Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

If the Senators dominated the league in 1933, Bill Terry's New York Giants did the same in the rival loop, emerging as clear-cut champs with a five-game edge over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The upcoming World Series would pit two "boy managers" against one another. At 34, Terry had taken over from John McGraw early in the 1932 campaign, marking the end of the Lil' General's 30-year reign as the Giants' field boss. Cronin, eight years Terry's junior, became the youngest manager in World Series history, a distinction he still held at the beginning of this century.

So it would be, as in 1924, a confrontation between the Giants and the Senators. However, unlike the '24 Giants team, which was built around hitting, this outfit centered around an outstanding pitching staff. Its ace was Carl Hubbell (Hubbell would be forever remembered in baseball lore for something that would happen during the following year. In the 1934 All-Star game, he struck out, in succession, no less a group of sluggers than Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.), a lanky, floppy-eared, 30-year-old lefthander who'd been pitching in the National League for six years with some success.

Carl Hubbel's specialty was the screwball, and he delivered it with a slow, cartwheeling movement toward the plate. Until this season, his best showings had been a pair of 18-11 efforts in '29 and '32. But in 1933, Hubbell occupied another stratosphere, leading all National League pitchers in wins (23), ERA (an overpowering 1.66), innings pitched, and shutouts. His ten shutouts were three more than were posted by his teammate, Hal Schumacher, second best in the league in that category. "Prince Hal," a righthander who threw a heavy ball and had a very good overhand curve, went 19-12 with a 2.16 ERA, third best in the league. Hubbell and Schumacher were 1-2 in the N.L. in allowing the fewest number of hits per nine innings, and third on that list was another Giant, Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons, 16-11 with another ERA under 3.00.

Rival managers and future Hall of Famers, Bill Terry and Joe Cronin exchange pleasantries before game 1 at the Polo Grounds:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701683429

[GeoPoto]

Giants manager Bill Terry wasted no time making known who his starter would be for the first game -- Carl Hubbell. The lefty's screwball was said to be even more effective against lefthanded hitters, and of theose, Washington had plenty in its starting lineup -- Myer, Goslin, and Manush, who would be penciled into the 1-2-3 slots in the batting order in game one, and Joe Kuhel, who would bat sixth.

It was the Washington Senators, a truly balanced ball club, who were considered runaway favorites to win the 1933 World Series. As the first contest at New York's Polo Grounds, slated for October 3, approached, Joe Cronin remained mum regarding who would start the first game for the Senators. Terry had already declared that Carl Hubbell would win the first and fourth games, and this may have contributed to Cronin's determination to remain silent. After dallying for a week, he settled on a lefthander as well, but baseball observers were shocked that it wasn't Earl Whitehill, the 22-game winner. Instead, Lefty Stewart, loser of only six games all season, got the nod.

Game 1 starters Carl Hubbel and Lefty Stewart shake hands before the contest:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701772630

[GeoPoto]

The day of the first game started off very badly for the Senators . . . even before play even began. On his way to the Polo Grounds, lead-off batter Buddy Myer was reportedly a witness to a traffic accident in which a pedestrian was killed. Myer, visibly and understandably shaken by the experience, would make three errors in the field on this day. He was easy prey for Hubbell leading off the game and struck out. Goose Goslin and Heinie Manush both struck out as well.

In the field, right away Myer had to handle a ground ball off the bat of lead-off man Jo-Jo Moore (not the same player as Eddie Moore, the second baseman who'd played for the Pirates against Washington in the 1925 Series). Myer booted the play, and the error would be costly. Lefty Stewart got the next two batters but then Mel Ott, the Giants' most powerful hitter, propelled a drive into the lower rightfield stands.

Stewart, Cronin's "hunch," pitched just two innings. He was lifted after giving up three singles, one of them off the wall, and a run, without getting anyone out in the top of the third. Jack Russell came in and got three straight outs, but another run came in when a shot off the bat of Travis Jackson, a 1924 World Series alumnus, went off Kuhel's glove to Myer, who relayed to Russell covering first.

The Senators scored single runs in the fourth and ninth, both unearned, off Hubbell, who went all the way and gave up just five hits. Buddy Myer opened the fourth with a single, advanced on an error by second baseman Hughie Critz, and scored on Fred Schulte's single. In the top of the ninth, with the Nats still down 4-1, New York shortstop Blondy Ryan muffed a Manush grounder to start the inning. Joe Cronin and Fred Schulte then singled, both of them for the second time in the game. Here were the makings of a rally. Joe Kuhel then grounded to short for the first out. Manush scored. The next batter, Ossie Bluege, struck out for the third time, proving that Hubbell was no picnic for righthanded hitters either. Luke Sewell then grounded to short to end the game.

The Caption on the reverse of this photograph reads: "With New Yorkers still bemoaning the decline of Babe Ruth as their son of swat, a new idol popped into the picture at the Polo Grounds in the first game of the series between Giants and Senators yesterday. 'Twas Mel Ott. To make the roaring fans forget Babe Ruth for the day at least, Ott tied a World Series record with a homer and three singles out of four official times at bat. He drove across three of his team's four runs."

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701858257

[GeoPoto]

The events of game two would in no way inspire any second guessing about Joe Cronin having picked Lefty Stewart as his starting pitcher in the Series opener. This is because of what happened when the Nats' top winner, General Alvin Crowder, was handed the ball for the second game. With two down in the third, Goose Goslin, hitless in his first five at-bats in this Series, belted a Hal Schumacher pitch into the upper right field stands. The ball sailed over a sign sponsored by the NRA proclaiming "We Do Our Part." Crowder was doing his part, coasting through the first five innings, giving up just one walk and two harmless singles.

In the sixth, however, the roof caved in. In the top half, the Nats had men on second and third with one out when Goslin, the lead runner, got caught in a rundown when Fred Schulte grounded toward third. Joe Kuhel walked to load the bases, but Ossie Bluege struck out for the fourth time in five official at-bats so far in the Series. In the bottom of the inning, the Giants sent 12 batters to the plate, bunching seven singles, a double by Terry, and an intentional walk, to score six runs and chase Crowder. The tying and winning runs were driven in by pinch hitter Lefty O'Doul, a pitcher who had been transformed into an outfielder while already in his thirties. O'Doul had proceeded to win the National League batting championship in 1930 with a .398 average.

Tommy Thomas came in to relieve Crowder with two outs and the score 6-1, and gave up an inconsequential infield single before getting Bill Terry to ground into a force play to end the slaughter. The score remained as it was at the end of New York's six-run sixth, 6-1. The Giants, who had ten hits in each of the first two games to the Senators' five in each game, were well positioned now with a 2-0 lead with the sixth and seventh games, should the Senators succeed in rendering them necessary, to be played at the Polo Grounds.

One aside to this unhappy story from the Nationals' perspective was that Sam Rice, owner of a .290 career batting average in the World Series, got one last crack at the bat. The 43-year-old was brought in as a pinch hitter for Tommy Thomas after the sixth-inning debacle. With one out in the top of the seventh, Rice singled to center to raise his average above the magical .300 barrier (.302) for all eternity. As things would go, this was Sam Rice's final at-bat with the Senators after having donned a Washington uniform over a span of 19 consecutive years. (Note: Deveaux makes mention here of Rice's career .302 average in the World Series; his career average in the regular season is .322.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1701943617

[GeoPoto]

The weather may not have matched the mood at Griffith Stadium for the third game on October 5. The teams had traveled by train from New York, and there were still no off days scheduled during the fall classics of this era. It rained hard before the game, drenching a relatively sparce crowd of under 26,000 which included President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a large congressional retinue -- the largest, it was said, ever to see a baseball game. President Roosevelt threw out the first ball, and the custom then in vogue was for the players to scramble to catch it. On this occasion, a wild melee ensued, and it was lucky on one was injured. For the record, it was Heinie Manush who finally emerged from the scrum with the ball.

A short while earlier, Joe Cronin had a few choice words for his troops. As manager, but also as their shortstop, he told them that he hoped every man in the room was as ashamed as he was about what had happened in New York. He told them that they were a better team than the New York Giants, and now was the time to show that.

Cronin's words didn't hurt. As the Giants had done in the first game, the Senators struck for two runs right off the bat in this one. After Earl Whitehill mowed New York down in order, lead-off man Buddy Myer, who up to this point was a dismal 1-for-7 with three errors on only ten fielding chances in the first two games, singled off Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons. Goose Goslin, up next, unloaded on one of Fred's fat ones, propelling it off the top of the fence in right field. Mel Ott gamely retrieved it, keeping Myer from scoring.

After Heinie Manush popped up, Cronin hit a bouncer back to the mound. Myer had moved quickly, however, and Fitzsimmons had no choice but to go for the easy out at first, making the score 1-0 Washington. Fred Schulte kept the rally going, tagging a double to right to bring in Goslin with the second run of the inning. The rally ended moments later when Schulte got caught in a rundown after Kuhel had hit a ground ball toward Travis Jackson, the former shortstop who was just recently starting to play some at the hot corner.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702029547

[GeoPoto]

Like Myer had done in the Washington half of the first inning, Ossie Bluege gained a measure of redemption in opening the second. Ossie needed it. He was 0-for-6 with four strikeouts in the Series to date, but this time he banged a double down the third-base line. The veteran Luke Sewell hit expertly behind the runner, and Bluege was quickly moved up to third with one away.

What happened next was thrilling, although it would end up being unimportant. Pitcher Earl Whitehill drove a bouncing ball toward the mound and Fred Fitzsimmons made a split-second decision to try and nab Bluege off third. He didn't, and there were now runners on the corners. The beleaguered Buddy Myer promptly doubled down the first-base line, bringing in a third run and putting Whitehill on third. The next batter, Goslin, drove a fly to left on which Whitehill was given the go-ahead to try and score, but Jo-Jo Moore's relay to Gus Mancuso got Whitehill at the plate and the inning was over. But it was 3-0 Washington.

The flashy Whitehill would allow but six hits on this day and only one for extra bases -- a harmless fourth-inning two-out double which resulted in Travis Jackson being stranded on second. With the score unchanged in the bottom of the seventh, Buddy Myer singled to right, his third hit of the day, off reliever Hi Bell, who'd been brought in after six innings to relieve Fitzsimmons. The hit brought in Luke Sewell, who had beaten out a grounder to short, stolen second, and made it to third when Whitehill grounded to second.

Whitehill, winner of 22 games, the Senators' best lefthander and ace of the staff, completed the shutout, the only one there would be in this Series. He kept hitless the trio of Moore, Terry, and Ott, who between them had made eight hits in the first two games. That Whitehill had had to wait until the third game for his chance, particularly in light of the fact that it was Carl Hubbell's turn again, was an issue that was at this point certainly gaining importance in the psyche of many a fan of the Washington Senators. By Heinie Manush, Whitehill was presented with the hard-earned "game ball" President Roosevelt had thrown out. But would he get another start? The likelihood that Whitehill would pitch again seemed reduced all the more by Cronin's choice of Monte Weaver as his fourth-game starter. If the Senators kept winning and Lefty Stewart and General Crowder did not miss their turns, Whitehill would have to wait until a seventh game.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702118478

[GeoPoto]

Weaver and Carl Hubbell were responsible for making game four the jewel of this World Series. With one out in the fourth and Weaver having allowed but a walk and a weak single in the first inning, Bill Terry catapulted a rocket far into the Griffith Stadium centerfield bleachers. It was still 1-0 when the Senators, who had but two singles and a walk off Hubbell after five frames, threatened in the sixth. Buddy Myer, batting first in the inning, had beaten out a base hit into the hole behind second base, and had made it to second courtesy of a Goose Goslin sacrifice.

Up next was Heinie Manush, the American League's second-leading batsman in 1933. Manush knocked the ball on the ground between first and second, and first baseman Bill Terry thought he had a chance to make the play. Carl Hubbell saw that as well and scooted toward first to cover. It was a good thing for the Giants that he did, because it was second baseman Hughie Critz who made a sensational grab in the hole and relayed to Hubbell.

Charley Moran, a National League umpire, motioned that Manush was out, at which time Heinie began gesticulating to indicate to everyone in Griffith Stadium that he could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. Not only did manager Cronin leap out of the dugout, as managers are still wont to do many decades later, but the whole Senators bench was out there to argue the call as well. But players didn't win arguments with the umpires back in the thirties either. What happened next got Manush thrown out of the game. As he passed by Moran while retreating unhappily back to the dugout, he brushed or wiped his hand on the nape of the umpire's neck. Moran wheeled around suddenly and gave Manush the heave-ho.

Heinie didn't abide by the order, though. After Joe Cronin struck out, leaving Myer to die on third, Manush trotted back to his position in left field. Moran would have none of that, but when he began waving for Manush to get off the field, he got an uncomplimentary gesture back. The chief of the umpiring crew, George Moriarty, had to make the long walk to retrieve the outfielder. Following a lengthy discussion, Manush started the long walk back. All the while, the partisan home crowd was screaming for him to stay in.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702203824

[GeoPoto]

With Goose Goslin moved over to leftfield and the more defensively uncertain Dave Harris now guarding right, the Senators were not only weaker in the field, but without their best hitter as well. Monte Weaver allowed a one-out double to left center by Jo-Jo Moore, but then got an infield out and a pop-up to the mound to get out of the seventh inning. The Nats then tied the score. Joe Kuhel made it to first safely when Hubbell messed up on his bunt attempt with one out. Cronin opted to go for the sacrifice, which Bluege promptly delivered. Luke Sewell then took the mail all the way home, singling to knot the score at one, bringing immense relief to the assembled partisans.

The Senators nearly took the lead in the eighth following a Myer walk and a Texas League single off the bat of Cronin, but Fred Schulte, who would tie Mel Ott for most RBIs in this Series, couldn't do it this time. His pop-up to the infield ended the inning. The ninth was entirely uneventful from an offensive standpoint, except for New York shortstop Blondy Ryan's single just past Joe Kuhel's head to lead off the inning. In the tenth, Weaver, being kept in the game (a very unhappy move in retrospect), struck out. Buddy Myer continued his torrid hitting, with his second single and third appearance on the bases. He advanced to second on Goslin's groundout, and Dave Harris walked. Cronin then squandered another chance to put his boys ahead, hitting the ball to short for the force at second.

Would this be another 12-inning World Series game, as there were on not one, but two occasions, between these two teams back in '24? With two of the next three games slated for New York, one thing seemed sure -- the Nats could not get down 3-1 in games and realistically expect to come back. Travis Jackson surprised the Senators with a bunt to start the 11th. Jackson was quickly sacrificed to second and Blondy Ryan singled to left to break the tie and the hearts of the Washington faithful. Weaver than yielded a single over Cronin's head to Carl Hubbell, a .183 hitter during the regular season. Cronin had finally seen enough of Weaver and brought Jack Russell into the ballgame. Russell threw four pitches and got the side out, fanning Jo-Jo Moore on three pitches and enticing Hughie Critz to fly out to center on his first offering.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702289555

[GeoPoto]

Fred Schulte, who'd had four hits in the first three ballgames but none in this one, restored some hope with a single over shortstop for the Senators' seventh hit of the ballgame to start the bottom of the 11th. Joe Kuhel, up next, made it eight with a bunt that hugged the first-base line. Bill Terry let the ball roll, hoping it would go foul. Bluege sacrificed an out for the second time in the game, putting the tying run on third and the winning run on second with only one out. With the table set, Luke Sewell wasn't allowed to partake in the banquet. The Giants' brain trust dictated that Sewell be walked, loading the bases with pitcher Jack Russell, who wouldn't bat of course, up next.

The next player called into this high drama was Cliff Bolton, a young reserve catcher who nearly never caught, as the Senators still had Moe Berg to back Sewell behind the Plate. Bolton was with the club for one purpose only -- to come off the bench and drive in some runs. He hit .410 during the season but was given just 39 at-bats (he was 9-for-22 as a pinch hitter, for a .409 mark in that role). But Bolton was a lefthanded hitter, and one might have wondered about the wisdom of letting him face the great lefty, Carl Hubbell. The Senators, after all, had a capable gentleman on the bench who just happened to swing from the right side. He also happened to be the owner of a .323 career batting average over 19 big-league campaigns. We refer, of course, to Sam Rice.

Oh, for what might have been. Bolton did make solid contact, sending a shot toward second. Blondy Ryan, who'd driven in the tie-breaking run in the top of the inning, moved in and scooped up the ball, instantly flipping it to Critz, who completed a game-ending double play by relaying to first on time to nail the slow-footed Bolton. Cronin's failure to drive in runs despite opportunities in the fourth, sixth, and tenth innings, his decision to let Weaver bat for himself in the tenth and continue pitching, his reluctance to send in the illustrious Rice, or Manush's rash behavior to get himself thrown out of the game -- these were all points the second-guessers would be able to mull over forever. But it was really all academic now. The fact of the matter was that the best team in this World Series was but one loss away from elimination.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702378438

[GeoPoto]

(Yesterday's entry contained an error regarding the side of the plate from which Sam Rice batted. Rice was a lefthanded batter. Our thanks go to Val Kell (who else) for catching it. While it is embarrassing for me to have to admit I missed the error, it is presented as Deveaux wrote it. I am not going back to yesterday's post and correcting the error because to do so would make Deveaux's text nonsensical. Instead, I apologize for the annoyance, and offer only the timeworn excuse: "Deuce happens!")

Joe Cronin would observe many years later that he wished he'd never agreed to play and manage at the same time. Having had to deal with players, management, and the press, while maintaining a high caliber of play on the field was an exceedingly tall order. After this season, Cronin would nearly reconsider and ask to step down, but would decide not to. That would be something he would always regret.

For the fifth game of the World Series, the New York Giants would evidently be going with Hal Schumacher, winner of game two. Cronin, who'd used four starters, as opposed to Bill Terry's three, opted to break his own pattern and bypass Lefty Stewart, the starter of the first game, and to go instead with General Crowder, the righthander. This seemed, in the eyes of more than a few keen observers, to defy logic. Firstly, Cronin would be playing right into his opponent's power -- the Giants' two best hitters, Bill Terry and Mel Ott, were both lefthanded hitters. Secondly, Cronin had thought enough of Walter Stewart to start him in the all-important first game.

While it was true that Stewart had gotten shelled early in the first game, Crowder had hardly done any better in game two. Given that he been handed the ball less often than had Crowder during the regular season, Stewart had done just as well. Nonetheless, Cronin had more confidence in Crowder during the year, and regardless of the righty-lefty matchup, it would be the General who the Senators would follow into this last battle at Griffith Stadium.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702455646

[GeoPoto]

The very first batter of the game, Jo-Jo Moore, singled off Crowder and made it to third on a Bill Terry single. Crowder, though, got out of the inning by striking out the deadly Mel Ott and inducing Kiddo Davis to hit the ball on the ground for an infield force-out. When the General again gave up a lead-off single in the second inning, to Travis Jackson, the Giants, for the fourth time in five games, were the first to score. After Gus Mancuso walked and Blondy Ryan sacrificed for the first out by advancing the runners, pitcher Hal Schumacher, not a particularly good hitter even for a pitcher, singled to center to drive in both runners.

After a 1-2-3 Washington second, Bill Terry opened the Giants' third with, predictably, another single. But Alvin Crowder got nine straight outs and surrendered just a walk in the fourth. The Nats, however, were not generating any kind of offence in support of him. Until the fifth, the only one to get on base was Goose Goslin, who singled past short in the first inning and walked in the fourth.

With two out in the fifth, the Nationals did mount what looked like a serious threat, getting the first two batters on. Fred Schulte had opened with a single, beating a slow roller toward Travis Jackson at third. Schulte quickly found himself on second when Joe Kuhel singled cleanly to left.

With nobody out and the fans entranced now, Ossie Bluege followed the book and attempted to bunt the runners ahead. When Hal Schumacher got two strikes on him, the Nats decided to try again anyway. The bunt attempt went foul, and Bluege was out. After Luke Sewell lined to left, failing to advance any runner, Prince Hal let a pitch slip off his fingers and Schulte made it to third while Kuhel held first. With two out and baserunners on the corners, it was the pitcher's turn to bat, and Joe Cronin let General Crowder take his turn.

In the manager's defense, it was less common in this era to pinch hit for starting pitchers in the middle innings. Nevertheless, Lefty Stewart was on the bench, and so was Jack Russell, who'd already pitched very well in his two appearances, and obviously, the Senators were in desperate need of some runs. In fact, they'd scored but one run since the seventh inning of the third game. The options were Sam Rice, a .294 hitter during the regular season, or Cliff Bolton, a super hitter in a pinch in '33, as the batter in Crowder's stead. But Cronin stuck with his man Crowder, decidingly a poor-hitting pitcher. The Prince got the General to ground out to short.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702545843
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702545847

[GeoPoto]

Again in the top of the sixth, with the Giants still ahead 2-0, New York's first batter, outfielder Kiddo Davis, got a hit off Crowder, this time a double down the leftfield line. Travis Jackson sacrificed Davis along, but it was unnecessary because Gus Mancuso then slammed a double beyond Schulte's reach in Griffith Stadium's very deep center field. This put New York up three runs and knocked Crowder out of the game. Second-guessing aside, everyone in the park then knew that the Senators really had squandered an opportunity to get on the board in the previous half inning.

Jack Russell, who'd allowed but four hits and no walks in 5.2 innings so far in the Series, was brought in. He threw seven pitches and struck out Blondy Ryan and Hal Schumacher to put an end to the Giants' festivities. The downcast crowd was soon upbeat again. In the bottom of the sixth, after Myer and Goslin made routine outs, Heinie Manush and Joe Cronin hit back-to-back singles. Fred Schulte, 1-for-2 and batting .294 for the Series as he stepped up to the plate, then crunched a Schumacher offering and sent it sailing into the left field pavilion for a three-run homer. It was 3-3, just like that.

Now it was anybody's ballgame, and the Nats were showing signs of wanting to make it theirs. Joe Kuhel followed Schulte with a hard smash along the ground that rattled off second baseman Hughie Critz's legs. The ball was hit solidly enough for Kuhel to be credited with a base hit by the official scorer. Ossie Bluege then shot a hot potato toward third that sent Jackson scrambling, but the veteran came up with it. His throw to first was wild, pulling Bill Terry off the bag and allowing Joe Kuhel to bring the tie-breaking run as far as third.

Terry had seen enough, as Prince Hal had given up five consecutive hits, with the latter three crushed particularly hard. A new player was introduced into this Series. Terry called in 43-year-old Cuban Dolph Luque. A Caucasian, Luque had been a big star in American baseball in the 1920s. Having first come to the States in 1912, he'd had a couple of unsuccessful trials with the Boston National League club before catching on with the wartime Cincinnati Reds. He'd won 189 regular-season games since that time, and had shown consistency despite winning 20 or more only once -- in 1923, when he won 27 and led the league in earned run average, which he did again in 1925.

Washington Senators' 1933 Infield Quartet -- Ossie Bluege (3B), Joe Cronin (SS), Buddy Myer (2B), and Joe Kuhel (1B):

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702631260

[GeoPoto]

In 1933, Luque still had a very good curve, and retained the meanness and guile which allowed him to last 20 years in the major leagues. Luke Sewell, who would hit just .176 in these games, was the first to toe in against the 5'7" portsider. Kuhel and Bluege were left stranded at their stations, as Luque got Sewell to ground out to Critz at second. But the Senators were so much better off than they'd been minutes before.

Jack Russell continued to pitch well, and so did Luque. They coasted through the next three innings, with Russell yielding three inconsequential singles and Luque one. For the second day in a row and the fourth time in 12 games dating back to 1924, a World Series game between these two clubs would be decided in extra innings -- and decided suddenly.

After Russell obtained two easy outs, he served up a pitch to Mel Ott that "Master Melvin" expelled with a long arc toward deep center field. Fred Schulte, the Senators' man of the hour, had a bead on the ball, tracked it, and got his glove on it. Just as he did, he came into collision with the wall and when he did, the ball plopped into the first row of the bleachers. It was a home run. Or was it?

The umpire at second base, Charles Pfirman, thought the ball had bounced off the ground and over the fence, and when Mel Ott reached second, Pfirman stopped him there. Bill Terry came storming out of the Giants' dugout, and Pfirman was coerced into consulting with the plate umpire, who happened to be the crew chief, Charley Moran. With the approbation of Moran, who'd been much further from the play than Pfirman, the call was reversed. It was the right call, though, and the Nats faced elimination as never before in this game.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702724275

[GeoPoto]

Joe Cronin, the major leagues' best shortstop, who'd given no evidence in this World Series of being anywhere near that status as a manager, came up to bat with two down in the bottom of the tenth and, worse still, with no one on base. Luque had already disposed of Goslin and Manush, but Cronin got his second straight hit off him, the only Washington player to get on base against "The Pride of Havana." Fred Schulte, who'd gone from hero to goat in a single inning, looked at four straight pitches and bumped Cronin along to second. Everything would rest on the shoulders of the lefthanded-hitting Joe Kuhel, a potent .322 slugger with 107 runs driven in during the season. Kuhel had entered the game batting .067 but had managed two hits in this contest. It wasn't to be his moment, though. He struck out, and the season was over.

For the old Giants manager, John McGraw, who'd been in professional baseball since 1891, the victory of the young manager, Bill Terry, was also his. Not well enough physically to continue to occupy his place in the dugout, McGraw nonetheless thought of this Giants team as his own. Before the beginning of the next season, he would be dead at age 60. As for the Senators, the players received their losers' share of $3,019.86 per man (it was $4,256.72 for the Giants), as receipts were the lowest for a World Series since 1922. The Series had been witnessed by fewer fans than any since 1918 despite the fact that, since that time, four Series had gone just four games.

As for the supporters of the losing side, they knew in their hearts that the favored team, the Washington Senators of 1933, was indeed the best team in all of baseball and should have won the Worls Series. The everlasting sentiment among the fans of the nation's capital was that the Nats had been victimized by bad breaks, ill-advised decisions, and worse umpiring. It was a cruel fate for what history shows was the best Washington Senators' baseball club ever. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702806354

[GeoPoto]

The 1934 Washington Senators played 154 games, won 68, lost 86, and finished in seventh place in the American League. They were managed by Joe Cronin and played home games at Griffith Stadium. In the eighth inning of their game against the Boston Red Sox on June 9, the Washington Senators hit 5 consecutive doubles – the most ever hit consecutively during the same inning.

Deveaux takes us into the 1934 season: In the real world, FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover's G-men (short for Government men) made significant inroads into bringing down a criminal element that had become increasingly prevalent in American life during the desperate depression. As for Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, and Pretty Boy Floyd, the fate met by baseball's G-men (short for Griffithmen) in 1934 was a miserable one. While the gangsters paid with the price of their lives, our Senators incurred physical injury on such a widespread basis that the club dropped further in the standings in just one year than any other pennant winner in major league history.

The history of the Senators became once again intertwined with that of the Yankees during this (1934) campaign. Lou Gehrig's consecutive-games streak, begun against the Senators on June 1, 1925, was placed in jeopardy on June 29, 1934, when he was hit in the head by a pitch during an exhibition game with the Yank's Norfolk affiliate. As Gehrig was taken to hospital, manager Joe McCarthy moaned that the pennant was surely lost. Diagnosed as a concussion, not a fracture, the injury did not keep Gehrig down. He traveled to Washington by steamboat and made it on time for the next game against the Senators. Equally amazing is the fact that the Iron Horse hit three triples in three at-bats, one to each field. Happily for the Senators, who were trailing as a result of this onslaught, the game was washed out by heavy squalls before it became official. Gehrig of course kept the streak going until it reached 2,130 games, an all-time record no one thought would be broken. But it was, of course, by Cal Ripkin, Jr., on September 6, 1995.

On September 29, 1934, Babe Ruth hit his last American League home run at Griffith Stadium. The 708th of his career was off of Sid Cohen, a rookie and younger brother of Andy Cohen, a middle infielder with the Giants in the late twenties. The following day marked the last time Babe Ruth appeared in the pinstripes that he, more than anyone, had made famous. With Ruth's wife and daughter on hand, Senators fans presented him with a scroll of appreciation. The band from St. Mary's Industrial School in Baltimore, where Ruth was raised, provided music for the occasion. With 0-for-3 on the day, the Babe flew out to Nats prospect Jake Powell in center to end the game. He left the field crying. In this way, an era drew to a close.

I don't have an image for 1934, so, before we leave Washington's pennant-winning 1933 season completely, one last image from 1933 -- manager and owner celebrate winning the American League, a pennant they would struggle to defend in 1934:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702896535

[GeoPoto]

Player #89G: Oswald L. "Ossie" Bluege. Third baseman for the Washington Senators in 1922-1939. 1,751 hits and 43 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1935 All-Star. 1924 World Series champion. He played his entire career in Washington. He was best known for his defense, but his best season at the plate was 1928 as he posted a .364 OBP with 78 runs scored and 75 RBIs in 588 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1943-1947.

Bluege's SABR biography: Bowie Kuhn, baseball’s fifth commissioner, worked at Griffith Stadium as a youth. He earned $1 a day working the scoreboard. Of Bluege, Kuhn commented, “He had that smoothness that stood out. He never seemed to strain at the position. There was nothing dramatic. I think Bluege was so quick, you never saw the rough edges. He was a natural.”

Bluege played the shallowest of third base anyone had ever seen. He cut off countless hits with his catlike reflexes, which became his nickname to some, “The Cat.” Washington Post writer Shirley Povich wrote that Bluege was a “devourer of bunts, with his dashing one-handed pickups and accurate off-balance throws to first.”

This thread will now enjoy an extended pause. Next post expected in the second half of January 2024. Happy holidays to all, and a well-centered, unaltered new year!

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1702981123

[MikeGarcia]

..

..

[MikeGarcia]

[rcbb14]

Thanks George, this World Series review has been interesting! Happy Holidays!

[rcbb14]

Nice set of cards, Mike!

[GeoPoto]

Player #125C: William Clifton "Cliff" Bolton. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1931, 1933-1936, and 1941. 280 hits and 6 home runs over 7 MLB Seasons. His best season was 1935 as he posted a .399 OBP with 55 RBI's in 435 plate appearances. He also had a .500 OBP in 46 plate appearances coming off the bench in 1933 as Washington won the A.L. pennant.

In 1930, he (Cliff Bolton) hit .380 for the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association, and in 1931 he made his major league debut with the Washington Senators. Bolton spent the next few years with Washington. In 1933, he hit .410 coming off the bench; Washington won the American League pennant that season, and Bolton batted twice in the World Series. His only two years as a major league regular were 1935 and 1936.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706007013
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706007017

[FromVAtoLA]

I love the fox - team mascot perhaps?

Originally Posted by Jobu

Here's a photo of a black team, the 1921 Washington Athletics. I previously posted a thread looking for information and didn't get too far, so if you know about this team I'd love to hear it.

[GeoPoto]

Player #128D: Joseph E. "Joe" Cronin. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1928-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1945. 2,285 hits and 170 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .390. He was a 7-time All Star. Boston Red Sox #4 retired. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1956, he was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. His best season was probably 1930 for Washington as he posted a .422 OBP with 127 runs scored and 127 RBIs on 686 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1933-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1947. He was General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1948-1958. He was president of the American League in 1959-1973. When he left the Red Sox in 1959, they were the only MLB team without a black player. He and team owner Tom Yawkey are generally viewed as responsible for this injustice which ended six months after Cronin's departure.

Deveaux on Cronin's 1934 season and his eventual departure: All of these tribulations (injuries to many of Washington's front-line players) had to weigh heaviest on Joe Cronin, who was hard-pressed to pencil in a decent starting lineup every day, let alone fulfill his duties as a shortstop. Cronin's average dipped to .284, but he led the club once again with 101 RBIs. For the fifth straight year, he was selected the top player at his position in all of baseball. Cronin did, unlike his subordinates, manage to stay healthy, at least until early September, when he broke his wrist in a baserunning mishap. His season was over, his hand in a cast for the duration. . .

. . . All added up, it is little wonder that the Washington Senators, the proud defending champions of the American League, finished 34 games out of first place in 1934. They'd gone from 99 wins to 66 in one year. How bad had things gotten? Bad enough that Allen Benson, a member of the House of David baseball team, was signed by Griffith in an effort to boost fan interest in his sagging franchise. The House of David team consisted of good amateur players who toured the country, playing teams of local all-stars wherever they went. Their gimmick, apart from playing good baseball, was that every member of the club wore a long beard.

Griffith thought that might work well at Griffith Stadium, and Benson, known as "Bullet Ben", attracted a large Sunday crowd on August 19, 1934. He was battered about by the league-leading Tigers, but apparently not so badly that Griffith wouldn't give him another shot. Slated to next appear against the St. Louis Browns, Benson begged the owner to let him shave his beard so that he wouldn't feel like he was making such a spectacle of himself. Griffith insisted that if the beard went, Bullet Bob would have to go too. So, the pitcher relented and was trounced by the Browns as well.

So ended an ill-advised career in the major leagues, with Allen Benson having allowed 19 hits in 9.2 innings, for a 12.10 ERA that lives on in infamy. These same words could be used to describe the '34 season for the Washington Senators. The injured Joe Cronin turned over his managing chores toward the end of the season to Al (the Clown Prince of Baseball) Schacht. This somehow seemed fitting -- Schacht had already made his mark in baseball as a comedian. . . .

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706091088
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706091095

[GeoPoto]

Player #128D: Joseph E. "Joe" Cronin. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1928-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1945. 2,285 hits and 170 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .390. He was a 7-time All Star. Boston Red Sox #4 retired. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1956, he was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. His best season was probably 1930 for Washington as he posted a .422 OBP with 127 runs scored and 127 RBIs on 686 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1933-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1947. He was General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1948-1958. He was president of the American League in 1959-1973. When he left the Red Sox in 1959, they were the only MLB team without a black player. He and team owner Tom Yawkey are generally viewed as responsible for this injustice which ended six months after Cronin's departure.

. . . If the season had been nothing but disappointing for Senator fans, the greatest calamity was yet to befall them. The bombshell came 2 1/2 weeks after the conclusion of the World Series, which the Tigers of Goslin and Crowder lost in seven games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Clark Griffith had always maintained that his reputation as a flesh trader aside, he had never sold a player outright for a large sum of cash. Sure, he had sold bit players at times, but never anyone who could, by his absence, have drastically impaired the ballclub's fortunes.

All of this changed on October 26, 1934, when Griffith stole some headlines from Hoover's G-men. Just four days earlier, federal agents had gunned down Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, the bank robber and murderer who'd been dubbed the "most dangerous man alive," when he attempted to flee from them in Ohio. With his news, Clark Griffith was to get a lot of attention not only in the baseball world, but with Americans in all walks of life.

Joe Cronin, already Griffith's best player and manager, had become part of the family a month earlier, in late September 1934. Three weeks after he'd broken his wrist, he had married Mildred Robertson, who was not only Griffith's secretary, but also his niece. The Cronins had met shortly after Joe was first assigned to the Senators on Friday the 13th of July 1928.

Joe Cronin had come to Washington highly recommended not only as a shortstop, but as a prospective beau for Mildred, who'd received a note from scout Joe Engel that he was bringing her "a real sweetie." When Cronin walked into Griffith's office on July 16th, there was Mildred, the girl of his dreams, something Joe said he immediately recognized. She, apparently, didn't recognize the boy of her dreams right away, and in fact it would be a number of years before she would even pay any attention to him, according to Cronin. Mildred Robertson was a font of baseball knowledge -- Cronin once said he would have put her up against anyone in terms of the wealth of baseball information her brain contained.

It is not difficult to imagine, then, Clark Griffith's dilemma when he got a phone call from Tom Yawkey of Boston during the 1934 World Series. Yawkey said that he had a check made out in Griffith's name in the amount of $250,000, and that he would part with it in exchange for Joe Cronin. To provide some idea of what this sum meant, Babe Ruth, already a superstar when he was sold by the Red Sox in 1920, had fetched only half that amount. Nothing of the kind had been seen since. Now, in much harder times, here was an offer of a quarter of a million dollars!

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706180015
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706180034

[GeoPoto]

Player #128D: Joseph E. "Joe" Cronin Part 3. Shortstop for the Washington Senators in 1928-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1945. 2,285 hits and 170 home runs in 20 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .390. He was a 7-time All Star. Boston Red Sox #4 retired. Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame. In 1956, he was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. His best season was probably 1930 for Washington as he posted a .422 OBP with 127 runs scored and 127 RBIs on 686 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1933-1934 and the Boston Red Sox in 1935-1947. He was General Manager of the Boston Red Sox in 1948-1958. He was president of the American League in 1959-1973. When he left the Red Sox in 1959, they were the only MLB team without a black player. He and team owner Tom Yawkey are generally viewed as responsible for this injustice which ended six months after Cronin's departure.

The Senators' owner was incredulous, thinking that not even Cronin could be worth that much. He was very emphatic in stating that there was no chance that he would sell the rights to his nephew, the majors' premier shortstop. Yawkey was not deterred and called again a couple of weeks later. Griffith once again told him that he was not selling, and politely requested that Yawkey please consider the matter closed. Another week passed and Yawkey called again, more insistent than ever. The heir to a lumber and iron empire worth millions kept making the point that he could do a darn sight more for Griffiths new nephew than Griff himself could. Griffith was no millionaire. His club's nosedive in 1934 had cost him dearly, and he owed the banks about $125,000. Tom Yawkey was requesting a meeting in New York, and he expected Clark Griffith to be there.

Now Yawkey had the Old Fox really wondering. Was he doing the best thing for young Joe? Cronin would be the manager at Boston, just like he was in Washington. Besides, Griffith had taken a lot of heat during the year, as it had become popular, unfairly so, to poke fun at Cronin's marriage into the family. Unfair charges of nepotism, Griffith envisioned, would never go away. He agreed to at least listen to what Tom Yawkey had to say.

The negotiations did not go smoothly. Griffith thought the exchange might be done if the Red Sox would include shortstop Lyn Lary in the transaction. But Yawkey had just paid $35,000 for Lary, and balked at including him in the negotiations. That appeared to be the end of the discussion, and Griffith and his business manager, Ed Eynon, got up to leave. The old man was likely not bluffing, and mentioned to Eynon that they didn't have much time if they were to catch the train for Washington that night. Yawkey turned abruptly to his general manager, Eddie Collins, and asked what Collins thought of giving up Lary. Collins indicated that it would be okay with him as long as the boss, Yawkey himself, didn't have any objections.

Tom Yawkey grabbed a bill of sale, made it out for $225,000, which had been agreed upon as the adjusted price following the inclusion of Lary, and signed it. There were some final conditions. Griffith requested a healthy raise for his nephew, and Yawkey would go along with a five-year pact, unheard of in this period. The contract would stipulate that Cronin could not be released, which would guarantee his salary. There was one last proviso -- Joe Cronin would have to be agreeable to all this. When he got back to Washington that night, it was with great trepidation that Griffith phoned Cronin, who was in his hometown of San Francisco, having just arrived there on a honeymoon trip that had taken him and his new bride through the Panama Canal.

Whatever apprehension Griffith might have had was quickly dispelled by Cronin, who took it all in stride, like a fat pitch right down the middle. This was the Depression, and his uncle needed the money. Joe and Mildred decided to consider the matter overnight. When he called back the next day, Cronin told Griffith not to worry about what he thought of the proposal, and that he should immediately call Boston and tell them that they had themselves a deal. Cronin reportedly cut the conversation short by insisting that he should hang up, joking that long-distance telephone charges were going to eat up all the profits. Unlike the decision he'd taken to be a player-manager at Washington, this was something Joe Cronin would never regret.

Cronin's passing from the local baseball scene prompted at least one contemporary columnist to write that he thought Clark Griffith really had something there -- that he sure wished he could have sold his own son-in-law for a quarter of a million dollars. The Washington Senators Baseball Club would never, arguably, have a star player of the caliber of Joe Cronin again. For Cronin, this move began an association with the Red Sox organization which would last a quarter of a century, and which would someday lead to the position of President of the American League. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706257561
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706257565

[GeoPoto]

Player #129C: Alvin F. "General" Crowder. Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1926-1927 and 1930-1934. 167 wins and 22 saves in 11 MLB seasons. 1933 All-Star. 1935 World Series champion. 1932 and 1933 AL wins leader. His nickname came from General Enoch Crowder, who designed the World War I draft lottery in the United States. His best season was 1932 for Washington as he posted a 26-13 record and a 3.33 ERA in 327 innings pitched. He was known as "Yankee Killer", for his success against the Yankees and Babe Ruth in particular. He finished his career with the Detroit Tigers in 1934-1936, including a complete-game, 2-1 victory in Game 4 as the Tigers won the World Series in 1935. He pitched in three consecutive World Series in 1933-1935.

General Crowder was a durable right-handed pitcher who won more games (124) than any big-league pitcher other than the immortal Lefty Grove in a six-year span from 1928 to 1933. A three-time 20-game winner, Crowder led the American League in victories in 1932 and 1933 as a member of the Washington Senators. “If you’d let him,” said Walter Johnson, who managed Crowder with the Senators, “he’d pitch every day. His arm is made of rubber, and he doesn’t know the meaning of fatigue.” After leading Washington to the World Series in 1933, Crowder appeared washed up in 1934, but a late-season waiver transaction took him to Detroit, where he briefly revived his career. Playing in his third consecutive World Series in 1935, Crowder notched his only postseason victory, a five-hitter over the Chicago Cubs in Game Four, to help the Tigers capture their first World Series championship. . . .

. . . (After enlisting in 1919, hoping to travel the world,) Crowder was stationed in the Russian seaport of Vladivostok and Lake Baikal in Siberia. When his division was transferred to the Philippines in 1920, he reluctantly volunteered for the baseball team in order to avoid the menial, mundane tasks of an enlisted soldier. The team recognized that the hesitant ballplayer had a strong arm. They asked him to pitch, and his new career was born. . . .

. . . (In 1926, after being acquired from Birmingham,) Crowder reported to the reigning American League pennant winners in mid-July with the (Washington) team fighting to remain above .500. At 5-feet-10 and about 170 pounds, Crowder did not possess an intimidating presence on the mound (though his tattoo of a naked woman draped over his shoulders and arms was often described as risqué). . . .

. . . (After struggling in Washington and after a mid-1927 trade to St. Louis,) In his first full season with the Browns (1928), Crowder unexpectedly transformed from a reliever assigned to mop-up duty to the hottest and one of the best starters in the American League. . . . En route to walking just 91 batters in 244 innings, Crowder concluded the 1928 season by winning 10 of 11 decisions, including his last eight in a row, and finished his “sensational” campaign with 21 wins against just five losses for a league-leading .808 winning percentage. The Sporting News described Crowder and right-handed teammate Sam Gray, himself a 20-game winner acquired from the Philadelphia Athletics in the offseason, as the “greatest pair of ‘discard’ pitchers” in baseball as they led the Browns to a surprising third-place finish.

. . . Crowder and (Sam) Gray were the Browns’ workhorses for a second consecutive season in 1929. Crowder pitched better than his 17-15 record suggested. In ten of his losses, the Browns scored three runs or fewer (a total of 22 runs). The General pitched his best during the last two months of the season, completing 12 of his 14 starts (many on short rest) and logging 121 innings. In a six-week period, he tossed three complete-game victories over the eventual World Series champion Athletics (including a two- and a four-hitter) and shut out the second-place New York Yankees twice. The first shutout was a masterful two-hitter that took just 1:38 to play. Crowder amassed 266⅔ innings for the fourth-place Browns, completed 19 games for the second consecutive season, and led the junior circuit with four shutouts.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706353028
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706353032
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706353036
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706353040

[GeoPoto]

Player #83K: Stanley R. "Bucky" Harris. 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.

We continue with Deveaux as he progresses from Cronin to Harris: While replacing his shortstop would be another matter entirely, Clark Griffith knew all along who would be taking Cronin's place as manager -- Bucky Harris. Harris had just completed a one-year term as manager of Tom Yawkey's Bosox and had led them to a .500 record in '34, an improvement of 11 1/2 games over the previous campaign. Bucky had known no real success, however, since his salad days with the Senators. His Tiger teams from '29 to 33 had been buried in the league's second division. But Griffith's feelings about Bucky Harris ran deep.

The old man had often freely admitted that Harris had not been the disciplinarian he would have preferred to have seen in the late twenties. On the other hand, Griffith liked to say, there was no one who in his mind could get as much out of a baseball team during the crucial afternoon hours as Bucky could. The 39-year-old Harris, who hadn't played on any kind of regular basis since his last year with the Senators (1928), praised the old man as well. Bucky told the press he was flattered to be hired by the likes of Griffith. The Old Fox wasn't just any baseball owner, but a former player, a man with a profound understanding of the game. If Clark Griffith wanted you as his manager, Harris contended, that ought to be considered an honor.

Joe Cronin the shortstop, however, would not be replaceable, and certainly not by "Broadway Lyn" Lary, whose Senator career would amount to just 39 games and a .194 average before Griffith got rid of him in exchange for another shortstop, Alan Strange of the Browns. Strange would do even worse, with .185, and wouldn't play in the majors again until 1940. Lary did go on to lead the league in stolen bases with the Browns in '36 and, transferred to the Indians in '37, had a good year there as well. His failure in Washington, though, and that of Strange, meant the Senators had yet to obtain anyone useful with the cash Griffith had collected from the Red Sox when he'd sold Cronin.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706439987

[GeoPoto]

Player #135C: Joseph A. "Joe" Kuhel. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1930-1937 and 1944-1946. 2,212 hits and 131 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He had 107 RBIs in Washington's pennant-winning 1933 season, but his best season was probably 1936 as he posted an OBP of .392 with 118 RBIs and 107 runs scored in 660 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1948-49.

Kuhel's SABR biography sums up his role in Washington: The major league baseball season is a marathon to be sure. A team’s journey is often fraught with periods of starts and stops, twists and turns, heartbreaking defeats and miraculous victories. Injuries, trades, and slumps test a manager’s mettle. For those fans who are fortunate enough to root for a team that is in the thick of the pennant race, the word “clinch” becomes a part of the everyday lexicon. Out-of-town scores are of the upmost importance and provide as much interest as those of the local heroes.

On September 21, 1933, the Washington Senators were in prime position to end the suspense for their faithful followers. Washington held a 7½-game lead over second place New York with eight games left on their schedule. The Yanks had 10 games remaining. The Nats were poised to break through the tape at the finish line. Their lone hurdle was the St. Louis Browns.

The attendance was announced as an even 18,000 at Griffith Stadium for the Thursday afternoon tilt. Toeing the rubber for Washington was Walter (Lefty) Stewart, who was sporting a fine 14-6 record. Stewart was no stranger to the Browns, as he had spent six seasons in the “Mound City” before being traded with Goose Goslin and Fred Schulte in December 1932. His opposition was Bump Hadley, a journeyman pitcher who would find success with the New York Yankees in later seasons.

The Senators had a lot of “offensive punch” in their batting order. But on this day, both hurlers were in command. Washington scored in the bottom of the second inning, only to have the Browns knot the score at one in the top of the seventh. With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Joe Kuhel singled to center field. Bob Boken walked, bringing Luke Sewell to the plate. Sewell lifted a fly ball to center field. Kuhel, mindful that Browns centerfielder Sam West might make the catch, did not stray far from the bag at second. When the ball dropped cleanly, Kuhel checked in at third base. But Boken, who was running all the way, also arrived at third. Sewell was standing at second. “With the ball sailing in from the outfield, Kuhel broke for home and just managed to slide in under (Browns’ second baseman Oscar) Melillo’s relay to the plate with the game’s most important run.”

The run scored by Kuhel was indeed the winning run, giving the Senators the American League pennant as the result of the 2-1 win. Kuhel, who had two hits on the day, also contributed with defense from his first base position. In the third inning, the first two Browns hitters reached base. Hadley attempted to move them over with a bunt to first. But Kuhel swooped in, fielded the ball and rifled it over to Boken to nail the lead runner. The next two batters were retired; the St. Louis rally was nullified.

Washington manager and shortstop Joe Cronin was a former teammate of Kuhel’s at Kansas City of the American Association in 1928. Cronin knew full well of Kuhel’s capabilities on the diamond. “He’s an ideal team man and one of the best reasons we are where we are in the American League race,” said Cronin. “Not only does he hit well, but his fielding has done much to put confidence in the team. We infielders need only to catch the grounders and throw the ball to first. Kuhel does the rest.”

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706523241
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706523244
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1706523247

[GeoPoto]

Player #136C: Henry E. "Heinie" Manush. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1930-1935. 2,524 hits and 110 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. Had a .330 career batting average. 1934 All-Star. 1926 AL batting champion. Had more than 200 hits four times. In 1964, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1923. Leading batter on the 1933 Washington Senator team that won the AL pennant. First and last player to be ejected from a World Series game. Had 241 hits in 1928. Coach for the Washington Senators in 1953-1954.

Back to Manush's SABR biography and a reprisal of the 1933 pennant: Missing from Manush’s career was a World Series championship. In 1933, Goslin returned to Washington, creating a formidable one-two punch in the outfield. Manush was on fire the entire season. He cranked out hitting streaks of 26 and 33 games during the season and finished at .336, second to Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx. Manush got his wish of playing in the World Series when the Senators, led by player-manager Joe Cronin, won the American League pennant on September 21, 1933.

Thursday afternoon, September 21, was a beautiful day in the nation’s capital as a ladies’ day crowd of 10,000 filed into Griffith Stadium. The sun was bright, the temperature was a comfortable 68 degrees, and the Senators got ready to face the Browns, with one more victory, or one more Yankees defeat, to wrap up the pennant. The good news was the Yankees were idle, meaning the Nats had the opportunity to clinch in a winning effort. With one out to go for the pennant, the crowd began to buzz, as Browns second baseman Oscar Melillo was ready at the plate. In left field, Manush needed time to adjust his sunglasses, and he frantically waved his arms to get the umpire’s attention. Cronin noticed and called to Stewart, but the pitcher had already started his windup. Melillo swung and lifted a fly to left field. Manush ran to his left, his sunglasses dangling from his left hand, got under the ball, and snared it with his glove hand to clinch the 1933 American League pennant.

[GeoPoto]

Player #139C: 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 3: The Senators’ shortstop, Roger Peckinpaugh, had been named the American League Most Valuable Player in 1925, but he was the goat of the World Series, committing a record eight errors. The next spring Peckinpaugh, 35 years old and slowed by sore legs, lost his job to the 22-year-old Myer. By July the rookie was batting cleanup. He turned in what would be a typical Buddy Myer season at the plate: .304/.370/.380. But manager Bucky Harris, who was also the second baseman, complained about Myer’s defense. His 40 errors were third most among AL shortstops, even though he played only 118 games at short. Harris faulted his feeds on double-play balls, a critical skill for the manager who was on the receiving end.

The respected veteran Tris Speaker, who joined the Senators in 1927, told Harris and Griffith the club needed a new shortstop if it was going to contend. After Myer committed five errors in his first 15 games, Washington shuffled him off to the sorriest team in the league, the Boston Red Sox, in return for the shortstop Speaker recommended, Topper Rigney. Harris said, “Myer is not ready for the majors.”

Myer’s .288/.359/.394 production with Boston was just about league average, but his defense at short failed to satisfy even a last-place club. In 1928 the Red Sox shifted him to third base. He led the team with a .313 batting average and led the league with 30 stolen bases.

In Washington, Rigney had been a bust; Clark Griffith wanted Myer back. After several weeks of dickering, he sent the Red Sox five players for his onetime reject. Counting what he had paid to acquire Myer from New Orleans, plus the value of the men he traded to Boston, Griffith estimated that Myer had cost him $150,000. “I must have been crazy to have let Myer go in the first place,” he said. (Continued tomorrow.)

[GeoPoto]

Player #139C: 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 3 (Continued): (In 1929,) Bucky Harris was gone from Washington, so the new manager, the former pitching great Walter Johnson, had to sort out a crowded infield. He had a slick-fielding third baseman in Ossie Bluege and Jackie Hayes was the favorite to replace Harris at second. Joe Cronin had won the shortstop job in 1928 but didn’t hit. Johnson and Griffith decided Bluege would move to short with Myer at third and Hayes at second. During spring training in 1929 the Senators and New York Giants barnstormed north together, and Giants manager John McGraw, a former third baseman, tutored Myer.

Johnson moved the pieces around the board before settling on Bluege at third, Cronin at short, and Myer at second—another new position. When Bluege went down with a knee injury, Myer stayed put and Hayes filled in at third. Through all the juggling, Myer’s bat was consistent: .300/.373/.403. In the heavy-hitting climate of 1929, that was no better than average, and the Senators brass still didn’t trust his defense. After four years as a regular player, he had to win his job again in 1930. Hayes was a better glove man, but couldn’t match Myer’s bat or speed.

The Senators installed Myer as their leadoff hitter in 1931 and he was a fixture in the lineup after that. Griffith called him the most improved fielder in the league. But he quickly turned belligerent whenever a base runner hit him hard on a double play, maybe because he remembered the spiking that had sent him to a hospital in New Orleans. The writer Robert C. Ruark recalled him as a “cocky little second baseman [who] would hit you before he was properly introduced.”

[GeoPoto]

Player #155: Carl N. Reynolds. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1932 and 1936. 1,357 hits and 80 home runs in 13 MLB seasons. He debuted with the Chicago White Sox in 1927. He had a career OBP of .346. His best season was 1930 with the White Sox as he posted an OBP of .388 with 103 runs scored and 104 RBIs in 602 plate appearances. He finished his career with the Chicago Cubs in 1939.

Carl Reynolds played 13 seasons in MLB and twice played seasons for Washington in 1932 and 1938. Nevertheless I do not have any cards for either of those years showing Reynolds in a Washington uniform or designating him as a member of the Senators. I do, however, have these two 1934 cards showing Carl in a Washington uniform and designated as a Senator:

[GeoPoto]

Player #155A: John T. "Rocky" Stone. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1934-1938. 1,391 hits and 77 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .376. he debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1928-1933. His most productive season may have been 1932 with Detroit as he posted a .361 OBP with 106 runs scored and 109 RBIs in 643 plate appearances. His best season in Washington was 1936 as he posted a .421 OBP with 95 runs scored and 90 RBIs in 500 plate appearances.

Stone's SABR biography: Meanwhile (following Stone's marriage in early 1933), according to writer Al Costello, Clark Griffith, president and owner of the third-place Washington Senators, “sniffed the air which hinted pennant breezes in 1933.” Trying to strengthen his outfield, Griff attempted to lure Detroit into letting Johnny Stone go. Griffith packaged Sam West, Carl Reynolds and Lloyd Brown, into a proposed deal for Stone. The Tigers declined, explaining they did not want to part with the outfielder. Stone had no idea how close he came to being a member of the Senators and earning a World Series share.

Johnny spent 1933 patrolling right-field for the fifth-place Tigers, contributing a .280 average with 11 home runs and 80 RBIs. Following the season, Detroit sought a powerful left-handed hitter to complement the right-handed power of young Hank Greenberg. Griffith again talked turkey and this time dangled Goose Goslin in front of the Tigers. The bait worked and on December 14, 1933, the Tigers sent Stone to Washington in a straight-up deal for Goslin. Goose would become part of the pennant-winning Detroit clubs in 1934 and 1935. Once again, Stone missed out on the chance to play in a World Series.

Upon learning of the transaction, Senators’ player-manager Joe Cronin was delighted, stating: “In acquiring Stone, I think I have materially strengthened the offense, as well as the defense. Stone’s ability to drive in runs and his youth made him attractive to me.” Another contributing factor may have been the fact that Cronin and Goslin never really got along. In addition, Stone was five years younger than Goslin and a much better defensive outfielder.

Shirley Povich of the Washington Post described the Senators’ new outfielder: “He was undoubtedly one of the handsomest men in the big leagues. Handsome in body as well as face. If a human can have the legs of a thoroughbred, Stoney had them – stout but shapely calves, nicely tapering ankles. He was 6 feet, broad but not too broad of chest, and thin of waist.” Stone’s playing weight was a muscular 180 pounds.

Senators’ owner Clark Griffith may have been enamored with his new acquisition but had trouble recognizing the outfielder in street clothes. Just before the start of spring training 1934, Griffith was chatting with Cleveland Indians skipper Walter Johnson in Biloxi, Mississippi, when he inquired: “Who’s that big strapping fellow over there? He’s a nice-looking chap, all right. What does he play?” That fellow,” said Johnson “is John Stone, your new outfielder.”

It didn’t take long for the Griffith Stadium faithful to get acquainted with “Stoney”, as they lovingly called the new right fielder. Possessing the speed of a center fielder, he’d smoothly chase down long fly balls, hauling them in while perfectly positioned to throw with power. Wrote Povich, “There are possibly better arms in the American League than that possessed by Stone. But it is doubtful if there is an arm more feared. Base runners refuse to take liberties with that ‘gun’ of Stone’s and unless that single to right when a runner is on first is a long one, few will dare to try to go to third.” As a base runner, “Stoney” would gladly take an extra base when the opportunity arose and rarely made a mistake on the base paths.

Unfortunately for Johnny and his teammates, the defending American League champion Senators would be decimated by injuries in 1934. Johnny was not exempt; his playing time limited to only 113 games by a fractured ankle suffered in Cleveland on Friday, July 13. Overall, Stone posted a .315 average, as the Nationals fell to seventh place in what would be Joe Cronin’s last season as player-manager of the club.

[GeoPoto]

Player #149B: Fred W. "Fritz" Schulte. Center fielder for the Washington Senators in 1933-1935. 1,241 hits and 47 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .362. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1927. His best year was 1932 for St. Louis as he posted a .373 OBP with 106 runs scored in 639 plate appearances. He also posted a .366 OBP with 98 runs scored in 622 plate appearances in 1933 as Washington won the AL pennant. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936-1937.

From Schulte's SABR biography we get the highlights of his time in Washington: Schulte got off to a hot start (in 1933) and had his average over .400 as late as May 10. Despite missing time after breaking a finger, he was still hitting .330 in late July. By then the rest of the Washington lineup was picking up any slack. Schulte hit and fielded well enough that fans soon stopped lamenting the loss of (Sam) West (who had been part of the deal to obtain him).

In a potent Senators lineup, Schulte held his own: second in runs scored (98), fourth in RBIs (87), and fifth in hits (162, one behind Goslin). On a team with four regulars who hit .302 or higher, Schulte’s .295 was just sixth best. As a team, Washington hit a league-leading .287.

Schulte’s numbers fell off after the All-Star break, when he was hitting .337 with a .406 on-base percentage. His second-half average was .259 with a .329 OBP. After an ice-cold August (.191), however, Schulte hit .316 in September. So, he was ready when the Senators, AL champs for the first time since 1925, faced the Giants in the World Series.

In Game Five, with two men on base in the sixth, he homered on the first pitch from Hal Schumacher to tie it, 3-3. The game, played in Washington, remained tied after nine. With two outs in the 10th, Ott hit a 2-2 pitch to deep center. As in the 1924 and ’25 Series, outfield depths had been reduced to increase Griffith Stadium’s seating capacity. Fans were allowed behind a low barrier erected in front of the outfield walls. Schulte went back on Ott’s fly and leaped near the barrier. His glove tipped the ball, which ended up in the temporary bleachers. At first, Cy Pfirman, the second base umpire, ruled it a double, but after consulting with his colleagues, the hit was correctly ruled a home run.

In the bottom of the inning, Dolf Luque allowed a two-out single to player-manager Joe Cronin and walked Schulte before striking out Kuhel to give the Giants a 4-3 win and the championship.

Despite Washington’s defeat in the World Series, Schulte was received as a conquering hero when he returned home to Belvidere. He was well-known locally as newspapers had chronicled his baseball career.

“The Washington centerfielder was greeted at the station by a 75-piece band, which headed a parade staged in his honor,” the Washington Post reported. “A banquet was held at a local country club to mark ‘Schulte Day.’”

(This thread will now enjoy (yet another) pause. Expected restart is 16 February,)

[GeoPoto]

The 1935 Washington Senators won 67 games, lost 86, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux sums up the 1935 season: In late November 1934, the Yankees made a much better deal (than their 1927 purchase of Lary and Reese from Oakland) with another Coast League club, purchasing the rights to a terrific outfielder, just turned 20, who was a cinch to be a star. The youngster had injured his knee while getting out of a cab the previous June, and, given his age, the New York brain trust felt it might be a good idea to leave the phenom, a fellow named Joe DiMaggio, in the minors another full year. The Yanks had just come off a 94-win season, which in most years is enough to win the pennant. In '34, however, the Bombers fell seven games short of the Tigers. The rumors flying about in the New York newspapers were to the effect that the Yanks, badly in need of a left fielder, were about to close a deal with Washington for Heinie Manush. What's more, the Yankees might even land Buddy Myer, too.

None of that came to pass, and a good thing indeed that was for the Senators. Nineteen thirty-five was to be Buddy Myer's big year. He stayed injury-free, rapped out 215 hits, and hit .349. Defensively, he led all American League second baseman in put-outs and double plays. Going into the last game of the '35 season at Philadelphia, Myer, now 31, trailed Cleveland outfielder Joe Vosmik by one point in the batting race. Vosmik, just 25, was having the season of his life, leading the league in hits, doubles, and triples. The Indians were sitting Vosmik down for the first game of their doubleheader, protecting his lead for the time being. But at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Myer was having a terrific day. When news reached Cleveland of his three singles, one of them a bunt (Myer was an expert drag bunter who, it was estimated, had gotten as many as 60 bunt singles in 1935), the Indians had to play Vosmik in their second game. He went 1-for-4.

Buddy Myer needed a hit in his last at-bat against the A's to win the batting title. As related by Shirley Povich in The Washington Senators (Povich's book about the team), Myer had found a pin on the sidewalk that day on his way to board a morning train from Washington to Philadelphia. He'd remarked to his wife, in these more superstitious times, that this was a sign of a two-base hit. He got it in his last at-bat of the season, and his .349 won the batting crown.

Myer thus became the third Washington Senator, after Ed Delahanty (1902) and Leon Goslin (1928) to win a batting championship. The margin over Vosmik went down in the books as .3490 to .3483. Some Senators fans would have considered Myer's title particularly sweet simply because of the fact that he had edged out a Cleveland player. The Indians had ditched Walter Johnson as their manager on August 5, two weeks after Walter Johnson Day at Griffith Stadium, where he had been showered with gifts and adulation by his old fans. As it turned out, this brought the Big Train's managing career to a permanent end. . . .

The President's party is pictured at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D. C., April 17th, as the Washington Senators opened the baseball season in the Capital by defeating the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2. Left to right are Buddy McIntyre, son of the secretary to the President; Captain Wilson Brown, White House aide; Commander Ross McIntyre, White House physician; Postmaster General James A. Farley; President Roosevelt; Clark Griffith, President of the Senators; Bucky Harris, Manager of the Senators; and Jimmy Fox, Athletics slugger:

[GeoPoto]

. . . Buddy Myer's batting title was the best thing to happen on the Washington baseball landscape during the summer of 1935, unfortunately. The team never got untracked. It lost exactly the same number of games as in '34, 86, and won one more game, 67. It stayed reasonably injury-free, but of course, there was no 100-RBI producer at the shortstop position either. There was no ready solution there, with Ossie Bluege, now 34, given some of the work at the position. If Bluege's range was not what it had once been, it certainly didn't hurt the Nats to have him at short.

Red Cress, the old Browns shortstop who hadn't played short with any regularity in five years, ended up with Bluege's job by year's end. This was quite a turnaround for Kress. He had hit poorly after coming over to the Senators during the '34 season, and at mid-season 1935, he was demoted to Chattanooga. While packing his bags, he got a phone call. Buddy Myer had been ejected from the first game of a doubleheader and would not be allowed to play the second game. Kress got four straight hits against Cleveland that day and, with Myer obviously a fixture at second, was promptly installed at short for the rest of the season.

Kress hit .298 for the year, and sophomore Cecil Travis followed up a .319 season with .318. But Travis, almost strictly an opposite-field hitter, had zero homers. Kress had two all year, Bluege none. Buddy Myer had five. The other infielder, first baseman Joe Kuhel, showed some rust after missing half the previous season with his broken ankle. Kuhel had just two homers in 633 at-bats and batted just .261, the lowest mark of his career. Cliff Bolton, always a hitter and given a chance to catch almost regularly, responded predictably well but he too had only two home runs. Joe Cronin, out in Boston, hit nine home runs and drove in 95, while batting .295. However, the Red Sox, like the Senators, didn't improve, winning only two more games than they had in '34.

The lack of power hitting on this edition of the Washington Senators was so pronounced as to be laughable. Rookie Jake Powell was able to wrest the centerfield position away from incumbent Fred Schulte, who'd been one of the few Senators to play in nearly all the games the previous season. A true gentleman in an era when players were, in the main, rambunctious country boys, Schulte was 34 years of age and would be out of the big leagues for good within two years.

Young Powell, a native of nearby Silver Spring, Maryland, who had been plucked off the local sandlots, doubled Schulte's home-run output. That meant he hit only six all year, however, but it led the club. The Senators, playing half their games in the vast expanse of Griffith Stadium, hit only 32 as a team, the lowest collective total in the majors in four years. Right fielder John Stone, who had eight hits in a doubleheader on June 16th, contributed a .315 average, but with only one homer. Heinie Manush slumped badly, and his .273 mark was by far the worst of his career.. . .

[ValKehl]

George, I'm glad you have continued your history of the Senators. Here's a tough Buddy Myer card that I meant to post following your piece yesterday about Myer.

[GeoPoto]

(Thanks for the encouragement, Val, and for showing the cool Myer item.)

. . . An old rookie at 27 whose years exceeded his maturity, Jake Powell hit .312 and produced 98 runs, just two short of Myer's output of exactly 100. Powell wouldn't be kept on, though, and by mid-June of the following season would be traded to the Yankees. After starring in the 1936 World Series, his life would unravel quickly. Daring on the ballfield and prejudiced off it, Powell had a reputation of not getting along well with his teammates. In 1938, he was suspended for slurring black people during the course of a radio interview. In 1948, at the age of 40, while being detained in a Washington police station on a charge of passing bad checks, Jake Powell shot himself to death.

In terms of the discussion of the 1935 Senators, we have saved the worst for last. The pitching staff continued its slide, allowing an appalling 903 runs. The team ERA was an eye-popping 5.25, an iota better than the 5.26 of the Browns. Southpaw Earl Whitehill was by far the best of the starters, at 14-13, 4.29. Stocky curveballer Bump Hadley followed up his 10-16, 4.35 totals in '34 with 10-15, 4.92. A year after leading the league in saves and appearances, Jack Russell's days as an effective reliever seemed pretty much over. He wound up 4-9 with an abhorrent 5.71 earned run average. Ed Linke did manage his 11 wins, but with an ERA over 5.

To sum up the 1935 season for the Washington Senators -- teams with lousy pitching and no power don't go anywhere in the game of baseball. The pitching staff did provide, however, the best comic relief in an otherwise relatively dull season. This came in the person of one Norman Louis "Bobo" (or "Buck") Newsom. The brash Bobo, a tall chunky fellow from Hartsville, South Carolina, had seen limited action with the Dodgers and Cubs before winning 30 games in the Pacific Coast League in 1933. Bobo liked to say he'd actually won 33 in '33 and, when challenged and told the record books said 30, he'd respond "Who are you going to believe?" (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.) We will hear more from Deveaux regarding Bobo as we progress.

1935 was also the last time Walter Johnson wore an MLB uniform as part of his job: he was fired as manager of the Cleveland Indians in August:

[GeoPoto]

Player #89H: Oswald L. "Ossie" Bluege. Third baseman for the Washington Senators in 1922-1939. 1,751 hits and 43 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. 1935 All-Star. 1924 World Series champion. He played his entire career in Washington. He was best known for his defense, but his best season at the plate was 1928 as he posted a .364 OBP with 78 runs scored and 75 RBIs in 588 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1943-1947.

Bluege's SABR biography: Bluege showed his versatility, moving over to shortstop to replace Cronin, who had been shipped to Boston before the 1935 season to become the Red Sox’ manager. When second baseman Buddy Myer was sidelined the next season with a stomach ailment, Bluege moved over to the keystone position, started 50 games, and hit .311 while playing second base, and .288 for the year.

[GeoPoto]

Player #125D: William Clifton "Cliff" Bolton. Catcher for the Washington Senators in 1931, 1933-1936, and 1941. 280 hits and 6 home runs over 7 MLB Seasons. His best season was 1935 as he posted a .399 OBP with 55 RBIs in 435 plate appearances. He also had a .500 OBP in 46 plate appearances coming off the bench in 1933 as Washington won the A.L. pennant.

1935 was the only season that saw Bolton get more than 400 plate appearances. He had a very good year at the plate as he posted a .399 OBP with 55 RBIs in 436 plate appearances. The next year fell off a little but was still respectable as he posted a .349 OBP with 51 RBIs in 315 plate appearances. After the 1936 season, Bolton would reach the plate only 77 more times as his career quickly petered out.

[GeoPoto]

Roberto "Bobby" Estalella Ventoza [es-tah-LAY-yah] was a Cuban professional baseball outfielder and third baseman, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators (1935-1936, 1939 and 1942), St. Louis Browns (1941), and Philadelphia Athletics (1943–1945 and 1949). 620 hits and 44 home runs in 9 MLB seasons. He was selected to represent the American League (AL) in the ill-fated 1945 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, which was scheduled for July 10 at Fenway Park but never played because of World War II restrictions on civilian domestic travel.

Bobby Estalella played nine years in the majors, with a career OPS+ of 128, well above average. While his 44 career home runs don't look impressive, during the era in which he played, he was typically first or second in home runs on his teams. With the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943, for example, his 11 home runs were by far tops on the team, with the second-best total only three home runs. Even before World War II, with the Washington Senators in 1939, his eight home runs were second on the team. In his best year, with the Athletics in 1945, his OPS of .834 was a huge amount ahead of the team average of .622 (and was third in the American League).

Bobby Estalella was signed by Washington Senators scout Joe Cambria and was one of many Cuban players the Senators carried through the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

He played parts of nine seasons in the majors with the Senators, St. Louis Browns, and Athletics between 1935 and 1949, serving as a regular for the Senators and Athletics during World War II. In the minors, he won the Piedmont League Triple Crown with the Charlotte Hornets in 1938, hitting .378 with 38 homers and 123 RBI.

With Philadelphia, Estalella hit .298 in 1944 and .299 in 1945 (fourth in the league). He would have played many more years, but he was one of the players suspended by Commissioner Happy Chandler in 1946 for jumping to the outlaw Mexican League. Chandler mentioned a lifetime suspension for them, but when the penalty was reduced in 1949, Estalella came back to the majors.

Although Estalella vigorously denied it during his life, several current baseball writers now consider him to have been the first player of some African ancestry to have played in the Major Leagues in the 20th century.

[GeoPoto]

Player #131B: Irving D. "Bump" Hadley. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1926-1931 and 1935. 161 wins and 25 saves in 16 MLB seasons. 3-time World Series champion with the New York Yankees in 1936, 1937, and 1939. His most productive season was 1933 with the St. Louis Browns as he posted a 15-20 record with a 3.92 ERA in 316.2 innings pitched. season was His last season was 1941 with the Philadelphia Athletics.

Hadley's SABR biography: After three uncharacteristic second-place finishes in 1933, ’34, and ’35, the New York Yankees responded in decisive fashion. Changes were in order, as reported by Dan Daniel in The Sporting News: “Joe McCarthy is making every effort to win this year.” Significant personnel moves prior to the start of the 1936 season included the signing of Joe DiMaggio and the acquisition of veteran pitcher Bump Hadley.

“McCarthy liked power pitchers,” a baseball historian has written. “Within reason, he was willing to put up with pitchers who did not have outstanding control.” This definition perfectly fit Hadley’s erratic career path to New York, where the right-hander became a valuable part of the (1936-39) dynasty. . . .

. . . Hadley’s start (for the St. Louis Browns) on June 6, 1934, against Washington at Griffith Stadium was an eerie precursor to an event in the pitcher’s future. With Washington leading 2-1 in the bottom of the third, an errant offering by Hadley struck the head of Nats catcher Luke Sewell.

Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich described the incident: “If I recall, before the ball hit, Hadley yelled – look out, but (Sewell) couldn’t duck. As he sagged to the ground, Hadley whitened in horror.” Manager Rogers Hornsby removed the still trembling Hadley, who later remarked, “I’ll never throw that side-armed curve again. I can’t control it. I’ll hit somebody bad.”

Sewell recovered to play again that season. Hadley finished 10-16, helping the Browns improve to sixth place. Ironically, Hadley was traded back to Washington for Sewell (and cash) on January 19, 1935. Bump posted a 10-15 record, with a 4.92 ERA, for the 1935 Nats.

[GeoPoto]

Player #54T: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Walter's SABR biography quickly summarizes his life after pitching: After 1927, his final season, Walter Johnson managed for a year at Newark in the International League, then returned to Washington, where he served as manager for four seasons. He also managed at Cleveland from 1933-35, where he was constantly under attack by the local press. Although his managerial style was criticized as too easy-going, it should be noted that his teams had an overall winning percentage of .550.

The biggest tragedy of Walter’s later years, though, was Hazel’s death at age 36 on August 1, 1930, apparently the result of exhaustion from a cross-country drive during one of the hottest summers on record. After he lost the woman he idolized, a cloud of melancholy descended over the rest of Johnson’s life, darkening what should have been tranquil, happy years of retirement on his Mountain View Farm in the Maryland countryside.

During his later years, Walter kept busy on the farm, served as Montgomery County commissioner, was brought back by the Senators in 1939 as their broadcaster, and made an unsuccessful run as a Republican for a seat in the U.S. Congress. On June 12, 1939, along with such other greats as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Honus Wagner, Johnson was inducted into the newly-created Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. During World War II, he made several brief playing appearances in war bond games, including serving up pitches to Ruth in Yankee Stadium.

After an illness of several months caused by a brain tumor, Walter Johnson died in Washington at age 59 on December 10, 1946, and is buried next to Hazel at Union Cemetery, in Rockville, Maryland.

More than 75,000 fans were on hand when Babe Ruth drove the ball (seen over base line between first and second) into Ruthville -- the right field stands -- during an exhibition with his old-time fireball foe, Walter Johnson (pitching) during the Washington-New York doubleheader in New York, Aug. 23rd, for the benefit of the Army-Navy relief funds.:

[GeoPoto]

Player #135D: Joseph A. "Joe" Kuhel. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1930-1937 and 1944-1946. 2,212 hits and 131 home runs in 18 MLB seasons. He had 107 RBIs in Washington's pennant-winning 1933 season, but his best season was probably 1936 as he posted an OBP of .392 with 118 RBIs and 107 runs scored in 660 plate appearances. He managed the Washington Senators in 1948-49.

We will follow Kuhel's SABR biography as we encounter him in 1935 and the next two years: As is the case with many clubs, it’s hard enough to win a pennant, but to duplicate the feat becomes even more arduous. The following season (1934), Kuhel was having a fine year when his season ended abruptly due to a splintered fibula and fractured bone in his ankle. In the first game of a double-dip on June 23 against Detroit, Kuhel slid into second base in the eighth inning and his left leg crumpled underneath his body. The club was already dealing with injuries to Sewell, Schulte, Stewart, and Cecil Travis when the blow to Kuhel struck. Washington finished the season in seventh place, 34 games off the pace.

Over the next three seasons, Kuhel performed admirably at first base, leading the league in double plays in 1935 (150) and 1937 (141). His defensive skill was considered to be in the top echelon of either league, with a fielding percentage of .993 in 1936 and 1937. He paced the Senators’ offense in home runs (16), RBIs (118), doubles (42) and hits (189) in 1936. He tied a major league record with three triples in a game on May 13, 1937, against Chicago at Comiskey Park.

But the Nats were a predominantly left-hand-hitting club. In order to buck this trend, Kuhel was sent to the Chicago White Sox on March 18, 1938, for Zeke Bonura. A right-handed power hitter, Bonura had hit .345 for the Sox the year before and was a threat to go yard. But he was an annual holdout during spring training and the Sox front office had had enough of him. The knock against Bonura was that he did not possess the defensive abilities of Kuhel, and was termed as “clumsy” around the bag. But Chicago manager Jimmy Dykes had coveted Kuhel for some time and was eager to make the switch.

[GeoPoto]

Player #156: Lynford H. "Lyn" Lary. Shortstop with the Washington Senators in 1935. 1,239 hits and 162 stolen bases in 12 MLB seasons. World Series champion in 1932. 1936 AL stolen base leader. He debuted with the New York Yankees in 1929-1934. Lary's most productive season may have been 1931 with New York as he posted a .376 OBP with 107 RBIs and 100 runs scored in 712 plate appearances. He also led the AL in plate appearances in 1936 with St. Louis (.404 OBP and 112 runs scored) and 1937 with Cleveland (.378 OBP and 110 runs scored). His last season was 1940 with the St. Louis Browns. Lary had a career OBP of .369.

Lary's SABR biography: Babe Ruth called him “Broadway” because Lyn Lary loved the theater in New York, and Lary’s obituary in The Sporting News said he “tried his best to live up to the nickname the Babe hung on him. He was one of the best dressers in the majors and drove a big eight-cylinder car that had a silver nameplate on the door.” And Lary married Mary Lawlor, who was part of the original 1925 cast in former Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee’s Broadway musical No, No, Nanette.

Lary was an infielder for 12 seasons who played for seven clubs in the major leagues from 1929 to 1940 and was part of a couple of the bigger money deals of the 1920s and 1930s, but “never quite lived up to baseball expectations,” despite posting a respectable .269 career batting average. . . .

. . . For Boston (in 1934), Lary hit .241 but drew a good number of bases on balls (66) and had an on-base percentage of .344 (over the full course of his career he had a .369 OBP). And he served as fodder for one of the more momentous trades in team history – to provide the Washington Senators with a shortstop in exchange for Joe Cronin. Washington also pocketed perhaps $250,000 – at the time the largest amount ever spent for a player. Consummated on October 26, this was the second big-money deal in Lary’s career (after his purchase from the Oakland Oaks by the Yankees in 1927), though in this case Cronin was the main man. Lary was not just a throw-in, though. Paul Shannon rated him highly: “[T]he Red Sox gave the Senators a man who practically made the Red Sox infield in 1934. While Lary never rated as a hard hitter, his fine work at short atoned for any weakness with the bat.” His .965 fielding percentage led all shortstops in the American League.

With the Senators, Lary faced some unexpected competition from Ossie Bluege, but won the shortstop job – at first. But with Lary batting only .194 after 39 games, the Senators handed the job to Bluege and traded Lary to the St. Louis Browns on June 29 for backup shortstop Alan Strange. Playing under manager Rogers Hornsby, Lary hit .288 in the 93 games he played as a regular for the Browns. And in 1936 he enjoyed the best season of his career: He hit .289, with a .404 on-base percentage, and scored 112 runs. He led the league in stolen bases with 37. In mid-September Hornsby said he rated Lary the best shortstop in the league.

[GeoPoto]

Player #136D: Henry E. "Heinie" Manush. Outfielder for the Washington Senators in 1930-1935. 2,524 hits and 110 home runs in 17 MLB seasons. Had a .330 career batting average. 1934 All-Star. 1926 AL batting champion. Had more than 200 hits four times. In 1964, was inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame. Debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1923. Leading batter on the 1933 Washington Senator team that won the AL pennant. First and last player to be ejected from a World Series game. Had 241 hits in 1928. Coach for the Washington Senators in 1953-1954.

Again, Manush's SABR biography takes us back ti the 1933 pennant-winning season: The Senators faced the New York Giants in the 1933 World Series. The Giants were led by a trio of Hall of Famers: pitcher Carl Hubbell, right fielder Mel Ott, and first baseman-manager Bill Terry. Apart from Cronin, the Senators could not get their bats going during the Fall Classic. That included Manush, who after his stellar season managed just two singles in the Series as the Giants won in five games. Before the start of the third game, Manush scrambled to retrieve the ceremonial first pitch thrown by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from his box seat. Ably supported by Cronin, Roosevelt threw the ball and his off-line toss set off a mad scramble. Manush bulled his way through a bunch of souvenir-seeking ballplayers to come up with the treasured keepsake. Southpaw Earl Whitehill’s tosses were more on the money as he scattered five hits and shut out the Giants 4-0. In appreciation of his sterling performance, Manush presented Whitehill with the “FDR ball,” which Earl would treasure for the rest of his life.

It was a thrill to be in the World Series, but Manush was terribly disappointed in his performance. During the Series, he took it out on the umpires. In Game 3, the Senators had the tying run on second with two out in the sixth inning, when Manush hit a ball past a diving Bill Terry that Howie Critz somehow grabbed and flipped to Hubbell to nip Manush — that is, according to umpire Charlie Moran. It was an extremely close play, and an enraged Senators outfielder and his infuriated manager hotly debated the call! The home plate umpire finally broke up the fierce confrontation by ordering Cronin and Manush to take their positions in the field. While Cronin reluctantly sauntered out to shortstop, Manush gave Moran one more verbal blast on his way out to right field and was tossed from the game. It took all of Cronin’s strength to restrain his right fielder from attacking Moran. After being dragged off the field, Manush had to be physically restrained from throwing things at the first-base umpire. Washington fans showed their displeasure at the call by heaving hundreds of soda bottles in the umpire’s direction. Manush recalled the play years later. “It actually was more than an argument,” he said. “Moran had every right to chase me when I tell you what I did. I was too smart to lay a hand on Moran when I was arguing the call. But when he bellied up to me and asked me what I wanted to make of it, there was a temptation that was too great. Moran, like the other umps in those days, was wearing a black bow tie, the kind that comes with an elastic band. What I did was grab the tie and let it snap back into Moran’s neck. That’s when he gave it to me.”

Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who was at the game, disagreed with the umpire’s decision to kick Manush out, and ruled from then on that no player in the World Series could be thrown out without first getting the commissioner’s almighty permission.

[GeoPoto]

Player #139D: 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 4: Early in the 1933 season, the Yankees’ Ben Chapman took him out with a hard slide, slicing open his shoe and cutting his foot. Myer kicked Chapman and Chapman fought back. Both men were ejected, but as Chapman passed through the Senators dugout on his way to the visitors’ clubhouse, he slugged Washington pitcher Earl Whitehill, igniting a near-riot that was remembered for years. The Senators swarmed Chapman, the Yankees charged across the field to his rescue, and angry fans joined the festivities. Police broke it up and arrested five civilians. Chapman, Myer, and Whitehill were suspended for five days and fined $100 each. (Chapman was traded to the Senators three years later. When he joined the team on the road, he walked into the hotel dining room and sat down beside Myer. They were soon talking and laughing together.)

With 26-year-old shortstop Joe Cronin taking over as manager, the Senators fought the Yankees for the 1933 pennant until August, when Washington won 13 straight games and pulled away. The Senators’ lineup included six regulars hitting over .290, backed by a pair of 20-game-winning pitchers. Myer’s .810 OPS was the best of his career so far. “I wasn’t the best player in the league that year, but I was the tiredest,” he remembered. “I led off in front of three good hitters—Goose Goslin, Heinie Manush and Cronin—and they put on the hit and run so many times, they had my tongue hanging out.”

The club won a franchise-record 99 games on the way to its third pennant in 10 years and a meeting with the New York Giants in the World Series. Before Game 1, Myer was riding in a cab to the Polo Grounds when he witnessed a gory traffic accident in which a pedestrian was run down by a truck and killed. A superstitious man would call it an omen. Myer led off the game by striking out, the first of 10 victims of the NL’s Most Valuable Player, Carl Hubbell. He fumbled the first ground ball he saw in the bottom of the inning, leading to two unearned runs. He was charged with another error on a wild throw and a third when he dropped the catcher’s peg as Mel Ott tried to steal second. New York won, 4-2, and beat the Senators again the next day.

When the Series moved to Washington for Game 3, Myer led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored the Senators’ first run. He added an RBI double in the next inning and drove in another run with a seventh-inning single as Whitehill shut out the Giants, 4-0. It was the Senators’ only victory. New York won the championship in five games.

[GeoPoto]

Player #157A: Louis N. "Bobo" Newsom. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1935-1937, 1942, 1943, 1946-1947, and 1952. 211 wins and 21 saves in 20 MLB seasons. 4-time All-Star. 1947 World Series champion. 1942 AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 3.98. He debuted with the Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers in 1929-1930. He changed teams 16 times. Almost joined Benton as only to have pitched to Ruth and Mantle. He was known for his eccentricities. In 1940 with the Detroit Tigers, he posted a 21-5 record with a 2.83 ERA in 264 innings pitched. His last team was the Philadelphia Athletics in 1952-1953.

We pick up Deveaux's account of Bobo's zany ways and time in Washington: His (Newsom's) 30-win campaign (in 1933 in the Pacific Coast League) earned him another (after cups of coffee with the Dodgers and the Cubs) shot at the big time with the St. Louis Browns. With the Brownies, a team on the level of the Senators, the rookie led the entire league in losses (20) and walks (149) in 1934. Newsom also regularly led the league in outrageous remarks and sheer color. The man had a flair for exaggeration and a cheerful disposition, and could always be counted upon to vehemently uphold any outrageous declaration he might make. Clark Griffith liked the barrel-chested, boastful Bobo.

The nickname evolved from the fact that Newsom seldom bothered to learn anyone's name. This was understandable, considering that he was the most celebrated baseball traveler of his time. Eventually, Bobo Newsom would make 17 stops along the major-league trail, and Clark Griffith would acquire his services on five different occasions. The old man's best explanation for that would be that he rather enjoyed playing pinochle with the fellow. Buck Newsom's career would span 26 years and include ten different minor-league stops as well.

Another nickname Bobo earned was the "Hartsville Squire," because he told tall tales of owning a 13-room mansion on a plantation back home, where he hunted with hounds and made more money growing cotton than he made playing baseball. Vexed once with a Washington writer who had labeled him "a $14,000-a-year pitcher," Newsom admonished the reporter for making him look bad, insisting he would never have signed for less than the $18,000 he was earning at the time. In actual fact, he was making $13,000.

Money and all of its trappings were what Bobo liked to show off most. As a Detroit Tiger in 1940, he arrived at training camp in a car which had "BOBO" in neon lights on the door, and a horn which played "The Tiger Rag." In 1942, a rookie invited for a drive in Newsom's convertible was astonished when Bobo insisted on paying double the fine after getting pulled over for speeding. He wanted to pay double, he told the officer, because he certainly intended to drive just as fast on his way back. . . . (We will return to Bobo's story when we next encounter him in our progression.)

[GeoPoto]

Player #149C: Fred W. "Fritz" Schulte. Center fielder for the Washington Senators in 1933-1935. 1,241 hits and 47 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. He had a career OBP of .362. He debuted with the St. Louis Browns in 1927. His best year was 1932 for St. Louis as he posted a .373 OBP with 106 runs scored in 639 plate appearances. He also posted a .366 OBP with 98 runs scored in 622 plate appearances in 1933 as Washington won the AL pennant. He finished his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1936-1937.

Schulte's SABR biography sums up his career and covers the 1934 injury that marked the beginning of the end for him in Washington and as a frontline MLB player: Fred Schulte played center field for the pennant-winning 1933 Washington Senators. His three-run homer in Game Five of the World Series against the Giants pulled the Senators even. But New York won on a 10th-inning homer by Mel Ott that tipped off Schulte’s glove. The victory gave the Giants the championship.

In his 11-year big-league career, Schulte hit .291. A solid fielder, he was the regular in center for five seasons with the St. Louis Browns and two with the Senators. He often was among the league leaders in assists and double plays for center fielders; as calculated retrospectively, he twice led the league in range factor for his position. . . .

. . . The veteran Senators lineup was hit with a series of crippling injuries (in 1934), and the pitching didn’t hold up. General Crowder, a 24-game winner in 1933, fell to 4-10 with a 6.75 earned run average and was waived in August. Earl Whitehill went from 22 wins to 14 with an ERA more than a run higher. The team ERA went from 3.82 to 4.68. Washington finished seventh, 20 games under .500.

The injury jinx didn’t hit Schulte until September, a week after Cronin had broken his arm in a collision at first base. Schulte caught a spike when sliding home in a September 11 loss and seriously injured an ankle. He had to be carried off the field and was sent to a hospital. He had torn a ligament and was out for the season, immediately returning home to Belvidere.

At that point, Schulte had been in 136 games and was hitting an even .300, rounded up from .2996 with 157 hits in 524 at-bats.

[GeoPoto]

Player #155B: John T. "Rocky" Stone. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1934-1938. 1,391 hits and 77 home runs in 11 MLB seasons. His career OBP was .376. he debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1928-1933. His most productive season may have been 1932 with Detroit as he posted a .361 OBP with 106 runs scored and 109 RBIs in 643 plate appearances. His best season in Washington was 1936 as he posted a .421 OBP with 95 runs scored and 90 RBIs in 500 plate appearances.

Back to Stone's SABR biography: Cronin’s departure (following the 1934 season) resulted in the return of Bucky Harris to Washington as skipper in 1935. Bucky was certainly well acquainted with Johnny from their days together in Detroit and immediately announced plans to utilize Stone as the Senators’ clean-up hitter for the upcoming season. Harris commented: “He’s got the power that a fourth-place hitter needs. I don’t mean home runs, but those frequent doubles and triples that roll off his bat.” Stone went on to hit .314 in 125 games.; however, Harris wasn’t pleased with either the team’s sixth place finish or the overall performance of Johnny Stone.

Harris unfairly assumed southern ballplayers had a lazy streak, a trait he referred to as the “Tennessee hookworm.” The Senators manager surmised Stone was simply not giving it his all, both offensively and defensively. Harris even speculated about the possibility of relegating Stone to part-time status, fueling rumors of a potential salary cut for the 1936 season.

Johnny ultimately signed, retaining his $7,500 salary, plus his clean-up spot in the batting order. Perhaps the motivational tactic worked; he went on to post a .341 average with 15 home runs and 90 RBIs as the Senators moved up to finish third with an 82-71 record.

Washington fell back to sixth place (73-80) in 1937, with Johnny posting a .330 average in 139 games. Sportswriter Al Costello described Stone: “He is as colorless as a newly whitewashed fence. Not one bit of showmanship or grandstanding is in his makeup as he goes along his business of fielding almost faultlessly and hitting often and hard. Ask any of the players in the American League what sort of a player Stone is and you’re sure to receive the answer that to a player is the acme of praise. They’ll tell you concisely the words that best explain a good ballplayer to another ballplayer when they explain: Stone is a ballplayer’s ballplayer.”