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#1
11-17-2023, 05:00 AM
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Joe Kuhel
Player #135B: Joseph A. "Joe" Kuhel. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1930-1937 and 1944-1946. 2,212 hits and 131 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He had 107 RBIs in Washington's pennant-winning 1933 season, but his best season was probably 1936 as he posted an OBP of .392 with 118 RBIs and 107 runs scored in 660 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1948-49.
Kuhel's SABR biography covers his 1933 season: Walter Johnson had replaced Bucky Harris as the Washington skipper in 1929, and the Senators had topped 90 victories in each season 1930-1932. Despite a winning record, club owner Clark Griffith was forced by dwindling attendance to replace Johnson (and his $25,000 salary) with his shortstop, Joe Cronin. By now Kuhel was firmly entrenched at first base, giving the Senators a solid infield with Ossie Bluege at third base, Cronin at short, and Buddy Myer at second base. The Senators solidified their club with the additions of veterans Luke Sewell, Fred Schulte, and Goose Goslin for the 1933 season. Led by General Crowder (24-15), Earl Whitehill (22-8), and Lefty Stewart (15-6), the Senators pitching staff was sound. In late July and early August of 1933, Washington played the Yankees, the closest competition for the flag, eight times. They split both series at four games apiece. However, the two victories over New York in August were a springboard to a 13-game win streak, culminating with a doubleheader sweep of the Browns on August 20. The Senators opened up an 8 ½-game lead and never looked back. Kuhel led the team in home runs with 11, was second on the team in batting with a .322 average and RBIs with 107. He also collected a career-high 194 hits and smacked 34 doubles. One of the biggest offensive days of his career occurred on May 16, 1933, at Griffith Stadium, as Kuhel went 5-for-8 in a twelve-inning, 11-10 victory over Cleveland. Kuhel hit a home run and drove in a career-high five runs, the last one the game-winner in the bottom of the twelfth inning. However, the New York Giants made quick work of the Senators, as it took only five games to win the World Series. Kuhel cooled off considerably, batting .150 with three hits and one RBI. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700218283 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700218289 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700218293 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700218328 
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#2
11-18-2023, 04:40 AM
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Heinie Manush -- Part 1
Player #136B Part 1: Henry E. "Heinie" Manush. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1930-1935. 2,524 hits and 110 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. Had a .330 career batting average. 1934 All-Star. 1926 AL batting champion. Had more than 200 hits four times. In 1964, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1923. Leading batter on the 1933 Washington Senator team that won the AL pennant. First and last player to be ejected from a World Series game. Had 241 hits in 1928. Coach for the Washington Senators in 1953-1954.
Manush's SABR biography goes on . . . the Tigers paid for their quick dismissal of the former batting champ, who returned to the top of the batting race in 1928. He was in a battle with Washington slugger Goose Goslin for the batting title. Again, Manush finished the season at .378, almost completely reversing his 80-point slide from the prior season. Fittingly, the Tigers and Senators faced off on the final day of the season. After July, Goslin was still hitting above .400, and had a comfortable lead in the batting race. He cooled off in August, but by the end of the month was still leading the league and appeared on his way to his first batting title. In September, Manush got hot and closed in on Goslin, setting the stage for an unusual conclusion to the season. As luck would have it the Senators were scheduled to play the last four games of the season in St. Louis, with Goslin’s average at .376, Manush’s at .372. In the first two games Manush went 5-for-8, but Goslin retained his lead by going 2-for-3 in the third game and had a two-point lead with one game left to be played. Players on both teams wanted to help their respective teammate win the title, and the umpiring crew was fully aware of the close battle, including the man who would get the assignment to work behind the plate for the final game of the season, Bill Guthrie. Goslin struck out and grounded out the first two times he came to the plate, then got hold of one and sent it over the center field fence. But in his next at-bat he grounded out to fall three-tenths of a point behind. Manush, however, made an out in his last at-bat to give Goslin a one-point lead. With the game headed into the top of the ninth, Goslin was due to bat. A note came to the dugout from the press box updating Goslin on the batting race, with the author including his advice to sit out the at-bat, reminding him if he batted and made an out he would lose the title. Joe Judge warned him Manush might think he was yellow if a pinch-hitter batted for him. The other players got involved in the conference, with everyone giving his opinion, and as the debate went on Goslin made a decision. He would bat. (We'll finish this tomorrow.) https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303805 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303811 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303814 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303819 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303824 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303827 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700303842
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#3
11-19-2023, 05:09 AM
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Heinie Manush Part 2
Player #136B Part 2: Henry E. "Heinie" Manush. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1930-1935. 2,524 hits and 110 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. Had a .330 career batting average. 1934 All-Star. 1926 AL batting champion. Had more than 200 hits four times. In 1964, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1923. Leading batter on the 1933 Washington Senator team that won the AL pennant. First and last player to be ejected from a World Series game. Had 241 hits in 1928. Coach for the Washington Senators in 1953-1954.
. . . In no time Goslin was in trouble with two strikes, no balls, and his (1928) batting title in jeopardy (of being lost to Manush). He thought of an idea to save his title: if he could make the umpire angry enough to throw him out of the game, he therefore wouldn’t be charged with an out and would preserve the batting title. And what better umpire was there than Bull Guthrie, who had a short fuse, and was known to be quick to eject a player. “Why those weren’t even close,” Goslin told Guthrie. “Listen, wise guy, there’s no such thing as close or not close. It’s either dis or dat,” responded Guthrie. Goslin responded by acting mad; he yelled, stepped on Guthrie’s big feet, and called him names. Guthrie waited for Goslin to finish before speaking. “OK, are you ready to bat now? You are not going to get thrown out of this ball game no matter what you do, so you might as well get up to the plate. If I wanted to throw you out, I’d throw you to Oshkosh. But you are going to bat, and you better be up there swinging. No bases on balls, do you hear me?” Goslin heard him, all right. The next pitch Goslin swung and hit a fly ball to right-center field. Browns right fielder Beauty McGowan, knowing if he made the catch Manush would win the batting title, ran hard, reached out with his glove hand, but couldn’t get the ball in time, and when the ball landed on the outfield grass Goslin won the batting title. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392041 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392046 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392050 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392054 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392058 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700392068
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#4
11-20-2023, 04:44 AM
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Alex McColl
Player #147: Alexander B. "Alex" McColl. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1933-1934. 4 wins and 2 saves in 2 MLB seasons. He made his MLB debut at age 39, one of 8 players in MLB history to debut at 39 or older. He pitched two perfect innings in Game 2 of the 1933 World Series.
Alex McColl was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in 46 games in Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators in 1933 and 1934. McColl made his MLB debut at the age of 39, one of eight pitchers in MLB history to debut at 39 or older. McColl had played for 18 seasons in the minor leagues before making his major league debut with pennant-bound Washington on August 29, 1933, by throwing 3 1⁄3 innings of shutout relief against the Cleveland Indians. In his fifth career game, McColl recorded two perfect innings in Game 2 of the 1933 World Series against the New York Giants, retiring Hall of Famers Mel Ott and Travis Jackson in the process. His 46 American League games pitched included three starts. He posted a 4–4 won–lost record and a 3.70 earned run average, with two complete games and three saves. In 119 innings pitched, he allowed 142 hits and 43 bases on balls, and registered 34 strikeouts. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700476982
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#5
11-21-2023, 05:07 AM
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Buddy Myer
Player #139B: Charles S. "Buddy" Myer. Second baseman with the Washington Senators in 1925-1927 and 1929-1941. 2,131 hits and 38 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .389. 2-time All-Star. 1935 AL Batting champion. 1928 AL Stolen Base leader. His best season was 1935 for Washington as he posted a .440 OBP with 115 runs scored and 100 RBI's in 719 plate appearances. He was involved in one of baseball's most violent brawls when he was spiked and possibly racially derided by the Yankees' Ben Chapman.
We will follow Myer's SABR biography as we track his career -- Part 2: . . . Myer’s next stop (in 1925, after rejections by Cleveland and Cincinnati) was the New Orleans Pelicans’ training camp. When the Pelicans offered him a contract, his older brother, Jesse, stepped in to represent him and asked for the same (as the one rejected by Cleveland) $1,000 bonus. New Orleans manager Larry Gilbert said he had never heard of a young player demanding a bonus (probably not true) and had never seen a young player bring along an agent (probably true). The team gave him what he wanted. The Pelicans had an instant star, a left-handed hitting shortstop with quick feet and a quick bat. A first year professional in the fast Class A Southern Association got the attention of major league scouts. Washington scout Joe Engel claimed to have stolen Myer from under the nose of a rival from the Chicago Cubs. Washington paid $17,500 for him in June, according to contemporary accounts, and agreed to let him stay with New Orleans for the rest of the season. Soon other big league clubs were offering more money. The Pelicans tried to buy him back from the Senators, but owner Clark Griffith wasn’t selling. In August Myer was batting .336 when a spike wound on his leg became infected. He contracted blood poisoning, had surgery, and went home to recover. Griffith, hearing that his expensive prospect was seriously ill, sent his own man to fetch Myer to Washington. The young player was carried off the train on a stretcher. His sudden departure raised a stink in New Orleans. Some fans suspected that Myer and Griffith had concocted a fake illness so the shortstop could join the Senators right away. Griffith denied the charge in a letter to a Times-Picayune columnist, adding that Myer “was deeply grieved to think anyone in New Orleans would accuse him of disloyalty, as he gave everything he had when he was playing for them.” After several weeks of treatment, he got into four games at the end of the season. The Senators won their second straight American League pennant in 1925. In Game 2 of the World Series against Pittsburgh, Washington third baseman Ossie Bluege was beaned. Myer, seven months removed from a college campus, went in as a pinch runner and was thrown out stealing. He delivered a single in his only at-bat. He started the next two games at third before Bluege was able to return. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700564676 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700564679 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700564682
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#6
11-22-2023, 04:17 AM
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Sam Rice
Player #74P: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 1. 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.
Carroll takes us to the end of the 1933 season and, sadly, the end of Rice's time with the Nationals: After the Giants were finally set down (after gaining a one-run lead in the top of the eleventh inning of Game 4 in the 1933 World Series, a Series they led two-games-to-one), the bottom of the eleventh began. It was an inning that would haunt (Washington player-manager, Joe) Cronin all offseason and perhaps for the rest of what would turn out to be a brief managerial stay in Washington. Cornered into a desperate situation, (Fred) Schulte got Washington hopes going, singling to left field to begin the inning. (Joe) Kuhel, who had started the fourth-inning rally with a bunt that Hubbell mishandled, laid one down again. And he was safe again, a bunt single that put two men on base with nobody out. (Ossie) Bluege, up next, made the first out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt. It was Cronin's first strategic call of the frame. It wouldn't be his last. The Senators now had runners on second and third with just one out. A base hit would likely win the game and knot the series at two games apiece. But now it was time for Terry to counter Cronin's move, and he intentionally walked (Luke) Sewell to load the bases. He made one more key move -- though he was in trouble in the eleventh, Terry, after consulting with his ace, decided to stick with Hubbell. Now it was decision time for Cronin. The pitcher's spot was up, and the young manager scanned his dugout for a man who could come up clutch with the season potentially on the line. Dave Harris had already entered the game earlier, taking over for Manush in left field. His choices came down to Rice and catcher Cliff Bolton. . . . (To be finished tomorrow.) https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700648062 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700648065 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700648068
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#7
11-23-2023, 04:35 AM
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Sam Rice
Player #74P: Edgar C. "Sam" Rice Part 2. 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.
. . . Cronin settled on Bolton. Almost immediately, Giants coach Charley Dressen hopped out of the dugout, consulting with shortstop Blondy Ryan. Dressen had remembered Bolton from the days when they both were in the Southern League, and instructed his shortstop to shade toward second base -- Bolton was a dead-pull hitter. The positioning was perfect. Bolton hit a sharp grounder directly to where Ryan was standing, and the shortstop scooped up the ball and started a game-ending double play. The Giants lead was three games to one, and they would go for the clinch the next day. If Cronin's selection of the seldom-used Bolton over Rice in Game Four wasn't enough to symbolize the end of Rice's long tenure with the Washington organization, the next day would see to it. Though fighting for their postseason life, the Senators battled to a 3-3 tie through nine innings, and the game again went into extra innings. In the tenth, Mel Ott lifted a fly ball to deep center field, and (Fred) Schulte got his glove on the ball. But as he crashed into the fence, the ball squirted out of his glove and the ball landed in the first row of seats for what would turn out to be a game-winning and World Series-clinching home run. In the 1925 World Series, Rice had tumbled into the bleachers to rob Pittsburgh's Earl Smith of a sure home run. Eight years later, one of the men who had squeezed him out of the Senators outfield had not only been unable to duplicate the feat, he had actually knocked the ball into the stands. With Rice watching from what had become his customary spot on the Washington bench, his teammates went down quietly in the bottom of the inning. (Sam Rice by Jeff Carroll.) https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1700735792 Last edited by GeoPoto; 11-23-2023 at 04:37 AM.
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