Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

The 1931 Washington Senators won 92 games, lost 62, and finished in third place in the American League. They were managed by Walter Johnson and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux describes Washington's situation in 1931: For 1931, (Washington manager) the Big Train had basically the same material as in '30, and the Nats finished at 92-62, the exact same record as in their 1924 championship year. But being in the same league as the Philadelphia A's would again be their downfall. The Nats won 12 in a row on the road and stood at 37-17 after two months, but were still three games behind the Athletics. . . .

. . . Ultimately, pitching did win the 1931 pennant, but it was the Athletics who were the best. While the Yankees had re-established themselves as the offensive force in the A.L., outscoring their chief rivals, Philadelphia and Wahington, by more than 200 runs, the A's had a compliment of pitchers that was marginally better than the Senators', and far superior to the Yankees.

Lefty Grove of Philadelphia had the first 30-win season in the big leagues since Jim Bagby's 31 wins for Cleveland in 1920. (No one won 30 in the major leagues in the years between 1934 and 1968.) Grove won 31 games against just four losses, with a scintillating 2.06 ERA, which led the league. In fact, no one else in the majors had more than 21 victories except Wes Farrell of Cleveland. Grove's teammate, George Earnshaw, won 21. A third Philadelphia hurler to log more than 280 innings was Rube Walberg, who led the league in that department and finished at 20-12. Jimmie Foxx hit 30 homers, Al Simmons 22, and Mickey Cochrane 17, and the A's won an astounding 107 games to finish the season 13 1/2 games up on their nearest rivals. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

Philadelphia's success in 1931 included President Hoover throwing out the first pitch to begin Game 3 of the World Series at Shibe Park:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1692522678
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1692522849