Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

The 1929 Washington Senators won 71 games, lost 81, and finished in fifth place in the American League. They were managed by Walter Johnson and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux kicks off 1929: All good wishes aside (regarding Walter Johnson's appointment as Washington manager), things would not go well, as Johnson himself was not pleased with the team he had inherited for 1929. This displeasure proved well founded when the Nats became firmly ensconced in the second division. The youngsters touted as replacements for Harris at second, Jackie Hayes and Stuffy Stewart, were unimpressive to Johnson, and the Big Train did not think Bobby Reeves was the long-term answer at short. The new manager proposed moving Ossie Bluege to short and benching young Cronin, a future star. He wanted the ballclub to reacquire Buddy Myer, who'd been transformed into a top-notch third baseman with the Red Sox, to patrol the hot corner. Barny figured second base could be handled by committee for the time being, but the sooner Myer was brought back, the better. . . .

. . . Walter Johnson's charges dropped three games lower in the standings (in 1929 compared to 1928) and their fate was once again sealed early, when they lost an appalling 13 of 14 games with the Philadelphia A's in the opening six weeks. One of those was the season opener, attended by President Herbert Hoover, a 13-4 debacle. Following a tongue-lashing by the normally placid manager, who made the players attend morning drills to sharpen their minds and make them think about the dumb plays some of them were making, the ballclub won 14 of 20 on the road, and 35 of their last 58 to edge Bucky Harris's Tigers by two games in the quest for fifth place in 1929. Nevertheless, this marked the first time in seven years that the Nats found themselves out of the first division. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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