Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

The 1914 Washington Senators won 81 games, lost 73, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Clark Griffith and played home games at National Park.

The threat of the First World War hovered over and then descended upon the United States in 1914, but the little ball club (Griffith's pet description of the Senators) remained intact and reached first place for one day, on June7, only to fall back to third by the end of the year, behind the A's and Red Sox. The Nationals were just about as good as the previous year, but as a team did not lead in any category except the number of strikeouts by the pitching staff.

Walter Johnson, now making $12,000 a year (which represented a $5,000 raise on his expired three-year pact and as much money as Ty Cobb had made in 1913), was still himself, but things did not go his way on many occasions. Barney wound up with a 28-18 record despite a golden 1.72 ERA. He pitched more innings, 372, than in any other year of his career. He led the league in wins, games (51), complete games (33), strikeouts (225) and shutouts (9). The baseball player who had put the Washington Senators on the map was by now widely recognized as the best pitcher baseball had ever known.

Again in 1914, the Senators lacked hitting, particularly from a power standpoint. Deerfoot Milan hit .295, best on the team, but missed 40 games after sustaining a broken jaw on July 17 as a result of an outfield collision with Danny Moeller in Cleveland. Only third baseman Eddie Foster, at .282, excelled offensively. There were an inordinate number of low-scoring losses, making it impossible for Walter Johnson in particular and the team in general to remain successful for any extended period. There were a crushing 11 1-0 losses, three absorbed by Johnson.

The infield was composed of a bunch of crackerjacks, so the pitchers had great support from that standpoint. In this season, infielders Morgan, McBride, and Foster led the league in double plays at their respective positions. The other infielder, first baseman Chick Gandil, was also a slick gloveman, but his batting slipped to .259 from .318 in '13. The Senators batted .244 as a unit, below the league average, and barely crawled into third, losing a full nine games off their record of the preceding year.

While gathering war clouds dampened the spirits of baseball partisans all over the country, there was still at least some fun to be had at the old ballpark. Cleveland outfielder Jack Graney had a bull terrier named Larry who served as the team's mascot. Larry was also acrobatic and did tricks to entertain the fans at all big-league venues. This was all well and good until Larry refused to give up the ball to the umpire, Big Bill Dinneen, at League Park. Back then, fans, let alone dogs, had to return balls batted into the stands. Larry's obstinacy was not appreciated, and he was banned from attending any more Washington games by no less an authority than League president Ban Johnson. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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