Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #97A: Earl L. "Sheriff" Smith. Outfielder/Third baseman with the Washington Senators in 1921-1922. 429 hits and 9 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago Cubs in 1916. His most productive season was 1920 with the St. Louis Browns as he posted a .336 OBP with 55 RBIs in 378 plate appearances.

"Sheriff" Earl Smith played seven seasons in the big leagues, getting over 1,500 at-bats, mostly for the St. Louis Browns. He appeared at all three outfield positions as well as playing third base.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #98A: J. Thompson "Tom" Zachary. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1919-1925 and 1927-1928. 1924 and 1928 World Series champion. 186 wins and 23 saves in 19 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1918. In Washington's World Series-winning 1924 season, he posted a 15-9 record with a 2.75 ERA in 202.2 innings pitched. In 1949 with the New York Yankees, he went 12-0, an MLB record that still stands for most wins without a loss in one season. He also gave up Babe Ruth's 60th home run in 1927. He finished his career with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1936.

Zachary's SABR biography: Tom Zachary pitched in the majors from 1918 through 1936, logging 186 victories. The Guilford College star — who took part in one of the greatest collegiate pitching duels ever waged — never played a minor league game, a rare occurrence in those days. He picked up three World Series checks and was on the World Champion Senators in 1924 and Yankees in 1928. In the postseason he had a lifetime 3-0 mark with a 2.86 ERA. In his most impressive regular season, he posted a 12-0 mark with the Yankees in 1929. No major leaguer has won more without a defeat in a season. However, with all those accomplishments, he is best remembered for delivering a low, inside fastball that Babe Ruth drove into the right field seats for his 60th home run in 1927. . . .

. . . Zachary joined the Senators’ rotation in 1920 and compiled a 15-16 record with three shutouts. He led his team in wins and complete games and was second to Johnson in ERA. The following season Washington added lefty George Mogridge to the staff. The threesome of Johnson, Mogridge and Zachary would lead the team to the World Series in 1924.

The 1924 Senators sputtered early in the season and entered June under the .500 mark. They swept the Yankees in four games June 23-25 to move into first place. They faltered in early August but scratched their way back to the top and finished the season ahead of New York.

In the World Series Walter Johnson started Game 1 and fell victim to the Giants, 4-3. Zachary pitched eight strong innings in the next game but needed relief from Firpo Marberry when he tired in the ninth. Zachary had allowed two runs to tie the game when Marberry came in with two outs and fanned Travis Jackson to close the frame. The Senators pushed across a run in the bottom half for a 4-3 victory.

The game was exciting but free of disputes. It was what happened postgame that created a stir in the baseball community. The win was originally granted to Marberry and appeared that way in early box scores and in The Sporting News. After the game, noted sportswriter Frederick G. Lieb, who was chief scorer, “posted notice at press headquarters” that Zachary deserved the win based upon his strong eight innings. The decision was met with strong discussion throughout the nation’s press, but the decision stood, and Zachary was given the win. (We will pick up this account when Zachary next surfaces in our progression.)

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[GeoPoto]

The 1923 Washington Senators won 75 games, lost 78, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by Donie Bush and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

We let Smiles touch on developments in 1923: Griffith spent $100,000 on young players in the offseason and for 1923 had the largest crop of young players in camp in club history with 13. Among them were six pitchers, only two of which, Cy Warmoth and Bonnie Hollingsworth would go north. They didn't do much pitching, only 177 innings between them with a combined 10-12 record. Of the position players Pinky Hargrave stuck as a back-up catcher and Ossie Bluege took over at third base. On February 10 the final pieces of the team to come in 1924 were put in place when Griffith traded Howard Shanks, Val Picinich and Ed Goebel to the Red Sox for catcher Muddy Ruel and pitcher Allen Russell. . . .

. . . On September 21, with the Senators owning a 68-71 record and residing in fifth place, a game out of fourth and 3 1/2 out of third, Washington Post writer Frank Young wrote that Bush was out at the end of the season. "Despite the fact that President Griffith persists in denying the report that Donnie Bush would be deposed as a manager of Washington at the end of the season, . . .". Bush had his supporters who noted that even with the Senators pitching their worst in years and the team batting average ranking seventh in the league, the team was within a few games of third place. Injuries and suspensions didn't help Bush. Johnson, Mogridge, Rice, Judge, Bluege and (Harris) missed time. . . .

. . . With the exception of a seven-game losing streak in late May and early June, . . . The Senators didn't go through dramatic hot and cold stretches in 1923. They played most of the season like what they were, a .500 team. They finished the season in fourth place at 75-78.

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[ValKehl]

1923 was not an especially prolific year for baseball card issues. Here's a tough 1923 card of Sam Rice and a Canadian card of Herold "Muddy" Ruel, who became a key player for the Senators after being acquired, as George mentioned in the above post, from the Red Sox in early 2023. Ruel batted .316 in 136 games in 1923, and this was his highest batting average during his 19 year MLB career.

I just remembered I have and have added a 1923 Willard's Chocolate of Allen Russell, the other player George mentioned that the Senators acquired in 1923 from the Red Sox. Russell had one of the best years of his 11-year MLB career in 1923, with a 10-7 W-L record, a 3.03 ERA, and a Major-League-leasing 9 saves (Clark Griffith was one of the earliest to gravitate to the heavy use of relief pitchers - Russell started only 5 of the 52 games in which he appeared).

[GeoPoto]

Thanks, Val!

Player #99: William F. "Bill" Conroy. "Pep". Infielder with the Washington Senators in 1923. 8 hits in 67 plate appearances in 1 MLB season.
Bill Conroy , nicknamed "Pep", was a professional baseball player. He was an infielder for one season (1923) with the Washington Senators. For his career, he compiled a .133 batting average in 60 at-bats, with two runs batted in.

Conroy was treated for an abscess or tumor at the base of his brain, first experienced in 1922. "The ruddy faced, stockily built youngster reported to the training camp apparently in the best of health, said he felt well and showed sufficient ability in the exhibition games to earn the berth as regular at the far corner." He admitted to having headaches in spring training but was eager to play in 1923. It seems unlikely the medical condition caused his short MLB career as he eventually died at age 71.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #100: Eric G. "Swat" Erickson. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1919-1922. 34 wins and 4 saves in 7 MLB seasons. He is the only Swedish-born player in MLB history to appear in more than 1 or 2 games. He debuted with the New York Giants in 1914. His most productive season was 1920 with Washington as he posted a 12-16 record with a 3.84 ERA in 239.1 innings pitched.

Ericson's SABR biography: Between 1870 and 1920, over a million Swedes emigrated to the United States, primarily seeking greater economic opportunities. This influx produced notable second- and third-generation Swedish-American baseball stars like Charles “Swede” Risberg and Freddie Lindstrom. But only four Swedish-born players made the big leagues. Collectively they appeared in just 149 major-league games. Pitching for the Giants, Tigers, and Senators in an eight-year career (1914-22), Eric Erickson accounts for 145 of these. . . .

. . . Before the 1920 season, MLB outlawed the shine-slash-spitter Erickson had relied upon, and he was not among the 17 pitchers whose slippery repertoire was grandfathered. For whatever reason—changes in the pitching rules, or a loss of velocity—his ability to overpower hitters diminished. Before 1920 he had struck out five hitters every nine innings, an impressive Deadball Era accomplishment. In 1920 he struck out 3.3 batters every nine innings, and achieved a 12-16 record and a 3.84 ERA. . .

. . . During 1921’s spring training, Erickson began to use “a sort of half side-arm and half under-hand delivery.” The Senators climbed into fourth place with an 80-73 mark. Erickson, as the fourth starter, finished with an 8-10 mark and a 3.62 ERA. The retrospectively-calculated ERA+ of 114 he achieved that season was his career-best.

In November 1921, Griffith sought to deal Erickson to Portland for some of their young pitching talent. But the Yankees refused to let him pass through waivers. Next, he was rumored to be a piece in a three-way trade, with the Athletics and the Red Sox, which would bring Roger Peckinpaugh to Washington. Though the deal went down, Erickson was not included. Consequently, the veteran stayed with Washington in 1922, stumbling to a 4-12 record and a 4.96 ERA. . . .

. . . During his major-league days, the press commonly referred to Erickson as “Ole” or Olaf” or “the big Swede.” In Jamestown (where he grew up and lived), ever since delivering key hits at the beginning of his semipro days, he was known exclusively as “Swat.” Almost two decades after his earliest triumphs, possibly his finest baseball moment occurred on a local semipro diamond. On August 7, 1930, Bill McKechnie’s Boston Braves came to Jamestown for an exhibition game. The 38-year-old Erickson one-hit the major leaguers, allowing only a “dinky single between first and second” to pinch-hitter Lance Richbourg in the ninth inning. “Swat” accounted for all of Jamestown’s runs in their 3-0 victory, by clearing the bases with a triple in the second inning.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #82D: Edward P. "Patsy" Gharrity. Catcher with the Washington Senators in 1916-1923 and 1929-1930. 513 hits and 20 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He also played some first base and outfield. He had a career OBP of .331. His best season was 1921 as posted a .386 OBP with 55 RBIs in 455 plate appearances.

Gharrity's SABR biography: . . . Griffith acquired catcher Muddy Ruel for the 1923 season. Gharrity split his time between catching, first base, and pinch-hitting, appearing in 93 games. He batted a career-low .207. Over the winter, Gharrity made a fateful decision. He decided to join the Midwest Industrial League and play for Beloit. Not only did they pay a baseball salary, they found a job for him in the local steel mill. Little did he know that the Senators under Bucky Harris would win the pennant in 1924 and 1925.

Griffith was angered by Ed’s decision and had him placed on the suspended list. Gharrity played in the Industrial League from 1924 to 1928. He was one of the stars of the league, which stretched from Wisconsin through Chicago to Massillon and Canton, Ohio. In 1924 he and Hippo Vaughn formed the best battery in the circuit. . . .

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