Washington DC Baseball
 

My pre-war collecting is focused on Washington (The District of Columbia) baseball. To amuse myself, I thought I would initiate a thread that showcases items involving the teams and players that have represented Washington. I realize that, with very few exceptions such as Walter Johnson, Washington items are under-represented in most collections, unless needed to complete a set. So, in many cases, I'll be posting items most collectors are used to ignoring. I will include readily available biographical information that I deem interesting. I apologize in advance for the poor quality of some scans. I will start with the 1887-1889 Nationals.

(Feel free to contribute any images or thoughts that my postings may provoke, but please refrain from quarrelling over religious subjects involving TPGs, AHs, or PWCC. Especially PWCC.)

The 1887 Washington Nationals finished with a 46–76 record in the National League, finishing in seventh place.

The 1888 Washington Nationals finished with a 48–86 record in the National League, finishing in last place.

The 1889 Washington Nationals finished with a 41–83 record in the National League, finishing in last place. The team folded at the conclusion of the season.

Player #1: James B. "Jim" Donnelly. Third baseman for the Washington Nationals in 1887-1889. 549 hits and 173 stolen bases in 11 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1884. His most productive season came in 1896 for the NL-pennant-winning Baltimore Orioles as he posted a .387 OBP with 70 runs and 71 RBIs in 454 plate appearances. His final season came in 1898 with the St. Louis Browns.

James B. Donnelly used to be conflated with a fellow New Englander named James H. Donnelly. Both Donnelly's made their MLB debut in 1884.

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1887 Nationals cards
 

Here are two 1887 Nationals cards from my collection:

The Big Train…

Not really a “card,” but a pretty cool shot of Washington’s best ever…

19th century cards have never been a focus, but one of the three Old Judge cards I have happens to be of Washington outfielder/infielder George Shoch, who had an 11 year career in baseball, including the 4 year stint with the Nationals at the beginning of his career in 1886 to 1889. As a bonus, this card also features John Gaffney, who was the manager of the Nationals for part of 1886 and in 1887. Before and after this managerial stint, he was a noted umpire, perhaps influencing the photo selection seen on this card.

Brian

Here's 4 more Buchner's

https://www.qualitycards.com/pictures/buchner12.jpg

Grasshopper Whitney
 

Player #2: James E. "Grasshopper" Whitney. Pitcher with the Washington Nationals in 1887-1888. 191 wins and a career ERA of 2.97 in 10 MLB seasons. He was the 1881 NL wins leader and the 1883 NL strikeout leader. He debuted with the Boston Red Caps in 1881. In 1881, Whitney's 31-33 record led the league in both wins and losses; 31 wins still stands as the MLB record for wins with a losing record. His best season was 1883 with the Boston Beaneaters as he posted a 37-21 record and a 2.24 ERA in 514 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1890. He died in 1891 of tuberculosis at the age of 33.

"There were no restrictions placed on (pitchers) as to delivery, and they could double up like a jack-knife and deliver the ball. That was the way Jim Whitney used to do, and he would let the ball go at terrific speed. It was a wonder that anyone was able to hit him at all. He was the swiftest pitcher I ever saw." - Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke, quoted in Sporting Life of December 4, 1915

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Jim Banning
 

Player #3: James M. "Jim" Banning. Catcher with the Washington Nationals in 1888-1889. He appeared in one game in 1888 and two games in 1889. He had no hits in 1 plate appearance over 2 MLB seasons.

During 1888 and 1889, Washington's regular catcher was Connie Mack.

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I do not own the image posted below, but I hope it is deemed appropriate for this thread. It is a photograph that had been published in The Washington Sunday Star on October 5th, 1924--a rarely seen image of the 1892 Washington Nationals. Most professional teams of that era had the name of their city on their uniform, or the initial of the city name, or no lettering at all, but this team had NATIONAL across the chest. The players are identified in the caption, which helps to confirm that this is, in fact, the National League team of 1892. I found the image on one of the online newspaper archives a while back, and am pretty certain that the original photograph is no longer in existence.

That's a great picture. Thanks for posting it.

Wikipedia reports that "The 1891 Washington Statesmen baseball team finished the season with a 44–91 record in the American Association in their first season. After the season, the AA disbanded and the Washington club, renamed the "Senators," joined the National League.

So, despite the "National" on their uniforms, the team was apparently officially named the Senators. Perhaps the first official use (in MLB) of the team-name Senators -- I believe the American League team that began in 1901 (now the Minnesota Twins) was not officially designated as Senators until after Clark Griffith died in 1955.

The official name of most 19th Century (and early 20th Century) professional baseball teams consisted of the city name and "Base Ball Club", or something similar. There were a few exceptions in the major leagues, such as the Eclipse club that was eventually renamed the Louisville club, and the Metropolitan club (of New York), which disbanded after the 1887 season. The nicknames given to teams, such as the Giants, Browns, Statesmen, and Senators, were just that--informal names used by the fans and the press, but not really official names, and different newspapers in the same city might favor different names.

Anyway, whoever made the Wikipedia entry had probably never seen the image of the 1892 team or done much research in the newspaper archives. By the end of the decade, the team was usually called the Senators in the press, but it's hard to imagine that this was the most commonly used nickname for the 1892 team, considering what was printed on their uniform shirts.

Might be far afield from what the OP is thinking but I’m a huge fan of the 5th all star game ever played, which was in Washington in 1937. FDR threw out the first pitch, Gehrig homered, Dizzy’s career got derailed by a liner from Earl Averill. Awesome game.

The American League took the game, 8-3, Lefty Gomez besting Dizzy Dean, Lou Gehrig blasting a home run for the AL. And, as you say, Dean's broken toe was the beginning of the end of his Hall-of-Fame career.

The images of Griffith Stadium are from 1924 and FDR's first pitch is from the 1940 season.

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Cod Myers
 

Player #4: J. Albert "Al" Myers. "Cod". Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1887-1889. 788 hits and 111 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1884. His best season was 1890 with the Philadelphia Quakers as he posted a .365 OBP with 95 runs scored, 81 RBIs, and 44 stolen bases in 554 plate appearances. He ended his career in 1891 still with Philadelphia.

The book Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball says that Mack and his new wife Margaret, in the off-season after the 1888 season, along with Myers and Jim Whitney, traveled toward California, playing on a pay-per-game basis for various barnstorming teams. The players made enough money for their expenses as well as some left over.

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Sam Crane
 

Player #5: Samuel N. "Sam" Crane. Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1887. 276 hits and 3 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Buffalo Bisons in 1880. His final season was 1890 with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. He managed the Buffalo Bisons in 1880 and the Cincinnati Outlaw Reds in 1884.

After his playing days, Sam had a long and distinguished career as a sportswriter. It was his connection to baseball as a player, manager, and sportswriter that lent credibility to his assertion that Cooperstown, New York be the location for a "memorial" to the great players from the past. Cooperstown was, at the time, the place that many people believed was where Abner Doubleday had invented the game of baseball. It was this idea of a memorial that eventually led to the creation of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in 1939.

Crane's playing career ended when he was arrested after having an affair with the wife of a fruit dealer and stealing $1,500 from the husband.

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Spider Clark
 

Player #6: Owen F. "Spider" Clark. Utility player with the Washington Nationals in 1889. 106 hits and 5 home runs in 2 MLB seasons. He also played in 1890 for the Buffalo Bisons of the Players' League. While he was primarily a right fielder, he played all over the diamond on defense, playing every position at least once, including one game as a pitcher for the Bisons.

With the Nationals in 1889, Clark also became the first major league player with the nickname of "Spider," a moniker he received because of his thin build and his excellent range as a fielder. Clark died of tuberculosis in 1892 at 24 years old.

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Pat Dealy
 

Player #7: Patrick E. "Pat" Dealy played all or part of five seasons in the majors between 1884 and 1890. 113 hits and 2 home runs in 5 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Paul Saints of the Union Association in 1884 as their backup catcher, which was his primary position throughout his career (he also played substantial numbers of games at shortstop, third base, and the outfield). He then played three seasons in the National League, with the Boston Beaneaters in 1885 and 1886 and Washington Nationals in 1887. His final season came with the Syracuse Stars of the American Association. Dealey also umpired two NL games in 1886. In 1887, he was Connie Mack's back-up.

Dealy is said to have allowed 10 passed balls in a game on May 3, 1886, which is odd given that he appeared in 14 games at catcher that season and allowed a total of 20 passed balls, which means that he had a total of 10 in the other 13 games. It was apparently typical to allow one passed ball per game - Dealy allowed 24 during 28 games at catcher in 1887 while Connie Mack allowed 76 passed balls during 76 games at catcher in 1887.

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Moose Farrell
 

Player #8: John A. "Jack" Farrell. "Moose". Second baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 877 hits and 23 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Syracuse Stars in 1879. His best season was 1883 with the Providence Grays as he posted a .329 OBP with 92 runs scored in 435 plate appearances. He last played for the Baltimore Orioles in 1888-1889. In 1881, he managed the Providence Grays.

Farrell was the second baseman for the Providence Gray's in 1879-1885, a consistently good team that won the pennant in 1879 and 1884.

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Barney Gilligan
 

Player #9: Andrew B. "Barney" Gilligan. Catcher with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 386 hits and 3 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Cleveland Blues in 1879-1880. His best season was 1884 with the Providence Grays as he posted a .325 OBP with 47 runs scored in 329 plate appearances. He was Hoss Radbourn's catcher as Radbourn won 54 games and the Grays won the 1884 pennant. He finished his MLB career with the Detroit Wolverines in 1888.

In the 1880's catching was brutal, dangerous work using the primitive equipment of the day. It was also customary for "batteries" to stay together. Most teams had two pitcher/catcher duos and rarely mixed them up barring injury. So, when Hoss Radbourn took over starting every Providence Grays game in the second half of the 1884 pennant-winning season, it meant Gilligan caught every game as well. It is well understood that Radbourn's was a feat of fantastic endurance; less appreciated, is Gilligan's ability to catch Radbourn game after game. Despite the physical demands of all the catching, 1884 was also Gilligan's finest offensive season.

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Egyptian Healy
 

Player #10: John J. "Egyptian" Healy. "Long John". Healy was born in Cairo, IL, hence the nickname, "Egyptian". Pitcher with the Washington Nationals in 1889. 78 wins and a 3.84 ERA in 8 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Louis Maroons in 1885-1886. His best season was 1890 with the Toledo Maumees as he went 22-21 record with a 2.89 ERA in 389 innings pitched. His final season was 1892 with the Louisville Colonels. Healy's career W-L record was 78-136; during the 1880s, his .310 winning percentage (44-98) was the lowest of any Major League pitcher in the decade.

During the 1888-89 off-season he was part of the world tour which Al Spalding organized. Among other places, they went to Egypt. Healy died of consumption in 1899 at age 32.

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Paul Hines
 

The Washington Nationals played their first and only season of professional baseball in 1872 as a member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. They finished eleventh in the league with a record of 0-11.

The Washington Blue Legs played their first and only season in 1873 as a member of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players. They finished seventh in the league with a record of 8-31.

The 1891 Washington Statesmen baseball team finished the season with a 44–91 record in the American Association in their first season. After the season, the AA disbanded and the Washington club, renamed the "Senators," joined the National League.

Player #11: Paul A. Hines. Outfielder with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 2,133 hits and 57 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. 1884 World Series champion with the Providence Grays. 1878 Triple Crown winner. 2-time (1878 and 1879) batting champion. 1878 NL home run leader and NL RBI leader. Hines debuted with Washington in the National Association in 1972 and played for eight other MLB teams, including the Washington Blue Legs (1873), Washington Nationals (NL) (1886-1887), and, in his final season, the Washington Statesmen (1891). During the first five NL seasons, from 1876 through 1880, Hines had more base hits than any other player, and he retired third to Cap Anson and Jim O'Rourke with 1,884 career hits in the majors.

Hines' total of sixteen seasons as a major league team's primary center fielder was not surpassed until Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb in 1925.

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Bill Krieg
 

Player #12: William F. "Bill" Krieg. Catcher/1B/Outfielder with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1887. 127 hits and 4 home runs in 4 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies in 1884.

Krieg started 1887 with Washington. On opening day, he hit a home run, and in the stands, "hats, umbrellas and canes were thrown into the air and the multitude shouted forth their joy in hilarious manner." However, Krieg batted just .253 in 25 games and was released in midseason.

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Here's a photo of a black team, the 1921 Washington Athletics. I previously posted a thread looking for information and didn't get too far, so if you know about this team I'd love to hear it.

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=301569

I like the picture, thanks for posting. Who they are? is a pitch I can't hit.

Miah Murray
 

Player #13: Jeremiah J. "Miah" Murray. Catcher with the Washington Nationals in 1888 and the Washington Statesmen in 1891. 17 hits in 125 plate appearances spread across 4 MLB seasons. Murray debuted with the Providence Grays in 1884.

Murray worked as a full-time National League umpire for the 1895 season.

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Billy O'Brien
 

Player #14: William S. "Billy" O'Brien. Third baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1987-1989. 364 hits and 32 home runs in 5 MLB seasons. Debuted with the St. Paul Saints in 1884. His best season was 1887 with Washington as he posted a .317 OBP with 19 home runs and 73 RBIs in 479 plate appearances. He finished up with the Brooklyn Gladiators in 1890.

In March 1887, O'Brien was acquired by the NL's Washington Nationals. That season, he played 113 games, batting .278 with 73 runs batted in (RBI) and a 126 OPS+. He led the league in home runs, with 19.

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George Shoch
 

Player #15: George Q. Shoch. Utility player with the Washington Nationals in 1886-1889. 671 hits and 138 stolen bases in 11 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .354. He finished his career with the Brooklyn Grooms/Bridegrooms in 1893-1897.

Although rarely in the everyday lineup for an extended period, Shoch was a useful member of several late-19th-century major-league teams. In an era of small rosters, Shoch’s versatility – he could play second, shortstop, third, and the outfield competently – was coveted by his managers.

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Walt Wilmot
 

Player #16: Walter R. "Walt" Wilmot. Switch-hitting outfielder with the Washington Nationals in 1888-1889. 1,100 hits, 58 home runs, and 383 stolen bases in 10 MLB seasons. 1890 NL home run leader. In 1891 he was first MLB player to be walked 6 times in one game. His most productive season was 1894 with the Chicago Colts as he posted a .368 OBP with 136 runs, 76 stolen bases, and 130 RBIs in 655 plate appearances. He last played for the New York Giants in 1897-1898.

Wilmot set three rather obscure records that have never been broken. On September 20, 1890, he was hit twice in the same game by batted balls while running the bases. The next year, on August 22, 1891, he drew six walks in a nine-inning game; only one other player, Jimmie Foxx in 1938, has equaled that feat. Finally, in August 1894, Wilmot stole eight bases in two consecutive games. Rickey Henderson stole seven bases in two games, but no one has ever tied or broken Wilmot’s mark.

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Photograph appears to be one of Jack Farrell's Old Judge poses
 

I recently picked up the photograph on the left below, which the seller was unable to tie to a specific player. But it appears to be related to the Jack Farrell Old Judge pose on the right. The card is not mine -- I have five of Farrell's Old Judge Washington poses, but not the one related to the photograph. Anybody (if anybody is paying attention) have any thoughts regarding how unusual the photograph is?

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Your photo appears to be an amazing artifact.

Nice photo. I am probably mistaking but it sort of looks like one of those later Old Judge images. Those surface abrasions are similar to other ones I have seen. If I recall they were made in the early 1900s....but maybe I am thinking of tintypes or something...?

Actually, I think I used to own that LOL...

Is that good or bad?

Hahaha! Maybe I should have said fascinating rather than amazing. Given the resolution of the photo, I think it's more likely that cards were made from the photo than the other way around, or at the least that they were both made from the original negative. How many of those can there be for 19th century cards? Anything on the back?

The "photo" is "stuck" to a piece of black "construction paper". Any writing or marking on the back of the "photo" will not be easy to access.

Jumbo Cartwright
 

Player #17: Edward C. "Jumbo" Cartwright. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1894-1897. 562 hits and 144 stolen bases in 5 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1890. His best season was 1895 with Washington as he posted a .400 OBP with 95 runs scored, 90 RBIs, and 50 stolen bases in 531 plate appearances.

Cartwright is most famous for having seven RBI in one inning, accomplished with the Browns in 1890; his record would stand for 109 years until it was broken by Fernando ("Bodacious") Tatís of the Cardinals in 1999.

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Hi George,
I am very much enjoying all of your posting in this thread, both the great cards and the interesting biographic info re the players.

But, I'm curious about one aspect of the bios. Why is it that with all of the statistics you mention, you never or virtually never mention a player's batting average?
Best,
Val

Hi Val! Thank you for the kind words. I am trying to provide a brief career overview, in a standard format, without losing (or abusing) the attention of readers (most of whom are, I assume) not intensely interested in the players or their history. If your question is Why not BA AND OBP? my answer is that it might begin to clutter the writing with "too many" (similar) numbers. If your question is Why OBP in lieu of BA? my answer is that I subscribe to the modern view that OBP is a richer statistic that conveys more meaningful information regarding the "value" of the player's offensive production.

I realize the players in question and the fans of their time were largely oblivious to OBP but keenly aware of batting average as a basis for evaluating and comparing offensive performance across teams, players, and seasons. That was then; this is now.

Bill Joyce
 

Player18: William M. "Bill" Joyce. Third baseman with the Washington Senators in 1894-1896. 971 hits, 70 home runs, and 266 stolen bases in 8 MLB seasons. He was the 1896 NL home run leader. He debuted with the Brooklyn Ward's Wonders in 1890. He had a career OBP of .435. His best season was 1896 as he posted a .470 OBP with 121 runs scored, 94 RBIs, and 45 stolen bases in 600 plate appearances. His 1896 season was split between Washington and the New York Giants. He finished his career as the player-manager of the Giants in 1896-1898. He holds (a tie for) the record with 4 triples in one game. In 1891, he reached base in 64 consecutive games, a record that stood until Ted Williams broke it in 1941.

The Brooklyn Grooms traded Joyce to the Washington Senators in the 1892-93 offseason, but he refused to play for the Senators at the salary offered and held out for the entire 1893 season. Joyce finally signed with the Senators in the spring of 1894 and was named the team captain. Praised as “an intelligent, energetic and aggressive captain,” Joyce had one obvious fault: He was “a kicker from Kickersville,” who obsessively and persistently protested umpires’ calls. On May 1, 1894, his incessant kicking resulted in the forfeiture of a game to the Brooklyn Grooms. Worse, after the game he and several teammates followed the umpire into the dressing room spouting “obscene and blackguard language.” It was an “act of hoodlums,” wrote Henry Chadwick, the 69-year-old “Father of Baseball.”

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I have three N300 cards with a total size of approximately 2.375 normal examples. My full one happens to be formally attired Otis Stocksdale, pitcher for Washington. I will let George post his great writeup on him when he shows his example.

Brian

Great Stocksdale, Brian! Is that the right rear pocket fold over variation? Or the left?

Old Gray Fox Stocksdale
 

The 1895 Washington Senators baseball team finished the season with a 43–85 record, tenth place in the National League.

Player #19: Otis H. Stocksdale. "Old Gray Fox". Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1893-1895. 15 wins and 1 save in 4 MLB seasons. 1896 NL pennant winner. His final season was with the Baltimore Orioles in 1896.

Stocksdale never had a winning record as a pitcher but hit over .300. He was born in Maryland and attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore; he is the player with the highest major league batting average to come out of Johns Hopkins.

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Scoops Carey
 

The 1903 Washington Senators won 43 games, lost 94, and finished in eighth place in the American League. They were managed by Tom Loftus and played home games at the American League Park I.

Washington had finished in sixth place in each of the previous two seasons (the first two seasons of the American League's existence). However, they fell to eighth and last in 1903. Their only star player, Big Ed Delahanty, got drunk and fell off a bridge into Niagara Falls midway through the season.

The Senators' pitching had always been bad, and indeed, they would allow the most runs in the AL, but without Delahanty the offense sputtered to a halt. Their collective batting average was .231, bad even for the dead-ball era, and no one drove in more than 49 runs.

Player #20: George C. "Scoops" Carey. First baseman with the Washington Senators in 1902-1903. 313 hits and one home run in 4 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Baltimore Orioles in 1895. His best season was 1902 with Washington as he posted a .350 OBP with 60 RBIs in 482 plate appearances.

Carey is quoted in his SABR biography regarding one aspect of playing for the Orioles in 1895: There was also a mission of considerable importance for the Orioles — make life “miserable” for umpires: “They were after the umps all the time and whenever a close decision went against them, there was sure to be trouble. It got them something, too. All the umpires were afraid of the bunch. I remember in one of the games that we played against Cleveland, Bob Emslie called a strike on me that was clearly wide. I started to make a kick. If you say another word I’ll fine you and put you out of the game. There are enough crabs on this team without you youngsters.”

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George, your description of the 1903 Senators reminded me of the Senators teams I grew up with and rooted for in the 1950's and 1960's. Ugh!

And, having just watched them lose their 6th game in a row to fall to a record of 23 wins - 44 losses when I read your post, it also reminded me of my current Washington Nationals, who have hit rock bottom since winning the W. S. in 2019. The pitching is absolutely pathetic, and the star player, Juan Soto, is mired in a season-long slump, currently batting in the .220's with a measly 28 RBIs. Sigh!

Sigh back at you.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

Doughnut Bill Carrick
 

Player #21: William M. "Bill" Carrick. "Doughnut Bill". Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1901-1902. 63 wins and a 4.14 ERA in 5 MLB seasons. He led the NL in complete games in 1899 and in games pitched in 1900 and in games started both years. He debuted with the New York Giants in 1898-1900. In 1900 he had his best year posting a record of 19-22 with a 3.53 ERA in 341.2 innings pitched.

Doughnut Bill Carrick pitched five years in the majors. He was a workhorse, twice leading the league in starts. At one point during the 1901 season, Carrick lost seventeen consecutive decisions.

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Rowdy Bill Coughlin
 

Player #22: William P. "Bill" Coughlin. "Scranton Bill". "Rowdy Bill". Third baseman with the Washington Nationals in 1899 (NL) and Senators in 1901-1904 (AL). 972 hits and 159 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He was known as a master of the hidden-ball trick. He was a key figure on the Detroit Tiger team that won AL pennants in 1907 and 1908. But his most productive season was 1902 with Washington as he posted an OBP of .348 with 84 runs scored and 71 RBIs in 506 plate appearances. His final seasons were with Detroit in 1904-1908.

In 1919, Coughlin was involved in the occupation of Germany after World War I. Coughlin conceived and operated a school for umpires run by the Knights of Columbus in occupied Coblenz, Germany. Coughlin taught the umpire candidates to officiate baseball games for the occupying servicemen. Coughlin taught his umpires to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" if fights erupted among the players, causing "rocks held ready to avenge an unpopular decision" to fall from "reverent hands."

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Ryan Zimmerman compared to WaJo
 

Prior to the game on Saturday vs. the Phillies, the Wash. Nationals held an on-field ceremony to honor Ryan Zimmerman and retire his jersey number. A good player but not a HOF candidate, Zimmerman has been the face of the Nats franchise from almost when the team moved to DC from Montreal. I think this read, which appears in today's Wash. Post, will interest all Washington fans, and hopefully others as well. I have copied and pasted this piece becaise I believe the Post has a paywall.


A century before Zimmerman, Walter Johnson transformed D.C. baseball

By Frederic J. Frommer
Updated June 18, 2022 at 8:00 p.m. EDT|Published June 17, 2022 at 10:01 a.m. EDT

When the Nationals celebrate Ryan Zimmerman and his career at Nationals Park on Saturday, they paid tribute to a player who has been the face of Washington baseball in a way no one has in a century, since Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson.

Like Johnson, Zimmerman, who announced his retirement in February, played his entire career here, slogged through many years of bad baseball, and helped lead his team to a World Series title in the twilight of his career.

Zimmerman made his debut at the age of 20, 98 years after Johnson’s first game with the Washington Senators at the age of 19. Johnson finally got a chance to play in the World Series when he was 36 and the entire nation rallied around the underdog Senators, who beat the New York Giants in seven games.

Zimmerman was 35 when the Nats upset the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series, also in seven games. Those remain the only World Series titles for Washington, 95 years apart. Zimmerman is also retiring 95 years after Johnson did in 1927.

The Senators and the Nats were nearly equally bad when Johnson and Zimmerman started their careers. In his first five seasons in the big leagues, Johnson pitched for a team that finished in last or second-to-last place in the American League every season. In the first five seasons Zimmerman played for the Nats, the team finished in the bottom two in the National League East Division.

Twice in those periods, their teams had the worst record in baseball. The Nats got to restock off those fallow years by drafting Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper with back-to-back No. 1 draft picks, but there was no draft back when Johnson played, making a rebuild much more challenging.

Both players dated back to the beginning of the Washington teams. The Nats made Zimmerman their first draft selection after moving here from Montreal in June 2005, and he made his debut three months later. The Senators scouted Johnson playing semipro baseball in Idaho and signed him in June 1907 during their seventh season.

“Secures A Phenom,” a Washington Post headline declared on June 30, 1907. “Johnson Is His Name and He Hails from the Wooly West.” He debuted for the Senators that August. They both put up spectacular numbers in their first abbreviated first seasons. Zimmerman hit .397 in 20 games, while Johnson posted a 1.88 earned run average in 14 games.

Zimmerman played his entire career with one team, a feat almost unheard of in this era of free agency, but it was more common when Johnson played. Zimmerman helped bridge generations of Washington baseball fans, many of whom lived 33 years without a local team. As he told me after the Nats won the 2019 World Series for my book on Washington baseball history, “You Gotta Have Heart”:

The team has been here long enough where I’ll have 20-year-old or 25-year-old guys or girls come up to me and be like, “Hey thanks, you know you’ve been my favorite since I was a little kid,” which makes me feel really old, but also it is really cool because you have that again now.

Being here for so long, I’ve talked to some people who said they used to go to Senators games with their parents. These people went to games with their dad or mom when they were four or five or six years old, but their kids are now grown, and they never had a baseball team to do that with their dad or mom. So you missed that whole generation.

One of the most important things this World Series did was restore baseball back to D.C. It’s almost like some closure to baseball coming back.

Both Zimmerman and Johnson knew when it was time to retire. Johnson, 39, went 5-6 with a 5.10 ERA in his final season, although he hit .348 and slugged .522 in 46 at-bats. Zimmerman, 37 when he retired, hit .243 last year, but he did have some pop left in his bat, homering 14 times and driving in 46 RBIs in just 255 at-bats.

ohnson had arguably the best career of any big league pitcher in history and holds the record for most shutouts, with 110. Zimmerman was not that kind of transformational player, but he retired as the all-time Nats leader in homers, hits, RBIs and games played. On Saturday, his No. 11 was retired, the first time a Nats player has received that honor.

Johnson remained a fixture in the region, as Zimmerman, known as “Mr. National,” plans to do. “Although my baseball career has come to an end, my family and I will continue to be heavily involved in the DMV community,” he said.

A few years after retiring, Johnson became manager of the Senators. In three of those four seasons, the Senators had a winning percentage of .597 or better but never made it back to the World Series. Later, he entered politics, winning a seat on the Montgomery County Commission and nearly pulling off an upset victory as a Republican candidate for Congress in 1940. There is also a high school named for him in Bethesda.

Both excelled in unassuming ways, without seeking the spotlight. When Johnson retired, he said he “simply does not want to be in the way next season.”

“Walter Johnson, more than any other ball player, probably more than any other athlete, professional or amateur, became the symbol of gentlemanly conduct in the battle heat,” wrote Washington Post sports columnist Shirley Povich in 1946, following the death of Johnson at the age of 59.

“The big fellow from Coffeyville, Kan.,” wrote New York Times sports columnist Arthur Daley, “was a gentleman of the highest type, a distinct credit to his sport.”

Although players today are not often described as “gentlemen,” the sentiments behind those comments describe Zimmerman. He told The Post that when people see him and thank him for being a role model, “I feel like I don’t know why you’re thanking me. All I did was play baseball. I got to play baseball for a job. That is the best way to put it. I shouldn’t be being thanked. I feel like I should be thanking them.”

Frederic J. Frommer, a writer and sports historian, is the author of several books, including “You Gotta Have Heart: Washington Baseball from Walter Johnson to the 2019 World Series Champion Nationals.”

Lew Drill
 

Thanks Val.

Player #23: Lewis L. "Lew" Drill. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1902-1904. 231 hits in 4 MLB seasons. His career OBP is .353. His last MLB seasons were 1904-1905 with the Detroit Tigers. He declined a contract offer for the 1906 season because he could make more money working as a lawyer.

Drill's SABR biography picks up his 1903 season: With (William "Boileryard") Clarke back in the fold, Drill had less opportunity to play in 1903. He batted .253 in 51 games and kept up his studies while playing ball, earning his law degree from Georgetown in June. After the season he and Bob Blewett, a classmate at Georgetown and a former pitcher with the New York Giants, opened a law office in Seattle; one report stated, “Both men are out of baseball for good.” Drill must have reconsidered: He was one of the first to report for Senator's spring training in 1904.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1655716730
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Thanks, Val, for posting this nicely done and apropos article by Fred Frommer, who has become the unofficial historian of the original Nats.

Watty Lee
 

Wyatt A. "Watty" Lee. Outfielder and Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1901-1903. 30 wins in 549.1 innings pitched over 4 MLB seasons.

In 1903 he had an 8-12 record with a 3.08 ERA in 166.2 innings pitched. He finished up with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1904.

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George, I'm greatly enjoying seeing the pics of your vintage Washington cards and reading your informative write ups. Here's another "Watty" Lee card to augment your last post.