Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #82A: Edward P. "Patsy" Gharrity. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1916-1923 and 1929-1930. 513 hits and 20 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He also played some first base and outfield. He had a career OBP of .331. His best season was 1921 as posted a .386 OBP with 55 RBIs in 455 plate appearances.

We will follow Gharrity's SABR biography as it traces his time in Washington: Ed Gharrity was a player, manager, umpire, scout, and coach during his professional career. Invited to spring training with the Washington Senators in 1916, he made an immediate positive impression. Catching for the rookies in an intrasquad game against the regulars in Charlottesville, Virginia, he threw out four would-be base stealers in the 1-1 tie. That started an eight-year stretch with the Senators. The highlight came on June 23, 1919, in Boston. In a battle between two second-division teams, Gharrity went 5-for-5 with a single, two doubles, and his first two major-league home runs. His total of 13 bases set an American League record that was broken by Ty Cobb in 1925. . . .

. . . Gharrity returned to the Senators in 1919 and found both Henry and Ainsmith gone. Val Picinich and Sam Agnew now headed the catching corps. Even so, Gharrity saw action in 60 games behind the plate. Judge was healthy, meaning Gharrity played very little first, finding himself in the outfield for 35 games. In 111 games, he batted .271 and launched his first home runs. It should be noted that Baseball-Reference calls him “Patsy.” That nickname did not become prevalent until 1921. He was “Eddie” for the first part of his career. . . .

Which doesn't explain how "Joe" got on his card!?

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[GeoPoto]

Player #28J: Clark C. "The Old Fox" Griffith. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1912-1914. Debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1891. 237 wins and 8 saves in 20 MLB seasons. Was 1898 MLB ERA leader. Managed the Chicago White Stockings (1901-1902), the New York Highlanders (1903-1908), the Cincinnati Reds (1909-1911), and the Washington Senators (1912-1920). Was principal owner of the Washington Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. In 1946, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame.

Deveaux tells us that Griffith's control of the team was under pressure in 1919: In the boardroom, Clark Griffith found out that some of the directors had ideas that were quite different from his own in terms of what steps needed to be taken to improve the ballclub. With the dismal seventh-place showing, there were now calls for the Old Fox's hide. But this baseball team had become too important to Griffith. It occurred to him that if he could somehow gain control of the team, then, quite naturally, he couldn't be fired.

Connie Mack had once introduced Griff to William Richardson, a wealth grain exporter from Philadelphia. With backing Griffith was able to obtain from Richardson, he walked into the Metropolitan National Bank and got a loan for $87,000 that allowed him and Richardson to purchase about 85 percent of the team. They paid $15 a share, a terrific bargain as it would turn out. Taking over as majority owner and president, Griffith was granted the right to speak for Richardson's holdings as if they were his own. To signal his new status as owner, president, and manager of the Washington Senators, League Park, or National Park, was renamed Griffith Stadium and it was at this time that the stands stretching from the infield to the foul poles were made into double-deckers.

Clark Griffith was finally in a position to bring his little ballclub to unprecedented heights during the course of the free-wheeling decade that lay ahead. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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[GeoPoto]

Player #83A: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1919-1928. 1,297 hits and 167 stolen bases in 12 MLB seasons. 1924 and 1947 World Series champion. In 1975, inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Named player-manager of the Washington Senators in 1924 at age 27. "The Boy Wonder" led Washington to World Series victory as "rookie" manger. Managed Washington Senators in 1924-1928, 1935-1942, and 1950-1954. Managed the Detroit Tigers in 1929-1933 and 1955-1956. Managed the Boston Red Sox in 1934. Managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 1943. Managed the New York Yankees in 1947-1948, including winning the 1947 world Series. Served as the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1959-1960.

Jack Smiles explains how Harris was recruited: (outfielder Frank "Wildfire") Schulte and (first baseman Joe) Judge were still under contract with the Senators (despite being teammates with Bucky on the Baltimore Dry Docks in the fall of 1918). They had manager/owner Clark Griffith's ear and urged him to buy Bucky from (the) Buffalo (Bisons of the International League) for $5,000 but Griffith wasn't interested. . . .

. . . The Bisons were in Binghamton for a series in early August of 1919. Joe Casey, a 31-year-old catcher who had caught eight games for the Senators at the end of the 1918 season, leaned into Bucky on the field before the game. Nodding toward a box alongside the Bison dugout, he said, "(Washington scout, who was actually there to look at pitcher Pat Martin) Joe Engel's here to look you over." . . .

. . . Watching the game that day in Binghamton, Engel saw Bucky get in a fight with a much bigger player after a play at second base. Engel was impressed by the tough little second baseman and in his report to Griffith recommended he consider buying Bucky. Griffith knew of Bucky from Joe Judge and the Dry Docks but didn't consider him a major league-caliber batter. Engel persisted and convinced Griffith to take a look at Bucky for himself.

By the time Griffith got away, the Bisons were back in Buffalo. He left the Senators in Chicago on August 22, probably in the care of Nick Altrock, and caught a train to Buffalo. In the interim Bucky had taken a line drive to his right hand and injured his middle finger, though it wasn't known at the time just how bad the injury was. Bucky just taped the swollen digit to the next one and kept playing. A busted finger was a badge of honor to a mine boy. The day Griffith got to Buffalo, catcher Casey talked to Bucky on the field as he had when Engel was in Binghamton, saying, "there's the Old Fox himself."

Bucky stole a glance at Griffith. Though he was told Griffith was looking him over, he had a hard time buying it. Whether through luck or determination, or both, Bucky had the best day of his minor league career. He went 6-for-6 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, and handled 14 chances without an error in a double-header. After the game Griffith and Engel approached Bucky in the dugout just as he was unwrapping his fingers. Griffith complemented Bucky on his play that day and left.

That night (Buffalo manager George "Hooks") Wiltse called Bucky to his room and told him Griffith offered to buy Bucky for $4,500. Although (Bisons owner Joseph) Lannin (Side note: Lannin brought Babe Ruth to Boston as owner of the Red Sox before selling the team to Harry Frazee in 1917) had $5,000 on Bucky's head, Wiltse expected Lannin to make the deal. Later Engel said playing with that injured finger didn't hurt Bucky in Griffith's eyes. The Old Fox liked such gameness. The 6-for-6 day that raised his season average to .282, an all-time high for Bucky, couldn't have hurt. But there was a hitch. (New York Giants manager John) McGraw had an option on a Bison player due him. For a second time he (McGraw) passed on Bucky and chose pitcher Pat "Rosy" Ryan. The sale went through. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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[GeoPoto]

Player #54H: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux summarizes Johnson's 1919 season: Johnson, who began the season with a 1-0 13-inning white-washing of the A's, his record fifth opening-day shutout, won 20 for the tenth straight year. It was an even 20, against 14 defeats. His dwarflike 1.49 ERA led the majors for the second year in a row, and is particularly remarkable considering 1919 was a year of much-increased hitting, with the league ERA shooting up nearly half a run per game to 3.21. Five of Barney's seven shutouts were by 1-0 scores, and he led the league in strikeouts for the eighth year in a row. On July 24, at Washington against the A's, he had his best inning ever, striking out the side on nine pitches.

In another of the many memorable games of his career, Johnson hooked up with spitballer Jack Quinn on May 11, the first ever legal Sunday baseball game in New York. Walter labored for 12 scoreless innings, retiring 28 consecutive batters and allowing only two hits, pitching to just one batter over the minimum. The game was called off prematurely at 6 P.M., due to New York owner Jacob Ruppert's misinterpretation of the new Sunday law, with the score still 0-0.

Of note is that in this particular game, rookie George Halas was fanned twice by the Big Train. Halas, later to become owner and longtime coach of the Chicago Bears football team, went 0-for-5 in this game, and 2-for-22 for his entire big-league career. These 12-inning shutouts on the part of both Johnson and Jack Quinn were not, however, the biggest story in baseball on May 11, 1919. Over in the other league, Hod Eller of the Cincinnati Reds spun a no-hitter against the St. Louis Cardinals. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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[ValKehl]

George, I can't resist showing another 1919 WaJo card in recognition of his leading the majors in ERA and the A.L. in strike outs for 1919.
Best,
Val

[GeoPoto]

Val, no reason to hesitate -- thanks for adding the beautiful Coupon. Speaking of Val's:

Player #84A: Valentine J. "Val" Picinich. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1918-1922. 743 hits and 26 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1916-1917. His most productive season was 1928 with the Cincinnati Reds as he posted a .343 OBP with 35 RBIs in 357 plate appearances. His last season was 1933 with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Picinich's SABR biography tracks his time in Washington: For most of five seasons, Val Picinich was Walter Johnson’s personal catcher. He saw action during 18 major-league seasons, never playing in more than the 96 games he played for Cincinnati in 1928 – almost certainly his best year – and only playing as many as half his team’s games in six of the seasons. He caught three no-hitters in his big-league career. He was relatively compact – 5-feet-9 and 165 pounds, right-handed, and hit for a lifetime .258 batting average, quite good for catchers of his time, in 1,037 games in the majors. His career on-base percentage was .334. In April 1918, the Washington Evening Star dubbed him “a chunky chap of only average height, but is as strong as an ox and is a willing worker.” . . .

. . . Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators had been impressed with what he’d seen of Picinich’s work, and – knowing that catcher Ed Gharrity might have to join the service at any time – arranged with Atlanta (the Crackers of the Southern Association) at the end of April 1918 to deliver Picinich on demand. On May 26 he was traded to Washington for three players, intended to serve as backup to Eddie Ainsmith. He arrived just in time to get into the final inning of the second game on May 29. In the July 5 game, he picked one of the Yankees off third base and then singled in the winning run in the ninth inning for a 2-1 win.

Picinich played in 47 games for the 1918 Senators, batting .230 with 12 RBIs. The 1918 season ended early because of the World War; on August 1 Picinich reported to the Navy. He’d enlisted in mid-July. He was back on the Senators’ bench on August 24, on leave from the Navy, and joined the team for eight remaining games, while on furlough. He caught both games on August 25 – one of them Walter Johnson’s 22nd victory of the season – and figured in scoring three runs.

Yeoman third class Picinich was stationed in New York, and with the end of the war, he was told to expect an early discharge. Griffith believed in Picinich; the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that he regarded Picinich as “one of the coming star maskmen of the game” and might make him Walter Johnson’s battery partner. From the time he joined the Washington team for spring training in Augusta – still only 22 years old – Picinich was slated to become first-string catcher (though he faced some competition from Sam Agnew).

For the next four seasons, Picinich caught for the Senators. He enjoyed a very good season in 1919, batting .274, hitting his first three homers, and driving in 22 runs in 80 games. Much was expected of him for 1920, but Gharrity returned and Picinich played in only 48 games, not helping his cause by hitting .203. He did, however, catch the July 1, 1920, game when Walter Johnson no-hit the Boston Red Sox, 1-0. The third no-hitter he caught was for the Red Sox, in 1923.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #74D: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice. 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.

Smiles provides an example of how attitudes were evolving in 1919: As the 1919 season opened, Rice showed little rust from his summer away from the game. Batting cleanup and back in his customary right field spot to start the season, Rice had his first three-hit game just five games into the season, in a 4-2 victory over the Red Sox. In late May, he made three spectacular catches in a row against the Yankees, in a game that saw him also smack three base hits. By mid-summer, Sam had really found his groove, putting together a seventeen-game hitting streak in July.

Rice was beginning to come into his own as a hitter and an outfielder, but was doing so in an odd transition year for major league baseball.

Maybe the culture was ripe in 1919 for a scandal like the one that was to soon devastate the game. In the aftermath of the World War, some Americans were still attempting to sort through their feelings about fierce competition. In the post-victory glow, brotherhood among Americans seemed to be preferred over cutthroat competitiveness, even on the field of play. That was illustrated by the reaction to Rice's actions at the plate in a mid-August game against the Red Sox.

In the seventh inning of a tight game, Rice came to the plate. Senators base runners stood on first and second, and the customs of the game in those last throes of the "dead-ball era" dictated that he sacrifice both teammates up a base. Boston third baseman Joe "Moon" Harris, a future teammate of Rice's, accordingly crept up onto the grass.

Like Rice, Harris was a veteran of the war in Europe. He had missed the entire 1918 campaign in service to the cause.

"Did Rice bunt?" reported the Washington Post. "He did not. Instead, he crossed Harris by whistling a line drive past him at a rate of ten miles a minute."

Because both men were veterans of the same war, it was felt that Rice had a gentleman's obligation to take care of Harris in the situation. Instead, he had embarrassed the Boston third baseman by slamming the ball past him.

Or so the newspaper felt.

"Sam Rice ought to be ashamed of himself," the Post said, "to take advantage of a fellow overseas veteran like Joe Harris as he did in the seventh."

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