Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

Player #155D: 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: . . . Early in 1938, despite his physical deterioration and lackluster play (his manager, Bucky Harris, unfairly diagnosed Stone's malady as "Tennessee hookworm", a euphemism for a lazy streak that Harris saw as common among Southern ballplayers), teammates still voted him Most Valuable Team Member for the month of May. The club was in Detroit when Johnny’s mysterious lingering ailment prompted Harris to order a hospital examination on June 19. Test results revealed a sinus infection and severe bronchial attack, initiating an order by Harris to send Stone back to Washington.

A series of tests at Georgetown Hospital revealed the Washington outfielder was suffering from tuberculosis, a highly infectious disease primarily spread through coughing and sneezing. The disease seriously affected a patient’s lungs and in an era prior to the introduction of antibiotics, tuberculosis was very difficult to treat and ultimately claimed the lives of many victims. Restoring Johnny’s body back to health would be a long and tedious process.

The Sporting News reported that, upon hearing of Stone’s diagnosis, “Clark Griffith whirred into action. Griff didn’t want his star outfielder, or members of his family, to worry about finances or how to pay for Johnny’s care. The next day, to Johnny’s hospital room was delivered his salary check for the remainder of the season. Arrangements for treatment at Saranac (New York) were also made by Mr. Griffith.”

Stone wrote to clubhouse manager Frankie Baxter, “Be sure to save my uniform. Maybe a lot of people don’t think I’ll never wear it again, but I’ll climb into it in Orlando and I think I’ll be ready.” Griffith and Harris were less optimistic. “We can’t figure much on Stone, but if he comes around he will be more than welcome.”

Reports from Saranac indicated Stone benefitted greatly from the healthy atmosphere. Doctors called him, “the best patient we ever had, with remarkable recuperative powers and he’ll beat this lung infection 100 per cent.” After hearing the story of Johnny’s inside-the-park home-run back in May, a physician shook his head and remarked: “Only a man with tremendous courage could have kept playing the way he has.”

Stone wrote to Griffith from Saranac describing how he “benefitted from the atmosphere and passed his lung tests and emerged triumphant from an operation,” adding he gained weight and looked forward to the start of spring training. . Despite speculation that Stone might return to the game in time for the 1939 season, it was further determined that although considered to be recovered, he’d risk further illness subjecting himself to the rigors of professional baseball. “Stoney” regrettably announced his retirement.

Stone and his family were residing at the tuberculosis sanatorium in Asheville, North Carolina, when plans for a day in his honor were announced. The event would be held at Griffith Stadium on September 17, 1939; fittingly, the Detroit Tigers would be in town as the visiting team. Initially, Johnny was told to bypass the rigors of the trip, but doctors later relented and allowed him to travel from North Carolina back to D.C.

A special section of the stadium was designated to accommodate Stone’s family, friends and admirers. Funds were raised to purchase a trophy and plans were made to fill a cash purse for the popular former outfielder. Proceeds from the fundraiser were expected to be sufficient enough to pay off the mortgage on the family farm back home in Tennessee.

[GeoPoto]

Player #158C: Cecil H. Travis Part 3. Infielder for the Washington Senators in 1933-1941 and 1945-1947. 1,544 hits and 27 home runs over 12 MLB seasons. 3-time All-Star. One of two to get 5 hits in first game. Led American League in hits in 1941 despite DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak and Ted Williams hitting .406. His best season was 1941 as he posted a .410 OBP with 101 RBIs in 663 plate appearances. In the Army during 1942-45, he wound up a frostbite victim in the Battle of the Bulge and a Bronze Star recipient. His return to MLB after the war surgery was not the same.

In 1939, Travis -- naturally thin at 6’1″ and 185 pounds -- suffered two bouts with the flu and lost considerable weight from his already lanky frame. He rebounded to hit .292, the first time in his professional career that he failed to break the .300 mark. That year, he participated in an all-star exhibition game in Cooperstown, New York, to celebrate the dedication of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1940, playing mostly at third base, a healthy Travis rebounded to hit .322 and earn his second All-Star selection. This time, he not only played in the game but also was in the starting lineup and led off for the American League.

As Travis emerged as a star in the league, he drew interest from other teams, especially the perennially contending Detroit Tigers. One persistent rumor had Travis going to the Tigers in exchange for either all-star Rudy York or future Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg. But Washington never traded Travis, and he remained with the Senators his entire career, never playing in the postseason.

[GeoPoto]

The 1939 Washington Senators won 65 games, lost 87, and finished in sixth place in the American League. They were managed by Bucky Harris and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

This was the year that possibly the best hitter of all time made his debut in the league, with the Boston Red Sox. Later in the season, on August 19, 1939, Theodore Samuel Williams smashed his first career grand slam against the Senators in an 8-6 Red Sox victory. Williams would go on in his rookie season to hit 31 homers, drive in a league-leading 145 runs, and bat .327. The league's great star, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, would lead the junior circuit in batting with .381, which would hold as the highest average of his career. DiMag did miss five weeks of the season, though, as a result of a muscle tear in his leg sustained on Griffith Stadium's muddy outfield grass while chasing a Bobby Estalella liner on April 29.

Players of the caliber of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams may come along once in a generation, but not likely twice, as they did. While the Senators didn't have a DiMaggio or a Williams, they did unveil some future standouts of their own in 1939. On July 8, a 21-year-old first baseman made his first appearance in a box score. Mickey Vernon would remain at the position for a period spanning four decades, most of which he would spend in Washington. Vernon's debut year was relatively inauspicious, as he hit just .257 with one home run the rest of the way. By season's end, the native of Marcus Hook, Pa., had played in 76 games, and before his career ended, he would hold the major-league record for most games played at first base. Quiet, consistent, and blessed with a good deal of charisma, Vernon would win the batting title twice, lead the league in doubles three times, and hit 490 career doubles. As a fielder, he was outstanding as well, the best at his position four times, twice pacing the entire majors.

[ValKehl]

Before being called up by the Washington Senators in July of 1939, James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (my second most favorite Senators player when I was a kid in the 1950's) played in 76 games and batted .343 for the Springfield (MA) Nationals of the Eastern league, a Class A minor leage affiliate of the Senators. The earliest Vernon collectible I have is this advertising photo issued by a Springfield clothier:

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by ValKehl

Before being called up by the Washington Senators in July of 1939, James Barton "Mickey" Vernon (my second most favorite Senators player when I was a kid in the 1950's) played in 76 games and batted .343 for the Springfield (MA) Nationals of the Eastern league, a Class A minor leage affiliate of the Senators. The earliest Vernon collectible I have is this advertising photo issued by a Springfield clothier:

What a great piece, Val! And what a great player and man Mickey was. In 2007, Mickey and I were two of a contingent of four who threw out the first pitch on Opening Day--the White House wouldn't send anybody that year because VP Cheney got booed so roundly when he did the honors the year before. I had Mickey to myself in the "green room" for about half and hour before they called us out, and I asked him about his rookie year of 1939, when the radio broadcaster was none other than Walter Johnson. Of course, Mickey remembered that year, and Johnson, well, and it was a treat to hear stories about it from someone who was there! I got him to sign the ball I threw out, and it's one of my treasures.

[GeoPoto]

(Thanks to Val and Hank for their Vernon inputs. I wondered if Val could come up with something I couldn't -- a pre-war Vernon. Of course he could!)

On September 13, a Joe Cambria (we will introduce Joe shortly) protégé', Early "Gus" Wynn, a 19-year-old righthander from Hartford, Alabama, started on the trail to Cooperstown. Unfortunately, Wynn would not find the right fork in the road until he left Washington, but eventually he too, like Mickey Vernon, would extend his career beyond the 1950s. He managed to play long enough to earn his 300th and final win, thereby guaranteeing immortality in the Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 1972. A scowling type on the mound, Wynn had a live fastball, but indeed never assembled the complementary pitches required for consistency until the Nats traded him to Cleveland at the end of 1948. In retrospect, that deal may well have been the worst the Senators made in their entire history, but for the time being, Wynn lost both his late-season decisions, and he would spend the better part of the next two years in the minors before resurfacing in Washington in 1941. . . .

[GeoPoto]

. . . One of baseball's most moving dramas unfolded right before the Senators in 1939. On April 30, the day after Joe DiMaggio tore up his leg at Griffith Stadium, Lou Gehrig appeared in his 2,130th consecutive game, the last one of his streak, which had begun against the Nats 14 years earlier. The Iron Horse went hitless against Joe Krakauskas, and upon making a routine play, was congratulated by Yankees pitcher Johnny Murphy. Two days later, after traveling to Detroit, Gehrig would take himself out of the lineup, suffering from unexplained sluggishness. His replacement, a rookie named Babe Dahlgren, homered and doubled and the Yanks won 22-2. (Coincidentally, pitcher Fred Hutchinson of the Tigers, later a World Series manager and well-loved figure, made his big-league debut in the same game, and it was a disaster for him. Hutchinson surrendered five walks, four hits, and eight runs in two-thirds of an inning.)

On June 20, Gehrig was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., as suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable form of paralysis which became known as Lou Gehrig's disease. When he appeared in front of nearly 62,000 fans at Yankee Stadium for Lou Gehrig Day two weeks later, the visitors were the Washington Senators. Gehrig gave his stirring "luckiest man on earth" speech, during the course of which he reflected on the courage and support displayed by his wife and family throughout his ordeal, and the good fortune he had to be associated with some of the finest men in baseball. "I might of had a bad break," he concluded, "but I have an awful lot to live for." Less than two years later, a few days short of his 38th birthday, Lou Gehrig was dead. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

I don't have anything with the Iron Horse on it; here's a 1939 photo of Jack Dempsey signing for the Big Train):