George Sisler- Gentleman George - Inducted MLB HOF - 1939

[Leon]

George Sisler- Inducted into the HOF in 1939,
From Wiki-
George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gentleman George" and "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball player for 15 seasons, primarily as first baseman with the St. Louis Browns. From 1920 until 2004, Sisler held the Major League Baseball (MLB) record for most hits in a single season; it was broken by Ichiro Suzuki.
Sisler's 1922 season — during which he batted .420, hit safely in a then-record 41 consecutive games, led the American League in hits (246), stolen bases (51), triples (18), and was probably the best fielding first baseman in the game — is considered by many historians to be among the best individual all-around single-season performances in baseball history.[1]
After Sisler retired as a player, he worked as a major league scout and aide. He was on a team of scouts appointed by Branch Rickey to find black players for the Brooklyn Dodgers; the team's work resulted in the signing of Jackie Robinson. Sisler was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.[2] In 1999 editors at The Sporting News named him 33rd on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players."

(show 'em if ya' got 'em) Here is a W519 with a nice Decalco stamp on the side.

[brianp-beme]

A couple of great, less commonly seen action shots: W503 and E220 National Caramel.

Brian

[Jerry G]

George Sisler Exhibits and greatest thrill letter.

[KMayUSA6060]

I don't have a pic of my 1925 Turf Cigarettes Sisler, but that's the singular Sisler I own.

Born in New Franklin, OH, which is a town that now bleeds into the town where I'm from (I now live in a different neighboring town in relation to New Franklin). My grandpa knew him, as my grandpa played ball in the St. Louis Browns farm system and is from Akron, OH, which is just north of New Franklin. Underappreciated in my area.

[tothrk]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

I don't have a pic of my 1925 Turf Cigarettes Sisler, but that's the singular Sisler I own.

Born in New Franklin, OH, which is a town that now bleeds into the town where I'm from (I now live in a different neighboring town in relation to New Franklin). My grandpa knew him, as my grandpa played ball in the St. Louis Browns farm system and is from Akron, OH, which is just north of New Franklin. Underappreciated in my area.

I live in New Franklin. There is a ballpark named after him now. It's still amazing how many people around here have no idea who he was.

[the-illini]

Here is one that hasn't been posted yet - M101-6 of Gentleman George...

[PM770]

Originally Posted by tothrk

I live in New Franklin. There is a ballpark named after him now. It's still amazing how many people around here have no idea who he was.

Is this the same Bob T*th that went to Manchester HS in the late 80s?

[PM770]

Originally Posted by KMayUSA6060

I don't have a pic of my 1925 Turf Cigarettes Sisler, but that's the singular Sisler I own.

Born in New Franklin, OH, which is a town that now bleeds into the town where I'm from (I now live in a different neighboring town in relation to New Franklin). My grandpa knew him, as my grandpa played ball in the St. Louis Browns farm system and is from Akron, OH, which is just north of New Franklin. Underappreciated in my area.

Wow.....small world KMay! I went to Manchester HS (like Sisler) and currently live in Canal Fulton.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by PM770

Wow.....small world KMay! I went to Manchester HS (like Sisler) and currently live in Canal Fulton.

Such a small world! I love Canal Fulton! I volunteer at the Veterans' Memorial Park there. I need to get over to Sisler Park.

[Brian Van Horn]

I like Sisler for a number of reasons. His near association with the Pirates (underaged contract in 1910's) and his later serving as the teams' traveling secretary including in 1960. He is in the team picture that year. Also, he had so many different poses on his cards which was usually not the case:

[btryin]

Here's mine. I also have a 1913 University of Michigan yearbook (entitled "The Michiganensian") in which he appears as a member of the Class of '15 Engineering school baseball team as a pitcher.

[scotgreb]

An underappreciated all-time great in my opinion . . .

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by scotgreb

An underappreciated all-time great in my opinion . . .

Bill James hates him, did not rank him in his top 100 or anywhere near it, as I recall.

[tedzan]

Father and son with similar poses......






TED Z
.

[itjclarke]

Nothing that hasn't been posted yet, but here are my Sislers. I guess I'm starting to hoard his E121 batting pose, really like that photo.
1916 M101-4 George Sisler.jpgE135 George Sisler.jpg
E121-120 George Sisler.jpgE121 George Sisler PSA3.jpg
E121 George Sisler.jpgE120 George Sisler.jpg

[terjung]

A couple of tougher ones...

Leon will be sure to recognize one of these.




I'm a fan of Sisler. I grew up in Akron (as he did) and got an engineering degree from a Big Ten university (as he did). How could I not collect him?

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by scotgreb

An underappreciated all-time great in my opinion . . .

Absolutely right on, Scott. Although when I was in college, we had and played the Strat-O-Matic all-time great HOF'er's cards, together with the best of the modern players, like Mike Schmidt, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, etc. (they hadn't been inducted into the HOF at that time), he certainly wasn't underappreciated, as his card reflected his 1922 season: .420 batting average, 44 doubles, 16 triples, and 8 homers, together with 51 stolen bases. We had four teams, and all of us either wanted that card of Sisler or Gehrig's 1927 season card (.373, 47 HR's, 117 or 118 extra base hits) for our starting first baseman. We called it the "Forever Summer" league. Unfortunately, a sinus infection permanently affected and damaged his vision shortly thereafter, and although he finished with a lifetime average of .340, he was never really the same hitter after that. Also a tremendous first baseman in the field.

By the way, Pete, Bill James downgraded him in later editions of his historical baseball abstract because he didn't have enough of the seasons he compiled through 1922, but with the peak seasons he had, especially 1920-1922, I would beg to differ. Curiously, in James' first large historical abstract (later '80's?), he referred to George as virtually the only one who could go toe to toe with the Babe and not come away embarassed, giving more credit to Sisler's first three years of the lively ball era and even the fine seasons he had predating 1920 in the dead-ball era.

Best wishes,

Larry

[terjung]

Anybody have a 1927 Middy Bread of Sisler they can post? That card has been eluding me for years.

[jb217676]

Here's one of my favourites, a 1924-28 Real Photo Postcard
of George Sisler raising the flag

[scotgreb]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

Absolutely right on, Scott. Although when I was in college, we had and played the Strat-O-Matic all-time great HOF'er's cards, together with the best of the modern players, like Mike Schmidt, Hank Aaron, Harmon Killebrew, etc. (they hadn't been inducted into the HOF at that time), he certainly wasn't underappreciated, as his card reflected his 1922 season: .420 batting average, 44 doubles, 16 triples, and 8 homers, together with 51 stolen bases. We had four teams, and all of us either wanted that card of Sisler or Gehrig's 1927 season card (.373, 47 HR's, 117 or 118 extra base hits) for our starting first baseman. We called it the "Forever Summer" league. Unfortunately, a sinus infection permanently affected and damaged his vision shortly thereafter, and although he finished with a lifetime average of .340, he was never really the same hitter after that. Also a tremendous first baseman in the field.

By the way, Pete, Bill James downgraded him in later editions of his historical baseball abstract because he didn't have enough of the seasons he compiled through 1922, but with the peak seasons he had, especially 1920-1922, I would beg to differ. Curiously, in James' first large historical abstract (later '80's?), he referred to George as virtually the only one who could go toe to toe with the Babe and not come away embarassed, giving more credit to Sisler's first three years of the lively ball era and even the fine seasons he had predating 1920 in the dead-ball era.

Best wishes,

Larry

Thanks for the support Larry

I've not done the legwork to debate Bill James but clearly Sisler was highly respected by contemporaries based on his showing in the first HOF voting (in 1936). While not inducted, he was very well supported (11th overall), finishing ahead of 31 eventual HOFers, including two well-established active first basemen in Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx.

In other news, George led the league in stolen bases four times and was also a pretty good pitcher early in his career.

Scott

[pbspelly]

Originally Posted by ls7plus

By the way, Pete, Bill James downgraded him in later editions of his historical baseball abstract because he didn't have enough of the seasons he compiled through 1922, but with the peak seasons he had, especially 1920-1922, I would beg to differ. Curiously, in James' first large historical abstract (later '80's?), he referred to George as virtually the only one who could go toe to toe with the Babe and not come away embarassed, giving more credit to Sisler's first three years of the lively ball era and even the fine seasons he had predating 1920 in the dead-ball era.

I believe Bill James once called him the most over-rated player in history or something like that, because after 1922, Sisler was essentially a singles hitter (with a few doubles here and there) who didn't walk. Don't know if I agree about him being over-rated, but it is true that while he hit .340 career, his lifetime on base percentage is .379, which isn't bad but is behind guys like Barney McCoskey, Merv Rettenmund, and Elbie Fletcher, who aren't exactly thought of as being in the pantheon of the sport. The sinus problem appears to have really damaged his career. He was a true offensive force before that (even without walking much), but had to sit out the entire 1923 season with sinusitus, and seems to have lost much of his power afterwards.

[Paul S]

.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by pbspelly

I believe Bill James once called him the most over-rated player in history or something like that, because after 1922, Sisler was essentially a singles hitter (with a few doubles here and there) who didn't walk. Don't know if I agree about him being over-rated, but it is true that while he hit .340 career, his lifetime on base percentage is .379, which isn't bad but is behind guys like Barney McCoskey, Merv Rettenmund, and Elbie Fletcher, who aren't exactly thought of as being in the pantheon of the sport. The sinus problem appears to have really damaged his career. He was a true offensive force before that (even without walking much), but had to sit out the entire 1923 season with sinusitus, and seems to have lost much of his power afterwards.

The decline in his hitting was due to the permanent damage done to his vision by the sinus infection. While he continued to have some decent years after that, even George himself said "that wasn't really hitting" when commenting about them. It is interesting to note the change in James' attitude about him from the first edition of his historical baseball abstract (in which he proclaimed him as the only player of the early '20's who could actually go toe to toe with Ruth and not be embarassed) to his later comments. When concerned with the number of peak years he had (several of which were during the dead ball era), he could indeed stand tall. .407 with 19 HR's in 1920, followed by .379 and 12 (?) in 1921, capped by the .420 year in 1923. He was, in addition, quite likely the best fielding first baseman in the game. Even in the early days of the lively ball era, his achievements could seldom be matched. A very worthy HOF'er indeed!

Best wishes,

Larry

[trdcrdkid]

This is my only Sisler and my only F50.