Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

At this time, the concrete wall in rightfield at Griffith Stadium was raised to a 30-foot height. Reminiscent of the Green Monster, the left field wall at Fenway Park in Boston, Griffith's right field fence was seven feet shorter but five feet farther. It is recorded that Phil Todt, a young first baseman with the Boston Red Sox, hit the first home run over the Griffith fence, on May 1, 1925. By then, the A's were solidifying their hold on first place. On the 27th, Walter Johnson, the recipient of some extraordinary offensive support this season, beat the A's 10-9. It was Barney's seventh straight win, during which the Senators' bats had provided him with 60 runs. While the A's were still clinging to their lead for the time being, over the next three months the two clubs would trade places at the top of the standings.

(Washington pitchers) Johnson, Coveleski, and Ruether were winning with great regularity. On June 1, Babe Ruth returned to action against Johnson and the Senators at Yankee Stadium but went 0-for-2 in a 5-3 Nats win. Less conspicuous than Ruth and Johnson on this day was another future inductee of the Hall of Fame. Twenty-two-year-old Lou Gehrig was brought up to pinch hit against Fred Marberry and began his streak of 2,130 consecutive games. It is quite a coincidence that the skein Gehrig would eventually surpass, teammate Everett Scott's 1,307 straight games, had ended the day before, when Scott had been replaced in the lineup by Pee Wee Wanninger. Within 2 1/2 weeks, Scott would be purchased by the Senators.

On June 8, George Mogridge and catcher Pinky Hargrave were traded to the St. Louis Browns for another veteran bat off the bench, 34-year-old catcher Hank Severeid, who'd been in the league ten years before coming into his own and batting over .300 during the last four campaigns. Severeid would bat at a .355 clip in 50 games for the Senators over the remainder of the season as backup catcher. On the same day he was acquired, Goose Goslin hit three home runs, to tie the then American League record. The third shot brought in the winning runs in the 12th inning. Bucky Harris was particularly hot, and everyone in the lineup but Ruel was at better than .300.

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