Washington DC Baseball

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Player #128D: Joseph E. "Joe" Cronin. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1928-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1945. 2,285 hits and 170 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .390. He was a 7-time All Star. Boston Red Sox #4 retired. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1956, he was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. His best season was probably 1930 for Washington as he posted a .422 OBP with 127 runs scored and 127 RBIs on 686 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1933-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1947. He was General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1948-1958. He was president of the American League in 1959-1973. When he left the Red Sox in 1959, they were the only MLB team without a black player. He and team owner Tom Yawkey are generally viewed as responsible for this injustice which ended six months after Cronin's departure.

. . . If the season had been nothing but disappointing for Senator fans, the greatest calamity was yet to befall them. The bombshell came 2 1/2 weeks after the conclusion of the World Series, which the Tigers of Goslin and Crowder lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Clark Griffith had always maintained that his reputation as a flesh trader aside, he had never sold a player outright for a large sum of cash. Sure, he had sold bit players at times, but never anyone who could, by his absence, have drastically impaired the ballclub's fortunes.

All of this changed on October 26, 1934, when Griffith stole some headlines from Hoover's G-men. Just four days earlier, federal agents had gunned down Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, the bank robber and murderer who'd been dubbed the "most dangerous man alive," when he attempted to flee from them in Ohio. With his news, Clark Griffith was to get a lot of attention not only in the baseball world, but with Americans in all walks of life.

Joe Cronin, already Griffith's best player and manager, had become part of the family a month earlier, in late September 1934. Three weeks after he'd broken his wrist, he had married Mildred Robertson, who was not only Griffith's secretary, but also his niece. The Cronins had met shortly after Joe was first assigned to the Senators on Friday the 13th of July 1928.

Joe Cronin had come to Washington highly recommended not only as a shortstop, but as a prospective beau for Mildred, who'd received a note from scout Joe Engel that he was bringing her "a real sweetie." When Cronin walked into Griffith's office on July 16th, there was Mildred, the girl of his dreams, something Joe said he immediately recognized. She, apparently, didn't recognize the boy of her dreams right away, and in fact it would be a number of years before she would even pay any attention to him, according to Cronin. Mildred Robertson was a font of baseball knowledge -- Cronin once said he would have put her up against anyone in terms of the wealth of baseball information her brain contained.

It is not difficult to imagine, then, Clark Griffith's dilemma when he got a phone call from Tom Yawkey of Boston during the 1934 World Series. Yawkey said that he had a check made out in Griffith's name in the amount of $250,000, and that he would part with it in exchange for Joe Cronin. To provide some idea of what this sum meant, Babe Ruth, already a superstar when he was sold by the Red Sox in 1920, had fetched only half that amount. Nothing of the kind had been seen since. Now, in much harder times, here was an offer of a quarter of a million dollars!

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Player #128D: Joseph E. "Joe" Cronin Part 3. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1928-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1945. 2,285 hits and 170 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .390. He was a 7-time All Star. Boston Red Sox #4 retired. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1956, he was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. His best season was probably 1930 for Washington as he posted a .422 OBP with 127 runs scored and 127 RBIs on 686 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1933-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1947. He was General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1948-1958. He was president of the American League in 1959-1973. When he left the Red Sox in 1959, they were the only MLB team without a black player. He and team owner Tom Yawkey are generally viewed as responsible for this injustice which ended six months after Cronin's departure.

The Senators' owner was incredulous, thinking that not even Cronin could be worth that much. He was very emphatic in stating that there was no chance that he would sell the rights to his nephew, the majors' premier shortstop. Yawkey was not deterred and called again a couple of weeks later. Griffith once again told him that he was not selling, and politely requested that Yawkey please consider the matter closed. Another week passed and Yawkey called again, more insistent than ever. The heir to a lumber and iron empire worth millions kept making the point that he could do a darn sight more for Griffiths new nephew than Griff himself could. Griffith was no millionaire. His club's nosedive in 1934 had cost him dearly, and he owed the banks about $125,000. Tom Yawkey was requesting a meeting in New York, and he expected Clark Griffith to be there.

Now Yawkey had the Old Fox really wondering. Was he doing the best thing for young Joe? Cronin would be the manager at Boston, just like he was in Washington. Besides, Griffith had taken a lot of heat during the year, as it had become popular, unfairly so, to poke fun at Cronin's marriage into the family. Unfair charges of nepotism, Griffith envisioned, would never go away. He agreed to at least listen to what Tom Yawkey had to say.

The negotiations did not go smoothly. Griffith thought the exchange might be done if the Red Sox would include shortstop Lyn Lary in the transaction. But Yawkey had just paid $35,000 for Lary, and balked at including him in the negotiations. That appeared to be the end of the discussion, and Griffith and his business manager, Ed Eynon, got up to leave. The old man was likely not bluffing, and mentioned to Eynon that they didn't have much time if they were to catch the train for Washington that night. Yawkey turned abruptly to his general manager, Eddie Collins, and asked what Collins thought of giving up Lary. Collins indicated that it would be okay with him as long as the boss, Yawkey himself, didn't have any objections.

Tom Yawkey grabbed a bill of sale, made it out for $225,000, which had been agreed upon as the adjusted price following the inclusion of Lary, and signed it. There were some final conditions. Griffith requested a healthy raise for his nephew, and Yawkey would go along with a five-year pact, unheard of in this period. The contract would stipulate that Cronin could not be released, which would guarantee his salary. There was one last proviso -- Joe Cronin would have to be agreeable to all this. When he got back to Washington that night, it was with great trepidation that Griffith phoned Cronin, who was in his hometown of San Francisco, having just arrived there on a honeymoon trip that had taken him and his new bride through the Panama Canal.

Whatever apprehension Griffith might have had was quickly dispelled by Cronin, who took it all in stride, like a fat pitch right down the middle. This was the Depression, and his uncle needed the money. Joe and Mildred decided to consider the matter overnight. When he called back the next day, Cronin told Griffith not to worry about what he thought of the proposal, and that he should immediately call Boston and tell them that they had themselves a deal. Cronin reportedly cut the conversation short by insisting that he should hang up, joking that long-distance telephone charges were going to eat up all the profits. Unlike the decision he'd taken to be a player-manager at Washington, this was something Joe Cronin would never regret.

Cronin's passing from the local baseball scene prompted at least one contemporary columnist to write that he thought Clark Griffith really had something there -- that he sure wished he could have sold his own son-in-law for a quarter of a million dollars. The Washington Senators Baseball Club would never, arguably, have a star player of the caliber of Joe Cronin again. For Cronin, this move began an association with the Red Sox organization which would last a quarter of a century, and which would someday lead to the position of President of the American League. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Player #129C: Alvin F. "General" Crowder. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1926-1927 and 1930-1934. 167 wins and 22 saves in 11 MLB seasons. 1933 All-Star. 1935 World Series champion. 1932 and 1933 AL wins leader. His nickname came from General Enoch Crowder, who designed the World War I draft lottery in the United States. His best season was 1932 for Washington as he posted a 26-13 record and a 3.33 ERA in 327 innings pitched. He was known as "Yankee Killer", for his success against the Yankees and Babe Ruth in particular. He finished his career with the Detroit Tigers in 1934-1936, including a complete-game, 2-1 victory in Game 4 as the Tigers won the World Series in 1935. He pitched in three consecutive World Series in 1933-1935.

General Crowder was a durable right-handed pitcher who won more games (124) than any big-league pitcher other than the immortal Lefty Grove in a six-year span from 1928 to 1933. A three-time 20-game winner, Crowder led the American League in victories in 1932 and 1933 as a member of the Washington Senators. “If you’d let him,” said Walter Johnson, who managed Crowder with the Senators, “he’d pitch every day. His arm is made of rubber, and he doesn’t know the meaning of fatigue.” After leading Washington to the World Series in 1933, Crowder appeared washed up in 1934, but a late-season waiver transaction took him to Detroit, where he briefly revived his career. Playing in his third consecutive World Series in 1935, Crowder notched his only postseason victory, a five-hitter over the Chicago Cubs in Game Four, to help the Tigers capture their first World Series championship. . . .

. . . (After enlisting in 1919, hoping to travel the world,) Crowder was stationed in the Russian seaport of Vladivostok and Lake Baikal in Siberia. When his division was transferred to the Philippines in 1920, he reluctantly volunteered for the baseball team in order to avoid the menial, mundane tasks of an enlisted soldier. The team recognized that the hesitant ballplayer had a strong arm. They asked him to pitch, and his new career was born. . . .

. . . (In 1926, after being acquired from Birmingham,) Crowder reported to the reigning American League pennant winners in mid-July with the (Washington) team fighting to remain above .500. At 5-feet-10 and about 170 pounds, Crowder did not possess an intimidating presence on the mound (though his tattoo of a naked woman draped over his shoulders and arms was often described as risqué). . . .

. . . (After struggling in Washington and after a mid-1927 trade to St. Louis,) In his first full season with the Browns (1928), Crowder unexpectedly transformed from a reliever assigned to mop-up duty to the hottest and one of the best starters in the American League. . . . En route to walking just 91 batters in 244 innings, Crowder concluded the 1928 season by winning 10 of 11 decisions, including his last eight in a row, and finished his “sensational” campaign with 21 wins against just five losses for a league-leading .808 winning percentage. The Sporting News described Crowder and right-handed teammate Sam Gray, himself a 20-game winner acquired from the Philadelphia Athletics in the offseason, as the “greatest pair of ‘discard’ pitchers” in baseball as they led the Browns to a surprising third-place finish.

. . . Crowder and (Sam) Gray were the Browns’ workhorses for a second consecutive season in 1929. Crowder pitched better than his 17-15 record suggested. In ten of his losses, the Browns scored three runs or fewer (a total of 22 runs). The General pitched his best during the last two months of the season, completing 12 of his 14 starts (many on short rest) and logging 121 innings. In a six-week period, he tossed three complete-game victories over the eventual World Series champion Athletics (including a two- and a four-hitter) and shut out the second-place New York Yankees twice. The first shutout was a masterful two-hitter that took just 1:38 to play. Crowder amassed 266⅔ innings for the fourth-place Browns, completed 19 games for the second consecutive season, and led the junior circuit with four shutouts.

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Player #83K: 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.

We continue with Deveaux as he progresses from Cronin to Harris: While replacing his shortstop would be another matter entirely, Clark Griffith knew all along who would be taking Cronin's place as manager -- Bucky Harris. Harris had just completed a one-year term as manager of Tom Yawkey's Bosox and had led them to a .500 record in '34, an improvement of 11 1/2 games over the previous campaign. Bucky had known no real success, however, since his salad days with the Senators. His Tiger teams from '29 to 33 had been buried in the league's second division. But Griffith's feelings about Bucky Harris ran deep.

The old man had often freely admitted that Harris had not been the disciplinarian he would have preferred to have seen in the late twenties. On the other hand, Griffith liked to say, there was no one who in his mind could get as much out of a baseball team during the crucial afternoon hours as Bucky could. The 39-year-old Harris, who hadn't played on any kind of regular basis since his last year with the Senators (1928), praised the old man as well. Bucky told the press he was flattered to be hired by the likes of Griffith. The Old Fox wasn't just any baseball owner, but a former player, a man with a profound understanding of the game. If Clark Griffith wanted you as his manager, Harris contended, that ought to be considered an honor.

Joe Cronin the shortstop, however, would not be replaceable, and certainly not by "Broadway Lyn" Lary, whose Senator career would amount to just 39 games and a .194 average before Griffith got rid of him in exchange for another shortstop, Alan Strange of the Browns. Strange would do even worse, with .185, and wouldn't play in the majors again until 1940. Lary did go on to lead the league in stolen bases with the Browns in '36 and, transferred to the Indians in '37, had a good year there as well. His failure in Washington, though, and that of Strange, meant the Senators had yet to obtain anyone useful with the cash Griffith had collected from the Red Sox when he'd sold Cronin.

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Player #135C: 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 sums up his role in Washington: The major league baseball season is a marathon to be sure. A team’s journey is often fraught with periods of starts and stops, twists and turns, heartbreaking defeats and miraculous victories. Injuries, trades, and slumps test a manager’s mettle. For those fans who are fortunate enough to root for a team that is in the thick of the pennant race, the word “clinch” becomes a part of the everyday lexicon. Out-of-town scores are of the upmost importance and provide as much interest as those of the local heroes.

On September 21, 1933, the Washington Senators were in prime position to end the suspense for their faithful followers. Washington held a 7½-game lead over second place New York with eight games left on their schedule. The Yanks had 10 games remaining. The Nats were poised to break through the tape at the finish line. Their lone hurdle was the St. Louis Browns.

The attendance was announced as an even 18,000 at Griffith Stadium for the Thursday afternoon tilt. Toeing the rubber for Washington was Walter (Lefty) Stewart, who was sporting a fine 14-6 record. Stewart was no stranger to the Browns, as he had spent six seasons in the “Mound City” before being traded with Goose Goslin and Fred Schulte in December 1932. His opposition was Bump Hadley, a journeyman pitcher who would find success with the New York Yankees in later seasons.

The Senators had a lot of “offensive punch” in their batting order. But on this day, both hurlers were in command. Washington scored in the bottom of the second inning, only to have the Browns knot the score at one in the top of the seventh. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Joe Kuhel singled to center field. Bob Boken walked, bringing Luke Sewell to the plate. Sewell lifted a fly ball to center field. Kuhel, mindful that Browns centerfielder Sam West might make the catch, did not stray far from the bag at second. When the ball dropped cleanly, Kuhel checked in at third base. But Boken, who was running all the way, also arrived at third. Sewell was standing at second. “With the ball sailing in from the outfield, Kuhel broke for home and just managed to slide in under (Browns’ second baseman Oscar) Melillo’s relay to the plate with the game’s most important run.”

The run scored by Kuhel was indeed the winning run, giving the Senators the American League pennant as the result of the 2-1 win. Kuhel, who had two hits on the day, also contributed with defense from his first base position. In the third inning, the first two Browns hitters reached base. Hadley attempted to move them over with a bunt to first. But Kuhel swooped in, fielded the ball and rifled it over to Boken to nail the lead runner. The next two batters were retired; the St. Louis rally was nullified.

Washington manager and shortstop Joe Cronin was a former teammate of Kuhel’s at Kansas City of the American Association in 1928. Cronin knew full well of Kuhel’s capabilities on the diamond. “He’s an ideal team man and one of the best reasons we are where we are in the American League race,” said Cronin. “Not only does he hit well, but his fielding has done much to put confidence in the team. We infielders need only to catch the grounders and throw the ball to first. Kuhel does the rest.”

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Player #136C: 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.

Back to Manush's SABR biography and a reprisal of the 1933 pennant: Missing from Manush’s career was a World Series championship. In 1933, Goslin returned to Washington, creating a formidable one-two punch in the outfield. Manush was on fire the entire season. He cranked out hitting streaks of 26 and 33 games during the season and finished at .336, second to Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx. Manush got his wish of playing in the World Series when the Senators, led by player-manager Joe Cronin, won the American League pennant on September 21, 1933.

Thursday afternoon, September 21, was a beautiful day in the nation’s capital as a ladies’ day crowd of 10,000 filed into Griffith Stadium. The sun was bright, the temperature was a comfortable 68 degrees, and the Senators got ready to face the Browns, with one more victory, or one more Yankees defeat, to wrap up the pennant. The good news was the Yankees were idle, meaning the Nats had the opportunity to clinch in a winning effort. With one out to go for the pennant, the crowd began to buzz, as Browns second baseman Oscar Melillo was ready at the plate. In left field, Manush needed time to adjust his sunglasses, and he frantically waved his arms to get the umpire’s attention. Cronin noticed and called to Stewart, but the pitcher had already started his windup. Melillo swung and lifted a fly to left field. Manush ran to his left, his sunglasses dangling from his left hand, got under the ball, and snared it with his glove hand to clinch the 1933 American League pennant.

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Player #139C: 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 RBIs 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 3: The Senators’ shortstop, Roger Peckinpaugh, had been named the American League Most Valuable Player in 1925, but he was the goat of the World Series, committing a record eight errors. The next spring Peckinpaugh, 35 years old and slowed by sore legs, lost his job to the 22-year-old Myer. By July the rookie was batting cleanup. He turned in what would be a typical Buddy Myer season at the plate: .304/.370/.380. But manager Bucky Harris, who was also the second baseman, complained about Myer’s defense. His 40 errors were third most among AL shortstops, even though he played only 118 games at short. Harris faulted his feeds on double-play balls, a critical skill for the manager who was on the receiving end.

The respected veteran Tris Speaker, who joined the Senators in 1927, told Harris and Griffith the club needed a new shortstop if it was going to contend. After Myer committed five errors in his first 15 games, Washington shuffled him off to the sorriest team in the league, the Boston Red Sox, in return for the shortstop Speaker recommended, Topper Rigney. Harris said, “Myer is not ready for the majors.”

Myer’s .288/.359/.394 production with Boston was just about league average, but his defense at short failed to satisfy even a last-place club. In 1928 the Red Sox shifted him to third base. He led the team with a .313 batting average and led the league with 30 stolen bases.

In Washington, Rigney had been a bust; Clark Griffith wanted Myer back. After several weeks of dickering, he sent the Red Sox five players for his onetime reject. Counting what he had paid to acquire Myer from New Orleans, plus the value of the men he traded to Boston, Griffith estimated that Myer had cost him $150,000. “I must have been crazy to have let Myer go in the first place,” he said. (Continued tomorrow.)