Contrary to many accounts, Atz was not Jewish; his maternal Grandparents were John and Mary Flaherty. They were Irish immigrants and arrived in New York in 1870. Jake Atz's paternal grandparents were John Gottlieb and Catherine Nollenberger Atz of Philadelphia who were immigrants from Kleinaspach, Marbach District, Wurttemberg Germany having arrived at New York on June 1, 1852 aboard the bark Jan Van Brakel. They were Evangelical Lutherans. His parents were Johann Jacob Atz and Annie Theresa Flaherty. His father was born 23 December 1846 in Allmersbach, Germany. Jake's mother was born in Ireland. She came to America with her family aboard the ship Belland via London, England and LeHavre, France arriving in New York 20 May 1870. The family was recorded on that passenger list as follows: Annie Flaherty, age 15 with parents John, Mary and siblings Ellen and Mary A., all natives of Ireland. His siblings were Margaret B. Atz who married Thomas Holle, Mary Louisa Atz who married 1st to Daniel Dougherty and 2nd to Charles J. Baur, Annie Atz and Katherine Atz who married Archibald A. Ragan. Also, contrary to many published accounts, Jake Atz did not change his name. He was born, 1 July 1879 in Washington, D.C., Jacob Henry Atz and remained Jacob Henry Atz. He married Doris Kalman, a daughter of Emilia Kalman, in New Orleans, Louisiana on 7 January 1907. He had two children, Jacob Jr. and Kalma. This family history is based upon research of Randy F. McNew Crouse and Laura Paugh, both relatives of Jake Atz. He is also credited as John Atz in many baseball sources.
Baseball career
Atz played in the major leagues during 4 seasons, 1902 for the Washington Senators and 1907-09 for the Chicago White Sox. He made his debut on September 24, 1902 and played in his last major league game on September 30, 1909. He played for 20 years in the minor leagues, finishing his career in 1921 with the Ft. Worth Panthers in the Texas League. In four major league seasons, Atz played in 209 games, had 605 at bats, 64 runs, 132 hits, 21 doubles, three triples, 49 RBIs, 23 stolen bases, 69 walks, a.218 batting average,.304 on-base percentage,.263 slugging percentage, and 33 sacrifice hits. His first managerial assignment was for the Providence Grays of the East League in 1911, and he failed dismally, losing 69 of 108 games. Three years later, in 1914, he took over Fort Worth. His Panthers had winning records in his first 13 seasons. During their seven-year skein as kings of the Texas League, the Panthers won over 100 games five times – with records of 108–40 in 1920, 107–51 in 1921, 109–43 in 1922, 109–41 in 1924, and 103–48 in 1925. In 1926, the Panthers fell to third and Atz would not win another pennant until 1939, with Henderson in the Class C East Texas League, three levels below the Texas League. His career record as a manager in the minors over 27 seasons was 1,972 wins, 1,619 losses, still one of the best winning percentages among longtime minor league skippers. Atz died on May 22, 1945 in New Orleans at the age of 64.
