball there due to restrictions on freshman eligibility.
Professional baseball
Oklahoma City
Funk signed his first professional contract with the Oklahoma City Indians of the Western League while still in high school. Playing at the time as a pitcher, he did not make the club during spring training and returned to high school. He returned to the Indians in April 1925. He played in the outfield for the Indians during the 1925 season and hit .306 with a .447 slugging percentage, 41 doubles, 15 triples, and seven home runs.
Funk improved further in 1926, batting .339 with a .491 slugging percentage. He also had 209 hits and 129 runs, led the Western League with 53 stolen bases, and tied for the league lead with 21 triples. And in the outfield, he tallied 431 putouts and 18 assists against 17 errors.
St. Paul, New York and Hollywood
Funk was purchased by the New York Yankees on October 12, 1926. During the Yankees' training camp in 1927, Funk was touted as the man who would replace Earl Combs in center field. The New York Daily News called Funk "a demon outfielder", and Manager Miller Huggins described him as "a fine young player – a hard left-handed hitter, fast in the outfield and a good thrower."
Despite the praise heaped on Funk during spring training, the Yankees sent him under option in late March 1927 to the St. Paul Saints of the American Association. He spent the 1927 and 1928 seasons at St. Paul. He showed a strong throwing arm in the outfield while playing with St. Paul, tallying 22 assists in 1927 and 21 in 1928. He also impressed at the plate, batting .311 in 1927 (with a .451 slugging percentage) and .304 in 1928. He also hit 20 triples in 1927.
Funk finally made it to the Yankees at the start of the 1929 season, but he appeared in only one game, on April 26, 1929, and did not have a plate appearance. In early May, he was sold to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. In 150 games for the Stars, he compiled a .384 batting average with a career-high .554 slugging percentage and 302 total bases.
Detroit Tigers
In September 1929, the Detroit Tigers purchased Funk from Hollywood in exchange for cash and two players. In 1930, Funk appeared in 140 games for the Tigers, including 127 as the team's starting center fielder. He hit .279 with a .389 slugging percentage, 21 doubles, 11 triples, four home runs, 65 RBIs, 74 runs, and 12 stolen bases. His four home runs included a grand slam on July 26 against the New York Yankees – the team that had discarded him without a single plate appearance. He also hit a bases-loaded triple against the Yankees on August 14.
Funk also ranked third in the American League with 23 sacrifice hits and fifth with five times having been hit by a pitch. He also ranked among the league's as a center fielder with 354 putouts (third), eight assists (third), four double plays (third), a .965 fielding percentage (fourth), and 13 errors (second). His range factor of 2.98 per nine innings was the third best among all American League outfielders.