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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