A right-handed batter and thrower, Ganzel appeared in 786 major league games, 579 as a catcher, 120 as an infielder and 100 as an outfielder.

[2] Ganzel reportedly played several years of independent baseball in the Midwest before his major league career began in 1884.

[9]Ganzel remained with the Wolverines for three seasons, serving principally in a backup role to Charlie Bennett.

[1] Ganzel appeared in 45 games as catcher for the 1886 Detroit Wolverines team that compiled an 87-36 record and finished in second place in a close pennant race with Chicago.

[10] Defensively, Ganzel struggled in his first season at Detroit, committing 37 errors in only 45 games as catcher—the fourth highest total among the league's catchers.

Offensively, Ganzel improved dramatically with a .272 batting average that was more than 100 points higher than his prior year's tally.

The team won the National League pennant with a 79-45 record and then defeated the St. Louis Browns in the 1887 World Series.

He reduced his error count from 37 to 33 while appearing in more games, and his 6.78 range factor was the third highest among the National League's catchers.

On October 16, 1888, the Wolverines sold Ganzel along with Charlie Bennett, Dan Brouthers, Hardy Richardson and Deacon White to the Boston Beaneaters for an estimated $30,000.

[14][15][16][17] Ganzel's most productive seasons in Boston were 1891 and 1892 when he appeared in 59 and 51 games at catcher, earned WAR ratings of 0.9 in both years, and helped the Beaneaters win consecutive National League pennants.

In January 1894, Charlie Bennett lost both of his legs in a train accident,[18] and Ganzel took over as the Beaneaters' number one catcher for the 1894 and 1895 seasons.

[1] The tragic Marty Bergen, whose life ended in a bloody murder-suicide in January 1900,[21] took over as Boston's number one catcher in 1896 and 1897, with Ganzel again fulfilling a backup role.

His son, Babe Ganzel, was an outfielder who played with the Senators from 1927 to 1928,[24] and his younger brother John Ganzel was a first baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Giants, New York Highlanders and Cincinnati Reds from 1898 to 1908, and also managed the Reds and the Federal League Tip-Tops between 1908 and 1915.