Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #163A: Henry J. "Zeke" Bonura (pronounced like Sonora) -- Part 1. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1938 and 1940. 1,099 hits and 119 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .380. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1934. His best season was probably 1936 for the White Sox as he posted a .426 OBP with 120 runs scored and 138 RBIs in 688 plate appearances. His indifferent defense on balls hit to his right gave rise to the "Bonura Salute".

We'll let Deveaux explain Washington's 1938 acquisition: On March 18, 1938, Joe Kuhel was traded to the White Sox for the antithesis of Kuhel, a big lummox with the rhyming name of Zeke "What a physique" Bonura. A classic good-hit, no-field first baseman, the muscular Bonura (also affectionately called "Banana Nose" for obvious reasons) was a fan's delight but a manager's nightmare. He held out practically on an annual basis, and Jimmy Dykes, the White Sox pilot, was of the opinion that Bonura was the worst first baseman who had ever lived, and said so publicly.

Bonura, in actual fact a college man, was so slothful a fielder as to often make himself look ridiculous on a ballfield when he didn't have a bat in his hands. When he mysteriously led the league's first basemen in fielding in '36, Dykes was quick to discredit Bonura, pointing out that players don't get errors on balls they don't touch. What's more, Bonura wouldn't just wave at ground balls, he would give them the "Mussolini salute" with his glove. Opposing fans in particular loved this, but it is not hard to imagine what his manager thought of the behavior.

[GeoPoto]

Player #163A: Henry J. "Zeke" Bonura (pronounced like Sonora) -- Part 2. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1938 and 1940. 1,099 hits and 119 home runs in 7 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .380. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1934. His best season was probably 1936 for the White Sox as he posted a .426 OBP with 120 runs scored and 138 RBIs in 688 plate appearances. His indifferent defense on balls hit to his right gave rise to the "Bonura Salute".

There are several versions of the following apocryphal story. Chisox manager Jimmy Dykes had decided that it would hardly be worth the trouble of changing his signals just because Bonura was now on the opposing team. Dykes told coach Bing Miller that Bonura had never been able to remember the signs when he was with Chicago anyway. As the story goes, the dreadfully slow-footed Bonura had made it to third on behalf of the Senators against his old team. At this point, Dykes began waving his scorecard to shoo away some flies which had been buzzing around him on the bench. Bonura, forgetting which side he was on, took Dykes' motions to be the steal sign, and he took off for the plate. He barged into the catcher, the ball was shaken loose, and he was in there. While this makes one hell of a good story, it indeed could not have happened in a regular-season game -- Bonura stole home only once in his seven-year big-league career, and that happened when he was a member of the White Sox. in the 15th inning of a game against the Yankees.

Zeke Bonura did bring the anticipated bat the Senators had been banking on, however, and slugged 22 homers for them in 1938. Despite a terrible start which had him hitting just .190 in mid-June, Bonura batted .289 and drove in 114 runs, which tied him for sixth best in the league with Lou Gehrig. Once again, his lack of range enabled him to lead all American League first basemen in fielding. Jimmy Dykes may have had a point when he'd said that at Chicago, Bonura let in three runs for every one that he batted in. Coupled with the resurgence of Al Simmons, who banged out 21 dingers in 1938, the Senators nearly doubled their home-run output. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

This thread will now enjoy a pause to enjoy the TEOTS in Dallas.

[GeoPoto]

Player #160B: Wesley C. "Wes" Ferrell. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1937-1938. 193 wins and 13 saves in 15 MLB seasons. 2-time All-Star. 1935 AL wins leader. He pitched a no-hitter in 1931. His 37 career home runs are the MLB record for a pitcher. He debuted with the Cleveland Indians in 1927-1933. His erratic behavior caused concern. He last played with the Boston Braves in 1941. He is a member of the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. He is a member of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. His brother Rick is a member of the MLB Hall of Fame.

We'll use Wes's SABR biography to follow his time in Washington which came at the tail end of his career: Ferrell bounced back (from a disappointing 1933 season that included an attempt to become an outfielder) to enjoy three good seasons in Boston, with his brother as his battery mate in each. No longer a power pitcher, he relied on control and his knowledge of the hitters for success. He ended the 1934 season with a 14–5 record. In 1935 his record was 25–14. The following year, 1936, he won 20 and lost 15. As a result of his mound prowess, Ferrell finished second in the voting for the Baseball Writers Association of America MVP award in 1935, losing out to Hank Greenberg, and finished fifth in the balloting for the Sporting News MVP.

Nor was the Ferrell bat idle during this period, especially in clutch situations. Over the 1934–1936 seasons he averaged .303 at the plate, peaking with a .347 average, 7 home runs, and 32 RBIs in 75 games in 1935. Figures like these would be impressive for a position player, let alone a pitcher.

His temper remained volatile as well. In a game against Philadelphia on August 8, 1934, Ferrell took the mound in the bottom of the third inning with a 10–1 lead but then proceeded to give up six runs on a pair of homers. When the manager, Bucky Harris, came out to relieve him, not only did he refuse to hand over the ball; when he was finally persuaded to return to the dugout, he punched himself in the jaw with his fist and slammed his head against a concrete wall. He had to be forcibly restrained to prevent him from doing further harm to himself. During the 1936 season, Ferrell walked off the field in disgust and refused to continue pitching twice in the space of five days, angered each time by his teammates’ defensive shortcomings. On the second occasion he was fined $1,000 and suspended for several days. Ferrell’s reaction was to threaten to punch the manager, Joe Cronin, in the nose.

In 1937, Ferrell’s record fell to 14–19. After a slow start, resulting in a disappointing 3–6 record, he was traded to the Washington Senators on June 11, along with his brother Rick and outfielder Mel Almada, for pitcher Bobo Newsom and outfielder Ben Chapman. For the Senators, Ferrell managed to win an additional 11 games while losing 13. He began the 1938 season with Washington. By August 2, he had won 13 games, more than anyone else on the team, while losing only seven. Nevertheless, 10 days later, the Senators released him. His continued temperamental behavior seems to have been the chief factor underlying this decision, although the fact that he had accused the club’s owner, Clark Griffith, of being cheap cannot have helped. Two days later, on August 14, Ferrell signed with the New York Yankees, who were in need of pitching, and finished out the season with them, winning two games and losing two, compiling an overall record of 15–10 for the year.

[MikeGarcia]

.. I have this Burke Postcard of Wes Ferrell that might be rarely seen . It's postally-used and addressed to a fan in Boston , in his own hand and was mailed from Spring Training in Florida. People were better-looking in those days IMHO . Especially ballplayers.






..Great thread , thanks very much.

[GeoPoto]

(Mike: Thank you for the kind words and great images.)

Player #160B: Richard B. "Rick" Ferrell. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1937-1941, 1944-1945, and 1947. 1,692 hits 28 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .378. 8-time All-Star. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1984, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1929-1933. His best season may have been 1932 for the Browns as he posted a .406 OBP with 67 runs scored and 65 RBIs in 514 plate appearances. He held the record for most MLB games caught for 40 years until unseated by Carlton Fiske in 1988. First catcher to receive from staff of four K-ball pitchers for the Senators in 1944. He joined the Detroit Tigers as a coach in 1950, became general manager and vice president in 1959, and continued with the Tigers until 1992. During his tenure as a Tigers executive, they won the 1968 and 1984 World Series and AL Eastern Division titles in 1972 and 1987.

We'll use Rick's SABR biography to highlight his career and time with Washington: Hall of Fame catcher Rick Ferrell (1905-1995) caught in the American League for eighteen years (1929-45,’47) during two of America’s most challenging periods: the Great Depression and World War II. Playing for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Red Sox, and Washington Senators, his skill as a durable knuckleball catcher with a laser-accurate arm for picking off potential base-stealers was held in high regard. His .378 career on-base percentage is eighth, all-time, among 50 catchers with 3000 at-bats, according to www.sabr.org, and fourth among the thirteen major league Hall of Fame catchers, bested only by Mickey Cochrane (.419), Roger Bresnahan (.386), and Bill Dickey (.382). . . .

. . . During the 1930s, Rick became one of several major league catching stars that included Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Al Lopez, Ernie Lombardi, and Gabby Hartnett. On May 10, 1933, young Boston Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey purchased Ferrell from the fiscally strapped Browns with southpaw Lloyd Brown for catcher Merv Shea plus cash estimated at between $50,000 and $100,000. From 1929-early 1933 with the Browns, Rick had hit .289 in 430 games.

With the east coast Boston Red Sox, the catcher enjoyed his best years, catching and hitting well. Two months later on July 6, 1933, Connie Mack chose Rick to catch the entire inaugural All-Star Game. The American League team, consisting of such luminaries as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, All Simmons, Charlie Gehringer, and Lefty Grove, beat the National League, 4-2. Rick was selected to a grand total of eight All-Star teams (1933-38, 1944-45; no game in 1945 because of wartime travel restrictions).

When Cleveland and his brother Wes played against Boston two weeks later on July 19, 1933, Rick homered off Wes, after which Wes homered off Boston’s Hank Johnson, marking the first time brothers on opposing teams had homered in the same game. They taunted each other about their home runs during the game and went out for a steak dinner afterwards. Rick caught a career-high 137 games in 1933. . . . (We'll pick this up when Rick next appears.)

[GeoPoto]

Player #90I: 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.

One nice touch to this year (1938) was that Clark Griffith was able to bring Leon Goslin back for one final go-round. Goslin hit only .158 in 38 games, putting the cap on an outstanding career. Quite likely the best hitter in the team's history, he finished his big-league journey with an even 500 doubles, 173 triples, 248 home runs, and a .316 batting average. Clark Griffith had a job for him the following year, and the Goose returned to his home state of New Jersey to play for the Nats' Trenton farm team, where he hit .324.

[GeoPoto]

Player #139G: Charles S. "Buddy" Myer. Second baseman with the Washington Senators in 1925-1927 and 1929-1941. 2,131 hits and 38 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .389. 2-time All-Star. 1935 AL Batting champion. 1928 AL Stolen Base leader. His best season was 1935 for Washington as he posted a .440 OBP with 115 runs scored and 100 RBIs in 719 plate appearances. He was involved in one of baseball's most violent brawls when he was spiked and possibly racially derided by the Yankees' Ben Chapman.

We will follow Myer's SABR biography as we track his career -- Part 7: Myer had little opportunity to enjoy his (1935) batting title. In the spring of 1936, he began suffering from persistent stomach trouble. Some thought he was worried sick by his wife’s pregnancy, but other accounts say he had an ulcer. He played only 51 games before he went home in August.

He bounced back the next year to make the All-Star team for the second time. He never appeared in an All-Star Game; Detroit’s Charlie Gehringer was the AL’s premier second baseman and played every inning of the first six classics from 1933-1938.