Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

(John: Thanks for posting. I have some "good ideas" in my closet also.)

Player #166B: Kendall F. "Ken" Chase. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1936-1941. 53 wins in 8 MLB seasons. His best season was 1940 for Washington as posted a 15-17 record with a 3.23 ERA in 261.2 innings pitched. He gave up Lou Gehrig's 2721st and last hit, as Gehrig removed himself from the line up the next day in 1939. He finished his career with the New York Giants in 1943.

We return to Chase's SABR biography: During spring training 1940, Griffith called Ken Chase the best lefty in the American League.

Chase declared his ambition was to win 15 games, and then 20, and hit a home run, something he had never done. Chase realized two of those ambitions in 1940. He was 15-17 (3.23 ERA), and he hit a home run off Bill Trotter of the Browns at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis, on July 31. Unfortunately, he also led the majors in bases on balls – he walked 143 batters, 21 more than second-place Vern Kennedy of the Browns. His 12 wild pitches had also led the league.

He was never much of a hitter; his major-league batting average was .165, with just the one homer. His nine RBIs in 1940 were the most in any season. Chase drove in 27 runs in his time in the big leagues.