Player #89D: 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: Bluege was known as a quiet, unassuming type of person who went about his job without much fanfare. He never popped off or brought attention to himself. He did not drink, smoke, or keep late hours. He was a virtual unknown to many. In spite of his anonymity, Bluege was a member of the Washington Senators for 18 seasons, served as a coach for two, and managed the Nats for five more. He was the franchise’s first farm director and worked as the comptroller, and later executive secretary, when the organization relocated to Minneapolis. When he retired in 1971, Bluege had worked 50 years for the same franchise. Indeed he was a company man.
Whenever American League President Joe Cronin was asked to rank big-league third basemen, he always gave the same answer: “Well, you start with Bluege.” Of course shortstop Cronin was referring to his old partner on the right side of the Washington Senators teams of the 1920s and ’30s, Ossie Bluege. At the 1970 World Series, watching Baltimore’s Brooks Robinson make one outstanding play after another, Joe would remark “That’s another Ossie Bluege play.” He would often comment that he never had to worry about a ball that was hit to his right side with Bluege manning the hot corner.
Luke Sewell, a catcher for the Senators in the later years of his career, described Bluege as “the two greatest infielders who ever played in my time.” Sewell explained: He played third and short at the same time, and nobody could come up with a bunt and snap it to first base as fast as Bluege.”
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