Tag: Washington Senators

Ken Burns’s Baseball: The Fourth Inning

October 29, 2017

ken burns
Continuing on our journey through Baseball: A Film By Ken Burns, we have now reached the Fourth Inning of this documentary series.  Subtitled “A National Heirloom,” this part of the series focuses primarily on Babe Ruth.  Bob Costas opens this disc with an anecdote about an argument between an American and a British man that comes to a head when the American man retorts childishly, “Screw the king!”  The Brit’s reply to this: “Yeah, well screw Babe Ruth!”  It’s a revealing anecdote, not only in terms of the greatness of the Great Bambino to the minds of American citizens, but also when thinking about the influence of baseball on American culture as a whole, even in the eyes of the rest of the world.

Prior to 1920, baseballs used in games weren’t changed out with the frequency that we see today.  At times, entire games could be played with a single baseball, if that ball never left the park.  Pitchers took it upon themselves to scuff, dirty, and otherwise sabotage the ball any way they could, thus ensuring it would fly erratically, making it more difficult to hit, and thus giving pitchers a distinct advantage.  However, the death of Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman, the victim of being hit in the head by a pitch, changed all that.  Umpires were now under orders to throw out a clean baseball the moment one showed any signs of dirt.  This, combined with a now more tightly-wound baseball, marked the dawn of new era in the game, in which home runs ruled the day.

Burns launches into a biographical segment of George Herman Ruth’s early life.  I was astonished to see that Ruth’s sister, Mamie Ruth Moberly, had survived long enough to contribute to the commentary of the documentary (she died in 1992).  Ruth’s introduction to baseball came in reform school, having been sent there by his parents, who declared him “incorrigible.”  His talent for the game, both as a hitter and as a pitcher, became quickly apparent, and he went on to be signed by the Baltimore Orioles.

From the Orioles, Ruth was soon sold to the Boston Red Sox, where he shined as a pitcher.  From 1919 to 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth, and a number of other Red Sox players to the Yankees.  The sale of Ruth initiated what would become known as the Curse of the Bambino.

Ty Cobb, we learn, despised Babe Ruth and the change in baseball’s style of play that came as a result of Ruth’s performance.  However, Ruth so dominated the game and the record books that Cobb’s disapproval fell on deaf ears.  But Ruth’s dominance didn’t end on the field.  Off the field, he proved a fan favorite as his rambunctious personality and eagerness to please made him a lovable individual.  His excesses, e.g. blowing his pay on luxuries and frequenting whorehouses, were kept out of the papers, as the press knew he was simply too popular with the fans.

After he set that famous record of sixty home runs in a single season in 1927, Babe Ruth’s fame exploded.  He became a mainstay in advertising, as companies sought to capitalize by attaching his image to their products.  Everyone wanted a piece of the Great Bambino.

Burns breaks from his coverage of Ruth to discuss racism further.  The Harlem Renaissance saw a flourishing of black culture, and Rube Foster established the Negro Leagues.  The style of baseball encouraged by Foster sounds exciting enough to make me wish I had been around to watch some Negro Leagues games.  Indeed, between Ruth in the MLB and style of the Negro Leagues, the 1920s must have a been a fun time to be a baseball fan.

During this time period, coverage of baseball underwent some changes.  The sports pages became a daily feature of urban newspapers, and the personalities of baseball writers varied widely.  Fans could also track games via animated scoreboards, displayed in the cities.  The development of radio broadcasts of baseball games allowed fans to follow along with the action as it happened.

Burns makes a passing mention of some of the other big hitters of the era, such as Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, and George Sisler.  Of those sluggers mentioned, Hornsby got the most attention, but not nearly the amount of attention that Babe Ruth received.  Walter Johnson received a nod for his continuing domination as a pitcher in what had become a hitter’s game, and in 1924, he helped lead the Senators to a World Series victory over the Giants.  Lou Gehrig, a rookie during the 1925 season, received a nod as well, his consecutive games streak already underway.

During this time also, Buck O’Neil joined the Kansas City Monarchs, the best team in the Negro Leagues.  Branch Rickey, meanwhile, developed baseball’s first farm system with the St. Louis Cardinals.  Teams around the majors quickly followed suit and minor league baseball was thus born.

It was a booming decade for the sport.  However, the disc concludes in the year 1929, when the stock market collapsed and the onset of the Great Depression was upon the nation.

This day in baseball: Muddy lucky

October 10, 2017

On October 10, 1924, the Washington Senators and the New York Giants were tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the twelfth inning in Game 7 of the World Series.  Senators catcher Herold “Muddy” Ruel came to bat and hit a high, foul ball directly over home plate.  Giants’ catcher, Hank Gowdy, removed his protective mask to field the ball, but neglected to toss the mask aside.  Gowdy stumbled over the mask and dropped the ball, thus allowing Ruel to continue his at-bat.  Ruel proceeded to hit a double, then scored the winning run of the Series on a ground ball by Earl McNeely that made its way past the third baseman.

muddy ruel
Goudey baseball cards, 1933

Deacon McGuire

July 3, 2017

Deacon McGuire was a baseball player, coach, and manager in the major leagues during the late-19th and early-20th centuries.  His professional career began in 1883 at the age of 19, and lasted until 1915.  He was known as the most durable catcher of his time, setting major league records for most career games caught (1,612), putouts (6,856), assists (1,860), double plays turned (143), runners caught stealing (1,459), and stolen bases allowed (2,529).

 

deacon mcguire

 

James Thomas McGuire was born in Youngstown, Ohio on November 18, 1863, during the Civil War.  He grew up in Cleveland, where he learned to play baseball on the streets, then later moved to Albion, Michigan where he worked as an apprentice iron molder, playing baseball during the weekends.  His large hands proved ideal for playing catcher.

Playing baseball for a team in Hastings, Michigan, McGuire first drew attention catching for a pitcher named Charles “Lady” Baldwin.  Baldwin was known for his “snake ball,” and McGuire gained a reputation as the only catcher who could handle the pitch.  In 1883, McGuire began his professional career with the minor league Terre Haute Awkwards in Indiana.

In 1884, McGuire signed with the Cleveland Blues of the National League.  He was released shortly thereafter, however, and signed with the Toledo Blue Stockings of the American Association.  He made his major league debut with the Blue Stockings in June of 1884.  He shared the catching responsibilities with Moses Fleetwood Walker, who is credited as being one of the first African-American players in Major League Baseball, each catching 41 games.  McGuire only hit .185 at the plate, and the Blue Stockings came in eighth place out of thirteen with a 46-58 record.

Starting out the 1885 season, McGuire played 16 games with the minor league Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Western League.  He and eight of his teammates then signed with the Detroit Wolverines of the National League, upon the disbanding of the Western League.  With the Wolverines, McGuire caught 31 games as backup to primary catcher Charlie Bennett, who caught 62 games.  McGuire hit .190 in 121 at bats, and the Wolverines finished 41-67.

McGuire then spent the 1886 and 1887 seasons with the Philadelphia Quakers.  While 1886 proved another poor offensive season for McGuire, hitting .198, the 1887 season proved to be a year of dramatic improvement, as he hit .307 in 150 at-bats.  His two-year stint with a single team came to a close as 1888 saw him bounce from Philadelphia for 12 games, back to Detroit for three games, then onto Cleveland for 26 games.  1889 saw McGuire return to the minors with the Toronto Canucks of the International League, where he batted .282 in 93 games.

In 1890, McGuire returned to the big leagues with the Rochester Broncos of the American Association.  He batted .299 with a .356 on-base percentage, .408 slugging, and 53 RBIs.

In 1891, he joined the Washington Statesmen of the American Association (which later became the Senators of the National League), where he would finally stay for nine seasons.  He led all starters in batting with a .303 average in 1891.  In 1892, however, he only hit .232 and led the league’s catchers in stolen bases allowed.  The Senators finished that season in 10th place out of twelve teams.  The 1893 season saw McGuire splitting time at catcher with Duke Farrell, playing 50 games behind the plate while Farrell caught 81.  In spite of his limited playing time, McGuire committed 27 errors and the Senators finished in last place with a 40–89 record.

Farrell was traded to the New York Giants in 1894, leaving McGuire to carry the catching load.  McGuire’s performance at the plate experienced a recovery, as he hit .306 with 78 RBIs for the 11th-place Senators.  The following season, 1895, would prove the best of his career.

In 1895, McGuire caught all 133 games of the season, which set a major league record at the time.  He led the team with a .336 batting average, which included 48 extra bases hits, 10 home runs, 97 RBIs (which also led the team), and 17 stolen bases.  He also threw out 189 base runners attempting to steal, a record that stands to this day.  Unfortunately, the Senators as a team didn’t fare nearly as well, finishing the season 43-85 and in tenth place.

McGuire had another solid season in 1896.  He hit .321 and led the majors in games caught at 98 (Duke Farrell had been traded back to Washington, this time as McGuire’s backup).  He led the National League in putouts; however, he also led the NL in errors and stolen bases allowed.  That year, the Senators finished in ninth place at 58-73.  In 1897, McGuire caught 73 games to Farrell’s 63.  Both catchers had a solid year at the plate, as McGuire hit .343 and Farrell hit .322.  The team improved to 61-71, which put them in sixth place.

McGuire’s performance waned in the 1898 season, hitting .268.  After beginning 1899 with the Senators, McGuire found out in July that he had been traded to the star-studded Brooklyn Superbas, joining Duke Farrell yet again.  He hit .318 in 46 contests with Brooklyn, posting a .385 on-base percentage and .446 slugging.  The team finished 101–47 to win the National League pennant.

In 1900, McGuire once again shared catching responsibility with Farrell, with McGuire handling 69 games at the position and Farrell 76.  McGuire finished with a .286 batting average and .348 on-base percentage.  During one game in 1900, McGuire threw out seven runners attempting to steal second base.  Brooklyn won its second consecutive pennant with a 82–54 record.

Brooklyn dropped to third place in 1901 with McGuire hitting .296 and catching 81 games.  Then in 1902, McGuire was traded to Detroit in the American League, where he was the oldest player on the team at the age of 38.  He caught 70 games and hit .227.  He raised his batting average to .250 in 1902, but Detroit was never a contending team.

In February 1904, Detroit sold McGuire to the New York Highlanders, where he spent his final years as a full-time player.  In spite of the fact that he was now 40 years old, he caught 97 games and played in 101 total, though his batting average fell to .208.  In 1905, he caught 71 games and hit .219, and in 1906, McGuire played in 51 games and hit .299.

After taking a year to open a saloon with his brother George, McGuire joined the Boston Red Sox in 1907, primarily as a manager.  The team finished 45–61 in 1907 and 53–62 in 1908, with McGuire making occasional playing appearances as a pinch hitter.  In September of 1908, he signed on with the Cleveland Indians, first as a player.  He took over as manager in 1909, replacing Nap Lajoie partway through the season.  In 1910 McGuire managed his only full season, as the Cleveland club finished 71-81 and came in fifth place.  He caught one game, going 1-for-3 at the plate.  In 1911, McGuire resigned after the club started with a 6-11 record and would never manage in the big leagues again.

In 1912, McGuire signed with the Detroit Tigers as a pitching coach.  In May of 1912, when the Detroit players refused to play in protest over the suspension of Ty Cobb for attacking a fan, Detroit was forced to come up with a substitute team for a game in Philadelphia.  McGuire took to the field as one of the Tigers’ replacement players.  He went 1-for-2 and scored a run in what would be his final major league game, but the Tigers lost the game by a score of 24–2.

McGuire served as a coach with the Tigers until 1915 and he remained associated with the club as a scout until he fully retired in 1926.  He returned to Albion, where he coached the Albion College team in 1926.  Finally, he retired from baseball altogether.

Jim McGuire’s nickname “Deacon” supposedly came from his gentlemanly, fair-play approach to the game.  Most accounts support the widely-held claim that he was never fined or ejected from a game.  According to some sources, he never drank, though according to others, he had been a heavy drinker for years before becoming a teetotaler.  He wasn’t a flamboyant player, but he had a reputation for being a hard worker, and was considered a legend in his hometown of Albion.

His work ethic included a willingness to play through injury, which contributed greatly to his durability.  He reportedly broke every finger in each of his hands over the course of his career, leaving him with grotesquely gnarled hands, as depicted by this 1906 x-ray:

 

Deacon_McGuire_hand_x-ray
The New York World, 1906

This was a time, of course, that predated the advent of padded catcher’s mitts and other modern protective equipment.  To help protect his hands, McGuire was reported to have slipped a piece of steak into his glove.  According to his wife, the steak resembled hamburger by game’s end.

McGuire died of pneumonia in 1936 at the age of 72.

 

This day in baseball: Galvin’s 300th win

October 5, 2016

James Francis “Pud” Galvin of the Pittsburgh Alleghenys became the first pitcher to reach 300 victories on October 5, 1888 when Pittsburgh defeated the Washington Senators, 5-1.  Pitching in an era when two-man pitching rotations were the norm, Galvin accumulated 6,003 innings pitched and 646 complete games over his career, numbers second only to those of Cy Young.  He reached the 300-victory landmark at the age of 31, and would finish his career with a 365-310 record.

pudgalvin
Library of Congress

This day in baseball: Connie Mack’s debut

September 11, 2015

On September 11, 1886, catcher Cornelius McGillicuddy, better known as Connie Mack, made his major league debut with the Washington Nationals (a.k.a. Senators).  The Nationals defeated Philadelphia, 4-3, at Capitol Park in Washington.

Connie Mack went on to become the longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history.  He holds records for wins (3,731), losses (3,948), and games managed (7,755).

Connie Mack baseball card, 1887 (Wikimedia Commons)
Connie Mack baseball card, 1887 (Wikimedia Commons)

This day in baseball: Bresnahan’s debut

August 27, 2015

Eighteen-year-old Roger Bresnahan made his debut as a right-handed pitcher on August 27, 1897 with the Washington Senators.  In his debut, Bresnahan defeated the St. Louis Browns, 3-0, en route to a 4-0 season record with a 3.95 ERA.  This would be his only season with the Senators, however, and by 1900, Bresnahan was making his first appearances as a catcher with the Chicago Orphans (Cubs).  Nicknamed the “Duke of Tralee,” Bresnahan would be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a catcher in 1945.

Library of Congress
Library of Congress

The time Babe Ruth played chicken with a concrete wall

July 11, 2015
Babe Ruth knocked out, 1924 (Library of Congress)

On July 5, 1924, the Yankees found themselves in Washington’s Griffith Stadium for a doubleheader against the Senators.  In the fourth inning of game one, the Senators’ Joe Judge lined a ball just into the seats down the right-field line.  In pursuit of the line drive, Yankees right fielder Babe Ruth slammed right into the concrete wall and was knocked completely unconscious.  The New York Times described the event as follows:

The Babe ran into the pavilion parapet with the full force of his body, and dropped unconscious to the grass. Uniformed policeman ran to his assistance and kept back the crowd that seemed disposed to leave the chairs and get a close-up of the injured warrior. Several photographers happened to be on the spot and they snapped the Babe as Trainer Doc Woods ran up with the water bucket and the little black bag of first aid preparations.

At first it was thought that Ruth had been knocked out by a blow from the concrete on his chin, but it was sooon discovered that he had been knocked out by a jolt in the solar plexus. His left leg was also hurt at the hip.

In spite of the collision, once revived, Ruth refused to come out of the game.  He finished the game 3-for-3, and even went on to play the second game of the doubleheader.  According to the Washington Post:

The Bambino was knocked unconsciuos [sic] for about five minutes and badly bruised his left hip, but gamely insisted on sticking in that game and also in the second.

Talk about nerves of steel!  Any player knocked unconscious for five minutes today would be given no choice in the matter — he’d be carried off the field on a stretcher.