Player #74N: 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 sets the stage for Rice's 1929 season: Rice and (his wife) Edith were spending the winter in San Diego. As usual, Rice was taking advantage of the warm Southern California climate to work on his golf game (an article of the time identified Rice, Brooklyn's Arnold Statz and Chicago Cub "Speed" Martin as baseball's best golfers). . . .
. . . What frightened Griffith and made him believe that Rice might carry through with his retirement comments wasn't just his advancing age, but how well Rice had managed his meager salary through the years. The Senators' boss was well aware that Rice had taken care of his money and invested it wisely. Any return to the baseball field wouldn't be undertaken out of financial necessity, that was for sure. . . .
. . . The drama began to build in late January, and finally came to an end a few days later, when Rice ended the speculation by signing his Senators contract for the 1929 season. . . .
. . . But just because Rice was returning to the roster didn't mean that he was promised his traditional starting spot in the Senators' outfield. (We will continue this tomorrow.)
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