Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #90C: Leon A. "Goose" Goslin. Left fielder for the Washington Senators in 1921-1930, 1933, and 1938. 2,735 hits and 248 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1936 All-Star. 1924 and 1935 World Series champion. 1928 AL batting champion. 1924 AL RBI leader. 1968 inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. He drove in the game-winning, walk-off run to win the 1935 World Series for the Detroit Tigers. With Gehringer and Greenberg, was one of the Detroit "G-Men". In 1936 he had an inside-the-park HR when both outfielders (Joe DiMaggio and Myril Hoag) collided and were knocked unconscious. He had one of his best seasons for the WS-winning Washington Senators in 1924 as he posted a .421 OBP with 100 runs scored and 129 RBIs in 674 plate appearances.

Late in the 1925 season, the Nationals and the Philadelphia A's were neck-and-neck for the pennant until the A's lost 12 games in a row. The ever-volatile Goslin was central to Washington's success, as Smiles relates: The A's finally ended the losing by winning the last two games of the Washington series over the next two days, but it was too late. The Senators had won nine of 14 during the A's losing streak, and even after the two A's wins, the Senators lead was seven on September 9. The Senators were 85-48. The A's were 76-53. The Senators and A's had one more game to play against each other, a make-up contest played on September 13 in Washington that ended in a 6-6 tie called by darkness after 11 innings. During that game, Goose Goslin and Bucky got into a heated argument in the dugout. Goslin misplayed two balls into triples in the fourth and sixth innings. Bucky said something to Goslin after the second misplay and the argument ensued. It's not known what Goslin said, but it must have been ugly, as Bucky fined him $100 and suspended him. Bucky backed off the suspension (Goslin was in the lineup the next day), but the fine stood. . . .

. . . In the Senators' outfield only Goose Goslin had numbers to compare (with the offensive production of the Pittsburgh Pirates' outfield of Barnhart, Carey, and Cuyler). (In 1925,) He (Goslin) batted .334, scored 116, batted in 113, hit 18 home runs, and led the league with 20 triples. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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[EddieP]

Article on the 1904 Washington team:

https://wapo.st/41UjqKj

[GeoPoto]

Thanks for the link to the interesting article about Washington baseball foibles in the dead ball era. A little additional history:

On November 27, 1859 in Washington DC, the National Baseball Club was formally organized by a group of Government clerks. That amateur team known as the Nationals played rival Washington-area teams regularly throughout the 1860's (despite the civil war) led by their star pitcher, Pue Gorman.

Gorman eventually came to be replaced in 1866 as Nationals pitcher by Henry Chadwick.

In 1867, the Washington Nationals went on a Western tour, accompanied by the world's first baseball correspondent -- Henry Chadwick, representing the New York Sunday Mercury. George Wright played second base. The Nationals won games against teams in Columbus (90-10), Cincinnati (53-10 and 88-12), Louisville (83-21), Indianapolis (106-21) and St Louis (113-26 and 53-26) before being stopped 29-23 by Forest City and their young pitcher, Al Spalding.

Spalding's baseball Guide credits the 1867 Washington Nationals with sowing the seeds of interest in and love for professionally played baseball in the hearts and minds of the American people: "In 1867, the first extended tour of a professional baseball organization was made, the Nationals of Washington appearing in different cities of the Union with such uniform success as to open the eyes of the people who had supposed the beauties of the game had received the fullest illustration at the hands of the local amateur clubs.

"The superior skill shown by the visitors sowed the seeds of healthy emulation, and the second year thereafter saw in Cincinnati the famous Red Stocking team which went through the season with a success never before achieved by a baseball club. Their career served to intensify the passion for the game and to stimulate the formation of clubs that should achieve similar renown."

Pue Gorman went on to become a U.S. Senator from Maryland. When Washington got a franchise in the National League, nostalgia for the earlier team, captained by future senator Gorman, gave rise to Senators as well as Nationals as popular team nicknames. In 1903, when the new American League franchise conducted a name-the-team contest, the same nostalgia made Nationals the winner, even though the team was in the American League.

[ValKehl]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

. . . . . . . In the Senators' outfield only Goose Goslin had numbers to compare (with the offensive production of the Pittsburgh Pirates' outfield of Barnhart, Carey, and Cuyler). (In 1925,) He (Goslin) batted .334, scored 116, batted in 113, hit 18 home runs, and led the league with 20 triples. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

George, it appears to me that Jack Smiles was not a fan of Sam Rice. Yes, HOFers Cuyler (second in the NL MVP voting) and Carey had had great years, and Clyde Barnhart had his best MLB season with 175 hits and a .325 batting average. However, Senators' HOFer outfielder Rice had 227 hits and a .350 batting average (the best of his career) in 1925. Amazingly, Rice struck out only 10 times in 710 plate appearances!

Lucas, that is a great photo of Senators' players with their kids! Thanks for showing it.

[GeoPoto]

Great photo Lucas. Val: you make a fair point, particularly with respect to Barnhart. OPS+ (for 1925) rates Goslin (139), Cuyler (152) and Carey (126) ahead of Rice (112), but with Barnhart (109) trailing slightly.

Player #112A: Joseph "Joe" Harris. "Moon". First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1925-1926. 963 hits and 47 home runs in 10 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .404. His best season was 1923 with the Boston Red Sox as he posted a .406 OBP with 82 runs scored and 76 RBIs in 562 plate appearances. He debuted with the New York Yankees in 1914. In 1925, he joined Washington mid-season and posted a .430 OBP with 60 runs scored and 59 RBIs in 390 plate appearances as the Senators won the AL pennant. His final season was with the Brooklyn Robins in 1928. He was involved in a trucking accident while serving in WW 1. He suffered 2 broken legs, 3 broken ribs, and a fractured skull, thus creating the 'lump' under his eye. He was the first player in MLB history to homer in his first appearance in the World Series (1925). He played in the 1925 World Series for Washington and the 1927 World Series with Pittsburgh.

Harris' SABR biography sums up his 1925 campaign: Harris began the 1925 season with the Red Sox, but with Phil Todt set for first base, he wasn’t expected to get quite as much work. On April 29 the Sox traded him to the Washington Senators for Roy Carlyle and Paul Zahniser. He’d assembled only 26 plate appearances for Boston and was batting .158. Sox fans were nonetheless disappointed to lose him, and the Boston Globe wrote, “He always has been a player who has given his club all he has, and, in these days, that is something unique.”

He reverted to form with Washington, despite a scare of an elbow injury in June, and was able to step in when longtime first baseman Joe Judge had to bow out due to nagging injury. Harris played in an even 100 games and batted .323 – third on the team in batting average, but first in OBP and SLG. And the Senators won the pennant. The World Series ran to seven games, Washington winning three of the first four, but then the Pittsburgh Pirates winning the final three to become world champions.

Harris played in all seven games and led all batters, hitting .440 with three home runs and six RBIs. It was his single in Game Three that provided the winning hit in that game.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 1. 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.

Smiles reports on how well-known Bucky had become and how the Senators/Giants rivalry continued into the spring of 1925: Bucky had a good time with his celebrity in the aftermath of the 1924 world Series. He made public appearances, received exotic gifts and came in high in a straw poll for president. Two days after the Series ended, Bucky, the players and their families were honored guests at a dinner dance at the Congressional Country Club. The club president, Representative Joseph Himes of Ohio presented Bucky with an honorary membership. He was only the third person so honored. . . .

The day after the seventh game Bucky went to a college football game at American League Park and saw Georgetown University beat King College of Tennessee, 21-7. He sat with the Georgetown fans and signed hundreds of programs. During halftime he went on the field and posed for photographs with Georgetown captain Fred Sheehan. It was reported that Mrs. Glen Stewart, the wife of the wealthiest man on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and the top dog breeder in the country, was going to give Bucky a $5,000 Irish wolfhound, Billy Shamrock. Billy was registered with the London and American Kennel clubs.

Bucky agreed to play in an exhibition game in western New York. On the way he stopped in the Polo Grounds where he was one of 60,000 fans to watch Notre Dame beat Army, 13-7, in football. On October 29 he went home, arriving by train in Wilkes-Barre. An automobile parade escorted him back to Pittston about five miles away. Thousands of miners, who were off for a union holiday, lined the route while cheering, waving American flags and setting off Roman candles. In Pittston he was met by his mother, brother Merle, old basketball buddy Gary Schmeelk, an entire troop of state police, the Pittston police force, and fire engines from all of the surrounding towns. The parade stopped at Gilmartin Park in Pittston where 2,000 kids who were let out of school waited for him. That night there was a banquet in his honor at the state armory where he had played basketball with the Pittston Pitts. He didn't play any basketball that fall or winter though he did have offers, which, he said, could have netted him $10,000.

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[GeoPoto]

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 2. 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.

In his column on November 2, which he called the "Illiterate Digest," Will Rogers listed the country's straw poll preferences for president. "At last the American people are aroused. They have found a medium through which to express their individual preferences for President of the United States. Will Rogers Illiterate Digest is the only fair and honest test of the merits of the candidates' popularity.

"The vote so far proves that if the people had anything to do with the nominations personally instead of it being done by a half-dozen men in the back room of some hotel, why America would be a democracy."
The leaders in the Rogers poll were: Walter Johnson, Red Grange, Knute Rockne, the Prince of Wales (all in feminine handwriting), Rudolph Valentino, Henry Ford, Kermit Roosevelt, and Bucky Harris. . . .

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[ValKehl]

At age 13, Bucky Harris' father abandoned the family. Bucky quit school and began working at a coal mining operation to help support the family. His HOF career in MLB is like a Horatio Alger "rags to riches" story.

[GeoPoto]

Player #83F: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris Part 3. 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.

. . . (Note that Smiles' accounting regarding the wins and losses in this description is confusing!?.): Bucky's old mentor, Hughie Jennings, was managing the Giants when the spring series between the 1924 World Series opponents began on March 9 (1925). McGraw was in Cuba. The Giants won the first two games, 8-7 and 2-1 in 12 innings. On March 15, the first appearance of the now-famous infield of Judge, Harris, Peckinpaugh, and Bluege drew cheers from the surprisingly large crowd. On March 14 Commissioner Landis appeared at the Senators' home, Plant Field, and presented the players with World Series championship medals before a game against the Boston Braves. The Senators led the game, 9-3, but lost, 12-10, prompting Frank Young, who was covering the spring games, to write, "After having been reminded before the hostilities started by Commissioner Landis that they are the champions of baseball and given medals to prove it, the Harrismen proceeded to show just how the national game should not be played." . . .

. . . Walter Johnson was a big ticket in Dixie that spring. Wherever the Senators played, the fans clamored to see him pitch. This worried Bucky, but Griffith insisted he make appearances. On April 3 he pitched five innings in New Orleans. On the 5th he pitched two in Mobile and then four the next day against the Giants in Birmingham.

The Senators and Giants gave the fans a good show with a series of tight games. The Giants led the series 5-1, but by the time the teams reached Washington where they were supposed to play two games, the Senators had won the last four to even the series at 5-5. The Giants won the first game in D.C. 11-2, the only game that hadn't been close. The second game was rained out. Forty-five minutes after the game was called the teams were on a train to New York, where they would play the last two games of their series before the regular season began. With the Giants leading 6 games to 4, Bucky was so serious about winning and evening the series, even with the season opener only two days away across town at Yankee Stadium, he brought Johnson (in) to close the first of the two games and got ejected from the second one after one pitch. Bucky and umpire Will Walker, who had been traveling with the teams, had a running feud going back to a game on March 11 in West Palm Beach. When McNeely claimed he was hit with the first pitch in the second game in New York, Walker said no and Bucky came out of the dugout to argue. Walker wouldn't argue with him, saying, "Get out and stay out. I'm tired of arguing with you."

The Senators won the game without Bucky, 11-5, before 15,000 fans to even the series at 6-6. (Bucky Harris by Jack Smiles.)

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