Editing Luke Appling (section)

==MLB playing career==

===Early career===
Appling appeared in only six games for the White Sox in 1930. He hit for a .232 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] in 96 games in 1931. In 1933 his average increased from .274 to .322 in his first of nine straight [[batting average (baseball)|.300 seasons]].<ref name=BR/> The White Sox lost more than 90 games in four of Appling's first five seasons with the team.<ref name=CHW/>

In 1936, Appling batted .388, with 124 [[runs batted in]], scored 111 times, recorded 204 hits, and had a team-record 27-game hitting streak. His batting average was good for the first AL batting title won by a shortstop. It was the highest batting average recorded by a shortstop in the 20th century. He finished second in the AL Most Valuable Player voting and earned his first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] selection. He also turned a league-leading 119&nbsp;[[double play]]s.<ref name=BR>{{cite web|title=Luke Appling Statistics and History|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/applilu01.shtml|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref>

===Later career===
Appling hit .317 in 1937 as the White Sox finished in third place in the AL. He played in 81 games in 1938, missing much of the season with a broken leg.

In 1940, Appling hit .348 with a career-high 13 [[triple (baseball)|triples]].<ref name=BR/> Although the team finished fourth, they came closer to a league championship than at any point in his career, eight games behind the league champion [[Detroit Tigers]].<ref name=CHW>{{cite web|title=Chicago White Sox Team History & Encyclopedia|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/|publisher=[[Baseball-Reference.com]]|access-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref> Appling won another batting title in 1943 with a .328 average and also led the league in OBP that year (.419).<ref name=BR/>

Appling missed the entire 1944 season due to military service in the United States Army, then returned in time to appear in only 18 games the next year.

He hit .309 in 149 games in 1946. Though his seventh and final All-Star Game selection came in 1947 when he hit .306, Appling hit .314 and .301 in 1948 and 1949, respectively.<ref name=BR/> Appling had remained a solid contributor into his forties, but White Sox ownership was dedicated to a youth movement and he retired after the 1950 season.

===Career statistics===
In 2,422 games over 20 seasons, Appling posted a .310 [[batting average (baseball)|batting average]] (2,749-for-8,856) with 1,319 [[run (baseball)|runs]], 440 [[double (baseball)|doubles]], 102 [[Triple (baseball)|triples]], 45 [[home runs]], 1,116 [[Run batted in|RBI]], 179 [[stolen bases]], 1,302 [[bases on balls]], .399 [[on-base percentage]] and .398 [[slugging percentage]]. He finished his career with a .948 [[fielding percentage]] playing primarily at shortstop, but also played at third, second and first base.<ref name="BR" />

===Legacy===
Upon his retirement, Appling was the all-time leader for most games played and for double plays by a major league shortstop, and the all-time leader for [[putout]]s and [[assist (baseball statistics)|assist]]s by an [[American League]] shortstop. These records were later broken by [[Luis Aparicio]], who also spent the majority of his career with the White Sox. He made 643 errors and has the worst fielding percentage since 1910 of players with at least 1,900 games, but his speed and range made his defensive ability excellent nonetheless throughout his career.

Appling was a good [[Batting order (baseball)|lead-off hitter]] who topped the .400 mark in [[on-base percentage|OBP]] eight times (1935–1937, 1939–40, 1943, 1948–49) and drew over 100 [[base on balls|walks]] three times (1935, 1939, 1949), although he often batted third due to otherwise poor team hitting on the White Sox.

He was well known for his ability to foul off pitches.  Charlie Metro testified to this reputation: "The old White Sox shortstop Luke Appling was a delight.  I've heard quite a few stories about Luke, but the one that always pleases me the most is about watching Luke take batting practice.  As extra guys with the Tigers, we wouldn't get too many swings in batting practice, if any, but we liked to go out to the ballpark early and watch them taking batting practice.  Luke was a star for the ball club, a good hitter, a good fielder, good at driving in runs, good everything, just a good, good ballplayer.  The White Sox then were noted for their stinginess.  You couldn't get a baseball out of them.  Luke was popular, and everybody wanted an autographed baseball from a big league club, and especially from a guy like Luke.  So he'd ask for the baseballs, and the White Sox management would send a message down, 'No!'  He couldn't get any baseballs for autographs.  So Luke would take batting practice early.  I don't know whether he hit third, fourth, or fifth, I forget, but he'd lead off the batting practice.  He could foul off every pitch.  He was noted for fouling off pitches.  He'd foul the balls into the grandstand, and the kids would grab the balls.  Luke would flip the bat and look up at the press box as if to say, 'Take that!'  I saw him do it once, and they talked about him doing that all the time.  I understand he got baseballs pretty much whenever he wanted.  It was either that, or he'd lose them all in batting practice."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Metro |first1=Charlie |title=Safe by a Mile |date=2002 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=0-8032-8281-8 |page=295}}</ref>

Appling was famous among his teammates for complaining about minor ailments such as a sore back, a weak shoulder, shin splints, or a sprained finger. While much of this complaining was probably for show it earned him the nicknames "Old Aches and Pains" and "Libby", the latter after blues singer [[Libby Holman]].<ref name=Memories>{{cite news|last=Holtzman|first=Jerome|title=His memories of Luke fill the old park|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/08/26/his-memories-of-luke-fill-the-old-park/|access-date=April 7, 2014|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=August 26, 1990}}</ref> "His constant stream of complaints might have become intolerable to his teammates if Appling had not developed a novel remedy," wrote [[Robert McG. Thomas Jr.]] of ''[[The New York Times]]''. "He simply took his misery out on opposing pitchers, rapping out 2,749 hits, all but 587 of them singles."<ref name="Thomas">{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Robert McG.|title=Luke Appling, ex-White Sox star in the Hall of Fame, is dead at 83|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/04/obituaries/luke-appling-ex-white-sox-star-in-the-hall-of-fame-is-dead-at-83.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 4, 1991}}</ref>