Washington DC Baseball

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Player #47D: Norman A. "Kid" Elberfeld. "The Tabasco Kid". Shortstop for the Washington Senators 1910-1911. 1,235 hits, 10 home runs, and 213 stolen bases in 14 MLB seasons. Fiery temper involved him in numerous ferocious arguments and assaults on umpires. Managed the New York Highlanders in 1908. Debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1898. Had a career OBP of .355 and 7 MLB seasons with at least 500 plate appearances.

Elberfeld's SABR biography describes his time in Washington: Though replaced by George Stallings as manager (of the New York Highlanders) after the (1908) season, Elberfeld remained with the team, reluctantly, as a player in 1909; his nasty reputation, high salary, and history of injuries made him difficult to trade. His battered legs forced him to play more at third base, a familiar position from his early days and one for which he was well-suited because of his strong arm. Rusty from his long lay off, Elberfeld batted only .237 that year, but showed enough life to enable Stallings to sell him to Washington in December. The next spring, he began coaching young players from D.C.-area town and high school teams, an occupation that would dominate his activities after his playing days ended. “[Kids are] the future players, future fans, and future owners,” he later said. “We need to teach them the game from the time they are old enough to swing a bat.”

Elberfeld remained with Washington for two years, and manager Jimmy McAleer twice selected Elberfeld to play on post-season “all-star” teams formed to keep the pennant-winning A’s sharp for their upcoming World Series appearances. In 1911, Elberfeld played through ankle, hip, and back injuries. Though he batted a solid .272 and posted a career high .405 OBP, in 1912 the new Nats manager Griffith was determined to go with younger players, and, prior to the season, Elberfeld was sold to Montgomery of the Southern Association. He batted .260 in 78 games for the Rebels, then moved on to the Chattanooga Lookouts in 1913 as player-manager where he batted .332 in 94 games. He was then hired to manage New Orleans, but after a change in team ownership left him jobless, Brooklyn signed him as a coach and utility player. Elberfeld played his final major league game on September 24, 1914, entering the game, ironically, as a late-inning defensive replacement when starting shortstop Dick Egan was ejected for arguing a call.

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Player #43D: William D. "Dolly" Gray. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909-1911. 15 wins in 3 MLB seasons. Holds MLB record for walks allowed in an inning (8) and for consecutive walks allowed (7). In 1911, he threw the first pitch in Griffith Stadium.

We return to Gray's SABR biography as the 1911 season begins: It would be Gray's last in MLB: Johnson’s issues (Walter's arrival was delayed until just before opening day by contract negotiations.) opened the gate for Gray to pitch on Opening Day, April 12, against the Red Sox and Smoky Joe Wood. Before the game, Gray was on the receiving end of President William Howard Taft’s “straight and true” first pitch from his box in the stands. The Red Sox took a 4-1 lead as Gray allowed four hits and two walks, and committed an error. Washington rallied in the sixth, with Gray removed for a pinch-hitter, to take a 7-4 lead. Dixie Walker finished the game for Washington and was given the 8-5 win.

Gray earned his first win a month later with a 6-5 victory over the White Sox. He struggled with consistency and was shuffled between starting and relieving. His second win came on June 28 versus the Athletics. He struck out a season-high six and did not allow a walk in the 4-3 win. It proved to be the last win of his major-league career; he closed out the season 2-13 with a 5.06 ERA that was the worst in the league for a pitcher with 100 innings or more.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #28E: 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 explains how Griffith came to be the largest stockholder in Washington: Now coming upon his 42nd birthday (in 1912, after resigning during the previous season as manager of the New York Highlanders), Clark Griffith had thoughts of becoming a stockholder himself. Having pitched for 16 years in the majors and been manager for 11, he undoubtedly considered the fact that only he, of the three main founders of the American League, had yet to achieve the kind of financial success enjoyed by Ban Johnson and Charles Comiskey. Even his old teammate, Jimmy McAleer, was becoming an owner at Boston. Although he couldn't afford to back himself up financially, Griffith made an offer to buy as large a piece of the team as the stockholders were willing to sell. The deal fell through when many of the stockholders tried to jack up the share price to turn a quick profit.

Then, Griffith's pal, club president Tom Noyes, and Edward Walsh offered to sell their shares to Griffith for what they had cost them. They also drew their partner, Ben Minor, in on the same deal. Noyes was suggesting selling their combined 1,200 shares at $12.50, and that Griffith should also shell out the $15 per share the other shareholders wanted for another 800 shares. A total of 2,000 shares would give Griffith a tenth interest in the Washington Senators and also, more impressively, make him the largest single shareholder in the club.

Griffith turned his energies toward finding the money to do the deal. Ban Johnson had promised a $10,000 loan when Griffith had first heard of the Washington possibility, but now Johnson balked. Relations between the two became strained as a result. Clark Griffith got no support from Charles Comiskey. The Chisox owner told him he would be crazy to sink any money into a club located in "that baseball graveyard" known as Washington.

Griffith nonetheless proceeded to give Noyes all of his own cash assets, an amount of $8,000. He needed $19,000 more, and Noyes agreed to wait two weeks for it. Years before, the Old Fox had invested in a ranch at Craig, Montana. His older brother Earl had been running it for him, and now it was Griffith's salvation. The First National Bank of Montana consented to a $20,000 mortgage on the ranch. Griffith rushed back to Washington with the cash, and signed a three-year contract on October 27, 1911, which would pay him the grand sum of $7,500 a year. Thus began the career in Washington of the man whose name was to become synonymous with Senators baseball. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Player #44D: Robert "Bob" Groom. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1909-1913. 119 wins and 13 saves in 10 MLB seasons. For the St. Louis Browns in 1917, he pitched a no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader after pitching 2 innings of no-hit relief in the first game. With Koob, only teammates to pitch no-hitters on consecutive days. His best season was 1912 as he went 24-13 with a 2.62 ERA and Washington finished second in the American League. In 1909, his 7-26 record included 15 consecutive losses, during which his 42-110 Senator teammates mustered a total of 19 runs. Walter Johnson's record that year was 12-25.

Groom's SABR biography addresses his 1912 season: With Clark Griffith at the helm in 1912, the Nationals improved dramatically, winning 91, losing 61, and finishing in second place. Pitching a career-high 316 innings, Groom won 24 games and Johnson won 33, combining for over 60 percent of Washington’s victories. A major highlight of the 1912 season was the Nationals’ 17-consecutive-game winning streak. Bob started and won four of the games in that streak, his most impressive win being the last, on June 18. Only after that game was over did the Nationals’ fans learn the grit it had taken for Bob Groom to win that game. Before the game, he discovered a painful abscess on his back between his shoulders. The Nationals’ team physician recommended a debilitating operation, but Bob refused, and instead had the doctor insert a drainage tube. With the tube in his back, he put on his uniform and pitched a complete game, giving the Nationals a 5-4 victory over Philadelphia.

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Player #62A: John P. Henry. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1910-1917. 397 hits and 55 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. He ended his career with the Boston Braves in 1918. His best season was 1916 with the Washington Senators as he posted a .364 OBP with 46 RBIs in 376 plate appearances.

A native of Amherst, Massachusetts, Henry was a classical light-hitting, good defensive catcher. He entered the majors in 1910 with the Washington Senators, playing for them seven years before joining the Boston Braves (1918).

Heading into the 1912 season, Senators owner Calvin Griffith traded catcher Gabby Street to the New York Highlanders for third baseman John Knight. Then Henry shared duties with Eddie Ainsmith, serving as the personal catcher for pitcher Walter Johnson. His most productive season came in 1916, when he posted career-numbers in games (117), batting average (.249), runs (28), extrabases (15) and runs batted in (46). Henry would manage to stick around in a part-time role until 1917, when he was sold to the Braves.

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Player #54C (Part 1): 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 recalls some of Johnson's 1912 exploits: Naturally, though, the team's top performer in 1912 was again Walter Johnson, who broke the 30-win mark for the first time. His slate was 33-12 (according to Macmillan's The Baseball Encyclopedia), and led the league with a 1.39 ERA. The Big Train held the opposition to a pathetic .196 batting average, and in this regard, Johnson would do better in just one other season over his 21-year career: 1913. The 1912 season marked the beginning of Walter Johnson's most glorious era. . . .

. . . On August 20, Barney pitched 8.2 innings of relief in the first game of a doubleheader and beat the Indians 4-2; it was his 15th consecutive win, which broke Jack Chesbro's 1904 record. In the second game of the August 20 doubleheader, big 21-year-old righthander Jay Cashion, enjoying his only decent season in the big leagues, took the focus off Johnson for the moment when he no-hit the Indians to earn a 2-0 shutout in a game called after six innings. Three days later, with an 8-1 conquest of the Tigers, Walter Johnson brought his season record to 29-7 by winning his 16th in a row. He set this record in 51 days, nearly averaging a win every three days -- a truly amazing accomplishment, considering that as often as not, he had no more than two days' rest between starts. . . .

. . . On September 6, 1912 Walter Johnson faced the ace of the Boston Red Sox, Smokey Joe Wood, before a crowd of 30,000 a Fenway Park. When asked to compare his own fastball with Wood's, the modest one had once replied, "Listen my friend, there's no man alive who can throw harder than Joe Wood." Wood, for his part, later in life told Lawrence Ritter for Ritter's wonderful The Glory of Their Times that Walter Johnson had been the only pitcher he'd ever hit against who, whenever he swung and missed, left him no clue as to whether he had swung over or under the ball. Back on June 26, the two had engaged in quite a battle, won by Boston 3-0, in which Wood had allowed three hits and Johnson four. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

We will finish this account tomorrow.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #54C (Part 2): 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.

Back to Deveaux: Clark Griffith, showman that he was, had really stirred the pot for this matchup (Johnson versus Wood in Boston). Ironically, Joe Wood at this point was only three wins short of Walter Johnson's all-time record of 16 consecutive victories. The Old Fox gave the word to the press that Red Sox manager Jake Stahl had been holding Wood back for the easiest opponents. Griffith made it clear that when the Nationals came to Boston, Wood would have to face Walter Johnson, and that Johnson would be held back until such time as Wood was ready to pitch. To make sure that there was no mistake about there being a challenge issued, the Old Fox said that Wood was going to be considered to be nothing more than a true coward if he didn't start against the great Walter.

If ever there was a game which fulfilled its promise, this was the one. Wood was in trouble in four different innings and the Big Train got by unfettered until the sixth. Alas, this was the year of the Red Sox, and with two outs, back-to-back doubles courtesy of Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis brought in the game's only run. Speaker's double into a roped-off area would have been an out had there not been an overflow crowd. Lewis' hit was really a pop fly at the foul line that Danny Moeller got his glove on but couldn't hold.
For the record, Smokey Joe Wood did go on to win two more games to tie the Big Train's record, but he failed to break it. There was indeed not a lot to choose between the outstanding performances rendered by Johnson and Wood in 1912 -- Johnson's ERA (1.39) and strikeouts (303) were better, whereas Wood led in complete games (35) and shutouts (10). Walter held the opposition to the .196 composite average already mentioned; Wood limited batters to .216. Wood won 34 and Johnson, with an inferior offensive alignment backing him, 33. Gracious sportsman that he was, Johnson, covering the World Series for the Boston Herald, predicted that Joe Wood would not lose a game. He did, but won three as the Red Sox took the Series in seven over the New York Giants, making a world champion of ex-Washington boy-manager Jake Stahl. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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