1927 New York Yankees
You know who they are!
1894 Boston Beaneaters
83-49 (.629) 3rd NL
Scored 1220 runs 1st NL
103 Home Runs 1st NL
272 Doubles 1st NL
.331 Batting Avg 3rd NL
.401 OnBase Pct 3rd NL
.484 Slugging Avg 1st NL
3 Hall of Famers:
-Tommy McCarthy .292 lifetime BA
-Hugh Duffy .440 highest single season BA (.438 at the time)
-Kid Nichols 361-208 (.634) 2.96 ERA; 329-183 (.643) 3.00 with Boston
Seven time 30 game winner.
Eleven time 20 game winner
Kid Nichols left the big leagues and bought a percentage of the minor league Kansas City franchise in 1902, and left MLB to manage and pitch for them in 1902-03. Nichols won 48 games in the two seasons there before returning to MLB in 1904, where he won 21 for the St. Louis Cardinals. Therefore it is possible, and indeed likely, that had Kid played in the majors in 1902-03, he would have won 400 games. Looking further at his stats and bio at baseball-reference.com, the Wisconsin-born (British Columbia) Kid evidently discovered Kansas City and developed an abiding, lasting affection for that midwestern town. He debutted there in 1888 as an 18-year old. The Kid went 16-2 with a 1.14 ERA for the Kansas City Blues. Then after taking a brief hiatus to win 329 games over a brilliant 12-year career, the Kid, still only 32, came home to KC. He managed the single-A team, now called the Blue Stockings for two seasons. He also managd to go 47-19 on the mound, hurling 595 innings.
After his return to the bigs at St. Louis and Philadelphia, and a final stop in Pueblo, Colorado, Nichols apparently returned to KC... he passed away there a good long time later (1953).
Boston’s South End Grounds
LF 255 LCF 445 CF 440 RCF 440 RF 255
Boston’s South End Grounds was a miniature Polo Grounds. The fences were extremely close down the foul lines and then dropping quickly back to cavernous power alleys and a deep centerfield.
Bobby Lowe 5-10 150 lb.
1894 17 HR 115 RBI .346 AVG.
May 30, 1894 became 1st player in MLB history to hit 4 HR in one game. Bobby was the leadoff hitter; went 5 for 6 with 6 RBI. Two Hr came in a Boston 9 run 3rd inning. Boston won 20-11. Kid Nichols went the distance, scattering 14 hits and 11 runs to beat Cincinnati. Lowe’s HRs came in 4 consecutive at-bats.
This feat would not be duplicated until June 3, 1932, by Lou Gehrig.
Hugh Duffy 5-7 168 lb.
1894 18 HR 145 RBI .440 AVG.
51 2B 16 3b 48 SB.
Simply one of the greatest seasons of all time. Led NL in hits, doubles, HRs, On-Base-plus-Slugging, and of course, Batting Average.
Showing posts with label Waite Hoyt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waite Hoyt. Show all posts
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wally Schang
When I stumbled upon the fact that 42-year old Wally Schang had played out the string in the single-A Texas League I was amazed. I was also a bit saddened. Then I was heartened.
Wally Schang is perhaps only dimly remembered today, by avid baseball historians and his descendants, if there are any. And that's a shame. Schang, if not a Hall of Fame catcher, is probably better than many players who are in the Hall. First and foremost, he was a consistent winner. He played on World Series teams in Philadelphia (1913-14 Athletics), Boston (1918 Red Sox), New York (1921,1922, 1923 Yankees), and back in Philadelphia (1930 Athletics) again. Granted, the 1930 Athletics probably would have won with or without Wally... they had another pretty good catcher named Mickey Cochrane. But the point is, winning baseball and Wally Schang seemed to meet up time and time again... too often and in too many different settings to be a mere coincidence. Wally, who hailed from South Wales, New York, played 1842 major league games in a 19 year major league career, mostly as a catcher. He hit .284 lifetime with six .300 seasons including four straight years (1919-22). Schang also had an outstanding lifetime On Base Percentage of .393. He handled Hall of Famers such as Eddie Plank, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, and a young southpaw named George Ruth with the 1918 World Champion Red Sox.
And apparently, when the major leagues were finished with Wally Schang, Wally refused to let go of baseball entirely. He began a long descent through the minors, as lots of ex-major leaguers did in those days. As mentioned in an earlier article, Schang teamed with George Sisler and fellow ex-Yankee Aaron Ward on the 1932 Shreveport/Tyler team in the Texas League. This was single-A ball. Single-A is now the lowest rung on the baseball ladder, but it wasn't back then. And alas, Wally went lower, finding himself on the Joplin Miners in 1934. Joplin was a Class C team, belonged to the Western Association, and was affiliated with his old team, the Boston Red Sox. If any of you recognize the name Joplin, it is probably because it also would later have on its roster an 18-year old Oklahoman named Mickey Mantle.
Wally continued to play parts of seasons until he was in his fifties, at classifications between A and D. As I said at the top, at first I was a bit saddened at the thought of a great catcher hanging on. But then I got to thinking... maybe he wasn't hanging on at all. Maybe , as Bill James said about old-time minor leaguers, he was just playing baseball. And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with a man playing the game he loves, simply for the love of playing? A few years back, Hall-of-Famer and all-time base thief Rickey Henderson was caught playing baseball with the San Diego Surf Dogs, an independent team. He was well into his forties. Newspaper articles lamented the great Rickey, humbled and hanging on. And Rickey was probably having the time of his life, playing in games that no one but his team cared about, the way we all did as kids when you chose up sides and played till it got dark.
I wish the minor leagues were like they used to be... taking in ex-major leaguers and all-time greats and mixing them with up-and-comers like Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and the DiMaggio brothers. Wouldn't it be great to see a 44 year old Albert Pujols lining hits into the Missouri twilight during the twilight of his career? And perhaps mentoring a future star or two in the process? I'll bet in the old days the George Sislers, Wally Schangs and Aaron Wards acted as unofficial coaches toward the youngsters. And I venture to guess that some of those old-timers enjoyed that aspect of their careers as much as any.
I know I would. If I could.
Wally Schang is perhaps only dimly remembered today, by avid baseball historians and his descendants, if there are any. And that's a shame. Schang, if not a Hall of Fame catcher, is probably better than many players who are in the Hall. First and foremost, he was a consistent winner. He played on World Series teams in Philadelphia (1913-14 Athletics), Boston (1918 Red Sox), New York (1921,1922, 1923 Yankees), and back in Philadelphia (1930 Athletics) again. Granted, the 1930 Athletics probably would have won with or without Wally... they had another pretty good catcher named Mickey Cochrane. But the point is, winning baseball and Wally Schang seemed to meet up time and time again... too often and in too many different settings to be a mere coincidence. Wally, who hailed from South Wales, New York, played 1842 major league games in a 19 year major league career, mostly as a catcher. He hit .284 lifetime with six .300 seasons including four straight years (1919-22). Schang also had an outstanding lifetime On Base Percentage of .393. He handled Hall of Famers such as Eddie Plank, Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt, and a young southpaw named George Ruth with the 1918 World Champion Red Sox.
And apparently, when the major leagues were finished with Wally Schang, Wally refused to let go of baseball entirely. He began a long descent through the minors, as lots of ex-major leaguers did in those days. As mentioned in an earlier article, Schang teamed with George Sisler and fellow ex-Yankee Aaron Ward on the 1932 Shreveport/Tyler team in the Texas League. This was single-A ball. Single-A is now the lowest rung on the baseball ladder, but it wasn't back then. And alas, Wally went lower, finding himself on the Joplin Miners in 1934. Joplin was a Class C team, belonged to the Western Association, and was affiliated with his old team, the Boston Red Sox. If any of you recognize the name Joplin, it is probably because it also would later have on its roster an 18-year old Oklahoman named Mickey Mantle.
Wally continued to play parts of seasons until he was in his fifties, at classifications between A and D. As I said at the top, at first I was a bit saddened at the thought of a great catcher hanging on. But then I got to thinking... maybe he wasn't hanging on at all. Maybe , as Bill James said about old-time minor leaguers, he was just playing baseball. And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with a man playing the game he loves, simply for the love of playing? A few years back, Hall-of-Famer and all-time base thief Rickey Henderson was caught playing baseball with the San Diego Surf Dogs, an independent team. He was well into his forties. Newspaper articles lamented the great Rickey, humbled and hanging on. And Rickey was probably having the time of his life, playing in games that no one but his team cared about, the way we all did as kids when you chose up sides and played till it got dark.
I wish the minor leagues were like they used to be... taking in ex-major leaguers and all-time greats and mixing them with up-and-comers like Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and the DiMaggio brothers. Wouldn't it be great to see a 44 year old Albert Pujols lining hits into the Missouri twilight during the twilight of his career? And perhaps mentoring a future star or two in the process? I'll bet in the old days the George Sislers, Wally Schangs and Aaron Wards acted as unofficial coaches toward the youngsters. And I venture to guess that some of those old-timers enjoyed that aspect of their careers as much as any.
I know I would. If I could.
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