As a Cleveland Baseball Fan I absolutely love these guys, Joe Birmingham and Guy Morton. Both played their entire MLB careers with Cleveland.
I picked them up specifically because they were alumni of my favorite team.
I try to give players a wide berth when it comes to characterizing their playing days stats as HOF quality, Star, Above Avg, or Common.
One such measure I use is WAR. By this standard Joe Birmingham's lifetime WAR of 3.2 just doesn't register. I agree his colorful managerial career makes him interesting, but I would lump his playing days exploits into the common category when viewing it myself. Guy Morton on the other hand with a lifetime WAR of 16.3 ranks well for pitchers, in the top 600 all time. That is well above average, making him arguably not a common player. In any case though, I am thrilled to have added both of these players and their cards to my Cleveland Type Card Collection.
I would also like to add that highlighting stories about the players, as you have done with Joe Birmingham in his dustups with Nap Lajoie, brings life to these guys and makes the pursuit of their collectables all the more interesting and rewarding. Thanks for sharing this story!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuck9788
Commons are not "common" people. Joe Birmingham was the reason Napoleon Lajoie was dealt away from Cleveland to Philadelphia.
Joe Birmingham was named the Player/Manager of the Cleveland Naps in 1912 at the age of 28 and stayed at the helm for three more seasons.
His tenure was marked with a bit of controversy in 1913 which would be his best finish as manager (86-66, 3rd place). Nap Lajoie, who was Birmingham's former manager, struggled through a hitting slump in mid-season and Birmingham decided to bench the future Hall of Famer at one point. Lajoie who had no love for Birmingham was outraged and cursed out the young manager to his face and in the press. The feud only ended when Lajoie was sold back to Philadelphia after the 1914 season.
His next season would be a disaster, as the newly named Indians lost 102 games, and in 1915, Birmingham was fired after only 28 games.
Guy Morton called "Moose" died of a heart attack at age 41.
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06-28-2022, 08:43 PM
Agree!
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