Washington DC Baseball

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Player #93B: George A. Mogridge. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1921 1925. 132 wins and 21 saves in 15 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1911-1912. His most productive season was 1921 with Washington as posted a 18-14 record with a 3.00 ERA in 288 innings pitched. He finished his career with the Boston Red Sox in 1926-1927. In 1917 he threw the first no-hitter in New York Yankee history. It was also the first no-hitter thrown in Fenway park.

Mogridge's SABR biography summarizes his career and points at some highlights in Washington: The tall, lanky, left-handed pitcher George Mogridge is best remembered today as the answer to a trivia question: Who pitched the first no-hitter in New York Yankees history? Yes, the answer is George Mogridge, on April 24, 1917, against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. During his time in the major leagues from 1911 to 1927, however, Mogridge was known for more than just that one memorable pitching performance. No less an eminence than Babe Ruth, lamenting the trade that sent Mogridge from the Yankees to the Washington Senators, called him the “best left-hander in the league.” Hall of Fame center fielder Tris Speaker echoed Ruth’s sentiment: “George Mogridge is not only the best southpaw in this league, but also the best pitcher.” This “best pitcher in the league” never won more than 18 games in a season, and finished his career with a 132-133 record, but he helped the Washington Senators become pennant contenders in the 1920s and was a key figure in their World Series victory in 1924. . . .

. . . With Washington, Mogridge became the consistent winner he had never been with the Yankees. Used almost exclusively as a starter, he had a banner year in 1921, winning 18, losing 14, with a respectable 3.00 ERA. He was Washington’s top pitcher, outpointing even the great Walter Johnson, who was 17-14 with a 3.53 ERA that year. In his first start against the Yankees in the second game of a doubleheader on May 30, Mogridge outdueled the old spitballer Jack Quinn, 1-0, allowing only two hits. On July 1, also in the second game of a doubleheader, Mogridge pitched a 12-inning, three-hit shutout to best Bob Hasty and the Philadelphia A’s, 1-0. . . .

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Player #94: George B. Morgan. Pitcher who never appeared in MLB. Played 6 seasons in the minor leagues. Had a 58-60 career record in 153 game appearances. His highest achievement was one season (1921) with AA Rochester, where he posted a 17-10 record with a 4.04 ERA in 214 innings pitched.

Not everybody makes it! Enough said.

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Player #95A: Roger T. Peckinpaugh. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1922-1926. 1,876 hits and 205 stolen bases in 17 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. His best season at the plate was probably 1921 as he helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series and posted a .380 OBP with 128 runs scored and 72 RBIs in 694 plate appearances. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1910 and finished his playing career with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He managed the New York Yankees in 1914 and the Cleveland Indians in 1928-1933 and 1941.

Deveaux explains how complex (and expensive) Griffith's acquisition of Peckinpaugh was Part 1: For third base for 1922, to replace Howard Shanks, Griffith got Donie Bush, who'd been the Tigers' regular shortstop since 1909. The idea was to get Bush to spell Shanks at third and Blackie O'Rourke at short, as the dark-featured Canadian hit only .234 as the regular. Shortstop was Griffith's main concern and in the first month of 1922, he decided to make a pitch for veteran Roger Peckinpaugh, a 31-year-old who had been the best in the league at the position for years. What the bow-legged Peckinpaugh may have lacked in grace, he made up for in range and strength.

The regular Yankees shortstop since 1914, "Peck" had been traded to Boston in another sensational, money-saving deal engineered by the Red Sox's Harry Frazee on December 20, 1921. (Everett Scott, "Bullet Joe" Bush and "Sad Sam" Jones were sent to the Yankees.) Money, however, had not been the only motivation behind that particular deal. Babe Ruth disliked Yankees manager Miller Huggins, and wanted to have Peckinpaugh named manager of the New York club, for which Ruth had now completed his first season. The Yankees had obviously decided not to grant Ruth the power of deciding who his immediate superior was going to be.

In any case, Peckinpaugh became a Red Sox in name only. He'd been on their roster for all of three weeks, obviously never even suiting up for them. On January 10, 1922, he was moved to Washington by Frazee, who had been tempted to accept cash from Griffith. Frazee had thought better of that, however. He was the most unpopular man in Boston, having already expelled, in addition to Bush, Jones, and Scott, the likes of Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, and Wally Schang. Then, of course, there had been that kid called the Babe. If cash wouldn't do in an exchange for Peckinpaugh, though, Clark Griffith had no star player he could part with.

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Player #95A: Roger T. Peckinpaugh. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1922-1926. 1,876 hits and 205 stolen bases in 17 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. His best season at the plate was probably 1921 as he helped the New York Yankees reach the World Series and posted a .380 OBP with 128 runs scored and 72 RBIs in 694 plate appearances. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1910 and finished his playing career with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He managed the New York Yankees in 1914 and the Cleveland Indians in 1928-1933 and 1941.

Deveaux explains how complex (and expensive) Griffith's acquisition of Peckinpaugh was Part 2: It was Griff's inside knowledge which ultimately enabled him to get Peckinpaugh for the Senators. The A's had a fine young third baseman named Joe Dugan who had begun showing decent power as a 24-year-old the previous season. But there was a problem with Dugan, for which he had earned the nickname of "Jumping Joe". He often got homesick and would jump the ballclub, without notice, to return to his hometown of Boston to visit family and friends. Now if Griffith could get Dugan from Connie Mack, he could probably turn right around and send him home for good.

Clark Griffith's complex strategy to acquire Roger Peckinpaugh succeeded, but it cost him dearly. Griffith surrendered three players, including incumbent shortstop Blackie O'Rourke, and infielder Edmund "Bing" Miller who had hit .288 with the Senators in '21, his only season in Washington. In Miller's case, Washington made a mistake. Over the next nine years, his lowest batting average as a regular in Philadelphia would be .299. But at the time of the trade, what hurt Griffith the most was the $50,000 check he ultimately had to write Frazee in order to get Peckinpaugh for his ballclub. . .

. . . The new Peckinpaugh-Harris-Judge combination would become one of the most lethal rally-killing trios in history. As Clark Griffith so succinctly put it, whenever the ball was hit in the direction of any one of these guys, everybody was out. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

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Player #96: Thomas G. "Big Tom" Phillips. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1921-1922. 8 wins in 4 MLB seasons. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1915.

According to an April 12, 1929 newspaper obituary "He broke into professional baseball with Wilkes-Barre in 1914, where his work attracted Connie Mack. During his best years he was a member of the [Philadelphia] Athletics, St. Louis [Browns], Cleveland [Indians] and Washington [Senators] in the American League. He was also with Little Rock and New Orleans of the Southern Association, pitching the latter team to a pennant in 1924. In 1925 Washington sent him to Minneapolis. The Millers recently sent him to Des Moines, in the Western Association, while he was ill at home in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. He was about 38 years of age, and had lived here nearly all of his life. His best feat was a no-hit, no-run game while with New Orleans in 1924.

Big Tom Phillips, of Phillipsburg, PA., died at the Phillipsburg state hospital after a lingering illness from diabetes.

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Player #83B: 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.

We go back to Picinich's SABR biography as he winds up his Washington career: . . . Senators fans knew Gharrity was the better player on offense so when Gharrity was rested in the second game of a doubleheader (in 1920) and Picinich managed to say something that caused umpire Billy Evans to eject him, the Washington fans cheered. Gharrity had an even better year in 1921, hitting .310. Picinich did, too; he caught 43 games, improving at the plate to .277.

By this time, Picinich was seen as a reliable backup catcher to Gharrity and so it was again in 1922, with Picinich sometimes entering later in games. In one instance, on July 26, it worked the other way around – Picinich was ejected from a game in the eighth, and Gharrity came in and hit a home run to win the game on the first pitch he saw in the ninth. Gharrity caught in 96 games and Picinich in 76. He hit .229, with 19 RBIs.

It was said that in his years with the Senators, he caught all but two games pitched by Walter Johnson.

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Player #74G: 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.

Carroll takes us through Rice's 1922 season Part 1: Even early on, there were signs that Rice might not be in shape to put up the kind of season Washington fans had grown accustomed to. After spending much of the winter back home hunting in Indiana, he was a few pounds overweight when he showed up to negotiate his contract. By the time he returned again in March for spring training, Rice was still carrying a few extra pounds (to his credit, he did arrive a week before he was required).

Rice had encountered difficulty picking up ground balls to the outfield in the past, but new Washington manager Clyde Milan thought his star was a little bit too nonchalant for his taste when a ball rolled through his legs during a late March relay throw drill, singly the star out in the newspapers. . . .

. . . Rice's fielding difficulties may have been good for a little laugh during Spring training, but when the bad habit of not getting down on base hits to the outfield cost the Senators runs in the regular season, it wasn't so funny anymore. Rice made a key error on such a chance in an early-season loss to the Yankees, Washington's fifth consecutive defeat and their eighth in nine games on the young season. The Post, begging for Griffith to retain Rice just months before (as Rice and Griffith haggled over his contract), blasted him for the gaffe.

"It was none other than Sammy Rice, the outfielding star of the troupe," Senators beat writer John A. Dugan reported, "who pulled what is becoming an almost daily stunt with him of allowing a ball to roll through his legs."

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