In the early 1900s, Major League Baseball players included Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, Bill McKechnie, and Honus Wagner. Playing with these distinguished players was Rube Dessau.

Rube Dessau was born March 29, 1883, in New Galilee, PA. Little is known about his younger years, but research indicates that he attended and played baseball for Geneva College in 1904.

On September 22, 1907, at age 24, Rube had his Major League Baseball pitching debut for the Boston Doves (nka the Atlanta Braves) of the National League. Rube pitched in two games for the Doves in his rookie season. In a starting role against the Chicago Cubs, Rube pitched in a game with the most memorable double-play combination in baseball history: the Cubs' Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance. The Chicago Cubs were the 1907 World Series champions that year, with MLB Hall of Famer Frank Chance as the Cubs' manager.

On September 27, 1907, Rube started his second game, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the top of the first inning, after retiring MLB Hall of Famer and left fielder Fred Clarke, Rube gained national attention after he hit the left hand of Pittsburgh Pirates' star and MLB Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, fracturing a bone and ending Wagner's season.

Rube was then sent down to the minor leagues with the Steubenville Stubs in 1907 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1908 and 1909. In 1910, Rube made 19 relief appearances in the Major Leagues for the Brooklyn Superbas (nka the Los Angeles Dodgers). He played in his last MLB game on October 12, 1910, against his former team, the Boston Doves, with MLB Hall of Famer Zack Wheat as a teammate. Rube finished his Major League career appearing in 21 games across two seasons with a 2-4 won/loss record, a 6.53 ERA, and 25 strikeouts.

After the Major Leagues, Rube played in the minor leagues for the Rochester Broncos in 1911, the Kansas City Blues and Atlanta Crackers in 1912, the Lincoln Railsplitters from 1912 to 1914, the Elmira Colonels in 1915, the Bridgeport Americans in 1917, and the York White Roses in 1926. Rube played ten seasons in the minors, appearing in 302 games, with a pitching record of 93-89.
During his life, Rube managed minor league teams in Pennsylvania and Illinois: the York White Roses, the Decatur Commodores, the Atlanta Crackers, and the Springfield Senators. Rube also served as a Second Lieutenant in World War I.

Frank Rolland "Rube" Dessau died May 6, 1952, at age 69, in York, PA. Rube is buried at the Grove Cemetery in New Brighton, PA, and is recognized by the community as part of their "walk through history" tour.