Alta Cohen

Albert Cohen, nicknamed "Alta", (December 25, 1908, in Brooklyn, New York – March 11, 2003, in Maplewood, New Jersey), was a professional baseball player. He attended South Side High School in New York.[1] He was Jewish.[2]

Alta Cohen
Outfielder
Born: (1908-12-25)December 25, 1908
Brooklyn, New York
Died: March 11, 2003(2003-03-11) (aged 94)
Maplewood, New Jersey
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
April 15, 1931, for the Brooklyn Robins
Last MLB appearance
June 17, 1933, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Batting average.194
Home runs0
Runs batted in2
Teams

In the minor leagues, he was an All Star with the Triple A Toledo Mud Hens.[3]

In 1931 he batted .316–5–47 for the Hartford Senators, and led the league in walks (87). Cohen made hid major league debut in the second game of the 1931 season, taking over for pinch hitter Ike Boone.[4]

The next day, Cohen was farmed out to Hartford. Cohen was leading the Eastern League in hitting in 1932 with a .409 average in 59 games when the league folded in mid-season.[4] He became a pitcher and had two good years with Toledo (American Association) in 1936–37 with a 29–19 record.[4] He played outfield in the majors from 1931–33 with the Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds.

Cohen's father gave him the name Alta (Yiddish for "old") as the traditional Jewish trick to fool the angel of death during the 1918 flu epidemic. In the majors, Alta's teammates called him "Schoolboy."[5]

Cohen founded the Altco Products Co. in 1940, with offices throughout the state, and served as president for 44 years before retiring in 1984. He was a member of the board of directors of the Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and the Daughters of Israel Geriatric Center in West Orange, and a member of the Green Brook Country Club in North Caldwell. Also a philanthropist, he was honored in the 1980s by Hebrew University, in New York City.

He lived in Verona and South Orange[6] before moving to Maplewood, New Jersey, where he died in his home.[7]

References
  1. "Alta Cohen Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
  2. "Big League Jews". Jewish Sports Review. 12 (137): 18. January–February 2020.
  3. "TheDeadballEra.com: Alta Cohen's Obit". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
  4. Minor League Baseball Top 100 Team #26: 1931 Hartford Senators
  5. Jewish Week article
  6. "Cohen's obituary at The Dead Ball Era". Archived from the original on 2008-09-07. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  7. "Oldest Brooklyn Dodgers' alumnus dies", The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 12, 2003. Accessed March 27, 2008.
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