Walter Johnson Part 2
 

Player #54D (Part 2): Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

We stick with Deveaux: One of the strangest games in baseball history took place on October 4 (1913). With nothing at stake, Clark Griffith, nearing his 44th birthday, decided to pitch an inning. The game was a farce, the players padding their averages and the umpires allowing four outs in one inning. Walter Johnson, who'd pitched his 12th shutout five days earlier for his 36th victory, played center field, but relieved in the ninth and permitted a double and a triple, and two runs.

Those final two runs account for the difference in Walter's final reported earned run average for the season. For more than 70 years, his ERA for 1913 stood at 1.09. When it was discovered that the results of the 1913 travesty had been left out, history was rewritten and Barney's ERA was bumped to 1.14. As a result, when Bob Gibson came along 55 years later and posted a 1.12 ERA, he passed Johnson's record, unbeknownst to anyone at the time, for the best ever ERA in a single season. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Grunting Jim Shaw
 

Player #69: James A. "Jim" Shaw. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1913-1921. 84 wins and 16 saves in 9 MLB seasons. He was nicknamed "Grunting" Jim Shaw because of the distinct grunting noise he made every time he threw a pitch off the mound. Shaw had a career ERA of 3.07. In 1919, he posted a 17-17 record with a 2.73 ERA in 306.2 innings pitched.

Shaw's Sabr biography: Only 20 years old when the Washington Senators broke camp in spring 1914, right-hander Jim Shaw was deemed a can’t-miss pitching prodigy. The youngster had impressed the previous September during a brief late-season audition with the club, and his spring work had left some onlookers near-swooning, with favorable comparison to renowned staff ace Walter Johnson coming from no-less-informed an observer than Washington manager Clark Griffith. Good-sized (6-feet, 180 pounds) with broad shoulders and noticeably long arms, Shaw bore a striking physical resemblance to Johnson and reputedly threw just as hard, with a nasty, sharp-breaking curve besides. Greatness, it seemed, was destined for Jim Shaw.

A century later, any comparison of the long-forgotten Shaw to the immortal Walter Johnson would be ludicrous. Handicapped by chronic control problems, nagging injuries, and an often complacent attitude, Shaw was never able to fully harness his natural talent and proved a disappointment. But he was far from a bust. Despite his shortcomings, Shaw gave the Senators almost a decade of useful service, posting five double-digit-win seasons. At times he even managed to lead American League hurlers in certain secondary pitching statistics, some positive — game appearances (1919); innings pitched (1919), and retroactive saves (1914 and 1919), others not — walks (1914 and 1917) and wild pitches (1919 and 1920). In the end, Jim Shaw was neither phenom nor flop. Rather, the descriptive that perhaps best suits him is: underachiever.

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Deerfoot Milan
 

Player #39E: J. Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1907-1922. 2,100 hits and 495 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. 1912 and 1913 AL stolen base leader, including a then record 88 in 1912. His career OBP was .353. Managed the Washington Senators in 1922. His best season was probably 1911 for the Washington Senators as he posted a .395 OBP with 58 stolen bases and 109 runs scored in 705 plate appearances.

Milan's SABR biography takes us through his rise to MLB: The son of a blacksmith, Jesse Clyde Milan (pronounced “millin”) was born on March 25, 1887, in Linden, Tennessee, a quiet hamlet of about 700 residents nestled in the hills above the Buffalo River, 65 miles southwest of Nashville. He was one of eight children (four boys and four girls), and his younger brother Horace also took up professional baseball, briefly joining him in the Washington outfield in 1915 and 1917. Another younger brother, Frank, became a noted Broadway actor, co-starring alongside Humphrey Bogart in the famed original staging of The Petrified Forest. Baseball was almost unknown in rural Middle Tennessee where the Milans grew up, and Clyde told Lane that he didn’t play much of the sport as a youngster. “To show what little experience I really had, I will say that in 1903 I played in just nine games of baseball, and the following season I didn’t play the game at all,” he recalled. Clyde’s chief sporting interest in those years was hunting for quail and wild turkey with his two setters, Dan and Joe.

Deveaux talks about Horace: Clyde Milan managed to improve to .294 after an off year in '16, and was joined by his brother Horace, who had been brought up for a second cup of coffee. Between the '15 and '17 seasons, Horace Milan got 32 hits in an even 100 at-bats, for a cool .320 career average, frozen forever in time. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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1914 Washington Senators
 

The 1914 Washington Senators won 81 games, lost 73, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The threat of the First World War hovered over and then descended upon the United States in 1914, but the little ball club (Griffith's pet description of the Senators) remained intact and reached first place for one day, on June7, only to fall back to third by the end of the year, behind the A's and Red Sox. The Nationals were just about as good as the previous year, but as a team did not lead in any category except the number of strikeouts by the pitching staff.

Walter Johnson, now making $12,000 a year (which represented a $5,000 raise on his expired three-year pact and as much money as Ty Cobb had made in 1913), was still himself, but things did not go his way on many occasions. Barney wound up with a 28-18 record despite a golden 1.72 ERA. He pitched more innings, 372, than in any other year of his career. He led the league in wins, games (51), complete games (33), strikeouts (225) and shutouts (9). The baseball player who had put the Washington Senators on the map was by now widely recognized as the best pitcher baseball had ever known.

Again in 1914, the Senators lacked hitting, particularly from a power standpoint. Deerfoot Milan hit .295, best on the team, but missed 40 games after sustaining a broken jaw on July 17 as a result of an outfield collision with Danny Moeller in Cleveland. Only third baseman Eddie Foster, at .282, excelled offensively. There were an inordinate number of low-scoring losses, making it impossible for Walter Johnson in particular and the team in general to remain successful for any extended period. There were a crushing 11 1-0 losses, three absorbed by Johnson.

The infield was composed of a bunch of crackerjacks, so the pitchers had great support from that standpoint. In this season, infielders Morgan, McBride, and Foster led the league in double plays at their respective positions. The other infielder, first baseman Chick Gandil, was also a slick gloveman, but his batting slipped to .259 from .318 in '13. The Senators batted .244 as a unit, below the league average, and barely crawled into third, losing a full nine games off their record of the preceding year.

While gathering war clouds dampened the spirits of baseball partisans all over the country, there was still at least some fun to be had at the old ballpark. Cleveland outfielder Jack Graney had a bull terrier named Larry who served as the team's mascot. Larry was also acrobatic and did tricks to entertain the fans at all big-league venues. This was all well and good until Larry refused to give up the ball to the umpire, Big Bill Dinneen, at League Park. Back then, fans, let alone dogs, had to return balls batted into the stands. Larry's obstinacy was not appreciated, and he was banned from attending any more Washington games by no less an authority than League president Ban Johnson. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Joe Boehling
 

Player #70A: J. Joseph "Joe" Boehling. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1912-1916. 56 wins and 4 saves in 7 MLB seasons. His career ERA was 2.97. His best season was 1913 with Washington as he posted a 17-7 record with a 2.14 ERA in 235.1 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1916-1917 and 1920.

In 1913, Boehling was used primarily as a starter alongside Walter Johnson in what was his best season. He pitched in 38 games, starting 25 of them, and finished the season with 18 complete games and three shutouts. He finished with a 17-7 record and an ERA of 2.14. His ERA of 2.14 was sixth in the American League, better than the ERAs of Hall of Famers Chief Bender (2.21) and Rube Marquard (2.50). During January 1914, Boehling signed a one-year contract to continue playing with the Senators. Boehling played 34 games during the 1914 season, and finished the season with a 12–8 record and a 3.03 ERA.

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Carl Cashion
 

Player #71: Jay Carl Cashion. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1911-1914. 12 wins and 1 save in 4 MLB seasons. In 1912 he posted a 10-6 record with a 3.17 ERA in 170.1 innings pitched.

"...Carl Cashion... is perhaps the biggest man in the major leagues, but being all muscle and sinew, without as much flesh on him as a spring chicken, is fast nonetheless, and is something of an athletic phenomenon. This big youngster is a natural batter. He has hit .300 to date..." - Sporting Life of May 18, 1912, while Cashion was still primarily a pitcher, after Carl had hit .324 in 1911 in the majors and over .300 in the minors.

"Another boxman who had Rusie's speed, but in this instance never gained control, was Carl Cashion, a giant tried out by Griffith a few years ago. Cash had so much stuff that it was hard to follow the pill as it flashed across the plate. The pity is that he was unable to tame it..." - Baseball Magazine in 1919

Carl Cashion pitched four seasons in the big leagues, most notably going 10-6 for the 1912 Washington Senators, a team on which Walter Johnson won 33 games. Cashion was three years younger than Walter. Carl occasionally played the outfield for the Senators, and when his pitching arm gave out, he became a minor league outfielder. Carl made his major league debut not long after he turned 20.

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Chick Gandil
 

Player #72A: Charles A. "Chick" Gandil. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1912-1915. 1,176 hits and 151 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. 1917 World Series champion. He led AL first baseman in fielding percentage 4 times. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1910. His best season was 1913 with Washington as he posted a .363 OBP with 72 RBI's and 22 stolen bases in 603 plate appearances. He finished his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1917-1919. He is best known as the "ringleader" of the players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Gandil's SABR biography reviews his time in Washington: Gandil got off to a solid start in 1912 (for Montreal in the Eastern League), batting .309 in 29 games, after which he was traded to the Washington Senators. This time, the big first sacker was ready for the major leagues, and in 117 games with Washington he hit .305 and led American League first basemen in fielding percentage.

Gandil was highly regarded by Washington. In 1914 Senators manager Clark Griffith wrote, “He proved to be ‘The Missing Link’ needed to round out my infield. We won seventeen straight games after he joined the club, which shows that we must have been strengthened a good bit somewhere. I class Gandil ahead of McInnes [sic] as he has a greater range in scooping up throws to the bag and is just as good a batsman.”

Gandil continued to perform well with Washington both at bat and in the field. In 1913 he hit for a career-high average of .318. He was also tough and durable, averaging 143 games during his three full seasons with Washington, despite knee problems that haunted him throughout his career. When asked by a reporter after the 1912 season what his greatest asset was, he replied “plenty of grit.” He reportedly used the heaviest lumber in the American League, as his bats weighed between 53 and 56 ounces.

Gandil was sold to Cleveland before the 1916 season for a reported price of $7,500. One of the main reasons for the sale was supposedly the fact that Gandil was a chain smoker, occasionally lighting up between innings, which annoyed Griffith.

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Clark Griffith helping to start the AL -- Part 1
 

Player #28G: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

How the Old Fox helped start the American League -- Part 1: (Account taken from Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.) In September of 1900, Griffith, Chicago Colts owner Charles Comiskey and businessman/baseball entrepreneur Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson met in a Chicago tavern, the West Side's Polk Street Cafe. Johnson had founded the Western League, enjoying some success, but carrying dreams of developing it into another major league. For that, he'd need major league-caliber players, and the National League was not about to give up its primary product, its talented players. At first, Johnson had tried to reach a profitable compromise with the National League. He had two requests. First, he wanted to limit the number of players that the National League could "draft" from American League squads. The best American League teams were simply being dismantled in short order because of the contract between the leagues that said the National League could purchase American League players, no bargaining necessary. Also, Johnson wanted to move American League franchises into vacated National League cities, including Washington.

The National League denied his demands, however, setting the stage for a showdown.

Griffith was part of the meeting because of his connection to Comiskey, aa well as his role as vice president of the Ball Players Protective Association, a precursor to the modern Major League Baseball Players Association, or the union. For example, he had spent the preceding months attempting to get the National League to increase its maximum salary from $2,400 to $3,000. And he wanted the league to pay for player uniforms. He was interested in joining Johnson and Comiskey on one condition -- that the American League pursue major-league status. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Clark Griffith helping to start the AL -- Part 2
 

Player #28G: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

How the Old Fox helped start the American League -- Part 2: Griffith was the trio's (Griffith along with Comiskey and Ban Johnson) link to the players, and by the time the winter was over, he had acquired written pledges from forty National Leaguers. His next step was approaching the National League's power brokers, demanding that they release players from their binding contracts. He carried with him a petition from the players, demanding their freedom, handing it to National League vice president A.H. Soden. Soon after, however, Griffith noticed his petition still in Soden's pocket. The V.P. had reneged on his agreement to distribute it to the National League owners, and Griffith was through with being diplomatic. He called Johnson and Comiskey with the news, yelling into the phone: "There's going to be a new major league if you can get the backing. Because I can get the players!" Then he went public with the new league's intentions, as well as what he felt were transgressions by the National League against players, preventing them from bettering their own situation.

The eight-team American League was formed in time for the start of the 1901 season, with Griffith managing and pitching in Chicago. He won twenty-four games for the first American League pennant winners, who beat out teams in Cleveland, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., for the title. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54E: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Here we begin Deveaux's account of Walter's stormy 1914-1915 off-season: As if the news from overseas wasn't gloomy enough, from Coffeyville, Kansas, came another ominous threat during the following winter. The rebel Federal League, an offshoot of a players' revolt against penurious owners, had formed the previous year. As had been the case when the American League was organized a decade and a half earlier, players now had some bargaining power -- they were able to shake off the shackles of baseball's reserve system and accept more money from a competing league for their services.

In the midst of this more advantageous environment, from a players' standpoint, Senators president Ben Minor hit upon the bright idea that Walter Johnson would have to take a cut in pay. His 28-18 did not warrant a $12,000 salary, and Minor resolved to write to his star hurler to address the matter. Clark Griffith nearly had a coronary and begged Minor not to do this. The Old Fox knew that the Chicago Federals were making a bid for Johnson's signature on a contract, and knew that Minor's ultimatum would be the straw to break Barney's back. Minor mailed his letter anyway. Johnson wrote back in mid-November, 1914, stating that he was looking for nothing less than $16,000 a year for three years, plus a $6,000 signing bonus.

Ben Minor believed rumors that the Federal League was about to go under, and that Walter Johnson was going to have to play by his rules. Minor wrote back that he could pay $12,500 only, for one, two, or three years. That is what Johnson really didn't like; he would not have anyone dictate terms of his contract. Then the Chicago Federals offered the Big Train $17,500 a year and his $6,000 bonus; Walter signed, on December 3, 1914.

Clark Griffith initially reacted in anger, claiming the Nats were going to sue the star pitcher " to the end of the earth" for breach of contract. The signing, the worst thing that could have happened to the American League, let alone the Washington Baseball Club, had immediate repercussions. League president Ban Johnson arranged the sale of Philadelphia's Eddie Collins to the White Sox so the league could have a marquee player to counter the Big Train in Chicago.

It is ironic how incensed Griffith had been with the great pitcher. He himself had of course once jumped leagues and raided National League clubs at the turn of the century. The time had come for the Old Fox to live up to his sobriquet. He enlisted the help of Fred Clarke, manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who happened to be a friend of his and who lived near Independence, Kansas, not far from where the recalcitrant pitcher lived. This was the same Fred Clarke who had once been too busy to give young Walter Johnson a tryout. On behalf of the Washington owner, Clarke reminded Johnson, just turned 27, of his obligation to baseball and particularly to the fans of Washington. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

We will complete this account, when Johnson surfaces in our treatment of 1915.

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Deerfoot Milan
 

Player #39F: J. Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1907-1922. 2,100 hits and 495 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. 1912 and 1913 AL stolen base leader, including a then record 88 in 1912. His career OBP was .353. Managed the Washington Senators in 1922. His best season was probably 1911 for the Washington Senators as he posted a .395 OBP with 58 stolen bases and 109 runs scored in 705 plate appearances.

Milan's SABR biography discusses the rest of his career: In 1914 Milan suffered a broken jaw and missed six weeks of the season after colliding with right fielder Danny Moeller. He rebounded to play in at least 150 games in each of the next three seasons, 1915 to 1917, and he continued to play regularly through 1921, batting a career-high .322 in 1920. Griffith appointed Milan to manage the Nats in 1922 but the job didn’t agree with him; he suffered from ulcers as the club finished sixth, and he was fired after the season amidst reports that he was “too easy-going.”

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1915 Washington Senators
 

The 1915 Washington Senators won 85 games, lost 68, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

Deveaux runs over the 1915 season: In 1915, the Senators slipped down another notch in the standings, finishing fourth despite a slightly improved record of 85-68. Walter Johnson again led the league in a host of pitching categories and logged a 27-13 slate on his way to recording ten straight seasons with 20 or more wins. He improved his ERA to 1.55, just short of Joe Wood's league-leading 1.49. As it had been in 1912, the Senators' pitching staff was the A.L.'s best, recording a 2.31 ERA in a league which averaged 2.94. This was still the era of slap hitting, and the New York Yankees led the league with a grand total of 31 home runs.

Nineteen fifteen was also the year Ty Cobb reclaimed the stolen-base title with his career best 96, which stood as the majors' record until broken 47 years later by Maury Wills. The Senators did distinguish themselves on the basepaths in the July 19 game. They stole eight bases in one inning, the first, against Detroit, with Steve O'Neill the unfortunate catcher involved. Moeller, Milan, McBride, and Eddie Ainsmith, a fast runner for a catcher, all swiped two each. Ainsmith by this time caught only Walter Johnson -- he contended his hands needed several days to recover from the beating they took when Barney pitched.

Of note in 1915 was the August 22 game at Detroit, an 8-1 win, when the Nationals managed to score without recording a single official at-bat in the inning, the only time this has been done in major-league history. (Note: I suspect this record has been overcome by the ghost runner(s).) Following walks to Chick Gandil and Merito Acosta, Rip Williams moved the baserunners ahead with a sacrifice bunt. George McBride hit a sac fly to score Gandil, and Acosta was then picked off second base. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Jpe Boehling
 

Player #70B: J. Joseph "Joe" Boehling. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1912-1916. 56 wins and 4 saves in 7 MLB seasons. His career ERA was 2.97. His best season was 1913 with Washington as he posted a 17-7 record with a 2.14 ERA in 235.1 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1916-1917 and 1920.

Joe Boehling pitched seven years in the majors. In his best year, he went 17-7 for the 1913 Washington Senators. He was three years younger than Hall of Fame teammate Walter Johnson. Boehling makes the list of the top ten Twins/Senators pitchers with the lowest ERA (minimum 500 innings since 1900). Joe was remembered in 2015 when the 2015 Brewers and 2015 Reds were poised to send rookie starting pitchers against each other for all three games of an upcoming series. MLB said the last time that happened was in 1913 when Joe was one of the rookie starters.

The 1915 season saw Boehling pitch a career high number of games with 40, 32 of them starts. After a 14–13 record in 1915 and a 9–11 record the following season, the Senators traded Boehling. On August 18, 1916, Boehling was traded along with Danny Moeller to the Cleveland Indians for Elmer Smith and Joe Leonard.

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Chick Gandil
 

Player #72B: Charles A. "Chick" Gandil. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1912-1915. 1,176 hits and 151 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. 1917 World Series champion. He led AL first baseman in fielding percentage 4 times. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1910. His best season was 1913 with Washington as he posted a .363 OBP with 72 RBI's and 22 stolen bases in 603 plate appearances. He finished his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1917-1919. He is best known as the "ringleader" of the players involved in the 1919 Black Sox scandal.

Gandil's SABR biography talks to his involvement in the game-fixing scandal: Prior to his infamous involvement in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, Chick Gandil was one of the most highly regarded first basemen in the American League, both for his play on the field and his solid work ethic. In 1916 a Cleveland newspaper described Gandil as “a most likeable player, and one of excellent habits.” From 1912 to 1915 the right-handed Gandil starred for the Washington Senators, leading the club in runs batted in three times and batting .293. In the field Gandil paced American League first sackers in fielding percentage four times and in assists three times.

He continued his strong work with the Chicago White Sox from 1917 to 1919, helping the club to two American League pennants before forever tarnishing his legacy by helping to fix the 1919 World Series. Yet Gandil may have been the only banished player who gained more than he lost from the fix. After the 1919 World Series, the first baseman retired from major-league baseball, reportedly taking $35,000 in cash with him.

No one knows the full story of the Black Sox Scandal — few of the participants were willing to talk, and the whole plot was confused and poorly managed. But by all accounts Gandil, who claimed to be furious with Comiskey’s miserly ways, was one of the ringleaders. Most accounts agree that it was Gandil who approached gambler Sport Sullivan with the idea of fixing the Series, and that he also served as the players’ liaison with a second gambling syndicate that included Bill Burns (a former teammate of Gandil’s) and Abe Attell. Chick was also the go-between for all payments, and reportedly kept the lion’s share of the money. Though none of the other fixers took home more than $10,000 from the gamblers, Gandil reportedly pocketed $35,000 in payoffs.

It’s interesting to note that Gandil had a reasonably good Series. Although he hit only .233, that was the fourth best average among White Sox regulars. He was second on the team with five RBIs, and he had one game-winning hit. However, he made several suspicious plays in the field, and all but one of his seven hits came in games the fixers were trying to win, or in which they were already losing comfortably. Rumors of a Series fix began to circulate, with Gandil’s name prominently mentioned.

The next spring Gandil demanded a raise to $10,000 per year. When Comiskey balked, Gandil and his wife decided to remain in California. Flush with his financial windfall from the Series, Gandil announced his retirement from the majors, instead spending the season with outlaw teams in St. Anthony, Idaho, and Bakersfield, California. Thus Gandil was far away from the scene as investigations into the 1919 World Series began during the fall of 1920.

This thread will now experience a brief pause. Expected restart: 22 October.

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Clark Griffith
 

Player #28H: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

We begin Deveaux's summary of how the Washington lineup evolved prior to the 1915 season: Clark Griffith himself got a new contract prior to the opening of the 1915 baseball season, although it wasn't the five-year term he'd been seeking. It was for a reported $10,000 a year for three years, an increase from $7,500 a year. On the ballfield, he was contemplating changes. Chick Gandil was irresponsible, but got his hitting back on the beam with .291. But Griffith had been patient long enough with Howard Shanks and Danny Moeller in the outfield. On a scouting trip to Buffalo in search of some help, Griff made a discovery that would instead bolster the infield for a long time to come. He was at first only interested in Charlie Jamieson, an outfielder who in fact turned out to be a blue-chipper, except not before the Senators let him get away on waivers in 1917.

The Buffalo owner, David Harum, was talked not only into giving up Jamieson, but throwing in a first baseman named Joe Judge for an extra $500. . . . (We will return to this account very soon.) (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54F: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

We go back to pick up Deveaux's account of Johnson's contract developments before the 1915 season: There was only one thing to do (renege on his contract with the Chicago Federals and accept an offer from Washington), according to Clarke (Fred, Pittsburgh Pirates owner, Kansas resident, and Griffith emissary), and he soon had Walter in tears. It was arranged that he would meet Clark Griffith summarily. At that meeting, Johnson agreed to sign for Minor's $12,500. Walter got the Old Fox's word that he would do everything in his power to get the best pitcher in baseball a big increase after that. This is what happened, and Johnson was very satisfied the following year to sign a five-year agreement, good through the 1920 season, at $16,000 per.

For the moment, however, there was still for Clark Griffith the problem of paying Walter Johnson the $6,000 bonus he had been promised by the Chicago Federals. To match that, Griff approached Ban Johnson and tried to sell him on the importance of retaining Walter Johnson in the American League. The league's "emergency fund" had grown to nearly a half a million dollars, and surely, Grifith pleaded, this was an emergency. Despite the league's healthy resources, Ban Johnson initially turned him down.

Charles Comiskey was reportedly with Ban Johnson while the league prexy discussed the matter with Griffith over the telephone. Johnson, exasperated, asked to confer with Comiskey. Griffith impressed upon the tightwad owner that if Walter Johnson headed for Chicago, that would be formidable opposition for his White Sox. Then Comiskey agreed to cover the $6,000, and the deal was finally done. Johnson turned the bonus over to his brother Earl, who wanted to buy a garage back home in Coffeyville, Kansas.

The squabble over the contract was humiliating for Walter Johnson, as was related in the April 1915, issue of Baseball Magazine. In the detailed article, the letter Johnson had received from Nationals president Ben Minor was reprinted in its entirety. In the ten pages it took to explain why he had signed with the Federals, Walter admitted he had broken his contract with the Chicago outfit only because he felt that that would be less serious than the harm he would do to baseball in Washington, D.C. Damned if he did, and damned if he didn't, he had been humbled more than he ever could have been by actually playing the game he excelled at.

It is worth noting that it was at this time that the nickname Big Train originated. Bud Milliken wrote in the Washington Post that the "Big Train" had been prevented by "a storm" from getting to spring training on time, an allegorical reference to the pitcher's absence. Milliken reintroduced the moniker a couple of weeks later, and it got picked up by other writers. Still, it would be nearly a decade before it would be universally adopted. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Joe Judge
 

Player #73A: Joseph I. "Joe" Judge. First baseman with the Washington Senators in 1915-1932. 2,352 hits and 71 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. In 1924, as Washington won the AL pennant and the World Series, he had one of his better years as he posted a .393 OBP with 71 runs scored and 79 RBIs in 593 plate appearances. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1933-1934. He may have been the basis for the character of Joe Hardy in Damn Yankees, whose author dated Judge's daughter in the 1940's.

We pick up Deveaux's account prior to the 1915 season: . . . Griffith thought Judge could hit, and that he was obviously a great fielder -- a natural ballplayer. A son of Irish immigrants and raised in one of the roughest sections of New York City, Judge would be a regular in the Washington lineup for 15 years. Nineteen fifteen was quite a remarkable year for players breaking into the major leagues --most noteworthy were Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Joe Judge, and another Washington player who would become another piece of a championship puzzle for the Nationals.

An industrious businessman, Clark Griffith had cultivated friendships with baseball men everywhere, and he kept an eye on developing minor-leaguers. He formed allegiances with owners, and in the spring of 1915, he loaned some money to the Petersburg club of the Virginia League. That loop folded, and in lieu of cash, Griffith was persuaded to take a promising young pitcher instead. (Again, we will return to this account very shortly.) (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Deerfoot Milan
 

Player #39G: J. Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1907-1922. 2,100 hits and 495 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. 1912 and 1913 AL stolen base leader, including a then record 88 in 1912. His career OBP was .353. Managed the Washington Senators in 1922. His best season was probably 1911 for the Washington Senators as he posted a .395 OBP with 58 stolen bases and 109 runs scored in 705 plate appearances.

Milan's SABR biography takes us back to his earliest days in baseball: In 1905 Clyde traveled several days to join a semipro team in Blossom, Texas, after reading an advertisement that the manager of the club was looking for players. There was a great rivalry that year between Blossom and the neighboring town of Clarksville. “Dode Criss, now with St. Louis, was the star pitcher and batter of the Clarksville team, and he surely was some hitter,” Milan told a reporter in 1910. “Well, we played Clarksville and I not only hit Criss hard, but in the ninth inning, with the bases full, I guess I made the most remarkable catch off of his bat that I have ever made in my life. I don’t know today how I ever got near the ball, but I nailed it and was a hero in Blossom thereafter.” Milan ended up joining Blossom’s rivals, but he wasn’t with the Clarksville team very long before the North Texas League disbanded in mid-July due to an epidemic of yellow fever. Milan then finished up the season in the Missouri Valley League, with the South McAlester Miners in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). . . .

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74A: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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, mother, and two sisters were all killed by a tornado in Indiana.

We again pick up Deveaux's account prior to the 1915 season: . . . The pitcher, Edgar Charles (Sam) Rice, would be converted into an outfielder without much power, but who could place the ball and who had the speed and instinct to steal bases and cover an enormous amount of real estate. Sam Rice would be good enough to make the Hall of Fame. He and Joe Judge would be teammates for 18 years, a record which would stand until broken in 1996 by Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker of the Detroit Tigers.

Sam Rice was already 25 1/2 years old by the time he first appeared in a game for the Nats on August 7, 1915. (He relieved in a 6-2 loss to Chicago, one of his nine appearances before the idea of his pitching was abandoned the following year. The right fielder behind him in his debut was Walter Johnson, subbing for the injured Danny Moeller.) The reason for Rice's late start in baseball remained a secret for 70 years. The truth was that he had shown up for a tryout three years earlier at Galesburg, Illinois, leaving a wife and two children behind in Indiana. A number of days later, while Rice's wife and children were visiting his parents in Morocco, Indiana, a tornado struck their farm. His wife, children, parents, and sisters were all killed.

Rice drifted for about a year after that, and then joined the navy. He became a star pitcher and, after seeing actual combat in Mexico, returned to pitch for Petersburg of the Virginia League during furloughs. He did so well that Clark Griffith thought it fit to accept his contract from the Petersburg owner as repayment of the old debt. Edgar Rice got a new name right then. Clark Griffith forgot Rice's given name and told a newspaper reporter that he thought it was Sam, and the name stuck. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.) (Note: This account of Rice acquiring his nickname is not universally accepted. There is evidence that the nickname existed prior to Rice joining Washington.)

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Howie Shanks
 

Player #75A: Howard S. "Howie" Shanks. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1912-1922. 1,440 hits and 185 stolen bases in 14 MLB seasons. His best season was 1921 with Washington as he posted an OBP of .370 with 81 runs scored and 69 RBIs in 647 plate appearances. He finished his career with the New York Yankees in 1925.

Shanks' SABR biography details his time with Washington: The Washington Senators drafted him in the September 1 Rule 5 draft. Mike Kahoe is credited with the actual signing; he worked as Washington’s main scout at the time. The Senators anticipated using Shanks in a utility role–or maybe not to use him at all. McAleer hailed from Youngstown and (it was written nearly a year later) he drafted Shanks to keep him from going to another team and then return him to Youngstown in the spring–in other words, to “cover him up.” But McAleer became a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox and Clark Griffith bought into the Senators. “When Griff looked over his youngsters this spring, he could not see anything the matter with Shanks except inexperience, so decided to keep him.”

His debut came on May 9, 1912, pinch-hitting for Dixie Walker, but made an out. Shanks got more work than initially expected (he ultimately played in 116 games) and by early August was said by the Washington Post to be “playing the best left field in the league.” He was a gamer, for sure. In the springtime he’d been beaned in batting practice and been out for a week or two. When he was hit again–hard–in the head on August 1, by a George Mullin fastball, “he fought the players of the two clubs who ran to the plate and tried to carry him. It required the services of about four athletes to hold Shanks’ legs and arms, while four others did the actual lugging.” He was dizzy in the dressing room, but recovered later in the day.

The Red Sox won the pennant, by 14 games over the Senators, who beat out the third-place Athletics by two games. Shanks drove in 48 runs and scored 25; he hit for a .231 average (.305 on-base percentage). He was a very good fielder who earned his keep with defense. Griffith later said that “the greatest play I ever saw was pulled off by one of my own boys–young Howard Shanks. That kid actually came in from the outfield, gathered up an error, carried it into the infield and converted it into a double play. I might add in passing that the stunt retired the side, and saved the game for us.” Shanks was playing left field that day against the White Sox, but he recorded a putout at second base, tagging baserunner Harry Lord and then threw to home plate in time to get Morrie Rath trying to score. (We will return to this account when Shanks next surfaces in our progression.)

(Aside: For those golfers among us, you have to love this guy's name!)

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1916 Washington Senators
 

The 1916 Washington Senators won 76 games, lost 77, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

Deveaux takes on the 1916 season: The presence of Joe Judge precipitated the departure of Chick Gandil, who was sold to the Indians in February 1916. Later in the season, Danny Moeller and pitcher Joe Boehling were traded to the Indians for outfielder Elmer Smith and third baseman Joe Leonard, neither of whom was to make a big splash in Washington. Smith would be sold back to the Indians less than a year later and would enjoy a fine 10-year career.

Walter Johnson beat the Yankees 3-2 in 11 innings on Opening Day, April 12, the third opening-day win over the Yankees for Johnson. (The Yanks would beat the jinx two years later with a 6-3 decision at National Park.) After a good start, the Senators tailed off and finished 76-77, good enough for only seventh place in a very tight field, 14 1/2 games behind the champions, the Red Sox.

Clark Griffith's own standpat stance was starting to impact on his team's performance. This was not as serious as what was happening in Philadelphia, however, where Connie Mack, after winning the World Championship in 1913 and reaching the World Series again in 1914, had sold off his stars. In '16, the A's sank to an incredible 54 1/2 games behind the pennant-winning Red Sox; they won just 36 games and lost a whopping 117. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Dorf Ainsmith
 

Player #61B: Edward W. "Dorf" Ainsmith was born Edward Anshmedt. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1910-1918. 707 hits and 22 home runs in 15 MLB seasons. His best season was 1919 with the Detroit Tigers as he posted a .354 OBP with 42 runs scored and 35 RBIs in 419 plate appearances. He finished his MLB career with the New York Giants in 1924. He later managed the Rockford Peaches in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Back to Ainsmith's SABR biographical info for an account of his post-playing days: After the 1924 season, he organized a tour of ballplayers to Japan where they played a number of successful exhibition games. Buoyed by that success, he decided to organize a tour of women players to the Far East next, partnering with Mary O'Gara, manager of the Philadelphia Bobbies, one of the most prominent female teams of the period, adding a few players to her core team. Eddie and his wife, Loretta, accompanied the team to Japan, as did former big league pitcher Earl Hamilton and his wife. However, there was dissension on the team, as both O'Gara and Ainsmith wanted to be the manager, and players split into factions. Once in Japan, the ladies could not hold their own against the teams of Japanese men they faced, even with Ainsmith and Hamilton helping them on the field, and the trip turned into a financial disaster as crowds stayed away. The initial promoters bailed out and the team moved on to Korea, where it split in half. Ainsmith and Hamilton convinced three of the better female players to stay with them and recruited four locals to complete the team, hoping to raise some money by arranging their own fixtures, as they did not have any money left to pay their return fare to the States. For her part, O'Gara went back to Kobe with the rest of the squad and unsuccessfully asked the local U.S. Consulate to bring them home; she eventually convinced a couple of local expatriate businessmen to give them the money to return, but Ainsmith's group was left stranded. He found enough money to get himself and his wife home, but left behind the three young female players. When the girls' families in the States were finally able to raise the money, one of the players, Leona Kearns, a 17-year-old left-handed pitcher, was washed overboard and died when the Empress of Asia was hit by a huge wave when she was on the deck.

In spite of his role and less than honorable conduct in the tragedy, Ainsmith continued to work around baseball for many years. When (Walter) Johnson became the Senators' manager in the late 1920s, he brought him in as a coach, although it is not clear if he ever officially was listed as such. He also worked as an umpire, although again, it is not clear where exactly. He later managed the Rockford Peaches and Fort Wayne Daisies in the AAGPBL, a rather sadly ironic turn of events.

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Needles Bentley
 

Player #76A: John "Needles" Bentley. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1913-1916. 46 wins and 8 saves in 9 MLB seasons. His most productive season was 1924 with the New York Giants as he posted a 16-5 record with a 3.78 ERA in 188 innings pitched. Was a good hitter with a career OBP of .316 in 616 plate appearances. Gave up World Series winning-ground ball single to McNeely in the 1924 "pebble" game.

Bentley's SABR biography sums up his role in one of Washington's greatest moments and the apex of his career as the "Babe Ruth of the Minors": The “Pebble” game. After 85 years it remains one of the most memorable games in the history of the World Series. On October 10, 1924, at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, in the seventh game of the World Series between the New York Giants and Washington Senators, the Senators’ Earl McNeely came to bat in the bottom of the 12th inning with the score tied, 3-3, runners on first and second, and one out. Moments later, his routine grounder fortuitously struck a pebble and bounced high over the head of Giants’ third baseman Freddie Lindstrom, and the Senators scored the winning run for their only World Series victory. Fittingly, the winning pitcher that day, in what would also be his only World Series victory that year, was the universally beloved Big Train, Walter Johnson. For New York, the losing pitcher was a 29-year-old left-hander named John Needles Bentley. Everybody called him Jack.

Jack Bentley remembered that game for the rest of his life; yet surprisingly, he recalled it with fondness, not regret. In October 1955, when he was 60 years old, Bentley told a reporter, “There I was, pitted against Walter Johnson, my boyhood idol. The whole country wanted him to win a Series. When we lost, I felt lower than a snake’s belly in a rut. But as I walked off the field and heard all those people hollering, I was a little bit pleased that I had brought so much happiness to so many people … by losing! My own family was rooting for Washington.” . . .

. . . On January 27, 1917, Jack Dunn, owner and manager of the International League’s Baltimore Orioles, had not yet finished assembling the core group of players who would soon make his team legendary. Two and a half years earlier, in July 1914, with the Orioles in first place by 5½ games but in desperate financial straits because of competition from the Federal League’s Baltimore Terrapins, Dunn had sold pitchers Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore and catcher Ben Egan to the Boston Red Sox for $20,000. After the subtractions from the roster, the Orioles had collapsed, finishing 21 games behind. Now Dunn was rebuilding, and on January 27 he announced that he had traded shortstop Sam Crane, in Dunn’s estimation “easily the best shortstop in the minor leagues last season,” to the Senators for catcher Alva Williams, outfielder Turner Barber, and Bentley. As it turned out, Dunn didn’t want Bentley to pitch; instead, having witnessed Bentley’s batting prowess in Minneapolis, Dunn installed him as the Baltimore Orioles’ starting first baseman.

It proved a very prescient move. Beginning in 1919, the Orioles won seven consecutive International League pennants, and for three of those years Bentley, who by then considered himself a hitter who occasionally pitched, put on one of the most dazzling offensive demonstrations the league had ever seen. In his first two seasons, 1917 and 1919 (he was in the US Army in 1918), with the exception of a lone pitching appearance in his first year, Bentley played exclusively at first base and in the outfield: In 185 games, he posted averages of .333 batting and .510 slugging. Then he really caught fire. From 1920 to 1922, Bentley’s numbers were staggering, as he batted .378 in 439 games, scored 340 runs, drove in 399, and had a slugging average of an astounding .590. In both 1920 (161) and 1921 (120), Bentley led the league in RBIs; in 1921, he won the league Triple Crown, batting .412 (the league’s highest season average in the 20th century), with 24 home runs and 120 RBIs. His 246 hits that season remain the league’s single-season record.

Yet Bentley continued to pitch when needed, and those results, too, were staggering. From 1920 through 1922, Bentley pitched in 56 games and produced a 41-6 record, a winning percentage of .872: in both 1921 (.923) and 1922 (.867), he led the league in that category. In 1920 (2.10) and 1922 (1.73), Bentley also led the league in ERA, and over three seasons his ERA was an astounding 2.07. During those years, by virtue of his performance both at the plate and on the mound, the press bestowed on Bentley the moniker Babe Ruth of the Minors.

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Eddie Foster
 

Player #77A: Edward C. "Eddie" Foster. Third baseman with the Washington Senators in 1912-1919. 1,490 hits and 195 stolen bases in 13 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .329. He debuted with the New York Highlanders in 1910. His first season in Washington was one of his best as he posted a .345 OBP with 98 runs scored and 27 stolen bases in 682 plate appearances. His final season was with the St. Louis Browns in 1922-1923.

Foster's SABR biography on his debut season: Foster didn’t get into any games for Washington in 1911, but made the club in 1912, played in every one of the 154 games, and hit for an impressive .285. He had, however, been converted into a third baseman, where Washington had more of a need. In the first few weeks of the new season, he made his mark – particularly against the New Yorkers. “With his batting and fielding, no one person has helped to keep the Highlanders in last place more than third baseman Eddie Foster, of the Washingtons. And the Highlanders had him once, too.” Indeed, the Highlanders could have pulled him back from Rochester but had elected to sell his contract to Clark Griffith’s Washington club.

Foster drove in 70 runs, which remained his career best. His three-run inside-the-park home run on April 27 off New York’s Ray Caldwell came in the bottom of the sixth, neither team having scored, and was “a resounding Rooseveltian rap,” in the words of Sporting Life editor Paul W. Eaton. In his 13 years in the majors, Foster hit six home runs.

Near the end of the season, none other than American League president Ban Johnson in effect called Foster the rookie of the year: “It is a delicate thing for me to pick a player as the best youngster in the American League, but I feel that Foster deserves the distinction.” With a late-season boost, though, teammate Chick Gandil outpaced Foster.

Note: Rorschach's ghost appears on the back of this otherwise blank-backed card.

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The Old Fox
 

Player #28I: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

We go back to Deveaux's account of Griffith's early days in baseball: Griffith had developed a sore arm at the end of the previous season (1891), and no National League team bid for his services, so he found himself back in the minors at Tacoma, Washington. He rehabilitated his arm and had great success at Tacoma. His team was so strong, though, that the league ended up disbanding as a result. The Tacoma players hadn't been getting a paycheck for weeks anyway, so from there Griffith persuaded several of his teammates to follow him to Missoula, Montana; the townspeople there had offered to pay them Tacoma salaries to represent their team in the Montana State League, an outlaw association which pirated players from wherever it could. Missoula was a wild mining town full of gambling joints and saloons crowded along the one main street. In this atmosphere, Griffith became a hero, but it wouldn't be enough for a man who had already tasted the rewards of playing in the best leagues.

There were no offers coming Clark Griffith's way in 1893 either, so he headed for the west coast, where he joined Oakland of the tough Pacific Coast League. The star second baseman at Oakland was young Joe Cantillon. Again, Griffith was victimized by the instability of the minor-league baseball of the times. Unpaid for several weeks, he led an insurrection against the Oakland owners. The players refused to take the field for a game at San Francisco, and this precipitated a chain of events that led to the disbanding of the entire league.

Griffith had become close friends with Cantillon, and the two drifted up the California coast where they found work as, of all things, actors in a traveling vaudeville show. Griffith put his frontier background to good use, playing the part of an Indian who was shot, twice a night, by the six-shooting Cantillon. In late August, the young pitcher got his reprieve when the major leagues beckoned. James A. Hart, who had signed Griffith to his first contract with Milwaukee, had become president of the National League club at Chicago. Hart needed pitching help for his hapless Colts, and telegraphed Griffith, who proved of little use. Starting but two games, he was hit solidly. The 23-year-old righty made two relief appearances, one of them in Washington, his first appearance in the city where he would leave his most indelible mark. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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John Henry
 

Player #62B: John P. Henry. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1910-1917. 397 hits and 55 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He ended his career with the Boston Braves in 1918. His best season was 1916 with the Washington Senators as he posted a .364 OBP with 46 RBIs in 376 plate appearances.

John Henry, went to Amherst College and (through 2008) holds the record for the most at-bats by a major leaguer out of the school. After his major league days he continued to play in the minors through 1923. He coached Cornell University in 1920.

In the majors he was a defensive expert without much of a batting average or much power, but he did draw walks and could steal a base.

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The Big Train
 

Player #54G: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux addresses a development in 1916: Boston had a southpaw who was providing worthy opposition to Walter Johnson as the league's best pitcher. While Johnson, with his easy whiplike sidearmer, remained overpowering in 1916 -- leading in wins (25), strikeouts, complete games and innings pitched -- he also lost 20 games for the second time in his career. Thirteen of those defeats were by a single run, and four were of the disheartening 1-0 variety. Meanwhile, the big raw youngster of the Red Sox, George Herman "Babe" Ruth, led the American League in earned average, starts, and shutouts (nine, still the single-season league record for a lefthander).

Ruth would also establish a dominance over the Big Train when the two were the pitchers of record. Ruth would win the first six matchups, including a 13-inning barnburner. Within a few short years, however, American League batters would be rejoicing when Ruth would be converted into the greatest offensive phenomenon ever to grace a baseball diamond. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Pinch McBride
 

Player #56D: George F. "Pinch" McBride. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1908-1920. 1,203 hits, 7 home runs, and 133 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. Debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. Has the lowest batting average of any player with 5,000 MLB at-bats. Managed the Washington Senators in 1921 but was struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice and forced to retire.

. . . Never strong from the plate, McBride did not hit for either average or power. He compiled a paltry .218 lifetime batting average with just seven home runs, and never collected more than 26 extra base hits in any season. His most productive and consistent offensive seasons in the AL were from 1908 through 1911, during which he averaged between .230 and .235 a season. His hitting declined in the years following, as his average dipped to only .203 and .204 in 1914 and 1915, respectively, while still playing full time. Relegated to part-time duty after that, McBride mustered only a .185 mark over his final four seasons. Like many bad hitters during the Deadball Era, McBride acquired a reputation as a good hitter in the clutch. Incredibly, F.C. Lane of Baseball Magazine once declared that there were “few worse men for the pitcher to face with men on base than this same quiet, flawless fielder …” . . .

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Deerfoot Milan
 

Player #39H: J. Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1907-1922. 2,100 hits and 495 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. 1912 and 1913 AL stolen base leader, including a then record 88 in 1912. His career OBP was .353. Managed the Washington Senators in 1922. His best season was probably 1911 for the Washington Senators as he posted a .395 OBP with 58 stolen bases and 109 runs scored in 705 plate appearances.

Milan's SABR biography: . . . Milan began the 1906 season by hitting .356 for Shawnee (Indian Territory) of the South Central League, but the team again disbanded before Milan received his pay. Disgusted with professional baseball, he was thinking about quitting when he received an invitation to join Wichita of the Western Association. “I felt none too sure that I could make good there, for the company was much faster,” Clyde recalled. That partial season in Wichita saw him hit just .211, but he returned in 1907 and batted .304 with 38 stolen bases in 114 games, attracting the attention of Washington manager Joe Cantillon, who had seen him in a spring exhibition. That summer Cantillon dispatched injured catcher Cliff Blankenship to Wichita with orders to purchase Milan’s contract, then go to Weiser, Idaho, to scout and possibly sign Walter Johnson. In later years Clyde loved to relate Blankenship’s remarks during his contract signing: “He told me that he was going out to Idaho to look over some young phenom. ‘It looks like a wild goose chase and probably a waste of train fare to look over that young punk,’ Blankenship said.” Milan cost the Nats $1,000, while Johnson was secured for a $100 bonus plus train fare. . . .

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Ray Morgan
 

Player #65B: Raymond C. "Ray" Morgan. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1911-1918. 630 hits and 88 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .348. His best season was 1913 as he posted a .369 OBP with 19 stolen bases in 565 plate appearances. He has an odd link to Babe Ruth: in 1917, he led off a game by drawing a 4-pitch walk from Boston starter Ruth, who was then ejected from the game by the home plate umpire. Ruth was replaced by Ernie Shore and Morgan was thrown out attempting to steal on Shore's first pitch. Shore then retired the next 26 batters he faced. Shore's "perfect game" was eventually down-graded to a "combined no-hitter" by subsequent revisions in the MLB criteria.

Morgan's SABR biography: During the 1913 season, he began to draw Griffith’s ire, who didn’t like Morgan’s frequent trips home to Baltimore by automobile to socialize with his friends. Travel by car, even the 30 or so miles between Washington and Baltimore, could be an adventure in those days. Morgan also developed a reputation as a fun-loving cut-up on road trips. He was an accomplished piano player, able to accompany any song his teammates wanted to sing. He’d break out in song by himself in hotel rooms or on trains “in that high tenor of his,” often in conjunction with a teammate or two. When these performances came late at night, they surely would not have pleased Griffith, a stickler for training rules.

Spring training in 1914 was the first of several to which Morgan reported well over his playing weight. Although a March 24 report praised his pre-season hitting, it noted that “Morgan is still considerably overweight.” He again started at second base on opening day. Morgan “Chevrolets to Baltimore and back twice a week,” the Washington Times wrote. Driving a car still was unusual enough that when Germany Schaefer, his roommate on the road, joined Morgan as an automobile owner, it was news. So was Griffith’s concern for his player’s safety.

The concern proved warranted. On April 10, Morgan’s auto collided with a Baltimore trolley car. He and two friends were on their way back to Washington. Morgan and another man were thrown from the automobile. All three men were shaken up but uninjured. “The machine was so badly damaged that it had to be abandoned,” a newspaper reported.

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74B: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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.

Here is Deveaux's account of Rice's development beginning in 1916: The Senators' offence took another step backwards in 1916, putting the Nats in that regard pretty much on a par with the pathetic A's at the bottom of the league. In a case not unlike Ruth's, the Nats were taking notice of the hitting skills of pitcher Sam Rice. Washington third baseman Edie Foster, for one, was convinced that Rice, with his flat stroke, should give hitting a try. Rice himself became convinced he should when pitcher George "Hooks" Dauss of the Tigers, a notoriously weak hitter, banged a game-winning triple off him.

Given some time in the outfield, Sam Rice hit .299 in nearly 200 at-bats and was on his way to his Hall of Fame induction in 1963. A model of consistency over 19 years with the Senators, Rice would never hit below .294. (He played one final year with the Indians in 1934 and hit .293 at age 44.) He was the classic contact-type hitter who practically never struck out; he did so only 275 times in 20 years. He had no power but hustled enough to hit a good number of doubles and triples; his career high in homers was six, and his life-time total 34. Of Sam Rice's 33 round trippers as a Senator, not one in 19 years was hit over the fence at home, testimony to National Park's disheartening dimensions. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Howie Shanks
 

Player #75B: Howard S. "Howie" Shanks. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1912-1922. 1,440 hits and 185 stolen bases in 14 MLB seasons. His best season was 1921 with Washington as he posted an OBP of .370 with 81 runs scored and 69 RBIs in 647 plate appearances. He finished his career with the New York Yankees in 1925.

We go back to Shanks' SABR biography: He was rated an “ordinary hitter” but was “one of the few outfielders who frequently take part in infield plays” because he learned the art of positioning better than most. Numerous stories over his early years–accurately or otherwise–rated him as tops among left fielders in the game.

Shanks improved to .254 in 1913, despite what at first seemed like a broken foot (but was not) and then a turned ankle in mid-September. This season was the closest the Senators came to contending during his 11 seasons with Washington; they finished in second place, 6 1/2 games behind the Athletics. After the season, the famous Bonesetter Reese of Youngstown found a dislocated tendon in Shanks’s ankle and manipulated it back into position. (We will return to this account when Shanks next surfaces in our progression.)

This thread will now pause. Expected restart: 23 November

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Until this informative thread makes a return, I leave you all with an incredibly large scan of a slim and trim Howard Shanks M101-4 Sporting News card with tougher to read, and less informative, scribbling on the back.

The incredibly large scan does have one side benefit - it is providing a better view of the enormous hat the woman spectator is wearing.

Brian

1917 Washington Senators
 

Thanks to Brian for the Howie Shanks card, which memorializes a player who will always have special appeal to me because his name reminds me of my golf game. Meanwhile,

The 1917 Washington Senators won 74 games, lost 79, and finished in fifth place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The Senators this season hit only four home runs for the entire campaign, second only to the 1908 Chicago White Sox in the modern era, who hit three. First baseman Joe Judge accounted for 50% of them, with two home runs for the season.

Deveaux leads in to the 1917 season: Attendance was down in Washington in 1917, where wartime seems to have had a particularly sobering effect. The Senators lost over $40,000 and could not have stayed afloat without the support of the men who sat on the board of directors. The franchise continued to operate because of loans the directors were able to personally underwrite. On the field, things were nearly as grim. The club climbed to fifth in 1917, but actually dropped two games off the previous year's pace.

Sam Rice led the offence, cracking the .300 mark during his first full season as a hitter and finishing at .302. George McBride, the regular shortstop since 1908, was replaced adequately by Howard Shanks, an outfielder with the Senators since 1912. Shanks' substitute in the outfield was Mike Menosky, from a place called Glen Campbell, PA., who hit .258. Joe Judge improved from a .220 hitter as a rookie to .285 in his sophomore year at age 23, but in July he broke his leg as a result of a sliding mishap.

Clyde Milan managed to improve to .294 after an off year in '16, and was joined by his brother Horace, who had been brought up for a second cup of coffee. Between the '15 and '17 seasons, Horace Milan got 32 hits in an even 100 at-bats, for a cool .320 career average frozen forever in time. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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George, welcome back! I truly missed your daily posts about the Senators.

And, in further recognition of your mention that in 1917, in his first year as a regular position player, Sam Rice broke the .300 mark, here are my two favorite 1917 Sam Rice rookie cards:

I just saw this thread and Coincidentally just watched this YouTube video on antiques roadshow.

https://youtu.be/noiJQZ3zzrk

1867 Baseball
 

Thank you, Val, for the sharp Rice RCs. And thank you, Lucas, for the video showing an (very) early Washington baseball pin. In response to Lucas' contribution, I will defer today's scheduled segment and digress briefly:

Washington was more active and important to the early development of baseball than most people might think. For example, it was the Nationals, a team of "government clerks", who went on the first "western swing" in 1867, two years before the Red Stockings' more famous tour. They went undefeated, including beating the Cincinnatis with Harry Wright in the lineup, 53-10, until shockingly they lost to the Forest City Club from Rockford, IL, a team of schoolboys, 29-23. The winning pitcher was seventeen-year-old A. G. Spalding, a Rockford grocery clerk.

Shirley Povich continues: The defeat of the Nationals was as sensational as their string of victories had been. Unfeelingly, the Chicago newspapers taunted the Nationals for that defeat by the Rockford schoolboys and predicted a victory the next day for their own "Champions of the West," the Chicago Excelsiors, who were to be the Nationals final opponents on the tour. The Excelsiors earlier in the month had twice defeated the Forest City conquerors of the Nationals, and in anticipation of further humiliation of the Washington club, the largest crowd ever to witness a baseball game in the West paid the admission fee of half a dollar.

Humiliation was the word for what took place that day, but it was the Excelsiors, not the Nationals, who were humbled. The Nationals took an early 7-0 lead to demoralize the Excelsiors completely and give them a sound beating by a score of 49 to 4. It was a glorious finish to the tour of the Nationals.

And then scandal broke briefly. The Chicago Tribune flatly accused the Washington club of "throwing" the Rockford game for betting purposes before taking on the Excelsiors. In high outrage, president Jones of the Nationals, accompanied by Arthur Pue Gorman, stomped into the Tribune office and compelled a retraction of the charge. (The Washington Senators by Shirley Povich.)

(By the way, Gorman would go on to become a senator from Maryland and give impetus to the use of the nickname "Senators" for future Nationals teams.)

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Eddie Foster
 

Player #77B: Edward C. "Eddie" Foster. Third baseman with the Washington Senators in 1912-1919. 1,490 hits and 195 stolen bases in 13 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .329. He debuted with the New York Highlanders in 1910. His first season in Washington was one of his best as he posted a .345 OBP with 98 runs scored and 27 stolen bases in 682 plate appearances. His final season was with the St. Louis Browns in 1922-1923.

Deveaux takes up Foster's greatest ability: It was during this period (beginning in 1912) that Griffith developed the famous "run-and-hit" play, which mainly featured the 5'6 1/2" Eddie "Kid" Foster, who was very adept at placing his hits. Griffith insisted Foster was even better than the former crony he had just let go, Willie Keeler. Instead of employing the hit-and-run, then already in vogue, it was assumed that with Kid Foster at the plate, any Senator baserunner would be going, so skilled was Foster at placing the ball where he wanted.

Foster hit .285 in his rookie year and led the league in at-bats, an accomplishment he would replicate three more times. Not only was he a complete player, but he had great endurance as well, missing no games in four of his first five seasons in Washington. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Bert Gallia
 

Player #78: Melvin A. "Bert" Gallia. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1912-1917. 66 wins and 10 saves in 9 MLB seasons. His career ERA was 3.14. His best season may have been 1915 with Washington as he posted a record of 17-11 with a 2.29 ERA in 259.2 innings pitched. His final season was 1920 with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Bert Gallia pitched nine years in the majors, mostly in the American League and primarily for the Washington Senators, for whom he won 17 games two years in a row.

Gallia was the first American League pitcher to hit three batters in the same inning, when he plunked batsmen thrice in the first frame of a June 20, 1913 game, while pitching for the Washington Senators.

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Harry Harper
 

Player #79: Harry C. Harper. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1913-1919. 57 wins and 5 saves in 10 MLB seasons. His best season was 1918 with Washington as he posted an 11-10 record with a 2.18 ERA in 244 innings pitched. His final season was 1923 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Harper's SABR biography presents Harper's unusual contract and his eventual transition from Wahington to Boston: In January 1914 a story about Harper ran nationally. He returned his contract because it had omitted a clause on which his mother had insisted, excusing him from playing baseball on Sundays. Semipro ball on Sundays was apparently acceptable; Davis had first discovered Harper playing on a Sunday. The only other ballplayer with a clause excusing him from working on Sundays was Christy Mathewson. . . .

. . . Washington Post sportswriter J.V. Fitz Gerald wrote in late March 1919 that Harper “has never looked better” and that he “appears to be a certainty to have the best year of his career.” Instead, he had the worst, losing 21 games – more than any other pitcher in the league. Walter Johnson was 20-14, but Harper was 6-21, with an ERA of 3.72. He walked 97 batters and struck out only 87.

Three of Harper’s six wins were against the Boston Red Sox, and he lost three times to the Red Sox by scores of 2-0, 4-3, and 2-1. With a little run support, he could well have won at least two of those games. In the 49 innings he worked against Boston, he had a 1.65 ERA. The Red Sox were impressed. Two days before the end of the year, they traded for him. The Red Sox sent Braggo Roth and Red Shannon to Washington for Eddie Foster, Mike Menosky, and Harper. Harper was the main target in the trade. The Boston Globe thought the Red Sox got the better part of the trade and that, in the 24-year-old Harper’s case, “It would appear that he has the best part of his baseball career ahead of him.” For his part, Harper was thinking of quitting, and attending to his growing business in Hackensack. He was a holdout – he wanted a higher salary and he still refused to play on Sundays.

The 1920 Red Sox, now without Babe Ruth, finished fifth. Harper’s 3.04 ERA was one of the best on the staff (the team ERA was 3.82), but his 5-14 record was similar to that of the year before. He won his first two starts, then lost 10 straight decisions – and in those 10 losses his teammates produced a total of 14 runs. It’s hard to win games if there’s little or no offense. One of those games was against the Senators and neither Harper nor Walter Johnson allowed a run through six innings. The Senators scored once in the top of the seventh, but Johnson no-hit the Red Sox for a 1-0 win. Only one man reached base, on an error that marred an otherwise perfect game.

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John Henry
 

Player #62C: John P. Henry. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1910-1917. 397 hits and 55 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He ended his career with the Boston Braves in 1918. His best season was 1916 with the Washington Senators as he posted a .364 OBP with 46 RBIs in 376 plate appearances.

Deveaux explains Henry's role in advocating player rights: An interesting aside to the 1917 season, especially in light of the inevitable emancipation of baseball players still more than a half-century away, were the efforts of Senators catcher John Henry. Henry had become involved in the Baseball Players' Fraternity and tried to convince his reticent teammates to join in a united front which would seek to obtain better wages and playing conditions. League president Ban Johnson promised to crush Henry and all others of his ilk.

Henry, in no way intimidated, proclaimed that Ban Johnson had no power to drive him out of the American League, and that the prexy was obviously trying to make him the "goat" in the midst of an embarrassing situation. If the league president insisted on picking on him because he was a friendly fellow, well-liked by teammates and owners alike, that was okay with Henry. Ban Johnson, Henry declared, was "crazy for power." The rebellion died down, however. After being forced to accept a $1,200 cut on his salary of $4,600, Henry, a .190 hitter in '17, was unceremoniously sold right out of the league to the Boston Braves, where his career ended after just 102 more at-bats. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Pinch McBride
 

Player #56E: George F. "Pinch" McBride. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1908-1920. 1,203 hits, 7 home runs, and 133 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. Debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. Has the lowest batting average of any player with 5,000 MLB at-bats. Managed the Washington Senators in 1921 but was struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice and forced to retire.

. . . Although considered relatively even-tempered and easygoing, McBride was a fiery competitor, subject to sudden bursts of temper. The most prominent of these occurred on June 30, 1916. McBride was facing Carl Mays of the Boston Red Sox, a notorious head hunter. Following some verbal jostling between the two, McBride was struck in the arm while protecting himself from a pitch that was tracking perilously close to his head. McBride stepped to the side of the plate, waited a few seconds, then wheeled and fired his bat at the Bosox pitcher, missing him by only a couple of feet. A lively altercation between the two teams ensued, a highlight of which was the Red Sox catcher Sam Agnew‘s sucker punch that landed in the face of Senators skipper Clark Griffith. . . .

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Deerfoot Milan
 

Player #39I: J. Clyde "Deerfoot" Milan. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1907-1922. 2,100 hits and 495 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. 1912 and 1913 AL stolen base leader, including a then record 88 in 1912. His career OBP was .353. Managed the Washington Senators in 1922. His best season was probably 1911 for the Washington Senators as he posted a .395 OBP with 58 stolen bases and 109 runs scored in 705 plate appearances.

Milan's SABR biography picks up Milan's life after his days as a player: That marked the end of his major-league playing career, but he continued to play in the minors in Minneapolis in 1923, while serving as player-manager at New Haven in 1924, and Memphis in 1925 and 1926. After retiring as an active player, Milan coached for Washington in 1928 and 1929 and managed Birmingham from 1930 to 1935 and Chattanooga from 1935 to 1937. He also scouted for Washington in 1937 and served as a coach for the Senators from 1938 through 1952.

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Ray Morgan
 

Player #65C: Raymond C. "Ray" Morgan. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1911-1918. 630 hits and 88 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .348. His best season was 1913 as he posted a .369 OBP with 19 stolen bases in 565 plate appearances. He has an odd link to Babe Ruth: in 1917, he led off a game by drawing a 4-pitch walk from Boston starter Ruth, who was then ejected from the game by the home plate umpire. Ruth was replaced by Ernie Shore and Morgan was thrown out attempting to steal on Shore's first pitch. Shore then retired the next 26 batters he faced. Shore's "perfect game" was eventually down-graded to a "combined no-hitter" by subsequent revisions in the MLB criteria.

Morgan's SABR biography: On July 30 (1914) in Detroit, Morgan was at the center of one of the worst riots involving players, spectators, and police at a 20th century major league game. The umpire, Jack Sheridan, was a respected veteran, but his failing eye-sight meant he no longer worked behind the plate. Called out on a close play at first base, Morgan threw dirt at Sheridan’s feet. The umpire immediately ejected Morgan before decking him with a punch. Morgan got up and began swinging at the umpire. Griffith, coaching third, and McBride rushed to try to pull the two apart. As McBride was trying to restrain Sheridan, Eddie Ainsmith, the Nats’ catcher who was coaching first, landed a glancing blow on the umpire. Ainsmith also was ejected.

By this time, members of both teams had come out of their dugouts. As Morgan and Ainsmith headed off the field, spectators began yelling abuse at Ainsmith as he approached the stands. A fan and the player began exchanging blows before the fan picked up a chair and heaved onto the field, hitting one of the Nats. The fans behind the Detroit dugout came out of the stands and began pummeling Morgan. Several players on both teams came to his rescue.

At this point, people from the bleachers were running across the field toward the brawl. The police from a station adjacent to the ballpark arrived in force. With the help of the players, they got the fans back into the grandstands. The Senators demanded that the fan who threw the chair be arrested, but the police declined. Detroit owner Frank Navin showed up and persuaded several belligerent spectators to leave. Despite an appeal from Griffith, no action was taken against Sheridan, who suffered sun stroke during an August game and died that fall. Morgan was suspended for a week and Ainsmith for two.

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Sam Rice Part 1
 

Player #74C: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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.

Carroll touches on Rice's 1917 campaign Part 1: Historians pinpoint the period between 1915 and 1920 as the precise time when pitcher workloads had decreased to the point that everyday players, on average, finally became more valuable than top pitchers. Hence, given the choice of where to play multi-skilled players like Ruth, Rice, Sisler, and all the others, managers decided more and more often that they wanted their best players on the field every day.

As the start of the 1917 season neared, Clark Griffith had long since decided that Rice would be an everyday position player, especially after his strong performance at the plate during his second-half tryout in 1916. Where exactly Rice would play was still something he was figuring out, however. Joe Judge, who had received most of the playing time at first base the year before, struggled as a rookie, batting just .220. So Griffith contemplated trying Rice at first. Rice understood the mental aspects of the position. And Griffith was pleased with his arm strength and accuracy in case he needed to make throws to other bases on the diamond. There was one problem, though -- Rice couldn't field ground balls. It was an issue that would continue to plague Rice for years in the outfield, but it was much less of a problem for an outfielder than an infielder. Judge stayed at first -- a good decision, in hindsight. . . . (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74C: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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, mother, and two sisters were all killed by a tornado in Indiana.

Back to Carroll for Part 2: . . . On July 20, the day before the (1917) Senators bottomed out, the "great national lottery" was begun. Blind-folded Secretary of War, Newton Baker drew the first number, 258, from a glass jar. The draft was underway. And although enthusiasm regarding the war swept the United States as a whole, baseball, its product threatened, would eventually attempt -- unsuccessfully -- to battle for the exemption of its players.

For now, they carried on. The Senators rallied to finish with a 74-79 record, good for fifth place and well behind the runaway train that was the Chicago White Sox. Rice had immediately proven his value as an everyday player. He appeared in all of the Senators' games, every one of them in right field, and his .302 batting average made him the only Washington player to top the .300 mark. He also stole thirty-five bases.

"The case of Sam rice is one of the most interesting of the baseball season," a newspaper writer noted. "Rice is a natural hitter and as he is still a youngster there seems no reason, if his baseball career is not interrupted, why he should not in another year rank with the consistent .300 batters. His is but another case of a pitcher who has become a good fielder.

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Howie Shanks
 

Player #75C: Howard S. "Howie" Shanks. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1912-1922. 1,440 hits and 185 stolen bases in 14 MLB seasons. His best season was 1921 with Washington as he posted an OBP of .370 with 81 runs scored and 69 RBIs in 647 plate appearances. He finished his career with the New York Yankees in 1925.

We go back to Shanks' SABR biography: Through 1916, Shanks played almost exclusively as an outfielder. But, in 1916, he played six different positions, though primarily left field (71 games) and third base (31 games). Already in September 1916, Griffith started talking about using Shanks regularly at shortstop. He did just that in 1917, and Shanks appeared in 90 games at short against just 26 in the outfield. He also played a couple of games at first base. By the end of his career, the only positions he had never played were pitcher and catcher.

His batting averages fluctuated around .240 for his first eight seasons with Washington, but in 1920 he hit for a .268 average (his best to that date) and hit four homers (matching the four he’d hit in 1914). He topped both figures, by a big margin, in 1921. It was his career year, perhaps also reflecting the livelier baseball. Shanks hit .302, knocked out seven home runs, and led the league with 18 triples. The most triples he’d hit before was also in 1914, with 10. He established career highs with 69 RBIs and 81 runs scored.

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Elmer Smith
 

Player #80: Elmer J. Smith. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1916-1917. 881 hits and 70 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He was a 2-time World Series champion -- 1920 with Cleveland and 1923 with the New York Yankees. In 1920, he hit the first grand slam in World Series history. In 1916, he was the first to hit a fair ball over the wall at Griffith Stadium. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps/Indians in 1914-1916. His best season was 1920 with Cleveland as he posted a .391 OBP with 12 home runs in 527 plate appearances. His last season was with the Cincinnati Reds in 1925.

Smith's time in Washington was relatively uneventful, but his SABR biography talks to his participation in a World Series game that included some important "firsts": It is often said that no matter how many times a person may go to the ballpark, chances are good they might see something occur that they had not seen before. That experience is even more enhanced if the achievement or the play is of the record-setting variety. The 26,884 patrons who pushed through the turnstiles at League Park in Cleveland on October 10, 1920, witnessed a day of “firsts” in World Series history.

With the best-of-nine Series tied at two games apiece, Brooklyn manager Wilbert Robinson selected spitball pitcher Burleigh Grimes to face Cleveland’s Jim Bagby in a rematch of Game Two. In that contest, Grimes had little trouble dispatching the Indians in a 3-0 shutout to even the Series at a win apiece. Now he was being called on again to deliver the victory on enemy soil.

But the drama was short-lived as Cleveland loaded the bases in the first inning on consecutive singles by Charlie Jamieson, Bill Wambsganss, and Tris Speaker. Up stepped right fielder Elmer Smith, who had not fared well in Game Two against Grimes, going hitless in four at-bats. But the left-handed Smith led the Indians with 12 home runs in the regular season, including two grand slams. Grimes threw his money pitch, offering two spitballs that Smith swung at badly and missed. After throwing a pitch for a ball, Grimes fired a fastball down the middle. Smith connected solidly, sending the baseball high over the right-field fence, clearing the attached screen, and across Lexington Avenue. The crowd cheered with delight, as the Tribe took an early 4-0 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. It was the first grand slam in World Series history.

In the fourth inning Bagby connected on a homer, a three-run shot. The home run was the first by a pitcher in the World Series and ended Grimes’s day. In the fifth inning the Robins got consecutive singles from Pete Kilduff and Otto Miller. Clarence Mitchell stepped up to the plate and the relief pitcher hit a liner to second baseman Wambsganss. Wamby moved to his right, leaped, and snared the liner. The runners were moving, and Wamby stepped on second base, turned, and tagged a shocked Miller for the third out. The Robins catcher was not the only one caught off guard. The whole park fell silent, trying to figure out what had just unfolded on the field. Then an eruption of cheers echoed through the autumn air. Almost a century later it remained the only unassisted triple play in a World Series.

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Earl Yingling
 

Player #81: Earl H. Yingling. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1918. 25 wins and a 3.22 ERA in 5 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1911. In 1913 with the Brooklyn Dodgers/Superbas, he posted an 8-8 record with a 2.58 ERA in 146.2 innings pitched.

Yingling's MLB experience was not extensive and his time in Washington was the least of it. He is remembered now, if at all, as an example of a player who's name would have inspired the use of nicknames that would not be considered politically-correct today.

The following is an Author's Note to Yingling's SABR biography. Author's Note by Chris Rainey: Baseball-reference.com mentions that Yingling had the nickname of “Chink”. In my research this nickname was never used in any game stories or articles about him that I read. The Encyclopedia of Minor Leagues uses the nickname in their 1993 edition for the 1915 season. I reached out to SABR member Stew Thornley, who is highly knowledgeable about Minneapolis baseball. He had never seen the name in use and checked the 1915 season without finding any usage. I did find one article poking fun that Yingling and Siglin (Paddy) sounded like a menu item in a Chinese restaurant.

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1918 Washington Senators
 

The 1918 Washington Senators won 72 games, lost 56, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

Deveaux takes us through the 1918 season: Crippling to baseball at this time was the reality of war and the government's refusal to yield to Ban Johnson's pleas for draft deferments for baseball players. On May 23, 1918, baseball was shocked to learn that Secretary of War Newton D. Baker's "Work to Fight" order meant that all able-bodied men of draft age either had to enlist or otherwise engage in work considered essential for the war effort. Washington catcher Eddie Ainsmith, granted a deferment earlier, was now ordered to sign up, and his became the test case on which the fate of the game depended. On July 19, War Secretary Baker announced that baseball was not adjudged to be an essential war activity.

League president Ban Johnson shocked everyone by announcing that the season would end, and suddenly, in just two days. By now, the owners had had enough, and Clark Griffith stepped into the breach. Griffith was friendly with the Secretary of War. Even though the war was dragging on, Griffith was able to convince Newton Baker to allow baseball players, who were in shape anyway, to do military drills prior to games, with baseball bats instead of weapons no less. In Washington, young Assistant Navy Secretary Franklin D. Roosevelt led some of these drills.

Griffith obtained assent from War Secretary Baker for baseball to continue until Labor Day, with an extra two weeks allotted for the World Series. No doubt riding a patriotic wave, Griff reciprocated by sponsoring a fundraising drive which netted $100,000 to buy baseball equipment for servicemen in Europe. The first supply of gear reportedly ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic, sunk by a German U-boat. . . .

. . . Walter Johnson was the one bright spot for the club early in the season, and the Nationals were struggling to stay out of seventh place as late as June. Following a two-week slump in July, the club was hot from then on and finished within four games of the Red Sox and first place, the best showing for the Washington franchise to this point. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54H: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux reports on Johnson's 1918 season Part 1: Walter Johnson shaved over a run a game off his earned run average, and with a minuscule 1.27 reclaimed the ERA title he had not won since 1913. At 23-13, he was tops in wins in the big leagues for 1918 and led the majors in strikeouts with 162, his lowest number among the eight league-leading totals he'd had to date. Incredibly, he finished every single game he was in: 29 starts and ten relief appearances. Always a good hitter, he was getting even better, batting .267 in 150 official at-bats and playing four games in the outfield, which he'd also done three years earlier.

On May 7, 1918, Babe Ruth homered off Walter Johnson at League Park, the first of his ten career dingers off the great one, although Barney prevailed in this game, 7-2. The day before, Ruth had appeared in the lineup for the first time at a position other than pitcher or pinch hitter, in a game at New York. He had hit a home run in that game, and Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert had wanted to buy Ruth's contract from the Red Sox right then and there.

On May 9, Walter picked up a win by pitching the tenth inning, and Ruth, the starter that day who'd gone all the way for Boston, was the loser. It was the last official matchup between the two, as Ruth was soon going to be an everyday player exclusively. He hit his last homer of the year against the Senators on September 27, although the Nats swept a doubleheader from the Yankees that day. Almost exactly nine years hence, the Babe would make even bigger headlines versus the Washington Senators. . . . (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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This team RPPC is designated as circa 1915 on the flip. A tip of the Kawika cap to Mark Fimoff for pointing out the presence of Wildfire Schulte (front row, 4th from right) which narrows the year to 1918, his only season with the Senators. I will stand corrected if I am wrong but I believe the player in the front row at far right is Merito Acosta which fine tunes the photo's date to sometime prior to May 25th when he was traded to the Phila Athletics. The absence of Sam Rice can be explained by the fact that he spent part of the season in the US Army in that war year.

Walter Johnson
 

David, great 1918 team photograph. Thanks for posting it to complete the introduction to 1918. 1918 did not see the issuance of any cards involving Senators (at least none that I have acquired); nor do I have any photos of the team (or of Walter) that are sourced to that year. But it was a good year for the team (and Walter), so I decided to include a couple of entries for that year in this thread. I am delighted that you were able to deliver an item that ties in to 1918. Today's post completes my input regarding 1918 (with another photograph from a different year, but "what are you gonna do", as Tony S. would say). 1919 will be richer, I believe.

Player #54H: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux reports on Johnson's 1918 season Part 2: . . . Walter Johnson's durability was being put to the ultimate test in 1918. Two days after defeating Ruth, he shut out Jim Bagley and the Indians (the league's best hitting team in 1918) by a 1-0 score. In his next start on May 15, he pitched the longest shutout in history. It took 18 innings before the Nats finally scored a run courtesy of a wild pitch by Claude "Lefty" Williams, another who would become implicated in the Black Sox scandal. Johnson gave up ten hits and a walk and fanned nine.

There were an extraordinary number of long games for Walter as the season wore on. While teams would play 17 percent fewer games in '18, the Big Train pitched exactly three fewer innings (325) than he did the previous year. On July 25 at St. Louis, he took another 1-0 decision, this one slightly shorter than the one in mid-May, in 15 innings.

Ten days later, on August 4, the Big Train pitched his second-longest game of the season, not to mention ever, going 17.1 innings only to lose 7-6 in a bizarre contest on a scorchingly hot day in Detroit. He faced a career-high 64 batters, giving up 16 hits and eight walks. Eleven innings intervened between the sixth and seventh Detroit runs, both driven in by Ty Cobb. Of Johnson's 88 career extra-inning decisions, an astonishing 15 took place in this season. Barney completed nine of them, including five which went 13 innings or longer. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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1919 Washington Senators
 

The 1919 Washington Senators won 56 games, lost 84, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

Deveaux looks at the 1919 season: Nineteen nineteen was not so successful. Despite some good elements -- solid bat production from the outfielders, and strong pitching performances from Johnson and Grunting Jim Shaw -- the Senators sank to seventh, their lowest standing in ten years. . . .

. . . Walter Johnson's best years had coincided with the decade now ending. He had led the league in strikeouts nine times during the period, and in shutouts and complete games six times. His 265 wins during the decade represented 35 percent of Washington's victories. Now 32, Johnson was supplanted as staff workhorse by Jim Shaw, who logged more innings and appearances than any pitcher in the league. For all of his superior work, though, Shaw finished with a 16-17 slate. While the Washington pitching staff was third-best in the league, the offense lacked punch and Clark Griffith was determined to get some. Clyde Milan and Eddie Foster had slowed down. In finishing seventh, the Senators together hit fewer home runs (24) than Boston's young Babe Ruth (29). (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Eddie Gharrity
 

Player #82A: Edward P. "Patsy" Gharrity. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1916-1923 and 1929-1930. 513 hits and 20 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He also played some first base and outfield. He had a career OBP of .331. His best season was 1921 as posted a .386 OBP with 55 RBIs in 455 plate appearances.

We will follow Gharrity's SABR biography as it traces his time in Washington: Ed Gharrity was a player, manager, umpire, scout, and coach during his professional career. Invited to spring training with the Washington Senators in 1916, he made an immediate positive impression. Catching for the rookies in an intrasquad game against the regulars in Charlottesville, Virginia, he threw out four would-be base stealers in the 1-1 tie. That started an eight-year stretch with the Senators. The highlight came on June 23, 1919, in Boston. In a battle between two second-division teams, Gharrity went 5-for-5 with a single, two doubles, and his first two major-league home runs. His total of 13 bases set an American League record that was broken by Ty Cobb in 1925. . . .

. . . Gharrity returned to the Senators in 1919 and found both Henry and Ainsmith gone. Val Picinich and Sam Agnew now headed the catching corps. Even so, Gharrity saw action in 60 games behind the plate. Judge was healthy, meaning Gharrity played very little first, finding himself in the outfield for 35 games. In 111 games, he batted .271 and launched his first home runs. It should be noted that Baseball-Reference calls him “Patsy.” That nickname did not become prevalent until 1921. He was “Eddie” for the first part of his career. . . .

Which doesn't explain how "Joe" got on his card!?

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Clark Griffith
 

Player #28J: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

Deveaux tells us that Griffith's control of the team was under pressure in 1919: In the boardroom, Clark Griffith found out that some of the directors had ideas that were quite different from his own in terms of what steps needed to be taken to improve the ballclub. With the dismal seventh-place showing, there were now calls for the Old Fox's hide. But this baseball team had become too important to Griffith. It occurred to him that if he could somehow gain control of the team, then, quite naturally, he couldn't be fired.

Connie Mack had once introduced Griff to William Richardson, a wealth grain exporter from Philadelphia. With backing Griffith was able to obtain from Richardson, he walked into the Metropolitan National Bank and got a loan for $87,000 that allowed him and Richardson to purchase about 85 percent of the team. They paid $15 a share, a terrific bargain as it would turn out. Taking over as majority owner and president, Griffith was granted the right to speak for Richardson's holdings as if they were his own. To signal his new status as owner, president, and manager of the Washington Senators, League Park, or National Park, was renamed Griffith Stadium and it was at this time that the stands stretching from the infield to the foul poles were made into double-deckers.

Clark Griffith was finally in a position to bring his little ballclub to unprecedented heights during the course of the free-wheeling decade that lay ahead. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Bucky Harris
 

Player #83A: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1919-1928. 1,297 hits and 167 stolen bases in 12 MLB seasons. 1924 and 1947 World Series champion. In 1975, inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Named player-manager of the Washington Senators in 1924 at age 27. "The Boy Wonder" led Washington to World Series victory as "rookie" manger. Managed Washington Senators in 1924-1928, 1935-1942, and 1950-1954. Managed the Detroit Tigers in 1929-1933 and 1955-1956. Managed the Boston Red Sox in 1934. Managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943. Managed the New York Yankees in 1947-1948, including winning the 1947 world Series. Served as the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1959-1960.

Jack Smiles explains how Harris was recruited: (outfielder Frank "Wildfire") Schulte and (first baseman Joe) Judge were still under contract with the Senators (despite being teammates with Bucky on the Baltimore Dry Docks in the fall of 1918). They had manager/owner Clark Griffith's ear and urged him to buy Bucky from (the) Buffalo (Bisons of the International League) for $5,000 but Griffith wasn't interested. . . .

. . . The Bisons were in Binghamton for a series in early August of 1919. Joe Casey, a 31-year-old catcher who had caught eight games for the Senators at the end of the 1918 season, leaned into Bucky on the field before the game. Nodding toward a box alongside the Bison dugout, he said, "(Washington scout, who was actually there to look at pitcher Pat Martin) Joe Engel's here to look you over." . . .

. . . Watching the game that day in Binghamton, Engel saw Bucky get in a fight with a much bigger player after a play at second base. Engel was impressed by the tough little second baseman and in his report to Griffith recommended he consider buying Bucky. Griffith knew of Bucky from Joe Judge and the Dry Docks but didn't consider him a major league-caliber batter. Engel persisted and convinced Griffith to take a look at Bucky for himself.

By the time Griffith got away, the Bisons were back in Buffalo. He left the Senators in Chicago on August 22, probably in the care of Nick Altrock, and caught a train to Buffalo. In the interim Bucky had taken a line drive to his right hand and injured his middle finger, though it wasn't known at the time just how bad the injury was. Bucky just taped the swollen digit to the next one and kept playing. A busted finger was a badge of honor to a mine boy. The day Griffith got to Buffalo, catcher Casey talked to Bucky on the field as he had when Engel was in Binghamton, saying, "there's the Old Fox himself."

Bucky stole a glance at Griffith. Though he was told Griffith was looking him over, he had a hard time buying it. Whether through luck or determination, or both, Bucky had the best day of his minor league career. He went 6-for-6 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, and handled 14 chances without an error in a double-header. After the game Griffith and Engel approached Bucky in the dugout just as he was unwrapping his fingers. Griffith complemented Bucky on his play that day and left.

That night (Buffalo manager George "Hooks") Wiltse called Bucky to his room and told him Griffith offered to buy Bucky for $4,500. Although (Bisons owner Joseph) Lannin (Side note: Lannin brought Babe Ruth to Boston as owner of the Red Sox before selling the team to Harry Frazee in 1917) had $5,000 on Bucky's head, Wiltse expected Lannin to make the deal. Later Engel said playing with that injured finger didn't hurt Bucky in Griffith's eyes. The Old Fox liked such gameness. The 6-for-6 day that raised his season average to .282, an all-time high for Bucky, couldn't have hurt. But there was a hitch. (New York Giants manager John) McGraw had an option on a Bison player due him. For a second time he (McGraw) passed on Bucky and chose pitcher Pat "Rosy" Ryan. The sale went through. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54H: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux summarizes Johnson's 1919 season: Johnson, who began the season with a 1-0 13-inning white-washing of the A's, his record fifth opening-day shutout, won 20 for the tenth straight year. It was an even 20, against 14 defeats. His dwarflike 1.49 ERA led the majors for the second year in a row, and is particularly remarkable considering 1919 was a year of much-increased hitting, with the league ERA shooting up nearly half a run per game to 3.21. Five of Barney's seven shutouts were by 1-0 scores, and he led the league in strikeouts for the eighth year in a row. On July 24, at Washington against the A's, he had his best inning ever, striking out the side on nine pitches.

In another of the many memorable games of his career, Johnson hooked up with spitballer Jack Quinn on May 11, the first ever legal Sunday baseball game in New York. Walter labored for 12 scoreless innings, retiring 28 consecutive batters and allowing only two hits, pitching to just one batter over the minimum. The game was called off prematurely at 6 P.M., due to New York owner Jacob Ruppert's misinterpretation of the new Sunday law, with the score still 0-0.

Of note is that in this particular game, rookie George Halas was fanned twice by the Big Train. Halas, later to become owner and longtime coach of the Chicago Bears football team, went 0-for-5 in this game, and 2-for-22 for his entire big-league career. These 12-inning shutouts on the part of both Johnson and Jack Quinn were not, however, the biggest story in baseball on May 11, 1919. Over in the other league, Hod Eller of the Cincinnati Reds spun a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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George, I can't resist showing another 1919 WaJo card in recognition of his leading the majors in ERA and the A.L. in strike outs for 1919.
Best,
Val

Val Picinich
 

Val, no reason to hesitate -- thanks for adding the beautiful Coupon. Speaking of Val's:

Player #84A: Valentine J. "Val" Picinich. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1918-1922. 743 hits and 26 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1916-1917. His most productive season was 1928 with the Cincinnati Reds as he posted a .343 OBP with 35 RBIs in 357 plate appearances. His last season was 1933 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Picinich's SABR biography tracks his time in Washington: For most of five seasons, Val Picinich was Walter Johnson’s personal catcher. He saw action during 18 major-league seasons, never playing in more than the 96 games he played for Cincinnati in 1928 – almost certainly his best year – and only playing as many as half his team’s games in six of the seasons. He caught three no-hitters in his big-league career. He was relatively compact – 5-feet-9 and 165 pounds, right-handed, and hit for a lifetime .258 batting average, quite good for catchers of his time, in 1,037 games in the majors. His career on-base percentage was .334. In April 1918, the Washington Evening Star dubbed him “a chunky chap of only average height, but is as strong as an ox and is a willing worker.” . . .

. . . Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators had been impressed with what he’d seen of Picinich’s work, and – knowing that catcher Ed Gharrity might have to join the service at any time – arranged with Atlanta (the Crackers of the Southern Association) at the end of April 1918 to deliver Picinich on demand. On May 26 he was traded to Washington for three players, intended to serve as backup to Eddie Ainsmith. He arrived just in time to get into the final inning of the second game on May 29. In the July 5 game, he picked one of the Yankees off third base and then singled in the winning run in the ninth inning for a 2-1 win.

Picinich played in 47 games for the 1918 Senators, batting .230 with 12 RBIs. The 1918 season ended early because of the World War; on August 1 Picinich reported to the Navy. He’d enlisted in mid-July. He was back on the Senators’ bench on August 24, on leave from the Navy, and joined the team for eight remaining games, while on furlough. He caught both games on August 25 – one of them Walter Johnson’s 22nd victory of the season – and figured in scoring three runs.

Yeoman third class Picinich was stationed in New York, and with the end of the war, he was told to expect an early discharge. Griffith believed in Picinich; the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that he regarded Picinich as “one of the coming star maskmen of the game” and might make him Walter Johnson’s battery partner. From the time he joined the Washington team for spring training in Augusta – still only 22 years old – Picinich was slated to become first-string catcher (though he faced some competition from Sam Agnew).

For the next four seasons, Picinich caught for the Senators. He enjoyed a very good season in 1919, batting .274, hitting his first three homers, and driving in 22 runs in 80 games. Much was expected of him for 1920, but Gharrity returned and Picinich played in only 48 games, not helping his cause by hitting .203. He did, however, catch the July 1, 1920, game when Walter Johnson no-hit the Boston Red Sox, 1-0. The third no-hitter he caught was for the Red Sox, in 1923.

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74D: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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.

Smiles provides an example of how attitudes were evolving in 1919: As the 1919 season opened, Rice showed little rust from his summer away from the game. Batting cleanup and back in his customary right field spot to start the season, Rice had his first three-hit game just five games into the season, in a 4-2 victory over the Red Sox. In late May, he made three spectacular catches in a row against the Yankees, in a game that saw him also smack three base hits. By mid-summer, Sam had really found his groove, putting together a seventeen-game hitting streak in July.

Rice was beginning to come into his own as a hitter and an outfielder, but was doing so in an odd transition year for major league baseball.

Maybe the culture was ripe in 1919 for a scandal like the one that was to soon devastate the game. In the aftermath of the World War, some Americans were still attempting to sort through their feelings about fierce competition. In the post-victory glow, brotherhood among Americans seemed to be preferred over cutthroat competitiveness, even on the field of play. That was illustrated by the reaction to Rice's actions at the plate in a mid-August game against the Red Sox.

In the seventh inning of a tight game, Rice came to the plate. Senators base runners stood on first and second, and the customs of the game in those last throes of the "dead-ball era" dictated that he sacrifice both teammates up a base. Boston third baseman Joe "Moon" Harris, a future teammate of Rice's, accordingly crept up onto the grass.

Like Rice, Harris was a veteran of the war in Europe. He had missed the entire 1918 campaign in service to the cause.

"Did Rice bunt?" reported the Washington Post. "He did not. Instead, he crossed Harris by whistling a line drive past him at a rate of ten miles a minute."

Because both men were veterans of the same war, it was felt that Rice had a gentleman's obligation to take care of Harris in the situation. Instead, he had embarrassed the Boston third baseman by slamming the ball past him.

Or so the newspaper felt.

"Sam Rice ought to be ashamed of himself," the Post said, "to take advantage of a fellow overseas veteran like Joe Harris as he did in the seventh."

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George, your W514 of Sam Rice is gorgeous - by far the nicest I've ever seen!

Here are 3 off-condition, but scarce, back variations of this card that I'm thrilled to have in the master set of Rice's cards that I'm working on:

Wildfire Schulte
 

Wow, Val. Very impressive. Thanks for sharing your rare examples. Makes you wonder how many different backs there once was. I'm curious whether you have seen other W514 backs with printed messages (as opposed to stamped)?

Player #85: Frank M. "Wildfire" Schulte. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1918. 1,766 hits and 92 home runs in 15 MLB seasons. 1907 and 1908 World Series champion. 1911 NL MVP. 1910 and 1911 NL home run leader. 1911 NL RBI leader. He debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1904-1916. His best season was 1911 with Chicago as he posted a .384 OBP with 107 RBI's and 105 runs scored in 690 plate appearances. He played on four pennant winners in Chicago and hit .321 in the four World Series. His last season was with Washington in 1918.

Schulte's SABR biography hits some of the highlights of his career: Frank M. Schulte was the slugging right fielder for the great Chicago Cubs teams of 1906-10. After his first start on September 21, 1904, “Wildfire” remained with the Windy City club until 1916, and outlasted the likes of Mordecai Brown, Frank Chance, Johnny Evers, and Joe Tinker, who by the end of Schulte’s days in Chicago, was managing the club. . . .

. . . While performing solidly during regular seasons, Wildfire hit full stride during his four World Series appearances. He owns a .309 lifetime average in the Fall Classic, hitting safely in all ten contests in the 1907 and 1908 championships and in all but one game in both the 1906 and 1910 season cappers. Wedged in his four Series appearances is Schulte’s thirteen game hitting streak, a record mark in his day that remains good enough to place him in a tie for fifth (with Harry Hooper) all-time in that category as of 2018.

No look at Schulte’s career is complete without mentioning his blockbuster 1911 campaign. Though the Cubs dropped to second in the final standings that season, Wildfire’s individual exploits earned him a new automobile, the prize for being voted the National League winner of the Chalmer’s Award, a short-lived honor that is roughly equivalent to today’s MVP award. On his way to establishing ownership of the “tin lizzy” (which ironically caught on fire near his plantation sometime later) Schulte mounted one of the era’s great assaults on National League pitching.

He had led the Cubs in homers in 1910 with ten, but, perhaps aided by a somewhat livelier “bulb” in 1911, the Cub right fielder clubbed twenty-one round trippers while driving home 121, both tops in the league. His league bests that year also included 308 total bases and a .534 slugging percentage. He was fourth in hits (173), fifth in runs (105), and became the first player ever to top the twenty mark in the categories of home runs, triples (21), doubles (30), and stolen bases (23). This feat was not duplicated until 1957 when Willie Mays similarly scorched the National League. For good measure, Schulte became the first player ever to clout four grand slams in one season, hit for the cycle on July 20, smashed a homer and a double in the same inning on August 15, and, perhaps surprisingly to modern fans weaned on sluggers who can’t and don’t bunt, was second in the league with thirty-one sacrifices. Finally, despite playing all 154 Cubs games that season, Wildfire even found time to get hitched; he married Mabel Kirby on June 26 in Chicago.

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George, I am aware of there being a couple of known W514 cards with a printed ad on the back for Robinson Caruso Salted Peanuts that were issued by a Lynchburg, VA, company, but I've never seen one of these cards in person. Here's the link to info re these cards: http://boblemke.blogspot.com/2015/11...f-w514-ha.html

Here are a few Wildfire Schulte cards for the heck of it. Nothing in Senators flannels however.

1920 Washington Senators
 

Thanks again to Val and David for contributing.

The 1920 Washington Senators won 68 games, lost 84, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux tells us about Washington's struggles in 1920: The Washington Nats, in the middle of the pack offensively, featured the worst pitching staff in the league and finished sixth in 1920, 29 games behind the Indians. Clark Griffith's skills in recognizing talent were beginning to show results all the same. The previous year, Griff had nearly signed Pie Traynor, a future Hall of Famer then at third base for the Pirates. The management of the Portsmouth club of the Virginia League had apparently doubled the price on Traynor despite an earlier agreement.

In the fall of 1919, Griffith was more fortunate. Both he and Joe Engel went to Buffalo to scout an infielder who played for a shipyard team in Baltimore and who had been highly recommended to them by Joe Judge. In the doubleheader they witnessed, this player, Stanley "Bucky" Harris, had an outstanding day at the plate, and did so with two fingers taped together because one was broken -- Harris wasn't going to miss a chance to show what he could do. Needless to say, Bucky Harris was signed, and as a rookie in the big leagues in 1920 he hit an even .300 and fielded reliably.

There is no telling what 32-year-old Walter Johnson might have accomplished in 1920 had he been at the top of his game. The Senators provided plenty of runs, but the Big Train responded with the worst campaign of his career. Afflicted with a sore arm after more than two weeks of rail travel while training in the South, he missed a season-opening assignment for the first time since 1911. He would wind up a disappointing 8-10. On May 14, he did register the 300th win of his career, a 9-8 decision over the Tigers, but kept alternating good performances with bad throughout the season. Not one Washington starter had better than a .500 record -- Tom Zachary logged the most innings and charted the best mark on the staff, 15-16. A Quaker who farmed tobacco in his native North Carolina, Zachary's smooth delivery would bring 15 or more wins to the Nats in three of the next four years. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Not many cards of WaJo were issued in 1920, but there was this D327 Type 1:

Elmer Bowman
 

Thanks Val.

Player #86: Elmer W. Bowman. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1920. He had two MLB pinch-hit plate appearances with one walk and one run scored. He never took the field.

Elmer Bowman is in the finals for who got the smallest drop of coffee. He got two pinch hitting opportunities and though he made an out and walked once for a career OBP of .500, he was replaced at first base following his walk by a pinch runner. He never played the field. And still . . . He faced the 1920 Indians, who would win that year's World Series, two weeks before Ray Chapman was killed by a pitched ball. He stepped in against Cleveland's ace Jim Bagby, on his way to a league-leading 31 wins that season, and flew out to Tris Speaker. He faced Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Chicago White Sox as rumors swirled regarding the previous year's World Series that would ultimately paint the team black. Time would reveal that he stepped in against one of the prominent Black Sox culprits, Lefty Williams and drew a walk.

He is also a member of the University of Vermont Hall of fame.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1671444218

Patsy Gharrity
 

Player #82B: Edward P. "Patsy" Gharrity. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1916-1923 and 1929-1930. 513 hits and 20 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He also played some first base and outfield. He had a career OBP of .331. His best season was 1921 as posted a .386 OBP with 55 RBIs in 455 plate appearances.

Gharrity's SABR biography: . . . Gharrity and Griffith had discussed salary before Eddie returned to Beloit. Griffith, thinking they were in agreement, had sent Gharrity home with a contract to sign and a $250 bonus in his pocket. Gharrity decided not to sign and held out for an additional $500. He even announced that he would play independent ball in Beloit. Griffith responded by asking all the teams under the National Commission to boycott Beloit and not play there. Finally, on March 12, Gharrity accepted Griffith’s terms and headed to camp. . . .

The Senators opened the 1920 season with Picinich and Gharrity the main catchers. Cuban utilityman Ricardo Torres was the third catcher if needed. Gharrity won the Opening Day spot and played 121 games at catcher. He hit three home runs, all on the road. Eddie would have had a fourth on September 12 in Chicago except for a baserunning gaffe by Frank Ellerbe. Ellerbe was on base when Gharrity drove one to deep left. When a roar went up, Ellerbe assumed the ball had been caught and went to shortstop instead of rounding the bases. Gharrity batted .245 in 428 at-bats, his career high. . . .

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54I: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux covers Johnson's 1920 season: In apparent defiance of all logic, it was during this troubled season (Johnson's career worst) that Walter Johnson threw the only no-hitter of his entire career. It was July 1, at Fenway Park in Boston, on his son Walter, Jr.'s fifth birthday. Johnson Sr., had in fact been detained that day because the young lad was feeling ill. The 13-year vet struck out ten and only five balls were hit beyond the infield. There were no walks, but it was not a perfect game. In the seventh, Bucky Harris missed what was by all accounts a soft grounder off the bat of future Hall of Famer Harry Hooper, who led off the inning for the Red Sox. Had that not happened, Johnson would have pitched the third perfect game in modern baseball history (since 1901) up to that time. The others had been authored by Cy Young, in 1904, and Addie Joss, in 1908.

The Big Train's best game of the year until then had been his previous start, a three-hit, no walk masterpiece in a 7-0 pasting of their Athletics, who thereby lost their 18th straight game. Johnson required only 72 pitches, and it was all over in just one hour and 18 minutes -- the most efficient game of his career. The win was the seventh in a row for the Nats and moved them past the Red Sox and into fourth place. But following the no hitter in his next start, there were no more heroics in store for Walter, who was plagued by a sore arm for the rest of the year.

In a way, Bucky Harris was heroic in Johnson's no-hit game as well, as it was he who drove in the game's only run, and Joe Judge saved the day in the ninth when, after Johnson had struck out two pinch hitters, the dangerous Hooper pulled a liner that Judge leaped for and caught cleanly off the ground. In no position to get to get to first in time to outrace Hooper, Judge had to relay to Johnson. The Big Train came in all right, and caught Judge's relay to nip Hooper. For extra theatrics, Johnson caught the ball with his bare hand. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.) (Note: Deveaux's use of "Hooper pulled a liner that Judge leaped for and caught cleanly off the ground" seems odd to me. Presumably, he describes a ball that bounced at least once before it got to Judge.)

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Clarification of W516 Walter Johnson cards posted in previous
 

As near as I can tell, the fourth card shown is mislabeled by PSA as a W516 2-2: It appears (to me at least) as though it is actually a W516 2-1. The fifth card shown appears to be labeled correctly as a W516 2-2. Alas, I do not have a W516 2-3 to complete the quintet.

George, you are correct. The fourth card is a W516-2-1. Here is a W516-2-3 to complete the quintet:

Pinch McBride
 

Thanks go to Val for completing the strange 5-card run of W516 Walter Johnson's from 1920-21.

Player #56F: George F. "Pinch" McBride. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1908-1920. 1,203 hits, 7 home runs, and 133 stolen bases in 16 MLB seasons. Debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. Has the lowest batting average of any player with 5,000 MLB at-bats. Managed the Washington Senators in 1921 but was struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice and forced to retire.

. . . Fittingly, as the Deadball Era wound down, so did McBride’s playing career. He was replaced as the Senators’ regular shortstop in 1917 by Howard Shanks, reducing his playing time to 50 games that season. He remained on the roster through 1920, but saw his playing time further curtailed, never again playing in more than 18 games in a season. However, his primary role with the Senators during these final seasons was not as a player, but as a “manager in training” under the watchful eye of Clark Griffith. During this time he served as an instructor to the team’s younger infielders, as a base coach, and as a fill-in as manager when Griffith was away from the team scouting or tending to other front office duties. Prior to the 1921 season, Griffith stepped away from his on-field duties and appointed McBride the new team manager, the first in a long line of ex-Washington players to take the reins for Griffith. . . .

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1671704278

Sam Rice
 

Today's entry is made possible by the generous contribution of Val Kehl who provides images of today's card, a D327-1 Holsum Bread Sam Rice from 1920:

Player #74E: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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.

Carroll highlights Rice's 1920 season: Though Rice had shown promise in his previous two full seasons, the 1920 campaign was a breakthrough for him. Rice turned 30 years old two months before the season began, but played like a man entering the physical prime of his mid-twenties. He had 211 hits, the first of six times he'd reach the magic two hundred-hit mark during his career. Not that Rice was any kind of free swinger before, but he was getting the bat on the ball even more in 1920, striking out just twenty-six times in 624 at-bats. And he was durable, leading the team with 153 games played. In all of Rice's full seasons as an outfielder, in fact, he had led Washington in games played.

He also, once again, managed to finish among the top ten in the American League in hitting. Curiously, Rice's .338 final mark put him eighth in the league -- in 1917, he had finished eighth, as well, but batted just .302. It seemed that Rice wasn't the only American Leaguer in 1920 who was improving his hitting, however. (Lagging a little behind, the National League saw Brooklyn's Ed Konetchy finished eighth in that league with a much more modest .308 mark.) In a year and a league in which offense increased so dramatically, Rice managed to stay in the top five of the American League in batting for most of the summer. Well into August, the newspaper listings of the American League top five in hitting read the same almost every day -- Tris Speaker, followed by George Sisler, then Joe Jackson, Babe Ruth, and Rice. The first four spent a lot of the season flirting with the .400 mark. Rice couldn't seem to surpass his high-water mark of .370, a mark he actually reached as late as August 1 after a 4-for-5 game at Cleveland. . . .

. . . There were other memorable personal moments for Rice throughout the season. On June 26, Rice collected the 500th hit of his career. The fact was noted by the local press, curiously so since years later, fatefully, no one would seem to notice when he moved to the brink of 3,000 career hits. And his fielding prowess in the outfield was beginning to draw some attention, as well. A newspaper account of the team's July 25 game against the Philadelphia Athletics, a 4-3 Washington victory, noted "another one of his brilliant catches." In late August, he made a breath-taking one-handed catch in the deepest part of center field in Washington to rob Chicago's Eddie Collins of an extra-base hit. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Muddy Ruel
 

Player #87A: Herold D. "Muddy" Ruel. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1923-1930. 1,242 hits and 61 stolen bases in 19 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1915. He was the Yankees catcher in 1920 when Ray Chapman was hit and killed by a Carl Mays fastball. He scored the tying run in regulation and then the winning run in the 12th inning of game seven in the 1924 WS. His best season was 1923 with Washington as he posted a .394 OBP with 54 RBI's and 63 runs scored in 528 plate appearances. His final season as a player was 1934 with the Chicago White Sox. He was manager of the St. Louis Browns in 1947. He was GM of the Detroit Tigers in 1954-1956.

Ruel's SABR biography: Ruel spent the remainder of the 1918 season and all of 1919 and 1920 with the New York Yankees. The Yankees were not yet the powerhouse they would later become. Babe Ruth was still with Boston and the Yankees had yet to appear in a World Series.

On August 16, 1920, Ruel was a witness to one of the most tragic events in baseball history. Ruel was behind the plate when Carl Mays’ fateful pitch struck and killed Ray Chapman.

Later in the season, Ruel described the tragic event in detail to his old friend John B. Sheridan, who used Ruel’s insights for his column in The Sporting News. He made it clear in his eye-witness account that Carl Mays was not guilty of trying to kill Chapman. Ruel’s assessment was that it was a tragic accident.

(Aside: My grandson's surname is Chapman, which has given impetus to a small portion of my collecting. As a result, I wound up with this photo, despite it violating my well defined, but somewhat flexible, collection boundaries. I am including it here out of respect for the 1920 tragedy and Ruel's eventual role in Washington baseball history. This photograph served as the source image for Ruel's 1922 E120 American Caramel card.)

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Al Schacht
 

Player #88A: Alexander "Al" Schacht. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1919-1921. 14 wins and 3 saves in 3 MLB seasons. Was highly-regarded as a third base coach in Washington (1924-1934) and Boston (1935-1936). Performed player mimicry and comedy routines with fellow Washington coach Nick Altrock earning the nickname of "The Clown Prince of Baseball". After leaving coaching he continued comedy but settled in as a restauranteur.

Deveaux tells about one of Schacht's debut moments: Walter's (Johnson) arm hurt so much after this game (the game in which he no-hit the Red Sox) that he was not able to make his next start, the second game of a doubleheader, which was to follow a morning game against the Yankees at Griffith Stadium. Clark Griffith had advertised that Walter would be pitching, and he was hard up for someone to put out there as an emergency replacement. Asking for conscripts, he chose among the volunteers a grass-green rookie named Al Schacht. A New Yorker, Schacht would later write that he had sent Clark Griffith several letters in the past, in the manner effectively employed by Ty Cobb about fifteen years earlier. Schacht, who had simply signed the letters, "A. Fan," had begged Griff to scout a young phenom named Al Schacht.

We wouldn't be telling this story, naturally, if Schacht hadn't beaten the league's best offensive team that day. Babe Ruth, who would lead the league with his unbelievable total of 54 home runs, was the first to get a hit off Schacht -- in the fourth inning. Schacht came away with a seven-hitter and a 9-3 win, and needless to say, his pitching skills and penmanship earned him a tidy contract from Griffith for 1921. In this way began a playing career cut short by a sore arm, but followed by his very long run as a baseball comedian.

Widely recognized as the "Clown Prince of Baseball," Schacht became a full-time baseball comic in 1921, teaming up with Nick Altrock, coach and resident clown. The two revived some of the routines Altrock had first performed with Germany Schaefer. Eventually, Schacht would strike out on his own, touring major- and minor-league ballparks across America. His act, part pantomime and part anecdotes, got him bookings at 25 World Series and 18 All-Star games. During World War II, he would tour Europe, Africa and the Pacific theater with the USO. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Read thru this entire thread. A very in depth collection of cards and player history.

I will add a few more images from the W600 Series.

Holy Moses!
 

Great show, Scott.

Scott, I was aware that you had a very nice collection of W600s, but WOWZERS!!

While not nearly as gorgeous as any of Scott's W600s, but just as scarce, is this rough 1925 W504 Universal Toy & Novelty card of Al Schacht & Nick Altrock.

This National Photo of Schacht & Altrock appears in the Senators' 1924 WS Program.

1921 Washington Senators
 

Scott, I am delighted to see your fantastic run of W600 cards featuring Nationals players. Is that just the Washington entries in a much larger collection of W600's, or do you have a focus on Washington cards in the set? Either way it is an amazing collection of high-quality cards. Thank you for showing them here.

You too, Val, I am continually amazed by the things you come up with. Thanks for helping. Meanwhile:

The 1921 Washington Senators won 80 games, lost 73, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by George McBride and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux addresses the 1921 season which favored the Yankees and their new slugger over the Nats: McBride had an improving squad on his hands, and was able to guide the Nats to an 11.5-game improvement in the standings. They finished fourth, only a half game behind the Browns, but a full 18 games back of the Yankees. Babe Ruth arguably had the best season of his entire career in 1921, and that's saying something. Ruth had the kind of season only he has ever had in baseball history: 59 home runs, 171 RBIs, a .378 batting average, and an awesome .846 slugging percentage in 540 at-bats. It would remain his career best (Babe also had 540 at-bats in 1927, when he produced 60 homers, 164 ribbies, a .356 average, and slugged at .772.)

By contrast, the Senators in 1921 hit only 42 homers as a team. In fact, the Babe on his own hit more homers than any entire team except the Browns and the last-place A's. On May 7 of this season, Ruth slammed a drive toward center field off Walter Johnson; it was believed to be the longest ever in Washington up to that point. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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