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David James "Beauty" Bancroft (April 20, 1891 - October 9, 1972) was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1930. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bancroft was born in Sioux City, Iowa. He broke into the major leagues in 1915 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Bancroft played shortstop for the Phillies until 1920 when he was traded to the New York Giants. He played for the Giants until 1924, when he was traded to the Boston Braves. Bancroft was a player-manager for the Braves for three seasons from 1925 until 1927. He then when he went to play for the Brooklyn Robins in 1928 and 1929. He ended his career in 1930 back with the Giants.
Bancroft was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 by the Veterans' Committee. However, with a .279 career batting average and never getting more than seven home runs or 67 RBIs in a season, he is one of the Hall's most controversial inductees. Many attribute his election to the presence of his teammate Frankie Frisch on the Veterans' Committee. Most players with similar statistics to Bancroft do not have much of a chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame, though Bancroft's numbers compare favorably to other (admittedly also controversial) middle infielder Hall members such as Phil Rizzuto and Bill Mazeroski.
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Baseball Hall of Fame 
