1925 Washington Senators Part 5
 

By the end of August, Sam Rice had climbed to the top of the league batting race, a lead he would not be able to sustain. Also grabbing headlines in the baseball world was Yankees manager Miller Huggins, who announced that Babe Ruth was being suspended and fined $5,000 because of the Bambino's complete disregard for club rules. Ruth, whose bulk represented nearly twice the manager's, reportedly told Huggins that if he weighed 50 pounds more, he would have gotten a punch in the nose. Huggins shot back that if he had weighed 50 pounds more, it would have been the Babe's nose which would have been endangered.

The A's began what was to be a fatal string of losing games as August wound down. The Nats won every one of five games in a home-and-home series which began September 1 at Washington. In Philadelphia on September 7 for the traditional Labor Day doubleheader, Walter Johnson, who went 3-for-4 at the plate for the second time in a week against the A's, edged Lefty Grove 2-1 in the first game. A 7-6 Nats victory in the afternoon affair made it a horrifying 12 consecutive losses for the Athletics, and a nine-game lead for Washington.

The A's were officially eliminated and the Senators coasted to the pennant, finishing 8 1/2 ahead of the A's, and 15 up on the third-place Browns. Walter Johnson won his 20th before a large Ladies' Day Crowd in Washington on September 11, but hurt his leg sliding six days later. Reinjured while crossing home plate when he returned to play on September 20, he would be kept on the sidelines for the rest of the regular season as the Senators awaited a second successive World Series appearance. On September 23, it was announced that Johnson had a successor as the league's Most Valuable Player -- it was none other than shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh.

The 1924 American League MVP congratulates the 1925 American League MVP:

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As George mentioned, "Peck" was the 1925 AL MVP.

1925 Washington Senators Part 6
 

On September 28, the Senators were guests of President Calvin Coolidge at the White House, becoming the first reigning World Series champions to visit the White House.

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Ossie Bluege
 

Player #89B: Oswald L. "Ossie" Bluege. Third baseman for the Washington Senators in 1922-1939. 1,751 hits and 43 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1935 All-Star. 1924 World Series champion. He played his entire career in Washington. He was best known for his defense, but his best season at the plate was 1928 as he posted a .364 OBP with 78 runs scored and 75 RBIs in 588 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1943-1947.

From Bluege's SABR biography, we get Ossie's take on the end of the 1924 season, including his lack of confidence in Muddy Ruel's wheels. Also, that 1924 ball players had no interest in elite indulgences such as champagne.

In Bluege’s mind, the Nats were lucky to win. With one out in the twelfth inning of Game Seven, Ruel lifted a pop foul behind home plate. Giants catcher Hank Gowdy got tangled up with his mask and dropped the baseball. Given renewed life, Ruel laced a double to left field. Johnson stepped up and reached on an error by shortstop Travis Jackson. Ruel held at second, but scored when Earl McNeely sent a bouncer to third base. The tale that has been handed down through the years is that the ball struck a pebble and caromed into left field. “(Irish) Meusel fielded the ball and Muddy’s running like hell,” remembered Bluege. “And that’s when Meusel put the ball in his pocket. He could have thrown Muddy out. We were on top of the bench, pulling like hell. I remember Nemo Leibold standing up alongside of me, pumping, ’C’mon, Muddy. C’mon, Muddy,’ trying to pull him across home plate. When he did, we jumped like hell and we greeted everybody and kissed everybody. But there was no champagne at that point in time. We didn’t believe in champagne.”

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Stan Covelski
 

Player #111A: Stanley A. "Stan" Coveleski. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1925-1927. 215 wins and 21 saves in 14 MLB seasons. 1920 World Series champion. 1923 and 1925 AL ERA leader. 1920 AL strikeout leader. Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. 1969 inducted to MLB Hall of Fame. He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912. He was one of 17 "grand-fathered" spit-ball pitchers. One of his best seasons was 1918 with Cleveland as he posted a 22-13 record with a 1.82 ERA in 311 innings pitched.

Deveaux explains Stan's emergence as a key Senator's pitcher. Clark Griffith had won the World Series with one of the oldest ballclubs ever to win a championship, and the Nats would do so again in 1925 with a roster that was even older. A couple of weeks before Christmas, 1924, Griffith made two deals, obtaining seasoned pitchers Stan Coveleski and Dutch Ruether. A Pennsylvania coal miner, Coveleski had gotten a late start in baseball and had won 19 as a 28-year-old for the Indians in 1917. He won 22 or more over the next four seasons but was coming off a 15-16, 4.04 season with the Indians, and was nearing his 36th birthday.

The shrewd Old Fox was determined to keep patching up his club, and he'd had to part with very little for the two veteran hurlers. For Coveleski, Griff gave up Speece, of the exaggerated underhand windup, and some cash. . . .
. . . On behalf of the Washington Senators in 1925, Stan Coveleski, future member of the Hall of Fame (inducted 1969), went 20-5, and led the league with a 2.84 ERA, winning 13 in a row at one point. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

Covelski slinging and swinging:

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Goose Goslin
 

Player #90C: Leon A. "Goose" Goslin. Left fielder for the Washington Senators in 1921-1930, 1933, and 1938. 2,735 hits and 248 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1936 All-Star. 1924 and 1935 World Series champion. 1928 AL batting champion. 1924 AL RBI leader. 1968 inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. He drove in the game-winning, walk-off run to win the 1935 World Series for the Detroit Tigers. With Gehringer and Greenberg, was one of the Detroit "G-Men". In 1936 he had an inside-the-park HR when both outfielders (Joe DiMaggio and Myril Hoag) collided and were knocked unconscious. He had one of his best seasons for the WS-winning Washington Senators in 1924 as he posted a .421 OBP with 100 runs scored and 129 RBIs in 674 plate appearances.

Late in the 1925 season, the Nationals and the Philadelphia A's were neck-and-neck for the pennant until the A's lost 12 games in a row. The ever-volatile Goslin was central to Washington's success, as Smiles relates: The A's finally ended the losing by winning the last two games of the Washington series over the next two days, but it was too late. The Senators had won nine of 14 during the A's losing streak, and even after the two A's wins, the Senators lead was seven on September 9. The Senators were 85-48. The A's were 76-53. The Senators and A's had one more game to play against each other, a make-up contest played on September 13 in Washington that ended in a 6-6 tie called by darkness after 11 innings. During that game, Goose Goslin and Bucky got into a heated argument in the dugout. Goslin misplayed two balls into triples in the fourth and sixth innings. Bucky said something to Goslin after the second misplay and the argument ensued. It's not known what Goslin said, but it must have been ugly, as Bucky fined him $100 and suspended him. Bucky backed off the suspension (Goslin was in the lineup the next day), but the fine stood. . . .

. . . In the Senators' outfield only Goose Goslin had numbers to compare (with the offensive production of the Pittsburgh Pirates' outfield of Barnhart, Carey, and Cuyler). (In 1925,) He (Goslin) batted .334, scored 116, batted in 113, hit 18 home runs, and led the league with 20 triples. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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Article on the 1904 Washington team:

https://wapo.st/41UjqKj

Nationals and Senators goes way back!
 

Thanks for the link to the interesting article about Washington baseball foibles in the dead ball era. A little additional history:

On November 27, 1859 in Washington DC, the National Baseball Club was formally organized by a group of Government clerks. That amateur team known as the Nationals played rival Washington-area teams regularly throughout the 1860's (despite the civil war) led by their star pitcher, Pue Gorman.

Gorman eventually came to be replaced in 1866 as Nationals pitcher by Henry Chadwick.

In 1867, the Washington Nationals went on a Western tour, accompanied by the world's first baseball correspondent -- Henry Chadwick, representing the New York Sunday Mercury. George Wright played second base. The Nationals won games against teams in Columbus (90-10), Cincinnati (53-10 and 88-12), Louisville (83-21), Indianapolis (106-21) and St Louis (113-26 and 53-26) before being stopped 29-23 by Forest City and their young pitcher, Al Spalding.

Spalding's baseball Guide credits the 1867 Washington Nationals with sowing the seeds of interest in and love for professionally played baseball in the hearts and minds of the American people: "In 1867, the first extended tour of a professional baseball organization was made, the Nationals of Washington appearing in different cities of the Union with such uniform success as to open the eyes of the people who had supposed the beauties of the game had received the fullest illustration at the hands of the local amateur clubs.

"The superior skill shown by the visitors sowed the seeds of healthy emulation, and the second year thereafter saw in Cincinnati the famous Red Stocking team which went through the season with a success never before achieved by a baseball club. Their career served to intensify the passion for the game and to stimulate the formation of clubs that should achieve similar renown."

Pue Gorman went on to become a U.S. Senator from Maryland. When Washington got a franchise in the National League, nostalgia for the earlier team, captained by future senator Gorman, gave rise to Senators as well as Nationals as popular team nicknames. In 1903, when the new American League franchise conducted a name-the-team contest, the same nostalgia made Nationals the winner, even though the team was in the American League.

Have to share this pickup with you all!

1924 snapshot featuring six members of the 1924 Washington Senators posing with their young children. Depicted from left to right are pitcher George Mogridge, Walter Johnson, Joe Judge, John Martina, Roger Peckinpaugh and Pinky Hargrave. It comes from Johnson's personal snapshots. And features the children of the great pitcher and his teammates (the boys outfitted in miniature Senators uniforms) and the handwritten notations on the reverse is written by Hazel Johnson, Walter's wife.
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George, it appears to me that Jack Smiles was not a fan of Sam Rice. Yes, HOFers Cuyler (second in the NL MVP voting) and Carey had had great years, and Clyde Barnhart had his best MLB season with 175 hits and a .325 batting average. However, Senators' HOFer outfielder Rice had 227 hits and a .350 batting average (the best of his career) in 1925. Amazingly, Rice struck out only 10 times in 710 plate appearances!

Lucas, that is a great photo of Senators' players with their kids! Thanks for showing it.

Moon Harris
 

Great photo Lucas. Val: you make a fair point, particularly with respect to Barnhart. OPS+ (for 1925) rates Goslin (139), Cuyler (152) and Carey (126) ahead of Rice (112), but with Barnhart (109) trailing slightly.

Player #112A: Joseph "Joe" Harris. "Moon". First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1925-1926. 963 hits and 47 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .404. His best season was 1923 with the Boston Red Sox as he posted a .406 OBP with 82 runs scored and 76 RBIs in 562 plate appearances. He debuted with the New York Yankees in 1914. In 1925, he joined Washington mid-season and posted a .430 OBP with 60 runs scored and 59 RBIs in 390 plate appearances as the Senators won the AL pennant. His final season was with the Brooklyn Robins in 1928. He was involved in a trucking accident while serving in WW 1. He suffered 2 broken legs, 3 broken ribs, and a fractured skull, thus creating the 'lump' under his eye. He was the first player in MLB history to homer in his first appearance in the World Series (1925). He played in the 1925 World Series for Washington and the 1927 World Series with Pittsburgh.

Harris' SABR biography sums up his 1925 campaign: Harris began the 1925 season with the Red Sox, but with Phil Todt set for first base, he wasn’t expected to get quite as much work. On April 29 the Sox traded him to the Washington Senators for Roy Carlyle and Paul Zahniser. He’d assembled only 26 plate appearances for Boston and was batting .158. Sox fans were nonetheless disappointed to lose him, and the Boston Globe wrote, “He always has been a player who has given his club all he has, and, in these days, that is something unique.”

He reverted to form with Washington, despite a scare of an elbow injury in June, and was able to step in when longtime first baseman Joe Judge had to bow out due to nagging injury. Harris played in an even 100 games and batted .323 – third on the team in batting average, but first in OBP and SLG. And the Senators won the pennant. The World Series ran to seven games, Washington winning three of the first four, but then the Pittsburgh Pirates winning the final three to become world champions.

Harris played in all seven games and led all batters, hitting .440 with three home runs and six RBIs. It was his single in Game Three that provided the winning hit in that game.

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Bucky Harris
 

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 1. 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.

Smiles reports on how well-known Bucky had become and how the Senators/Giants rivalry continued into the spring of 1925: Bucky had a good time with his celebrity in the aftermath of the 1924 world Series. He made public appearances, received exotic gifts and came in high in a straw poll for president. Two days after the Series ended, Bucky, the players and their families were honored guests at a dinner dance at the Congressional Country Club. The club president, Representative Joseph Himes of Ohio presented Bucky with an honorary membership. He was only the third person so honored. . . .

The day after the seventh game Bucky went to a college football game at American League Park and saw Georgetown University beat King College of Tennessee, 21-7. He sat with the Georgetown fans and signed hundreds of programs. During halftime he went on the field and posed for photographs with Georgetown captain Fred Sheehan. It was reported that Mrs. Glen Stewart, the wife of the wealthiest man on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the top dog breeder in the country, was going to give Bucky a $5,000 Irish wolfhound, Billy Shamrock. Billy was registered with the London and American Kennel clubs.

Bucky agreed to play in an exhibition game in western New York. On the way he stopped in the Polo Grounds where he was one of 60,000 fans to watch Notre Dame beat Army, 13-7, in football. On October 29 he went home, arriving by train in Wilkes-Barre. An automobile parade escorted him back to Pittston about five miles away. Thousands of miners, who were off for a union holiday, lined the route while cheering, waving American flags and setting off Roman candles. In Pittston he was met by his mother, brother Merle, old basketball buddy Gary Schmeelk, an entire troop of state police, the Pittston police force, and fire engines from all of the surrounding towns. The parade stopped at Gilmartin Park in Pittston where 2,000 kids who were let out of school waited for him. That night there was a banquet in his honor at the state armory where he had played basketball with the Pittston Pitts. He didn't play any basketball that fall or winter though he did have offers, which, he said, could have netted him $10,000.

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Bucky Harris
 

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 2. 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.

In his column on November 2, which he called the "Illiterate Digest," Will Rogers listed the country's straw poll preferences for president. "At last the American people are aroused. They have found a medium through which to express their individual preferences for President of the United States. Will Rogers Illiterate Digest is the only fair and honest test of the merits of the candidates' popularity.

"The vote so far proves that if the people had anything to do with the nominations personally instead of it being done by a half-dozen men in the back room of some hotel, why America would be a democracy."
The leaders in the Rogers poll were: Walter Johnson, Red Grange, Knute Rockne, the Prince of Wales (all in feminine handwriting), Rudolph Valentino, Henry Ford, Kermit Roosevelt, and Bucky Harris. . . .

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At age 13, Bucky Harris' father abandoned the family. Bucky quit school and began working at a coal mining operation to help support the family. His HOF career in MLB is like a Horatio Alger "rags to riches" story.

Bucky Harris
 

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 3. 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.

. . . (Note that Smiles' accounting regarding the wins and losses in this description is confusing!?.): Bucky's old mentor, Hughie Jennings, was managing the Giants when the spring series between the 1924 World Series opponents began on March 9 (1925). McGraw was in Cuba. The Giants won the first two games, 8-7 and 2-1 in 12 innings. On March 15, the first appearance of the now-famous infield of Judge, Harris, Peckinpaugh, and Bluege drew cheers from the surprisingly large crowd. On March 14 Commissioner Landis appeared at the Senators' home, Plant Field, and presented the players with World Series championship medals before a game against the Boston Braves. The Senators led the game, 9-3, but lost, 12-10, prompting Frank Young, who was covering the spring games, to write, "After having been reminded before the hostilities started by Commissioner Landis that they are the champions of baseball and given medals to prove it, the Harrismen proceeded to show just how the national game should not be played." . . .

. . . Walter Johnson was a big ticket in Dixie that spring. Wherever the Senators played, the fans clamored to see him pitch. This worried Bucky, but Griffith insisted he make appearances. On April 3 he pitched five innings in New Orleans. On the 5th he pitched two in Mobile and then four the next day against the Giants in Birmingham.

The Senators and Giants gave the fans a good show with a series of tight games. The Giants led the series 5-1, but by the time the teams reached Washington where they were supposed to play two games, the Senators had won the last four to even the series at 5-5. The Giants won the first game in D.C. 11-2, the only game that hadn't been close. The second game was rained out. Forty-five minutes after the game was called the teams were on a train to New York, where they would play the last two games of their series before the regular season began. With the Giants leading 6 games to 4, Bucky was so serious about winning and evening the series, even with the season opener only two days away across town at Yankee Stadium, he brought Johnson (in) to close the first of the two games and got ejected from the second one after one pitch. Bucky and umpire Will Walker, who had been traveling with the teams, had a running feud going back to a game on March 11 in West Palm Beach. When McNeely claimed he was hit with the first pitch in the second game in New York, Walker said no and Bucky came out of the dugout to argue. Walker wouldn't argue with him, saying, "Get out and stay out. I'm tired of arguing with you."

The Senators won the game without Bucky, 11-5, before 15,000 fans to even the series at 6-6. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54N: 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 touches on Walter's 1925: As for Walter Johnson, he had felt at first, following the World Series conquest, that the time to retire had come, that this was the high note he wanted to go out on. He had considered buying the Vernon franchise of the Pacific Coast League. The deal had fallen through, however, and the asking price of the Oakland club, which Johnson had also looked at, had gone through the roof. Joe Engel was dispatched to the West coast by Clark Griffith with two contracts in hand. One was for one year and the other for two, just in case Walter Johnson could be persuaded to change his mind.

When the price for the Oakland ballclub turned out to be higher than what had recently been paid for the major-league St. Louis Cardinals, Walter decided he would pitch again. Now an affluent man due to holdings in oil, real estate, and mining concerns, the Big Train was still a hard bargainer, and he negotiated with Griffith by phone from his home in Reno, Nevada, and from Hot Springs, Arkansas. Finally, the two came to terms face-to-face at the spring training site in Tampa: a two-year contract, at $20,000 per. When Walter asked to bow out of a barn-storming tour of some southern locales so he could continue to train in Tampa, Griff refused. The boss pointed out that the Washington Senators were the South's representative in the big leagues, and that everyone wanted to see Walter Johnson in the flesh.

Barney went on to have quite a year, joining Coveleski in the 20-game winners' circle. His record was 20-7, 3.07, while allowing the fewest hits per game, registering the most strikeouts per game, and placing third in the league in ERA. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Joe Judge
 

Player #73D: 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.

Judge's SABR biography: Judge suffered through a myriad of ailments in 1925. Leg injuries kept him out of several games. On August 21, he was struck in the head by an Earl Whitehill fastball in the second inning. The ball bounced into the stands, but the batter fell flat on his face, lying motionless at the plate. Although subsequent x-rays revealed no fracture, there was evidence of a concussion and a slight blood clot. He did not return to action until September 5.

Joe still battled to hit .314 for the year with 31 doubles, tying him for second on the team. The competition for the pennant this season was Philadelphia. The Athletics held a slim 1½ game lead going into the final two months of the season. But a 19-10 record in August pushed Washington in front. They finished strong, compiling a 17-8 record in September, claiming the league title by an 8½ game margin over the A’s.

Their opponent in the series was the Pittsburgh Pirates. Harris had been quoted in the Sporting News on July 16 that it would be a good thing for baseball if Pittsburgh won the pennant and broke up the monopoly enjoyed by McGraw’s Giants. Perhaps Bucky never heard of the saying “Be careful what you wish for”. Bucs hurler Vic Aldridge beat Stan Coveleski twice, and Pirates reliever Ray Kremer won two games out of the pen in Games 6 and 7. The Senators could not figure out Max Carey who hit .458, or Pie Traynor, who hit .356. Judge hit a homer in Game Two, and drove in four runs in the series.

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Mike McNally
 

Player #113: Michael J. "Mike" McNally. Infielder with the Washington Senators in 1925. 257 hits and 40 stolen bases in 10 MLB seasons. 1916 and 1923 World Series champion. He debuted with the Boston Red Sox in 1915-1920 and played with the New York Yankees in 1921-1924. In 1920 with Boston, he saw his most opportunity posting a .326 OBP with 42 runs scored in 363 plate appearances.

McNally's SABR biography picks up his time with the Yankees: Ever the utility player, McNally spent the next three seasons (1922-24) coming off the bench, appearing in more than 50 games only once. The Yankees and Giants met in two more World Series during those years. McNally played in one game without an at-bat during the Yankees’ loss in 1922. He sat out the victory the next October with an ankle injury. Washington then won the championship in 1924.

The Yankees traded McNally back to the Red Sox the following offseason, thus breaking up the Ruth-McNally duo that had long entertained teammates and scribes. McNally would be variously remembered in New York as Ruth’s roommate, babysitter, guardian, and friend. The Babe himself later recalled that McNally had for years carried around a fading box score to prove that the infielder had once pinch hit for him back in Boston. When he showed it once too often in New York, Ruth told him, “Mike, if you show that box score to anyone again, I’ll make you eat it.”

The Babe “will not have Mike McNally to lead him astray” anymore, kidded New York sportswriter Will Wedge. “The Babe, an innocent minded simple country boy from Baltimore, was easily influenced by McNally’s wiles as a city slicker from Scranton.” The light-hitting utility man’s name would always be associated with the slugger’s, if not vice versa. Yarns about them circulated for years, involving everything from hot dogs to curfews, pranks to showgirls. Sportswriter Jimmy Cannon shared a tame one with readers in 1957:
“Mike McNally once told Babe Ruth that Miller Huggins, who then managed the Yankees, was sending him to New Haven to scout a pitcher. ‘Bring your bat,’ advised Ruth. ‘If you can hit him, don’t bring him back.’”

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There weren't many cards produced for Mike McNally during his playing career. Here's a rough condition 1925 W504 Universal Toy & Novelty card of McNally that I once had:

Earl McNeely
 

Player #106B: G. Earl McNeely. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1924-1927. 614 hits and 69 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. His 12th-inning single drove in the winning run as Washington took Game 7 of the 1924 World Series from the New York Giants. His most productive season was 1926 with Washington as he posted a .373 OBP with 84 runs scored and 18 stolen bases in 503 plate appearances. He last played with the St. Louis Browns in 1928-1931.

McNeely's SABR biography relates his 1925 season: He started the first five games of the season, but managed just three hits and lost playing time, first to Leibold and then to the newly acquired Joe “Moon” Harris. Harris would play either corner outfield position with Sam Rice moving to center. McNeely’s was the tale of three seasons. Going into the game of June 10, he was hitting .211, but after four hits that day, he went 16-for-29 over the next week to raise his average to .326. He reached a high of .353 after a 2-for-5 day on July 5. He made 72 of his 91 starts between June 10 and September 9.

McNeely was hitting .301 after a four-hit day on August 26, but the final month of the season was a disaster for him. He hit .212, going 14-for-66, from August 27 until the end of the season. Even though McNeely finished at a respectable .286, it’s no surprise that manager Harris chose to put Moon Harris in the starting lineup over McNeely in the 1925 World Series. Moon ended up as the Nats’ top hitter in a losing effort against the Pirates, with McNeely getting into just four of the seven games as a defensive sub and pinch runner. Perhaps McNeely’s worst statistic of 1925 was his base-stealing: He was successful in just 15 of 31 attempts during the season.

Still, McNeely was in center field for the most memorable play of the ’25 Series: Rice’s catch of Earl Smith’s long drive in Game Three. When Smith connected, Rice ran back toward the temporary bleachers, leaped, snagged the ball and fell head-first into the stands. He disappeared for at least 10 seconds before McNeely, who had just entered the game in center, pulled him out by his uniform jersey. Rice held the ball high and the out call was made. The Pirates were furious, but as Rice said for the rest of his life, when asked if he had held onto the ball, “the umpire said I did.” In a letter opened after his death, Rice insisted he never lost possession of the ball.

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Curly Ogden
 

Player #107B: Warren H. "Curly" Ogden. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1924-1926. 18 wins in 5 MLB seasons. Served as "decoy" starting pitcher in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series. He was removed after two batters -- an early example of an "opener". He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1922-1924. His best season was probably 1924 with Washington as he posted a 9-5 record with a 2.58 ERA in 108 innings pitched.

We go back to Ogden's SABR biography: Warren Harvey “Curly” Ogden became part of World Series lore in 1924 when Washington manager Bucky Harris started him in Game Seven as a ploy to fool Giants manager John McGraw. The idea was to get McGraw to play rookie first baseman Bill Terry and other left-hand batters against the right-handed Ogden, so that Harris then could bring in lefty George Mogridge. . . .

. . . Ogden’s gutsy performance had earned him a spot on the 1925 staff. “Curly’s work with a damaged arm last season was sensational, and it was expected that he would be even better after Bonesetter Reese fixed his wing,” The Sporting News wrote in April 1925. After Ogden’s poor spring, “Manager Harris must have figured that the Sheik of Swarthmore is a slow starter and will be all right.”

Getting “all right” never happened in 1925, however. Although he somehow managed to pitch a shutout and complete another one of the four games he started, Ogden threw just 42 innings all year in 17 games for the pennant-winning Nats. The following season wasn’t much better. He started nine of the 22 games in which he appeared and pitched 96 innings, but his ERA was again well over 4.0, and by midseason, he found himself with Birmingham in the Southern Association.

(Aside: It appears to me that the PSA flip-writer was so distracted by Ogden's menacing demeaner, that he couldn't spell his name completely.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683708037
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683708046
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683708051

Sam Rice
 

Player #74J: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 1. 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.

We are going to jump over Rice's 1925 season with the pennant-winning Senators and go straight to Carroll's account of "The Catch": (Bucky) Harris made a couple of defensive changes to start the eighth (of Game Three of the 1925 World series, with Washington ahead 4-3). With (starting pitcher) Ferguson having been pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh, Bucky Harris sent his ace reliever Marberry to the mound. He also moved Rice from center field to right, the position he had played for most of the past three years (and for the rest of his career), to start the inning. The move was necessitated by McNeely's entry into the game as a pinch runner in the bottom of the seventh. Harris kept McNeely in the game, batting in Ferguson's original ninth spot, and placed him in center.
It would be a fateful move.

Marberry dispensed of Glenn Wright and George Grantham easily to begin the inning, striking both men out. Grantham was now 0-for-11 in the three games of the series, and McKechnie's patience was beginning to wear thin.
Smith, the brash Pirates catcher, came to the plate with two outs and the Senators still clinging to that 4-3 lead they had just seized. Smith had put together a decent series to that point, reaching base once in each of the first two games, and twice already against Ferguson in Game Three. But the damage he had been able to cause was minimized by the fact that he was batting between the slumping Grantham and the pitcher's spot.

The New York Times described Smith's seeming arrogance as he looked toward Marberry: "He looked over Marberry's pitching with an arrogant sneer. Crouched at the plate, Earl is not an easy batsman to pitch to. He worried Marberry. Then Smith caught hold of one his pitches. His left-handed swing was deadly and true, and the ball went soaring far and straight into right field."

We are able to show a Sam Rice baseball card at this point courtesy of Val Kehl who has dipped into his world-renowned Sam Rice master collection to provide:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683796303
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683796308

Sam Rice
 

Player #74J: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 2. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1915-1933. 2,987 hits and 34 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1920 AL stolen base leader. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1963. Led the Senators to three AL pennants (1924,1925, and 1933). Best known for controversial "over the fence" catch in the 1925 World Series. He had many excellent seasons, but one of his best was 1930 as he posted a .407 OBP with 121 runs scored in 669 plate appearances. He had 63 stolen bases in 1920. He last played in 1934 with the Cleveland Indians. His early life was marred by tragedy when his wife, two daughters, parents, and two sisters were all killed by a tornado in Indiana.

Rice spotted Smith's drive off the bat and turned to sprint toward the right-field wall. He beat the ball to the wall, stopping and turning around to gauge his leap as the ball seemed destined for the bleachers and a tying home run. Rice leaped. Everyone in the ballpark could see him snag the ball, at least initially. But hardly anyone could see what happened next, and in fact it wouldn't be resolved for another fifty years.

The momentum of his leap and the ball's trajectory carried Rice over the wall and tumbling into the right-field bleachers. Running out to try to make a call on what had happened was second base umpire Charley "Cy" Rigler. . . .

. . . As Rice worked his way out of the bleachers, Rigler could only judge based on what he had seen. Rigler saw Rice snare the ball in his glove when he left his feet. And when Rice re-emerged from a fans lap, he still had the ball secured. What happened in between was anyone's guess, but Rigler raised his right hand to call Smith out. The Pirate half of the eighth was over, and the Senators still clung to their 4-3 lead.

"In all the future years that World's Series will be played, in all the games that have been played under high nervous tension in the past, one will never see a more thrilling catch than that grand grabby Sam Rice," Harry Cross wrote in the New York Times. "All Washington, and, in fact, American League fans from the Atlantic to the Pacific, who followed this afternoon's battle before the scoreboard or on the radio, raise their hats to Samuel Rice tonight."

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683883061

Sam Rice
 

Player #74J: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 3. 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.

The Pirates, on the other hand, weren't in much of a saluting mood. They refused to believe Rice had made the catch, and demonstrated that belief loudly. . .

. . . Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, usually not one to shy away from controversy, called for Rice after the game. The "czar," the unofficial title conferred on Landis often by the press in the days since his landmark Black Sox ruling, had witnessed the hysteria surrounding Rice's tumble into the bleachers. While others scrambled to assemble eyewitnesses to the play, Landis was eager to take the primary participant's account.

"Sam," the commissioner asked him, "did you catch that ball?"

Landis was nobody to mess with. Though most famous for tossing eight members of the infamous 1919 White Sox out of the game for the World Series-fixing scandal, that wasn't Landis's only decisive moment in his role. Before the 1922 season, he was so infuriated with Babe Ruth that he suspended the game's greatest player, along with slugging Yankee teammate Bob "Irish" Meusel, for a quarter of the season. The pair's offense had been participating in a barnstorming tour during the offseason, a practice banned for World Series participants. A few months later, had become irritated when umpires called a tied World Series game due to darkness in the tenth inning. He ruled that all profits from that day be given to charity to avoid baseball any embarrassment.

Rice carefully answered Landis' inquiry.

"Judge, the umpire called Smitty out," came Rice's non-answer answer.

"That's exactly what I wanted you to say," replied Landis, "and that's the way I want you to answer anybody else asking you that question."

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1683969604

Muddy Ruel
 

Player #87C: 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: From playing in the schoolyards and sandlots of St. Louis to scoring the winning run in Game Seven of the World Series; from wearing the “tools of ignorance” to holding the title of general manager; from to being a short, skinny, 19-year-old rookie to being special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball, Muddy Ruel wore many hats in the game of baseball. Ruel, in fact, spent almost his entire life connected to the game in some fashion. And though his name is one that is probably not that familiar to many younger fans of the game, at one time, “Muddy” essentially was a household name. . . .

. . . In 1923 Ruel began his first season with the Washington Senators during the Senators’ finest period. In 136 games for the Nats, Ruel batted .316 with 54 RBI and 24 doubles. His fielding percentage was .980 in 133 games behind the plate.

Connie Mack, the elder statesman of the Philadelphia Athletics and himself a former big-league catcher, paid high praise to Ruel’s ability behind the plate in 1923. Mack said, “Ruel is the best catcher in either major league this year. . . . He has handled his pitchers in fine style and has been a terror at the bat. . . . he is tireless, the type of catcher that makes every player on his club perk up. Ruel . . . is easily the best catcher of the year in every department of play.”

Ruel was essentially the everyday catcher for the back-to-back pennant-winning Senators in 1924 and 1925, appearing in 149 games in 1924 and 127 games in 1925.

In the 1924 World Series, the Senators met the mighty New York Giants. Despite going hitless in every at bat in the series until Game Seven, Muddy Ruel caught every game of the series. Bucky Harris, the young player/manager of the Senators, liked his chances with Ruel behind the plate despite Ruel’s poor performance at the plate. Harris’ faith in Ruel’s ability paid big dividends when Ruel eventually scored the winning run that gave the Senators their one and only World Series title.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684055512
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684055519

Allan Russell
 

Player #108B: Allan E. "Rubberarm" Russell. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1923-1925. 70 wins and 42 saves in 11 MLB seasons. He also pitched for the New York Yankees (1915-1919) and the Boston Red Sox (1919-1922). For his MLB career, in 345 appearances, he posted a 3.52 earned run average with 603 strikeouts. Russell played on the 1924 World Series champion Senators, making one appearance in the World Series, giving up one run over three innings of work. He was a spitball pitcher who was allowed to throw the pitch after it was banned following the 1920 season. He was one of 17 pitchers exempt from the rule change. His brother Lefty Russell also played Major League Baseball.

We go back to Russell's SABR biography for the less-than-stellar end to his MLB career: In 1924 Russell ranked second in saves in the league with eight. In addition he won five games in relief. However, by now his teammate Fred Marberry was emerging as the leading relief pitcher of the decade, and Russell’s appearances became less frequent. Together the two relievers won or saved 39 of Washington’s 92 wins that season as the club won its first American League pennant. Russell made one appearance in the 1924 World Series, relieving in the fourth inning with his team trailing 3-2. He got Hank Gowdy to fly out; then New York Giants pitcher Rosy Ryan came to the plate. With the count two balls and one strike, Ryan hit a home run into the upper tier of the right-field stands, the first homer ever hit in a World Series by a National League hurler. Russell pitched three innings, giving up four hits and two runs, one of which was unearned.

The Senators captured the flag again in 1925, but Russell did not appear in the World Series that year. His final major-league game came on September 19. He did not go out in a blaze of glory. Relieving Tom Zachary in the fourth inning with his team trailing 7-0, Russell pitched one scoreless inning and was blasted in the next, giving up a total of eight hits in 1 2/3 innings. Win Ballou, who relieved Russell, fared little better, being roughed up for nine hits in the remainder of the game. All told, the three Washington pitchers gave up 26 hits and 17 runs, while their mates collected only one hit off Ted Lyons in a 17-0 loss. The sole hit came by Bobby Veach with two out in the ninth inning. After the game, Veach went to the visitors clubhouse and apologized to Lyons for depriving him of what would have been the American League’s first no-hit game in more than two years.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684134670

"Rubberarm" Russell and Babe Ruth (who was one year younger) were both born in Baltimore, and both pitched for the Baltimore Orioles in 1914. The two were teammates again with the Red Sox for a half of a season in 1919. Few cards of Russell were issued during his playing career - see pics of his V100 and Diaz Cigs cards in post #340 of this thread. I'd love to obtain a nicer example of this card:

Hank Severeid
 

Player #114: Henry L. "Hank" Severeid. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1925-1926. 1,245 hits and 17 home runs in 15 MLB seasons. He played Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1926, most notably as a member of the St. Louis Browns, where he was known for being one of the best defensive catchers of his era and a capable handler of pitching staffs. His career OBP was .342. He debuted with the Cincinnati Reds in 1911-1913. He finished up with the New York Yankees in 1926.

Severeid's SABR biography: Hank Severeid caught for four major-league teams between 1911 and 1926, appearing in 1,390 games, and for almost a dozen minor-league clubs before and after the majors. A tough, durable backstop, he caught in at least 100 games a season for eight of his ten years with the St. Louis Browns, one of the exceptions being 1918, when he was in the US Army overseas during World War I. His career major-league batting average was a healthy .289, and he was known for his fielding skills and his ability to guide a pitcher over rough spots. . . .

. . . In 1917 Severeid attained a distinction never matched (as of 2010) when he caught no-hit games on consecutive days. On May 5 Ernie Koob no-hit the Chicago White Sox, 1-0. The next day, in the second game of a double-header, also against Chicago, Severeid caught Bob Groom’s no-hitter, a 3-0 gem. . . .

. . . Severeid’s workload – and batting eye – improved as he got older. From 1921, when he was 30 years old, through 1925 his batting average was over .300. In 1924 he finished sixth in the American League Most Valuable Player balloting (in those days conducted by the league teams rather than the baseball writers), logging 432 at-bats in 137 games, batting .308 and getting on base at a .362 clip. The next year Severeid was displaced as the first-string catcher by Leo Dixon and on June 18 he was traded to the Washington Senators for pitcher George Mogridge and catcher Pinky Hargrave. By then 34 years old, Severeid became the backup to catcher Muddy Ruel. He hit .355 in 50 games for the Senators after chalking up a .367 mark in 34 games for the Browns. That season the Senators won the American League pennant, and Severeid got into his first World Series. In Game Six, he started in place of Muddy Ruel and went 1-for-3 in a 3-2 Senators loss to the Pirates. (The Pirates won the Series the next day.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684227918

Utility player
 

Val: Thanks for showing the Russel(l) card -- I meant to comment regarding the position description labeling Rubberarm as a "Utility Man". I suppose, either it was an uninformed mistake, or in the day, referred to a pitcher who wasn't a starter.

Deacon Scott
 

Player #115: Louis Everett "Deacon" Scott. Shortstop with the Washington Senators in 1925. 1,455 hits and 20 home runs in 13 MLB seasons. 4-time World Series champion. He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. He debuted with Boston in 1914-1921. He last played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1926. He held the MLB record for consecutive games played until it was broken by Lou Gehrig. He led AL shortstops in fielding percentage for seven straight years but had a career OBP of .281.

Scott's SABR biography takes us through his long playing streak: Shortstop Lewis Everett “Deacon” Scott was the steady infield leader of championship Red Sox and Yankee teams of the 1910s and 1920s. Beginning June 20, 1916, and ending May 6, 1925, he played in 1,307 consecutive games, which was the major league record until Lou Gehrig and then Cal Ripken broke it. Not only was Scott an accomplished ballplayer, but he also wrote a children’s book and became a skilled bowler. Although he was never seriously considered for baseball’s Hall of Fame, Scott was considered to be the finest shortstop of his time. . . .

. . . Early in 1921 spring training, Scott (playing for the Red Sox) suffered a charley horse injury that lingered throughout the spring training schedule. However, the injury did not stop his streak, which reached 700 on May 17, in a game during which he made a phenomenal force out by diving face first into second base. Stating a goal of attaining the 1,000 mark, he played in number 800 on September 2. Still esteemed by fans and press alike, Scott continued to be praised for his consistency in the field and at bat. It was strongly felt that his record for consecutive games was unbeatable. . . .

. . . During spring training in 1922 (after being traded to New York), the Yankees announced that Babe Ruth would become the captain of the Yankees, replacing the traded Peckinpaugh. However, because of an incident the previous season, Ruth was suspended until May. It was suggested that perhaps Scott, having been the captain of his Red Sox team, might be appointed captain until Ruth’s return. It is easy to see why Scott would be considered for this honor, for beyond his stellar play on the field, he also was adept at many hobbies, including auction bridge, whist, poker, fishing, and bowling. Scott became the captain of the Yankees, serving in that role until he left the club in 1925.

Although Scott’s first game as a Yankee was a loss, his consecutive games streak continued. The great sportswriter Grantland Rice remarked: “After Everett Scott is dead we expect to see his ghost out there playing short through force of habit. No such shallow barrier as the grave will ever check the Deacon’s tireless pace.”

After Scott played in his 900th consecutive game, the Washington Post referred to him as the “iron man” and also mentioned his ability as a “great money player”, citing his penchant for performing strong when much is at stake. However, the streak almost came to an end on September 14 when, after visiting his home in Indiana, he caught a train to Chicago to meet up with his teammates there. The train blew out a cylinder head along the way, and Scott was forced to take a car, another train, and then a taxi to arrive at the ballpark late. He entered the game in the seventh inning, enough to count for a game to continue his string of 972 games. That year, Scott was again the American League’s leader in fielding at shortstop.

. . . Scott persevered despite his injury (he sprained his ankle in a pre-season game) and, on May 2, 1923, at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, he participated in his 1,000th consecutive game. To mark the occasion, he was presented with a solid gold medal in a pregame ceremony in which he was praised by Secretary of the Navy Edwin C. Denby as “the greatest ballplayer in point of service and achievement that ever trod the diamonds of America, the home of baseball.” Despite his accomplishment, it was reported that, although Scott held the major league record, a minor leaguer named Perry Lipe had participated in 1,127 consecutive games.

. . . At (the 1924) season’s end, the Yankees had finished two games behind the Washington Senators and Huggins strongly hinted that he needed a new shortstop for the following season. It was suggested that Scott had an “obsession” with his streak and by playing every day was not exercising common sense. For years, he had taken to wrapping his legs in bandages in order to compensate for various injuries. Scott performed well, however; his .250 average in 1924 was a notch above his .246 of the previous year, and his 64 RBIs a career high. His number of putouts and assists was significantly larger, and his fielding percentage improved. . . .

. . . Despite reports that he would not play on Opening Day (1925) because of a pulled muscle, Scott continued his streak. But criticism of his “obsession” continued, and, finally, on May 5, 1925, the streak ended when Paul “Pee Wee” Wanninger started in Scott’s place. At first, it was reported that Scott was “not feeling well”, but later it was reported that he had been sat down because of a shakeup in the Yankee lineup.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684314830

Paul Zahniser
 

Player #116: Paul V. Zahniser. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1923-1924. 25 wins and 1 save in 5 MLB seasons. His best season was his first as he posted a 9-10 record and a 3.86 ERA in 177 innings pitched. After Washington he pitched less effectively for the Boston Red Sox in 1925-1926 and then briefly for the Cincinnati Reds in 1929. Babe Ruth eventually wrote that Zahniser was "tipping" his pitches in Boston, which contributed to his ineffectiveness.

Zahniser's SABR biography covers his time with Washington: As it happens, Zahniser was called up and had his big-league debut on April 18, 1923 (in relief for Washington in a lost game that was already out of reach) . . . .

. . . By season’s end, he had appeared in 33 games (21 starts) and had an ERA of 3.86 (marginally better than the Senators’ team ERA of 3.98) with a record of 9-10.

Some were amused by the combination of pitcher Zahniser and manager Bush, making the connection to the Anheuser-Busch brewery. “What a kick we have!” crowed baseball comedian and Senators coach Nick Altrock.

The Washington Post didn’t expect the 1924 Senators to be any better than the 1923 team, which finished in fourth place with a losing 75-78 record. That the Senators would win the pennant and then the World Series over the New York Giants was not in the cards, as the Post saw things on the first day of April. The paper’s sports editor, N. W. Baxter, felt that the pitching staff would show a “33 1/3 percent improvement” but that there was little hope for betterment in other areas. In spring training, he said that Zahniser “is no better this year than he was last, nor does he appear to be any worse.” As it happens, he wasn’t as good, but Walter Johnson and Tom Zachary were much better, and George Mogridge held his own, benefitting from a little more run support than in 1923. Zahniser’s ERA declined to 4.40 (from 3.86) and his won/loss record was 5-7. His problems were largely with control. . . .

. . . President Calvin Coolidge celebrated the winning of the pennant on October 1, along with much of Washington who joined in a parade for the players. Zahniser was on the postseason roster but was not called upon to pitch in any of the seven games, two of which went to 12 innings (Game One and Game Seven).

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684401513
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684401517

Paul Zahniser's relative is a member of Net54
 

Here's the link to an interesting 2015 thread with pics started by Dave Zahniser, whose grandfather was Paul Zahniser's brother (if I correctly understand what Dave said): https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...light=zahniser

1925 World Series -- Intro
 

Thanks to Val for remembering the past Zahniser activity on Net54. Very interesting.

The oldest team in the league in terms of age of personnel had bested the franchise's 1924 record by 5 1/2 games. Here was a team which inspired confidence as it headed into a second consecutive World Series. Granted, this year's National League champions, the Pittsburgh Pirates, were a tremendous offensive team; during the regular season, only one man, second baseman Eddie Moore, hit below .300 (.298).

Pittsburgh regulars Max Carey, Pie Traynor, and Kiki Cuyler were on a journey toward the Hall of Fame and were all bonafide superstars at this stage of their careers. Glenn Wright, Clyde Barnhart, and George Grantham were other deadly hitters. Until June 1925, these Pirates had gone 150 games without being shut out, a record which would remain unbroken until 1993. Like the Senators, the Pirates had finished 8 1/2 games ahead of the pack in their league.

On the Washington side, it was felt that the team's experienced pitching staff might be able to effectively neutralize the Pittsburgh attack. Pittsburgh had no one of the stature of a Coveleski or a Johnson. Coveleski, however, had a sore back going into the Series. Roger Peckinpaugh was also among the walking wounded, which was reminiscent of his crippled state during the previous October's classic. Peck had rebounded magnificently this season, hitting .294 and fielding well enough to earn his MVP award.

Hurting the most was second baseman-manager Harris, slowly recovering from a bad spike wound. Harris proclaimed that he would play, and that Walter Johnson would get the call as starter of the first game in Pittsburgh. Among pitchers in the major leagues at this time, only the Pirates' Babe Adams, the Series hero back in 1909, was older than Johnson (by 5 1/2 years at that). The only other player in the big leagues older than Johnson was Ty Cobb. Bucky Harris also announced that he planned to go with his namesake, Moon Harris, who'd hit .323 in 100 games, in the outfield, rather than with Earl McNeely, who'd hit .286 with much less power than Harris.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684489574
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684489578

1925 World Series -- Game 1
 

The 1925 World Series got under way on a beautiful fall day, October 7, in Pittsburgh in front of nearly 42,000 fans in expansive Forbes Field. Walter Johnson had his fastball humming, something catcher Ruel attested to even before the game started. The curveball would be deadly accurate on this day as well, although by the late innings Walter would be relying almost exclusively on the fastball.

Barney did let one get away from him early and hit the second Pirate batter of the game, Max Carey, in the ribs with a hard one. Walter would bean Carey again in the ninth inning, prompting the Pittsburgh star to tell his teammate and former American League star Stuffy McInnis that Johnson, who was thought of as a control pitcher, probably didn't like him very much. Carey's presence on first base in the first inning was of no consequence. Ruel cut down the 35-year-old speed merchant -- who'd just won the N.L. base-stealing championship for the tenth time in 13 years -- as he tried to swipe second. Johnson then fanned Kiki Cuyler, a .357 hitter in this, his sophomore season.

In the top of the second, Moon Harris connected on a curveball off the bespectacled Lee Meadows, driving the ball over the low fence in right center. Johnson would not surrender the lead on this afternoon. In the fifth, the Nats padded their margin when Harris, Bluege, and Peckinpaugh singled in succession to open up the frame. After Ruel and Johnson both struck out, Sam Rice, who hit what would remain a career-high .350 during the regular season, came through with a two-run single.

Johnson allowed just five hits and a walk, surrendering a lead-off homer to Pie Traynor in the bottom of the fifth which quickly cut the lead to 3-1. the score stayed that way until the ninth, when Bluege singled in Goslin off reliever Johnny Morrison, who'd been summoned to pitch the ninth. Game 1, final score 4-1, was won thanks to a performance that had been vintage Walter Johnson. His ten strikeouts and potential for two more starts had the Nats in good shape right off the bat in Pittsburgh. Walter was ecstatic, knowing that for the first time in a World Series game, he had performed up to what he knew were his capabilities. Barney called this the game of his life, and said he could not find words to express the elation he felt.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684574530

Not many cards of WaJo were issued in 1925. Below are a couple that I don't think have already been shown in George's captivating thread.

One of WaJo's scarcest cards is his 1925 W504 Universal Toy & Novelty Co. card, which I don't have. If any Net54er has an example of this card (BVH?), kindly let us have a look.

"Upgraded" my Wajo to a closer up shot with a young Baltimorean. I say upgraded only because my goal in collecting is the closest shot I can get of a player. Also from Walters 1924 scrapbooks.

If any of you folks are interested in the team shot I shared, please feel free to shoot me a message. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...b817b4b4eb.jpg

1925 World Series -- Game 2
 

The baseball community got some bad news that same night (after Game 1). One of the game's early greats, Christy Mathewson, had lost his life. Matty had never fully recovered from inhaling poison gas during World War I. The players from both teams wore black armbands for game two the following day. Coveleski, his back wrapped with tape, would start for Harris. Bill McKechnie, manager of the Pirates, was like the Giants' John McGraw -- a proponent of platooning his ballplayers. He would go with Vic Aldridge, another righty.

Joe Judge, a .314 hitter during the season, but with only eight homers, led off the second inning with a shot into temporary bleachers set up in right field. In the fourth, Coveleski gave up what was already Pie Traynor's second home run of the Series. It was still 1-1 in the sixth when, with two down, Ossie Bluege was hit squarely on the head by an Aldridge offering.

To run for Bluege, Harris sent out a 21-year-old youngster named Buddy Myer, who had all of eight at-bats to show for his big-league career up until then. A collegiate star In Mississippi, Myer had cost Clark Griffith $25,000 in a late-season transaction with New Orleans. Griffith could have gotten Myer for much less back in spring training, when he'd reportedly refused to sign the youngster because he didn't want to pay a $1,000 bonus. Myer would last 17 years in the majors, 15 of which would be spent with the Senators. For the moment, though, he didn't last long on the base paths. He tried to steal second and was erased. With Bluege groggy, Myer was sent out to play third.

When the Pirates came up in the bottom of the eighth, Coveleski had allowed only a bunt single since Traynor's homer in the fourth. Eddie Moore led off the eighth with an easy bouncer which rolled up Peckinpaugh's sleeve. It was Peck's second error in two days -- he had made a high throw to first in game one. After Max Carey grounded out, Kiki Cuyler slugged a two-run homer into the bleachers in right field. Clyde Barnhart then singled, and Peckinpaugh made his third error, failing to pick up a Pie Traynor roller. Although the Nats got one back in the ninth, that was all she wrote -- Washington had lost the second game 3-2.

Ossie Bluege would be unavailable for the next two games, as he was being detained by doctors keeping a close watch over him at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. It was reported by the newspapers that these doctors had never seen a skull as thick as Bluege's, and to that, they felt, the third sacker probably owed his salvation.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684659953

1925 World Series -- Game 3 Part 1
 

It rained in Washington on October 9, 1925, and game three of the World Series was put off for a day. It would be well worth the wait. When play resumed the next day for the Nats' first home game, President Coolidge and his Secretary of State, Frank Billings Kellogg, were among the many dignitaries on hand to witness the Pirates score the first run for the first time in the Series. Bucky Harris had elected to go with righthanded forkballer Alex Ferguson, 9-5 with an atrocious 6.18 ERA in '25. Twice traded during the season, Ferguson had nonetheless managed a 5-1 ledger in seven games since being acquired from the Yankees in a cash deal on August 19.

The previous year, Ferguson had been 14-17 with the hapless Boston Red Sox, but here he was starting in the World Series. He got out of trouble despite walking the first batter of the game and hitting the second one with a pitch. The Pirates scored the first run off Ferguson when, in leading off the second inning, Pie Traynor hit a low shot at Bucky Harris, who let the ball get through him and into the gap in right center for a triple. Glenn Wright followed with a sacrifice fly to left. The Senators were facing Ray Kremer, a tough man and hard drinker who had just completed the second year of a fine seven-year stretch with the Pirates. Kremer was known for destroying Pullman cars and tossing teammates' shoes out of train windows in fits of temper. He would go on to win 20 games in 1926 and 1930, 19 in 1927, and 18 in 1929.

The Senators came right back in the third inning against Kremer, with Sam Rice looping a single over second base to start things off. Bucky Harris sacrificed, and Goslin, going for more than a sacrifice, hit a shot to deep right. The catch was made, but Rice was into third easily. He scored moments later when Joe Judge doubled inside first base. The Nats nearly took the lead when Judge tried to score on a scratch hit by Joe Harris that shortstop Glenn Wright had nearly thrown into the dirt. First baseman George Grantham, a second baseman by trade, made a major-league play, picking the peg out of the dirt and throwing Judge out at home to preserve the tie for the Pirates after three innings.

The very first batter in the top of the fourth, Kiki Cuyler, doubled to the gap in left center, and then came home on a single to left by the next batter, Pittsburgh left fielder Clyde Barnhart. Ferguson walked the next batter, and then ended up yielding an intentional pass to load the bases. Nonetheless he muddled through without giving up another run in the inning, striking out his opposing number, Ray Kremer, to extinguish the fire. Ferguson gave up another double in the fifth, to Max Carey, but got out of the inning without further damage.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684746523

1925 World Series -- Game 3 Part 2
 

In the sixth, Roger Peckinpaugh committed his fourth error in three games and it led to another Pittsburgh run, making the score 3-1. After Pie Traynor flied out to Sam Rice about 420 feet to the bleacher fence to open the inning, Glenn Wright bounced to Peckinpaugh, who made a bad relay to first. Wright eventually scored when pitcher Kremer got a base hit which took a freaky high bounce over second base. In the bottom of the inning, however, the Nats got one back very quickly when the lefty-hitting Goslin led off by pulling a home run into the right centerfield bleachers.

Alex Ferguson got out of the seventh inning, and the game, after retiring the Pirates in order for the first time. His departure was hastened because he was due to be the first batter in the next half inning. The veteran outfielder, Nemo Leibold, took a walk and was immediately lifted for pinch runner Earl McNeely. McNeely was now strictly relegated to a reserve role due to the emergence of Joe "Moon" Harris, who was having a great Series. After Clyde Barnhart made a fine catch off of a Sam Rice attempt at the left-field foul line, the Nats' peerless leader, Bucky Harris, beat out a single.

With the score 3-2 and men on first and second with just one out, the Pirates could not have been prepared for what came next. Goose Goslin, the Nats' best slugger, swung from the heels on the first pitch and missed -- the infielders were playing far back. Goslin then caught the defense by surprise, bunting along the third base line and loading the bases in the process. Joe Judge was next up, and his sac fly to center brought in McNeely with the tying run. Joe Harris was next and singled to left to put the Nats ahead for the first time in the game. The inning then ended in odd fashion when Buddy Myer got in the way of his own batted ball while outside the batter's box and was called out.

There was a much more unusual play in the eighth inning -- indeed one of the most bizarre plays in all of World Series history. Firpo Marberry, pitching for the first time in five weeks and yet called upon to protect a 4-3 lead in a World Series game, began wonderfully by striking out the first two Pirates to face him. Then Pirate catcher Earl Smith slammed a monster shot to the right centerfield bleachers. Sam Rice raced to the spot, extended his glove as far as he could, and definitely seemed to get it on the ball. But Rice's momentum carried him into the bleachers, behind the fence, and out of sight. He did not immediately re-emerge, and Pirates manager Bill McKechnie came bounding out of the dugout, protesting that Rice surely must have dropped the ball. Rice only had it in his possession now, McKechnie contended, because it had been handed back to him by a fan.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684834822

1925 World Series -- Game 3 Part 3
 

The four umpires working the game conferred and after much to-do, it was decided that (Rice's) catch would stand, probably because they had seen the catch and nothing else. Manager McKechnie took the matter to the commissioner's office, and did so in a manner we would not see today. He just walked over to the box where Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis was sitting, and politely inquired whether he could appeal the matter. The autocratic Landis just as immediately retorted with a flat-out "no". The case was closed, and the Nats were out of the inning with their 4-3 lead intact.

Questioned by reporters later, Sam Rice said simply that the delay behind the fence had been caused by his Adam's apple coming into contact with the hard skull of a paying customer. Commissioner Landis wanted to talk to Sam and had him summoned following the game. Sam told the judge one thing -- that the umpire had called Earl Smith out. That, Landis said, was precisely the answer he wanted the player to keep giving whenever that question was put to him in the future. The controversial play incited the first major rule change in the majors in five years -- in the future, if a player left his feet and followed the ball into the stands, it would be a home run. This does not detract from Rice's effort, since "the Catch" was the most miraculous many players professed to have seen in their lifetimes.

More confusion ensued in the bottom of the eighth . . . the Senators batted out of order! When they'd taken the field in the top of the inning, McNeely had gone out to center. He had of course pinch run for Leibold, who had batted in the pitcher's spot. Since McNeely had inherited the ninth spot, it was his turn to bat following Muddy Ruel's single with one out. Instead the pitcher, Firpo Marberry, not only batted in the ninth spot, but executed a perfect sacrifice to move Ruel ahead. Fortunately for Washington, the Pirates were also somnolent on this play. The opposition did not clue in quickly enough -- by the time the play was appealed, it was too late. Sam Rice was already in the batter's box, and under the rules, what had taken place could not be negated. When Rice grounded to short, however, the whole sordid episode was rendered moot, as the Nats did not score.

There were more fireworks in the top of the ninth when, with one out, Firpo Marberry gave up successive singles and then hit Kiki Cuyler with a pitch. After inducing Clyde Barnhart to pop up in fair territory near the plate, the great Pie Traynor worked Marberry to a 3-2 count before flying out to McNeely in center. The Nats had restored their lead in the Series with a 4-3 final. An exciting game indeed, and all of its excitement was contained within two hours and ten minutes -- a quick game by today's standards, but the longest of the 1925 Series to that point.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1684919079

1925 World Series -- Game 4
 

Spirits were high and buoyed even further in the nation's capital when it was announced by Bucky Harris that Walter Johnson would start the fourth game. Given the Nats' 2-1 lead in the Series, this made good strategic sense. If Johnson won, the Senators would obviously be in the driver's seat, but if he lost, he'd be available for a seventh game with sufficient rest. Johnson's opponent would be lefthanded submariner Emil Yde, who'd enjoyed a superb 16-3, 2.83 season the previous year but had slipped to 17-9, 4.13 on a pennant winner in '25. Yde would be gone from the big-league scene before the end of the 1920s, and the imminent fourth game of the World Series would prove a precursor to his demise.

Yde gave up a couple of walks in the first inning, and Johnson allowed runners to get to second and third in the second, but there were no runs. After the Big Train had retired the Pirates in order, the Nats struck in the bottom of the third. The damage they wreaked, however, would be insignificant compared to the negative impact of the play that happened next. Walter Johnson, the first batter of the inning, hit a clean single to left and the great man, trying gallantly to stretch the hit into a double, stretched a leg muscle. After the next batter, lead-off man Rice, beat out an infield single, Bucky Harris hit what might have been a double-play ball toward George Grantham at first. Grantham, who, as mentioned earlier, was really a second baseman, made a good relay but Glenn Wright dropped the ball.

The play opened the floodgates, and Goose Goslin then unleashed a huge blast into the left centerfield bleachers, a shot of well over 420 feet, his second home run of the Series. Moon Harris, the next batter, then hit one nearly as far into the bleachers in left, his second homer of an outstanding World Series for him. With the Senators suddenly up 4-0, Joe Judge coaxed a walk out of Yde, who was out of what would turn out to be his one and only World Series game after getting just seven batters out.

Johnson, who'd stayed in the game despite being bandaged after his ill-fated slide into second, pitched from the stretch but otherwise showed no ill effects the rest of the way. He gave up just four more hits through the last six innings after the incident, two of them to the infield. He's surrendered only six singles, and walked just two, as only one Pirate reached third base all day. The 4-0 shutout had the Nats just one win away.

The Big Train had not had the usual dominance and struck out just two, compared to the ten he'd racked up while getting his first win in game one. At 37 years, 11 months, he set the still-standing (as of 2000) record as the oldest pitcher to throw a complete-game World Series shutout. It had taken him a long time, but after 17 mostly disheartening seasons in the majors, he was now just one win away from a second straight World Championship . . . no team had ever lost a World Series after holding a 3-1 lead in games.

Sam Rice scoring on Goslin's home run:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685006329

1925 World Series -- Game 5
 

Bucky Harris was in another quandary prior to the fifth game. It would be the final game in Washington, if not the final game of the Series. Harris, anxious to end it, was unsure whether he would go with one of his lefties, Dutch Ruether or Tom Zachary, or with his eventual choice, his best available pitcher, Stan Coveleskie, who had shared with Johnson the number-one role throughout the season. Vic Aldridge would be the opposing pitcher, and Ossie Bluege, who'd been beaned by Aldridge in the second game and hadn't played since, would be back in the lineup. Bluege would double and field flawlessly.

Coveleski pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, as game five also got off to a hectic start. The beloved Nats replied with a run. Sam Rice led off by lining a single to right. Bucky Harris, still playing with a spiked hand which affected his hitting, was able to move Rice over. Goslin then blooped a double near the left field foul line to drive in the first run. From then on, though, it was all downhill for the Senators. Coveleskie surrendered a couple of walks and a single in the third, for a couple of runs. After Series star Moon Harris hit his third home run in five games in the bottom of the fourth, the score remained 2-2 until the Pirates bunched three more singles and a walk for a couple of runs, chasing Coveleskie in the seventh.

The Bucs were not to relinquish that lead, although Nemo Leibold and Sam Rice combined to bring in a run to narrow the margin to 4-3 in the seventh. Pittsburgh would win this one 6-3. Pirate shortstop Glenn Wright doubled and scored off Tom Zachary in the eighth, and drove in Clyde Barnhart with a single off Marberry, who had to come in to rescue Zachary in the eighth. Although he pitched to only two batters, Marberry aggravated the arm injury which had caused him to miss the last five weeks of the season -- he would not pitch in this World Series again.

Moon Harris home run:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685092797

1925 World Series -- Game 6
 

The move to go with Coveleski had backfired. The Senators still maintained a 3-2 lead in games, but Bucky Harris had a pitching rotation in disarray at this point. He had used Zachary in game five, and that had not gone well. Johnson would be held over for the seventh game, if there was one, but his injured leg was a question mark which meant this upcoming game was all the more crucial. Dutch Ruether had not pitched in the Series. Alex Ferguson had, and had done a creditable job winning the third game, giving up six hits and four walks in seven innings in his only appearance. Harris decided to go with him, despite rumors that Ferguson himself didn't think he should be the one to get the assignment.

The trepidation in the Senators' camp was quickly assuaged when, with two out in the top of the first, Goose Goslin launched a Ray Kremer pitch very deep into the rightfield stands. In the second, Joe Judge singled and was forced at second by Ossie Bluege, who then upped the score to 2-0 when Roger Peckinpaugh lined a double over the head of first baseman Stuffy McInnis. McInnis's presence since game five, which reportedly had come at John McGraw's recommendation, would later be recognized by baseball's pundits as a significant move on the part of the Pirates. George Grantham had gone 2-for-14 in the Series. McInnis, a 17-year vet and longtime A's and Red Sox star, had hit .368 following his midseason acquisition from the Boston Braves.

Pittsburgh came back in the third, with Peckinpaugh's fifth error of the Series prolonging a two-run rally. With a man on first, Peckinpaugh grabbed a high bouncer but then missed second when he tried to go for the lead man. Both runs came in on an infield single and another base hit through the box by Pie Traynor that breezed past Alex Ferguson. After that, only one man made it to first base for either side (Ossie Bluege singled in the fourth and got caught leading off first) until the top of the fifth, when Pirate lead-off man Eddie Moore hit a Chinese home run into the temporary seats in left field.

The Pirates led 3-2 and the game was uneventful the rest of the way, except for the fact that Peckinpaugh muffed another chance in the seventh, his sixth error in six games, when he threw low to first base, allowing Moore to once more get on to start an inning. Moore's homer held up as the decisive blow. The Senators had lost two in a row and there was no more margin for error, on the part of Roger Peckinpaugh or anyone else.

We will now enjoy a brief pause -- next expected post: 31 May.

Bucky Harris turns a double play:

1925 World Series -- Game 7 Part 1
 

As had happened prior to the third game in Washington, it rained in Pittsburgh and the seventh game was postponed one day, with the decisive contest rescheduled for Thursday, October 15, 1925. It was still wet and cold, but Commissioner Landis in his infinite wisdom ordered the game played in a steady rain. It was thought that never had such an important game been played in such conditions. It was, wrote James R. Harrison in the New York Times, "a perfect day for water polo."

Bucky Harris' decision concerning whom to start was easier to make this time. In his statement to reporters, he announced that Washington was going to come back with the greatest pitcher the game had ever known. Walter Johnson, on three days' rest and with a sore leg, pronounced himself ready. Babe Ruth, covering the Series from his apartment in New York, thought he spoke for all American Leaguers when he said that Walter was not just respected by the players, but loved by them. Ruth admitted he'd be rooting for a man he called the greatest character in baseball.

Vic Aldridge, who had been steady in winning games two and five, was out again for this, the big one. The Pirates certainly had momentum on their side, and the fans on their side, but it was the Senators who struck first, and struck hard, again in the first inning. Sam Rice led off with a single over second base. Bucky Harris, still hampered by the spiked hand, flew out softly to left, but Aldridge then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Rice to take second. Aldridge was wild -- he walked Goslin and then lost control of another pitch, moving the runners up to second and third. Moon Harris walked, loading the bases. Joe Judge, always selective, worked the count full and then earned a fourth ball from Aldridge, and the Nats had their first run.

Ossie Bluege was next up and singled cleanly, bringing in Goslin and precipitating Aldridge's exit. Aldridge had finally met his Waterloo and was replaces by "Jughandle Johnny" Morrison, he of the sweeping curveball. Morrison was another character on a team of characters -- a heavy drinker, he would, in the two coming seasons, be suspended by the Pirates for apparently feigning illness and running off to his home in the Kentucky hills. Morrison had given up two hits and a run in one inning in a mop-up role in game one, and had allowed five hits and a walk, but no runs, in the 4-0 loss to Walter Johnson in the fourth game.

The righthanded Morrison lured Roger Peckinpaugh into batting the ball into the ground with the bases full. This was another of the strange plays in this Series. Catcher Earl Smith had apparently tipped Peck's bat, and Peck was awarded first, Joe Harris scoring the third run of the first inning. The roof caved in just a bit more for the Pirates and poor Morrison, as Eddie Moore booted a roller off the bat of Muddy Ruel, who was enjoying a much better World Series from an offensive standpoint than he had in 1924. Moore's muff brought in Joe Judge, but Morrison then fanned Walter Johnson. Despite his great season at the plate, Barney would go 1-for-11 for the Series. Sam Rice, up next, lofted a fly to left to end the inning.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685524866

1925 World Series -- Game 7 Part 2
 

The 4-0 first-inning lead held until the bottom of the third, when the Pirates came back with a vengeance. Johnson, who'd yielded two singles in the second, allowed another to pitcher Morrison, a cardinal sin, to start the third on the wrong foot. Eddie Moore promptly doubled to the fence to count Morrison, and Max Carey then singled to bring Moore in with another run. After one out, Carey stole third and strode home easily when Clyde Barnhart dropped a single into short right center. The Senators were able to get two of those runs back immediately. After Rice and Goslin singled, the unbelievable Moon Harris, who hit .440 with three home runs in this World Series, doubled them both in for a 6-3 Washington lead.

By now, the drizzle had evolved into a steady rain and the playing field was an absolute mess. Walter Johnson, whose leg had been taped heavily prior to the game, got through the fourth okay, and his arm felt fine. There were three harmless flies to left following McInnis's lead-off single in the bottom of the fourth. Groundskeepers brought, as was customary, loads of sawdust onto the field to soak up the water when it rained heavily. Walter Johnson kept filling his cap with the stuff, to bring back to the mound. By the end of the game, wrote Robert Burnes years later in Baseball Digest, Walter appeared to be covered in oatmeal.

By the fifth inning, it was pouring, and the Pirates, behind by a serious margin of 6-3, were desperate to close the gap. Max Carey, who'd doubled in the first inning without result, opened the fifth with a double to right center and scored on another double, by Kiki Cuyler. Johnson then mowed the Pirates down, three at a time through the rest of the fifth and sixth. Commissioner Landis, exposed to the elements in his box seat during the whole game, reportedly told Clark Griffith sitting next to him that he was calling the game off at the end of the sixth. Griffith told the commissioner he shouldn't, because he'd made the decision to start the game in the rain in the first place, so he should see it through. In relating the story many years later, Ossie Bluege wondered how many owners, with their team ahead, would have taken such a stand. Griff would have done better to have kept his mouth shut.

Photo intentionally reversed for engraving purposes:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685610572

1925 World Series -- Game 7 Part 3
 

By the top of the seventh, with Washington still hanging on to its two-run lead, the rain was coming down very hard. The Nats were doing nothing offensively against Ray Kremer, who had stepped in for Morrison to start the fifth. Johnny Moore opened the bottom of the inning with a pop fly to left which Roger Peckinpaugh dropped for his seventh error of the Series. Max Carey, 3-for-3 with two doubles, sent a Texas Leaguer down the left field line that Bluege, Goslin, and Peckinpaugh converged on. They all reacted as though the ball was foul, and had begun to return to their positions when they heard the fair call.

Carey, hampered by two ribs broken in the previous game, hustled into second with his fourth hit of the day and his third double. Moore scored, closing the gap to 6-5 in favor of Washington. With two down, Pie Traynor tripled to bring in the tying run. Traynor's smash rolled to the fence in right center and was retrieved by Joe Harris. Harris's relay to his namesake, the second baseman, found its way to the plate in time to nip Traynor, who was trying for the tie-breaking run. This ended the inning, and none too soon, as the score was knotted at 6-6.

With one out in the eighth, the harried Roger Peckinpaugh drove a ball high over the low temporary fence in left field, a magnificent moment of retribution for him. If this homer held, Peck's considerable sins would all be forgiven. His value to this club was well known -- he was going through a period of incredibly hard luck at an incredibly inopportune time. In the bottom of the eighth, Johnson got two easy outs and the Senators were getting close to their second straight world championship. With two strikes on him, Earl Smith rapped a double to right center and Carson Bigbee, pinch hitting for pitcher Kremer, slammed the Pirates' seventh double of the day to bring in pinch-runner Emil Yde with the tying run.

From an earlier game:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685697827

1925 World Series -- Game 7 Part 4
 

Harris was going to sink or swim with his big man. Johnson, with the rain still driving and the score now 7-7 with two out, walked Johnny Moore. With men on first and second, Max Carey, 4-for-4 in this game, slapped the ball on the ground toward Peckinpaugh. It is easy to guess what happened next. Peck did manage to get his hands on the ball, and to field it cleanly even. He went for the force-out at second to end the inning. His short relay was off line. All baserunners were safe. This eighth error, the most costly of them all, set a World Series record that has withstood the test of time and kept the name of Peckinpaugh, a truly outstanding player, in ignominy as we enter the 21st century.

With the stations all occupied, Walter Johnson worked the count to 2-and-2 on the next batter, Kiki Cuyler, before pouring a ball down the middle which appeared waist high. Walter walked off the mound and catcher Ruel hoisted his mask off as if the inning was finally over. But the pitch was called a ball. The debacle was complete a moment later when Cuyler smoked a ground-rule double, the Pirates' eighth two-bagger of the game, into the crowd in right field. Two runs scored, and hearts were sinking in the Nats' dugout. The sounds of celebration reverberated all around them in raucous Forbes Field. Before anyone knew it, the Nats had gone down in order against Pirates reliever Red Oldham, with both Rice, who hit .364 for the Series, and Goslin, who hit .308, taking called third strikes. The unthinkable had happened. The Nats had dropped an unprecedented three World Series games in a row and lost the World Series.

It was Goose Goslin who had been the closest human being to Kiki Cuyler's game-winning hit. Goslin said that the umpires couldn't see the ball at all, it was so dark and foggy. The ball had fallen two feet foul, Goose maintained. How could he be so sure? The ball, he insisted, had fallen in the mid and stuck there! As Goslin was to point out many years later, the good Lord took, in the 1925 World Series, what He had given in 1924, and what the Goose was talking about was just plain old Lady Luck.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685782664

1925 World Series -- Game 7 Part 5
 

Roger Peckinpaugh, who'd committed eight of the club's nine errors in the Series, wept. He would have to wear the goat's horns, and he knew it. Walter Johnson, who'd shown what kind of man he was when he embraced Peck on the field following the game, would refuse to make excuses for his 15-hit performance, insisting instead that his arm and bandaged leg had felt fine all the way.

Bucky Harris, who'd batted only .087 for the Series, was criticized by many, including the ostentatious American League president, Ban Johnson, for having stuck with Walter Johnson until the bitter end. Harris had done so for reasons of "mawkish" sentimentality, according to Johnson, thereby costing Ban's league a world championship.

Bucky did have cause to reflect. A batting hero in 1924, he had been a bust in this Series, managing but a puny 2-for-23. Perhaps the spike wound to his hand had been more detrimental to his performance than he had thought possible. He did admit that he shouldn't have waited until the eighth inning of the sixth game to send someone to bat for him. Also, Harris would have forever to reflect on the way he had handled his pitchers. There is much to wonder about. The American League's best lefthander in 1925, Dutch Ruether, had not been handed the ball at all. Experienced Tom Zachary only appeared briefly in one game. It could well be that in attempting to crush the Pirates' appetite for southpaws, Bucky Harris had simply outsmarted himself.

Adding insult to injury, Harris, along with Roger Peckinpaugh and Muddy Ruel, was hauled onto the proverbial carpet by Commissioner Landis because of derogatory remarks the Senators had allegedly made about the quality of the umpiring. The loss had to be tremendously disappointing. It would be 1958 before such a turnaround recurred -- with a team with a 3-1 lead blowing it -- in the World Series.

Twenty-four Nats players shared a World Series booty amounting to about $3,800 apiece. The suddenly magnanimous Clark Griffith awarded $1,000 bonuses on top of this "windfall" to Coveleski and Marberry for performances during the season which he personally deemed outstanding. This ballclub, which Griffith himself had molded, had won a world championship and should have had a second consecutive one. These two World Series would, as the passing of time bore out, continue to stand among the most dramatic of all time. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1685869484

1926 Washington Senators
 

The 1926 Washington Senators won 81 games, lost 69, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Smiles summarizes the 1926 campaign: The Senators won 15 fewer games in 1926 than they had in 1925, dropping to fourth place at 81-69. But the story of the 1926 A.L. season was more about the Yankees' resurgence than the Senators' collapse. The Yankees started the season 13-3. In May they won 16 consecutive games, scoring an average of almost seven runs per game. On May 26 the Yankees were 30-9 and the Senators were nine games out at 22-19. Through June, July and August, the Senators struggled to stay around .500. On August 23 they were 59-59 and in fifth place, 16 games behind the Yankees. Between August 24 and September 6, the Senators won 13 of 14 to raise their record to 72-60. They passed the Tigers and Athletics to move into third place, but it was too late to catch the Yankees, whom they trailed by 10 games.

The Yankees cooled off in September and finished 91-63, three games ahead of the Indians and eight ahead of the fourth-place Senators. The Yankees got full years out of Ruth and, of course, Gehrig. The Babe ran away with the major league titles in RBI (146), runs (139), and home runs (47), and batted .372. Gehrig hit .313, was second in runs with 135, and led in triples with 20. Herb Pennock, Urban Shocker, and Waite Hoyt combined to win 58 games for the Yankees. As a team the Yankees slugged .437 and had an ERA of 3.86. The Senators slugged .364 and had a team ERA of 4.34.

Only Walter Johnson won as many as 15 games for the Senators, and he lost 16. Marberry was the only Senators pitcher to perform up to form. He led the league in appearances (64), games finished (47), and saves (22). The Senators lost the Yankees' number in '26, losing 12 of 22 to them after going 15-7 and 13-9 the two previous seasons. As troubling as the drop to third place was the 300,000 drop in attendance, to 551,580. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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A couple of cards of the "World's greatest baseball pitcher" from one of the very few card sets issued in 1926. I'm looking for cards of Goose Goslin & Bucky Harris from this set.

Nick Altrock
 

Great cards, Val. Thank you.

Player #117A: Nicholas "Nick" Altrock. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909, 1912-1915, 1918-1919, 1924, 1931 and 1933. 83 wins and 7 saves in 16 MLB seasons. 3-time World Series champion. At 42 years 1912-1953), he is the longest-tenured coach for one franchise (Washington Senators). He debuted for the Louisville Colonels in 1998. His best season was 1905 with the Chicago White Sox as he posted a 23-12 record with an ERA of 1.88 in 315.2 innings pitched. A 1906 arm injury stunted his career as a pitcher. He pitched very little after 1908 but continued making sporadic pinch-hit appearances, including one in 1933 at the age of 57. He became a coach with Washington in 1912 and was known for his antics in the coaching box and teamed with Al Schacht, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" for a dozen years performing comedy routines on baseball fields and on the vaudeville stage.

Altrock's SABR biography: For three years at the turn of the last century Nick Altrock was arguably the best left-handed pitcher in the game. His talent, pitching smarts, and extraordinary fielding ability helped him win 62 games for the Chicago White Sox from 1904 through 1906 and beat Mordecai Brown in Game One of the 1906 World Series. However, Altrock’s baseball prowess was overshadowed by his second career as one of the most-popular and longest-working baseball clowns of all time. At his clowning peak, Altrock enjoyed a salary that rivaled Babe Ruth‘s. . . .

. . . Nick rewarded (Chicago White Sox manager Fielder) Jones’ faith by tossing a four-hitter to beat Cubs’ ace Mordecai Brown in the first game (of the 1906 World Series), 2-1. Brown took the honors in their Game Four re-match 1-0, but Nick posted a 1.00 ERA for the series. In the second game Altrock set a Series record for chances handled by a pitcher in one game with 11 – 8 assists and 3 putouts. Nick also set a record for most chances in a six-game Series with 17. Hippo Vaughn later tied that mark in the 1918 series, except Vaughn pitched three games to Nick’s two.

It was a fitting accomplishment, given Altrock’s reputation as one of the finest fielding pitchers of his or any other generation, thanks in large part to an extraordinarily deceptive pickoff move. In 1901, while Altrock was pitching for Los Angeles in the California League, Nick reportedly walked seven men intentionally and picked off six of them. Altrock still holds the record for most chances accepted by a pitcher in a nine-inning game (13).

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Ossie Bluege
 

Player #89C: Oswald L. "Ossie" Bluege. Third baseman for the Washington Senators in 1922-1939. 1,751 hits and 43 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1935 All-Star. 1924 World Series champion. He played his entire career in Washington. He was best known for his defense, but his best season at the plate was 1928 as he posted a .364 OBP with 78 runs scored and 75 RBIs in 588 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1943-1947.

Bluege's SABR biography: Over the next several years (following the 1925 season), the Senators finished in the upper half of the American League, as the Yankees and then the Athletics flexed their muscles as kings of the junior circuit. Bluege was at the top of his game, leading the league in fielding in 1931 (.960) and in multiple years in games started, assists, and innings played. Although he hit anywhere from .271 to .295 in his prime years, he was overshadowed by stronger offensive players like Judge, Rice, Goslin, and later Heinie Manush, Joe Kuhel, and Joe Cronin.

One of the most difficult adversaries for any American League club was Ty Cobb. Contrary to popular belief that Cobb was a dirty player, sharpened spikes and all, Bluege had a different recollection of him. “He would fake a slide, as if going directly for the baseman, and at the last minute throw his body in the opposite direction, away from the infielder and the base. He would over slide, then reach for a corner with his hand.” The basepaths belonged to the baserunners. Get in their way, and you could get hurt.

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Bucky Harris
 

Player #83G: 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.

Smiles describes Bucky's run up to the season and his 1926 pitching staff: (Clark) Griffith knew that Bucky Harris was good for his team's bottom line and Bucky knew it, too. He may have been born on top of a coal mine, but baseball -- to his way of thinking -- was more like a gold mine. Bucky was always one of the first to sign and had never quibbled. But in November 1925, he became a holdout. That's when he declined to sign a one-year deal Griffith proposed. He passed his time courting (future wife Betty), working on a few player deals, and watching a horse named Bucky Harris run at Pimlico. . . .

. . . Based on experience, Griffith didn't like multi-year deals. He believed players performed better under the pressure of year-to-year contracts. Bucky was a different case. Griffith couldn't deny the attendance figures and he loved Bucky like a son. He relented, and on January 27 signed a three-year deal in Tampa. Terms weren't released, but it was speculated to be worth $100,000. In 1928 when the deal expired, Post columnist Shirley Povich said it had been worth $100,000. . . .

. . . Bucky talked up the deal for Bullet Joe Bush as a winner. On February 1 the Senators sent Zachary and Win Balou to the Browns for Bush and Jack Tobin. Bucky was ecstatic about the deal, saying it "assured his team of a third American League pennant." . . . Bucky's hopes for Bush ended with one line drive. On April 18, in just his second start, Joe was working on a one-hitter against the Yankees in New York with one out in the ninth when he was hit on the knee by a sizzling line drive by Earl Combs. . . .

. . . Without Bush, Bucky relied on his same old big four from 1925: Walter Johnson, Stan Coveleski, Dutch Ruether, and Firpo Marberry. His only concessions to youth were a pair of 26-year-olds from North Carolina, General Crowder and George Murray. Each started 12 games. Crowder went 7-4 and Murray, 6-3. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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George, I like the 1926-29 PC Exhibits for all the different colors they come in. I've long thought it would be fun to do a color run of these for a Senators player, but I never got around to doing it.

Sorry I'm so late to this thread. Fantastic thread, tons of info and great pictures. Thanks to all that have contributed so far. George, I wish I had your collecting focus!

I've got a few to contribute

1st is a Horner photo of Dave Altizer (from 1906-07)

2nd- Tim O'Rourke, he played for Washington briefly in 1894, but the photo is from 1895 as there are others from that photographer

Dan Mahoney

A JK&A of Walter Johnson

Is there a reason that you have not shown any Goudeys (or did I just miss them?)

Walter Johnson
 

Welcome aboardPro9, thanks for posting. And the kind words. We are trying to progress through time and haven't reached Goudey yet.

Val, another great card. I have a few Judge PCs that we will get to shortly.

Player #54O: 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 on Walter Johnson in 1926: Walter Johnson started the Senators off on the right foot at Griffith Stadium on Opening Day, 1926, as he had with victories in nine previous opening games. This one was a marathon, fifteen innings, and Barney yielded a measly six hits, walked three, and struck out nine Philadelphia A's in staying the distance. No one reached second base against the Big Train throughout the entire contest. Of all his games and masterpieces, this was the one Walter Johnson considered his greatest, and it came as he was starting his 20th big-league campaign. It was another of those life-time-record 38 1-0 wins which Walter would chalk up by the end of his career, and was the last of his 13 home openers, ten of which he won, six by shutout.

However, age was beginning to catch up with the Washington Senators' pitching staff in 1926. Johnson, now 38, slipped to 15-16 on the heels of his 20-7, 3.07. It was an up-and-down year, as he went from a 6-1 record in mid-May to later losing seven in a row as the Nats fell to the second division. Barney's 3.61 ERA was the worst of his career, but in fairness to the great one, eight of his defeats were by a one-run margin, and five others were by two runs. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deaveaux.)

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Dick Jones
 

Player #118: Decature P. "Dick" Jones. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1926-1927. 2 wins in 2 MLB seasons. He made 6 career appearances, 3 as a starter.

Dick Jones appeared in six games for the Washington Senators, four in 1926 and two in 1927. He started three of the games in 1926. That was his entire MLB career, totaling 24.1 innings pitched with an ERA+ of 60.

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Joe Judge
 

Player #73E: 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.

Povich records Judge commenting on Walter Johnson's modesty: . . . His (Walter's) teammates continued to marvel at the modesty of the man, and Joe Judge related the episode in St. Louis after Johnson had lost a 1-0 game. "Walter was my roommate and we were going to the movies after dinner at the hotel. I was trying to hustle Walter out of the lobby when some fan intercepted him and started to talk. I stood off until twenty minutes later, when Johnson finally broke away.

"I asked him why he had to stop and talk to every fan who approached him, and he said, 'that fellow was from Kansas and said he knew my sister.'
"I told him it was news to me that he had a sister and Walter said 'I don't. But I had to be nice to the man.' " (The Washington Senators by Shirley Povich.)

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George, this one would fit in your nice color run. LMK if interested, and we'll work something out.
Best,
Val

Roger Peckinpaugh
 

Player #95C: Roger T. Peckinpaugh. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1922-1926. 1,876 hits and 205 stolen bases in 17 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. His best season at the plate was probably 1921 as he helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series and posted a .380 OBP with 128 runs scored and 72 RBIs in 694 plate appearances. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1910 and finished his playing career with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He managed the New York Yankees in 1914 and the Cleveland Indians in 1928-1933 and 1941.

Peck's SABR biography lets us reprise the bumpy ending to his 1925 MVP season and the slide to the end of his playing career: Peckinpaugh came back strong in 1925 and had a fine season. He batted .294 (approximately the league average) as the Senators won their second straight pennant. In a testament to his fielding and leadership abilities, the sportswriters voted Peck the American League MVP in a narrow vote over future Hall of Famers Al Simmons, Joe Sewell, Harry Heilmann, and others. Despite his strong performance, Peck’s legs continued to give him trouble, and by the start of the World Series they needed to be heavily bandaged. After carrying the Senators in the 1924 World Series, Peckinpaugh sabotaged them in 1925, turning in one of the worst performances in Series history. He committed eight errors, a Series record that still stands, although Peckinpaugh later groused that “some of them were stinko calls by the scorer.” Three of Peck’s errors led directly to two Senators losses, including an eighth-inning miscue in Game Seven that allowed the Pirates to come from behind to capture the championship. Peckinpaugh’s two errors that day, however, were perhaps understandable, as the playing conditions were so wet that gasoline had to be burned on the infield to dry it off. Still, it was the second time (after 1921) that a World Series had been lost due to a Peckinpaugh error in the deciding game.

Peck’s legs were giving out, and he would only play two more years in the big leagues. After retiring from the game following the 1927 season, Peckinpaugh accepted the managerial post for the Cleveland Indians. In five and a half seasons with Cleveland, Roger guided the club to one seventh place finish, one third place finish and three consecutive fourth place finishes before being fired midway into the 1933 season. After stints managing Kansas City and New Orleans in the minor leagues, Peck returned to skipper the Indians again in 1941, finishing in fifth place before moving into the Cleveland front office, where he remained until he retired from organized baseball after the 1946 season.

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74K: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 1. 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 points out an odd aspect to Rice's 1925 national fame before summarizing his 1926 season: Soon after Rice's World Series "Catch", the Chicago Tribune cooked up a feature story about the local boy made good. If an author is interested in creating the tale of an American hero, writer Frank Butzow suggests, he need "visit the little city of Waseka, seventy-seven miles south of Chicago, and in the pumping station, courthouse or the back room of Bernie Canavan's tailor shop get the story of Sam Rice."

Butrow goes on to describe Rice as "flashy," a laughable adjective for a workmanlike throwback playing in a period of boisterous superstars. But the article coming so closely on the heels of Rice's spectacular face dive into the bleachers, the writer can be forgiven for being caught up in the moment. This perhaps qualified as the lone period of Rice's career when that label could accurately apply.

Besides supplying some folksy details about Rice's otherwise cloudy upbringing, the story is significant for one very big reason -- the first known public unveiling of Rice's dark public secret. "The great tragedy of his life," as it is called, is curiously buried deep into the text of an otherwise very light, very breezy story. Rice's taste in beer rates a higher mention, as does his affinity for local pool halls. (This account will be continued in our next post.)

And now, once again, we are pleased to provide images provided by the preeminent Washington Senator and, particularly, Sam Rice master-collector, Val Kell:

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74K: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 1. 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 points out an odd aspect to Rice's 1925 national fame before summarizing his 1926 season: Soon after Rice's World Series "Catch", the Chicago Tribune cooked up a feature story about the local boy made good. If an author is interested in creating the tale of an American hero, writer Frank Butzow suggests, he need "visit the little city of Waseka, seventy-seven miles south of Chicago, and in the pumping station, courthouse or the back room of Bernie Canavan's tailor shop get the story of Sam Rice."

Butrow goes on to describe Rice as "flashy," a laughable adjective for a workmanlike throwback playing in a period of boisterous superstars. But the article coming so closely on the heels of Rice's spectacular face dive into the bleachers, the writer can be forgiven for being caught up in the moment. This perhaps qualified as the lone period of Rice's career when that label could accurately apply.

Besides supplying some folksy details about Rice's otherwise cloudy upbringing, the story is significant for one very big reason -- the first known public unveiling of Rice's dark public secret. "The great tragedy of his life," as it is called, is curiously buried deep into the text of an otherwise very light, very breezy story. Rice's taste in beer rates a higher mention, as does his affinity for local pool halls. (This account will be continued in our next post.)

And now, once again, we are pleased to provide images provided by the preeminent Washington Senator and, particularly, Sam Rice master-collector, Val Kell:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1686647835
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Sam Rice
 

Player #74K: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 2. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1915-1933. 2,987 hits and 34 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1920 AL stolen base leader. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1963. Led the Senators to three AL pennants (1924,1925, and 1933). Best known for controversial "over the fence" catch in the 1925 World Series. He had many excellent seasons, but one of his best was 1930 as he posted a .407 OBP with 121 runs scored in 669 plate appearances. He had 63 stolen bases in 1920. He last played in 1934 with the Cleveland Indians. His early life was marred by tragedy when his wife, two daughters, parents, and two sisters were all killed by a tornado in Indiana.

Perhaps the Tribune incorrectly assumed that Rice's background was well known to the Washington press and public. Perhaps he wasn't sure what to do with such unfathomable tragedy, particularly in a story that presumably was conceived as a celebratory feature story about Rice's shining moment, not an expose about his hidden past. For whatever reason, the writer and paper downplayed the biggest revelation it had about baseball's man of the moment. And in those days, it was much easier for news to stay contained within a market than it is today, when the Internet sends stories bouncing around cyberspace like pinballs. Also helping keep the story of Rice's tragic past quiet was the fact the writer of the story, Butzow, wasn't regularly a baseball writer but covered statehouse politics out of Springfield. By the next day, he had returned to his regular duties covering the Illinois state government. In the hands of a member of baseball's tight-knit fraternity of writers, surely Rice's secret would have spread like wildfire. Though it's possible that the more compliant sports writers of the era would have kept the story out of print at Rice's request, the fact that Shirley Povich, the legendary Washington sports writer, didn't even write about the tornado until 1985 would seem to indicate that it wasn't being passed along as oral history.

Rice's catch brought him nationwide attention, and momentarily drew the story of his tragic background to the surface. Apparently it was scarcely noticed, however, and wouldn't come up again until a decade after his death. . . . (This account will be continued in our next post.)

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74K: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 3. 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.

. . . Through all the team's difficulties (during the 1926 season), Rice just kept on playing at a high level. While the Senators floundered in June, he put together a fourteen-game hitting streak in which he batted .400 -- in eight straight games during the streak, Rice had at least two hits.

The Senators needed a late-season surge to climb out of the American League's second division, and even then, Joe Judge's late-inning home run on the season's last day was the only thing that vaulted them into fourth place. But Rice was exempt from any blame for the tumble. He hit .337, finishing what would turn out to be the best three-year run of his career. From 1924 through '26, he batted .340. His 216 hits in 1926 gave him three consecutive seasons of at least two hundred. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Further to the info George mentioned in the above post regarding Sam Rice's best 3-year run of his career from 1924 to 1926, Rice accumulated a total of 659 hits in these years, an average of 219.67 hits/year. His 216 hits in 1924 led the AL - his 227 hits in 1925 didn't lead the AL (Al Simmons had 253 hits!) - his 216 hits in 1926 led both the AL & NL. Rice had 200+ hits in 6 of the 13 years in which he was an everyday player (500+ plate appearances). Here are Sam's hit totals for the other 3 years: 1920 - 211 hits, 1928 - 202 hits, and 1930 at age 40 - 207 hits. This photo of Sam was taken in 1925, the year in which he had the most hits of his career and his highest batting average, .350.

Muddy Ruel
 

Player #87D: 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 recounts Muddy's role in integrating baseball: Part 1 -- By July (1947) the (St. Louis Browns) team (in its first year being managed by Muddy) had fallen into the cellar and attendance was very low. The front office sought a way to breathe life into the team and sell more tickets. The Browns’ vice-president and general manager was William O. DeWitt. He was once a young protégé of Branch Rickey when Rickey was still in St. Louis. Rickey plucked DeWitt from the concessions workforce and made him an office boy and set the young DeWitt on a career path toward the upper echelons of the front office. After watching the large crowds turning out to watch Jackie Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers visit Sportsman’s Park to play the tenant Cardinals, the Browns’ front office began to understand the economic benefits of integration. DeWitt sent the Browns’ chief scout, Jack Fournier, to seek talent in the Negro Leagues. After observing the Kansas City Monarchs and Birmingham Black Barons, Fournier made his recommendations to DeWitt. And so, the last-place Browns became the third major league team to integrate. On July 17, the Browns purchased a 30-day option on Lorenzo “Piper” Davis of the Black Barons and Chuck Harmon was signed to a minor-league contract and sent to Gloversville-Johnstown, New York, in the Browns farm system. The Browns also signed Henry Thompson and Willard Brown to contracts and in the process became the first team to have more than one African American on the same roster.

Needless to say, while the Browns were making big news in the world of baseball, the team was quickly unraveling, making Ruel’s job more stressful. Now Ruel found himself not only trying to right a sinking ship, he was now asked to integrate his workforce while some of the crew sought seats in the lifeboats. One player in particular, Paul Lehner, a promising young outfielder from Alabama, went to the front office demanding a pay raise or his release from the team. Ruel coaxed the young Lehner into staying with the team. But three days after the signing of Thompson and Brown, Lehner showed up late to the ballpark for the afternoon game with the Red Sox. The reason given for Lehner’s tardiness was that he had injured his leg in the previous day’s game. Ultimately, Lehner entered the game in the late innings as a pinch hitter. The Browns fined Lehner for his behavior and when Lehner saw his next paycheck he was less than thrilled.

We will return to this account when Muddy next surfaces in our progression.

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Tommy Thomas
 

Player #119A: Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1932-1935. 117 wins and 13 saves in 12 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1926-1932. His best season was 1927 with Chicago as he posted a 19-16 record with a 2.98 ERA in 307.2 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1937.

Thomas' SABR biography explains his exploits before reaching the big leagues: The Baltimore Orioles were coming off two consecutive International League pennants when Thomas joined the club in 1921. Tommy posted a record of 24-10 in his first year with the Birds, complimenting an already solid mound corps of Jack Ogden (31-8), Lefty Grove (25-10), Harry Frank (13-7), and Jack Bentley (12-1).

The Orioles dominated the circuit that year, winning 119 games, the second highest total in minor league history. However, injuries to Ben Egan, Jack Bentley, Joe Boley, Max Bishop, Merwin Jacobson, and Otis Lawry contributed to a disappointing loss to Louisville in the Little World Series that fall.

The high-flying Birds captured four more flags in a row with Tommy featured as one of the mainstays of the Baltimore pitching rotation. Thomas thrived under the tutelage of the Orioles’ owner-manager Jack Dunn, a former major league pitcher who knew how to get the most out of his young players.

Tommy held out for a better contract in 1925, and the issue wasn’t resolved with Dunn until the middle of April. The layoff didn’t affect his pitching in any way, as he went on to have his best season as an Oriole. The hard-throwing right-hander led the league with 32 wins, 268 strikeouts, 28 complete games and 354 innings pitched.

Jack Dunn, always knowing the right time to consummate a deal, sold Tommy to the Chicago White Sox at the end of the 1925 season for a reported $15,000. Thomas won 105 games while losing only 54 during his five years with Baltimore. He appeared in the Little World Series with Baltimore four times, going 4-4 in post-season play. Thomas’ lifetime pitching record in the International League was a stellar 138 wins, 85 losses and a 3.30 earned run average.

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1927 Washington Senators
 

The 1927 Washington Senators won 85 games, lost 69, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Walter Johnson made his first appearance of the 1927 season on Memorial Day. He was pleased to find that he still had good speed, and upon his return, like on so many of his first starts of previous years, he was superb, allowing just three hits, walking no one, and blanking Boston 3-0 at Griffith Stadium. This was the 11th and final time that fewer than 30 batters (29 in this instance) came up to the plate to face him in a complete game.

More significant than all of the above, however, may have been the fact that Barney struck out just one batter. He fanned six in his next start, a 5-3 loss to the Browns, but was then bombed 7-1 by Cleveland in a outing where no speed was evident. Johnson was held back from a couple of turns in mid-June, and when he did come back, he was the victim of an 8-2 drubbing at the hands of the Athletics.

Walter Johnson had been in the major leagues for 20 years, and August 2, 1927, was the precise anniversary date of his big-league debut. Coincidentally, he would be facing the Tigers on this day as well. Tributes were delivered by both clubs at Griffith Stadium -- Walter was handed the day's receipts of $14,476.05, and gifts from fans included over $1,500 in cash. Secretary of State Frank Kellogg spoke before the crowd of 20,000 and declared that the name Walter Johnson exemplified what was best about sports. The man stood as a shining beacon whose example the youth of America could follow.

Unfortunately, on this day, the Big Train surrendered four runs in the fifth on the way to a 7-6, incomplete-game loss. The defeat was debited from reliever Garland Braxton, although under modern rules Walter would have been the pitcher of record. This was poetic justice in the sense that his first loss, 20 years earlier, would not have been charged to him under the revised rules. The end came quickly for Walter Johnson in 1927, given his 31 decisions the previous year. His ERA ballooned to a surreal 5.10, and as a result his workload diminished to just 107.2 innings. That was it.

Tris Speaker, five months younger than Johnson, whose career was very nearly over, did earn his 30 grand, upping his average to .327 in 1927. It was to be his only year in Washington -- Spoke's final year in the majors would be spent in the company of Ty Cobb with the Philadelphia A's in 1928. Goose Goslin, still only 26, hit .334 in '27, as he had in the Nats last pennant-winning year, and tied for third in ribbies behind the Yankees' fearsome Ruth-Gehrig tandem. These were the highlights for a club, not far removed from a position at the top of the baseball world, which won 85 games. Regrettably, these Senators were at the same point in the continuum of time and space as were the 1927 New York Yankees.

The '27 Yankees are considered by many to have been the best team ever. They won 110 games and left the Nats in third place, but groveling in the dust, a full 25 games out of a pennant position. On July 4, 74,000 had turned up at Yankee Stadium for a doubleheader which the Yankees swept from the Nats by embarrassing 12-1 and 21-1 scores. Babe Ruth went 5-for-7 and Lou Gehrig hit two homers on the day, enabling him to pass Ruth momentarily in the home-run derby. The previous day, back in Washington, Ruth had hit what came to be considered for years as the longest drive ever seen at Griffith Stadium. The Babe had, quite naturally, tipped his cap for the fans while rounding the bases with the little steps he took.

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Nick Altrock
 

Player #117B: Nicholas "Nick" Altrock Part 1. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909, 1912-1915, 1918-1919, 1924, 1931 and 1933. 83 wins and 7 saves in 16 MLB seasons. 3-time World Series champion. At 42 years 1912-1953), he is the longest-tenured coach for one franchise (Washington Senators). He debuted for the Louisville Colonels in 1998. His best season was 1905 with the Chicago White Sox as he posted a 23-12 record with an ERA of 1.88 in 315.2 innings pitched. A 1906 arm injury stunted his career as a pitcher. He pitched very little after 1908 but continued making sporadic pinch hit appearances, including one in 1933 at the age of 57. He became a coach with Washington in 1912 and was known for his antics in the coaching box and teamed with Al Schacht, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" for a dozen years performing comedy routines on baseball fields and on the vaudeville stage.

Altrock's SABR biography: . . . Nick took his 1912 release from Kansas City in stride because he already had an offer from manager Clark Griffith to join the Washington Senators as a “comedy coacher.” The Senators already enjoyed the services of Germany Schaefer, one of the most colorful eccentrics ever to play baseball. However, in his first few days with the club Nick was buried deep on the bench. Then one day the Senators were losing to a strong Cleveland pitcher named Vean Gregg. Griffith turned to his rubber-faced acquisition and said, “What good are you?”

Nick said seriously, “I’m the king’s jester.” Then he asked, “Do you really want to win this game?”

Griffith said, “With your pitching I suppose?”

Altrock said, “No. With my coaching.” Altrock talked Griffith into sending him to the first base coaching box. The next time Griffith looked out to the field he saw Nick in a heap on the ground finishing a pantomime of a man who spiked himself with his own shoe. Gregg was laughing so hard he started heaving the ball over the middle and the Senators started hitting. Altrock morphed the routine into a full wrestling pantomime, pinning himself for a victory. Finally, home plate umpire Silk O’Loughlin, himself doubled over with laughter, ordered him to stop.

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Nick Altrock
 

Player #117B: Nicholas "Nick" Altrock Part 2. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909, 1912-1915, 1918-1919, 1924, 1931 and 1933. 83 wins and 7 saves in 16 MLB seasons. 3-time World Series champion. At 42 years 1912-1953), he is the longest-tenured coach for one franchise (Washington Senators). He debuted for the Louisville Colonels in 1998. His best season was 1905 with the Chicago White Sox as he posted a 23-12 record with an ERA of 1.88 in 315.2 innings pitched. A 1906 arm injury stunted his career as a pitcher. He pitched very little after 1908 but continued making sporadic pinch-hit appearances, including one in 1933 at the age of 57. He became a coach with Washington in 1912 and was known for his antics in the coaching box and teamed with Al Schacht, the "Clown Prince of Baseball" for a dozen years performing comedy routines on baseball fields and on the vaudeville stage.

Continued from previous post: Naturally the newspapers reported this strange behavior and more fans started to turn out for Senators games. American League President Ban Johnson attended one of Nick’s early games, and decided to allow his antics so long as they didn’t interrupt play. Nick was funny enough by himself, but his routines really began to soar when he added a partner. At first he did routines with Schaefer, until Schaefer signed with Newark of the Federal League in 1915. Then Altrock teamed with reserve Carl Sawyer for two seasons, then worked solo for two seasons until 1919, when the Senators acquired another washed-up pitcher, Al Schacht.

Altrock and Schacht became the Martin and Lewis of baseball comedy. They created a series of pantomimes that they performed at games, including bowling, juggling, golf tricks, rowing boats during rain delays, mocking umpires, and other tricks. The two of them regularly headlined vaudeville bills, and became part of the eagerly anticipated entertainment for the World Series and All-Star games. Altrock made more money at his peak in the 1920s than almost any other ballplayer. His salary from all his various appearances was reported in the $180,000 range.

Ironically, in the midst of this success Altrock and Schacht stopped speaking to each other in 1927. Although Altrock never spoke about the specific reasons for it, their rift was often attributed to a fake prizefight routine that got a little too real. The story is that Schacht thought it would be funnier if he actually hit Nick and so punched the older comic unexpectedly and knocked him to the ground. Altrock got revenge a few days later during a routine where he would normally fire a hard baseball at Schacht for him to dodge and follow it with a soft baseball that Schacht took on the head. Altrock switched the baseballs, and Schacht took a hard blow to the skull and hit the turf.

We will now pause -- expected restart date 29 June.

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Stan Coveleski
 

Player #111B: Stanley A. "Stan" Coveleski. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1925-1927. 215 wins and 21 saves in 14 MLB seasons. 1920 World Series champion. 1923 and 1925 AL ERA leader. 1920 AL strikeout leader. Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. 1969 inducted to MLB Hall of Fame. He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912. He was one of 17 "grand-fathered" spit-ball pitchers. One of his best seasons was 1918 with Cleveland as he posted a 22-13 record with a 1.82 ERA in 311 innings pitched.

Covey's SABR biography sums him up and then details the second half of his career, which included time in Washington: With one of the finest spitballs in baseball history, Stan Coveleski baffled American League hitters from the final years of the Deadball Era into the 1920s. To keep hitters off balance, Coveleski went to his mouth before every pitch. “I wouldn’t throw all spitballs,” he later explained. “I’d go maybe two or three innings without throwing a spitter, but I always had them looking for it.” Though he led the American League in strikeouts in 1920, Coveleski prided himself on his efficient pitching. “I was never a strikeout pitcher,” he recalled, “Why should I throw eight or nine balls to get a man out when I got away with three or four?” The right-hander often boasted of his control, once claiming he pitched seven innings without throwing a ball; every pitch was either hit, missed, or called a strike. During his 14-year career, Coveleski ranked among the league’s top ten in fewest walks allowed per nine innings pitched seven times. . . .

. . . On August 17, 1920, tragedy again struck the Cleveland Indians, with the death of shortstop Ray Chapman following a beaning at the hands of New York pitcher Carl Mays. Coveleski, who had been the opposing pitcher in the game, later recalled that he did not think Mays was purposely trying to hit Chapman but “at that time if we saw a fellow get close to the plate, we’d fire under his chin.”

Despite these tragic circumstances, both Coveleski and the Indians persevered to narrowly win the American League pennant. Once again, Coveleski was a big reason for the Tribe’s success, winning 24 games, finishing second in the league with a 2.49 ERA and leading the league with 133 strikeouts. His best work he saved for that year’s best-of-nine World Series against the Brooklyn Robins, pitching three complete-game victories, including a shutout in the series-clinching Game Seven. Covey posted a 0.67 ERA for the series, while walking only two batters in 27 innings.

From 1921 through 1924 Cleveland gradually fell out of contention as ownership did little to improve the ball club. In 1921 Covey won 23 games: his fourth straight year of at least 22 victories. Although his win totals declined thereafter as the fortunes of the team waned, Coveleski continued to pitch well, winning his first ERA title in 1923.

After a sixth-place finish in 1924, the Indians traded Coveleski, coming off a subpar year (15-16, 4.04 ERA) to the world champion Washington Senators. Despite having spent nine years of his career there, Coveleski had no regrets about leaving Cleveland behind. “I never did like Cleveland,” he later explained. “Don’t know why. Didn’t like the town. Now the people are all right, but I just didn’t like the town.” He even admitted that his dissatisfaction with his surroundings had come to affect his performance. “You know I got to a point where I wouldn’t hustle no more,” Covey remembered. “See, a player gets to be with a club too long. Gets lazy, you know.”

True to form, Coveleski rebounded strongly for the Senators in 1925, finishing the season with a 20-5 record and capturing his second ERA title with a 2.84 ERA, though he lost both of his starts in Washington’s World Series defeat against Pittsburgh. After turning in another good year in 1926, Coveleski came down with a sore arm in 1927 and the Senators gave him his unconditional release. Covey caught on with the Yankees for the 1928 season, but pitched poorly and was released in August.

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Goose Goslin
 

Player #90D: Leon A. "Goose" Goslin. Left fielder for the Washington Senators in 1921-1930, 1933, and 1938. 2,735 hits and 248 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1936 All-Star. 1924 and 1935 World Series champion. 1928 AL batting champion. 1924 AL RBI leader. 1968 inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. He drove in the game-winning, walk-off run to win the 1935 World Series for the Detroit Tigers. With Gehringer and Greenberg, was one of the Detroit "G-Men". In 1936 he had an inside-the-park HR when both outfielders (Joe DiMaggio and Myril Hoag) collided and were knocked unconscious. He had one of his best seasons for the WS-winning Washington Senators in 1924 as he posted a .421 OBP with 100 runs scored and 129 RBIs in 674 plate appearances.

Goslin's SABR biography jumps over 1926 and 1927: The 1926 season saw Washington drop to fourth, with Goose contributing 109 RBIs, 17 homers, and a .354 average. The 1927 Senators finished third; Goslin knocked in 120 runs and hit .334. He swung from his heels and his left-handed power was complemented by an exaggerated closed stance in which he turned almost 180 degrees completing his swing. His stroke was fun to watch, whether he homered or struck out. We will pick this up again when Goose comes along next.

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Bucky Harris
 

Player #83H: 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.

Smiles points out that Bucky was a member of a dying breed -- player-managers: There was a changing of the guard among baseball managers in 1927. Superstar player-managers were out. Sisler, Speaker, Cobb and Collins all retired as managers after the 1926 season. Jack Hendricks, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds, predicted their retirements meant the beginning of the end for player-managers. In seven seasons as player-manager, Cobb had never finished higher than third and was sixth in 1926. Eddie Collins tried it for three years and finished sixth, fifth and fifth. Sisler also lasted three years. He had one season over .500, in 1925, but dropped all the way to seventh in 1926. Speaker won a pennant and World Series in his first full year as player-manager in 1920, but nothing since.

Rogers Hornsby was the player-manager with the N.L. and World Series champion Cardinals in 1926 but was traded to the Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring after the season. Though Hendricks was right in his prediction, it would take some years for player-managers to fade away. In 1927 there were seven, including Bucky. Dave Bancroft was a player-manager with the Boston Braves but was released in 1927 following a second consecutive seventh-place finish. Ray Schalk was player-manager for the White Sox in 1927 but was fired in July 1928 when he appeared in only two games as a player. Bob O'Farrell took over for Hornsby with the Cardinals in 1927, his only full year as a manager, and was also the backup catcher. Hornsby managed the Giants for the last 33 games, filling in for the ailing McGraw. Stuffy McInnis was officially a player-manager in 1927, his one and only season as a major league manager, but he appeared in just one game with the Phillies, who lost 103 games. In 1928 Bucky and Hornsby, who had moved on to the Boston Braves, were the only active player-managers. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54P: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson Part 1. "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.

Carroll summarizes the dismal end to Walter's great pitching career: Continuing where they had left off the season before (a disappointing 1926 campaign), things went sour from the onset of spring training for the Senators in 1927. In Tampa, Florida, before an exhibition game, Johnson was throwing batting practice to Joe Judge. Judge ripped a line drive back through the middle, striking Johnson in the right leg. The Senators had seen this before, Johnson being dusted by a line drive through the middle. Usually, he rose to his feet, brushed himself off, then, like clockwork, turned in three hundred-plus innings and twenty-five victories. In fact, just a few days before, Judge had lined a ball off Johnson's other leg with no damage done. So used to the scene were Johnson's teammates, and desensitized to the sight of Johnson sprawled out after a hot smash off some seemingly indestructible body part, that jokester coach Al Schacht hustled out to the mound and jokingly gave Johnson an animated ten-count.

This time would be different, though. Just two years removed from his twelfth twenty-win season for the 1925 American League pennant-winners, Johnson would battle back onto the field, but posted just a 5-6 record in eighteen appearances, along with an ugly 5.10 ERA. Johnson turned forty about a month after the end of the season. He never pitched again, though that didn't mean his role with the franchise had ended -- far from it. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.)

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Walter Johnson
 

Player #54P: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson Part 2. "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.

Now for Deveaux's summary of Walter's last pitching season: Very early in 1927, Walter Johnson signed what was to be, he said, his last contract to pitch for the Washington Senators. It called for his same $20,000 salary for the one year. Bucky Harris's plan was to work Walter and Stan Coveleski in spots, and then only when the two graybeards would feel like pitching. When Johnson was hit in the leg by a line drive off the bat of his roommate Joe Judge, during spring training of 1927 at Tampa, coach Al Schacht, the clown, reportedly stood over Johnson and gave him the ten-count. The comedian didn't know he was counting down the days left in the Big Train's career. Johnson's leg was broken (officially a fracture of the fibula, about 3 1/2 inches above the ankle). The Big Train would be sidelined for six weeks, and this injury would precipitate the end of his scintillating career in 1927. . . .

. . . Walter Johnson's final pitching appearance in the big leagues occurred on September 22, 1927, the same day that Gene Tunney took the long count and came back to defend his crown against ex-champion Jack Dempsey in Chicago. Former Nats teammate Frank "Blackie" O'Rourke, the Canadian, was the last big leaguer to get a hit off Walter, and he also was the last man to have been struck out by him. On September 30, Barney played in his final game. He pinch hit for Tom Zachary, his 110th official pinch-hit appearance, in the very same game in which Zachary surrendered Babe Ruth's 60th home run. In Walter Johnson's final appearance in a major-league game, he hit a fly ball to Babe Ruth . . . who else! . . .

. . . There is some sort of irony in the fact that the game's greatest active pitcher made his last appearance as a pinch-hitter (he hit .235 lifetime with 24 home runs), and that the ball was caught by the greatest hitter the game had ever known. (The Washington Senators by Ton Deveaux.)

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Quite a day in baseball history.

Firpo Marberry
 

Player #104B: Frederick "Firpo" Marberry. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1923-1932. 148 wins and 99 saves in 14 MLB seasons. First prominent reliever; used as a closer. Important piece of the Washington team that won back-to-back AL pennants in 1924-1925. 1924 World Series champion. His most productive season was 1929 with Washington as he posted a 19-12 record with a 3.06 ERA in 250.1 innings pitched. He ended his career with Washington in 1936.

Marberry's SABR biography traces his career in Washington and in the evolution of the role and importance of relief pitchers: Fred Marberry, one of the best pitchers in baseball for a decade, was the first great hurler to be used primarily as a relief pitcher. He played a large role in Washington’s only World Series triumph, and set many records for relievers that would not be bested for many years. Almost forgotten today, he has been denied larger fame by splitting his career between starting and relieving —had he done one or the other, he might be in baseball’s Hall of Fame today. . . .

. . . Legendary Washington Senators scout Joe Engel heard enough about Marberry to go to Arkansas to have a look, and he soon signed the big right-hander, bringing him to Washington in early August 1923. For the Senators, Marberry finished 4-0 in 11 games with a 2.80 ERA. He was 24 years old, still having pitched for a only few years.

Early on in Washington, Marberry acquired the nickname Firpo because of his size and facial resemblance to Argentine boxer Luis Firpo. The fighter, dubbed “The Wild Bull of the Pampas,” knocked Jack Dempsey out of the ring in a 1923 title bout before losing in the second round. Marberry never liked the nickname, especially as Luis Firpo’s career fizzled out, but he would be Firpo Marberry for the remainder of his baseball years.

One of the more interesting stories on the 1923 Senators was Allan Russell, previously a pitcher for several years with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees, and one of the few pitchers still allowed to throw a spitball. Manager Donie Bush (likely with the urging of Clark Griffith) turned Russell into one of the first full-time relief specialists. He started five games, relieved in 47 (a new record), finished 10-7, and “saved” nine games. (Saves were not recorded in 1923, but were retroactively figured in the 1960s.) Of his 181 innings pitched, 144 came in relief (also a new record), meaning he pitched an average of three innings every time he came in as a reliever. This may have been the best season ever put forth by a relief pitcher up until this time.

Marberry began the 1924 season as an extra starter and as a second reliever to Russell. When the latter hurler struggled to repeat his 1923 success, new Senators manager Bucky Harris turned to Marberry more and more often. He responded sensationally. He pitched in 50 games, 35 in relief, won 11, saved 15 and pitched 195 innings, fourth most on the team. Harris used Marberry as Bush had used Russell the previous year: an average of three innings per appearance and as early as the second inning if needed. Russell finished second in the league with eight saves, and the Senators set an all-time team record with 25. (We will return here when Firpo next surfaces.)

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Roger Peckinpaugh
 

Player #95D: Roger T. Peckinpaugh. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1922-1926. 1,876 hits and 205 stolen bases in 17 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. His best season at the plate was probably 1921 as he helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series and posted a .380 OBP with 128 runs scored and 72 RBIs in 694 plate appearances. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1910 and finished his playing career with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He managed the New York Yankees in 1914 and the Cleveland Indians in 1928-1933 and 1941.

Peck's SABR biography: Peck’s legs were giving out, and he would only play two more years in the big leagues. After retiring from the game following the 1927 season, Peckinpaugh accepted the managerial post for the Cleveland Indians. In five and a half seasons with Cleveland, Roger guided the club to one seventh place finish, one third place finish and three consecutive fourth place finishes before being fired midway into the 1933 season. After stints managing Kansas City and New Orleans in the minor leagues, Peck returned to skipper the Indians again in 1941, finishing in fifth place before moving into the Cleveland front office, where he remained until he retired from organized baseball after the 1946 season.

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Sam Rice
 

Player #74L: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 1. 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 down-and-up 1927 season: Meanwhile, Rice, one of the Senators actually healthy enough to take the field day after day, struggled with health problems of his own, something he tried to fight through at first. Rice developed headaches, then difficulty with his eyesight, complaining that he was having trouble following anything while he was in motion. . . . a week into June Sam Rice, one of the era's most bankable hitters, was struggling along with a .194 average. . . .

. . . Something was clearly wrong. Even when his team was good, Rice was bad. On May 17, Washington drubbed the Cleveland Indians 12-0. Speaker and Goslin combined to go 7-for-7 -- a sweet afternoon, surely, for Speaker against the team that cut him loose rather than see him through a potentially damaging scandal. Meanwhile Rice, mired in the worst slump of his career, went 0-for-6. All the while, with the exception of a brief spell in the number two hole, Harris kept leading his veteran off. While the powerful Yankees began to run away with the American League, Washington was led off every game by a player who was struggling to bat .200.

In mid-May, an explanation for Rice's plate struggles arose. . . . An exam revealed three infected teeth, which "had poisoned his entire system." He had them extracted. . . .

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