Player #74N: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 2. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1915-1933. 2,987 hits and 34 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1920 AL stolen base leader. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1963. Led the Senators to three AL pennants (1924,1925, and 1933). Best known for controversial "over the fence" catch in the 1925 World Series. He had many excellent seasons, but one of his best was 1930 as he posted a .407 OBP with 121 runs scored in 669 plate appearances. He had 63 stolen bases in 1920. He last played in 1934 with the Cleveland Indians. His early life was marred by tragedy when his wife, two daughters, parents, and two sisters were all killed by a tornado in Indiana.
Unbelievably, despite the fact that he would be playing for his longtime teammate (new manager, Walter Johnson), Rice's .328 average and 202 hits in 1928 weren't enough for him to secure a starting outfield spot for the following season. For the last few years, the Senators had constantly been aquiring a parade of young outfield prospects who were supposed to push Rice out of his accustomed patch in right field. As the 1929 season approached, the brain trust of the organization thought they had finally found one up to the challenge -- Red Barnes. . . .
. . . Initially Barnes was looked at as competition with (Sam) West for one of the Senators' outfield slots, but when both had productive seasons in 1928, the organization began to look at them as dual cornerstones of a possible outfield of the future -- and present -- for the Senators. . . .
. . . It was one thing to talk about an outfield youth movement, another thing entirely to take the drastic leap of replacing a franchise mainstay like Rice while he was still, despite advancing age, at the top of his hitting prowess. But in late March, with the season still weeks away, that's what Johnson did. . . .
. . . After a two hundred-hit season, Rice had been demoted to utility man. But Johnson's decision came with a caveat -- if either West or Barnes failed to perform at the kind of pace they had set during their torrid springs, he would replace either of them with Rice.
It took all of five games for Rice to earn his old job back. After making only a pair of pinch-hitting appearances in the first four games, including three Senators losses, Rice was back in the lineup on April 23 at Philadelphia. He played right field and batted third. Barnes' slow start was attributed to a knee injury he suffered in a late exhibition game in Charlotte. But whatever the reason, as it turned out, Rice was back in right field to stay. He wouldn't miss a game until August 17. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)
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