 |
|
||||||
 |
|
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
||||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
#1
07-29-2022, 05:01 AM
|
||||
|
||||
Sleepy Bill Burns
Player #49: William T. "Bill" Burns. "Sleepy Bill". Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1908-1909. 30 wins and 2 saves in 5 MLB seasons. His career ERA was 2.72 in 717.2 innings pitched for 5 different MLB teams, ending in 1912 with the Detroit Tigers. He twice lost no-hitters with two outs in the ninth. He was key go-between in the 1919 Black Sox Scandal.
Burns' SABR biography highlights his career: “Sleepy Bill” Burns pitched for five major-league teams in five seasons from 1908 to 1912. At his peak, he beat Walter Johnson and Christy Mathewson. The great Ty Cobb, a left-handed batter, said he would rather bat against the right-handed Johnson than face Burns, a tough lefty. Burns was blessed with natural ability, but he was shuttled from team to team because he was egocentric, lackadaisical, and difficult to manage. In 1919 Burns infamously returned to the major-league scene as one of the conspirators in the Black Sox Scandal. At the criminal trial in 1921, he turned State’s evidence in exchange for immunity from prosecution. His account of events has been accepted as factual, but veracity was not his strong suit. In 1906, Burns joined the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League and compiled a 16-16 record. He bettered it with a 24-17 mark for the pennant-winning Angels the following year. Upon the recommendation of scout Denny Long, the Washington Senators drafted him. Burns had an excellent fastball, curveball, and changeup, and used the same casual windup in delivering each of them so that the batter had no idea which pitch was coming. He pitched with a crossfire motion, in which his left arm came across his right leg, à la the great southpaw Eddie Plank. Burns was ambidextrous; though he never pitched right-handed in a game, he did in batting practice “with considerable speed.” Burns’s pickoff move was exceptional. Umpire Billy Evans said that he had never seen a more deceptive one. Batters would sometimes start their swing as Burns threw to first base. During (a close contest) in Chicago, Burns fell asleep on the bench in the eighth inning while his teammates were batting and had to be awakened when it was time for him to return to the mound. He had no trouble falling asleep whenever and wherever he wanted. This trait earned him the nickname “Sleepy Bill.” He could also be seen nonchalantly reading a magazine or newspaper while on the bench during a game. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088449 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088453 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088456 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088475 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088759 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088764 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659088773 
|
|
#2
07-30-2022, 04:36 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Wid Conroy
Player #35B: William E. "Wid" Conroy. Utility player for the Washington Senators in 1909-1911. 1,257 hits, 22 home runs, and 262 stolen bases in 11 MLB seasons. Debuted with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1901. He had at least 384 plate appearances in each of his 11 MLB seasons. He was the first-string SS on the NL champion Pittsburgh Pirates in 1902. He moved to 3B in 1903 with the New York Highlanders, twice leading AL third basemen in total chances per game. He was an opening day starter for the Highlanders for the first five years of the team's existence. In 1907 he swiped 41 bases second only to Ty Cobb. He finished his career with Washington and in one of his last games set an AL record with 13 total chances at 3B.
Conroy's SABR biography describes his time in Pittsburgh: The following season (1902) the Brewers franchise moved to St. Louis and a legion of National Leaguers jumped to the junior circuit, but Wid left Milwaukee and became one of the few American Leaguers to jump over to the National League, signing with the defending league champion Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates initially pegged Conroy as a backup for Honus Wagner, but Wagner eventually moved to the outfield and Conroy assumed the starting shortstop role. Appearing in 99 games for one of the best teams in history, Conroy was the weakest hitter in the vaunted Pittsburgh lineup, collecting only 17 extra base hits in 365 at-bats and posting a .299 on-base percentage. He played commendable defense however, and earned the respect and loyalty of his teammates for his take-no-prisoners approach to the game. In the fourth inning of a contest against the Chicago Cubs on June 23, Conroy got into a fistfight with the Cubs star shortstop, Joe Tinker, after Conroy had blocked Tinker on the base paths and spiked another Cub the previous day. Thirsty for revenge, Tinker got his chance when he moved from first to second on an infield hit. According to the Chicago Tribune, “Tinker tore down to second” and seeing Conroy covering the base, “pushed the Pirate off the bag … Conroy wheeled quickly and started toward the cushion as if to strike Tinker, whereupon the latter pushed his open hand over the greater part of Conroy’s face in the manner so irritating to belligerents.” A scuffle ensued, in which Conroy landed blows on Tinker’s shoulder and the Cub shortstop struck Wid on the neck, before the pair could be separated. The fracas upset Pirates secretary Harry Pulliam, who declared in the days following the fight that he was “so disgusted by that row between Tinker and Conroy that I couldn’t go out to the grounds.” But the ensuing punishments upset the Pirates even more, as the chairman of the league’s executive committee, John Brush, suspended Conroy for 20 days, while benching Tinker for only three. Pittsburgh manager Fred Clarke blasted the ruling, noting that “if Conroy had not covered the bag he would have stamped himself an incompetent of the worst kind . Yet he is suspended for 20 days, because he did his duty.” Owner Barney Dreyfuss appealed the ruling, but Brush dismissed the complaint. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173644 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173647 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173651 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173655 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173658 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173661 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659173664
|
|
#3
07-31-2022, 04:38 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Gavvy "Cactus" Cravath
Player #50: Clifford C. "Gavvy" Cravath. "Cactus". Right fielder with the Washington Senators in 1909. 1,134 hits and 119 home runs in 11 MLB seasons, mostly with the Philadelphia Phillies. He had a career OBP of .380 and was one of the most prolific power hitters of the dead-ball era. He led the NL in home runs six times and RBI's twice. He first played 5 seasons in the Pacific Coast League and picked up his nickname by hitting a ball that killed a seagull ("Gaviota" in Spanish) in flight. His MLB debut came in 1908 with the Boston Red Sox. The Senators moved him to Minneapolis after just four games in 1909 and he didn't return to MLB until 1912, when at age 31 he began 9 seasons with Philadelphia. One of his better seasons came in 1913 as he posted a .407 OBP with 19 home runs and 128 RBI's in 594 plate appearances.
Cravath's SABR biography discusses his time in MLB: Gavvy Cravath was an anomaly in the Deadball Era. Employing a powerful swing and taking advantage of Baker Bowl‘s forgiving dimensions, the Philadelphia clean-up hitter led the National League in home runs six times, establishing new (albeit short-lived) twentieth-century records for most home runs in a season and career. In an era when “inside baseball” ruled supreme, Cravath bucked the trend and preached what he practiced. “Short singles are like left-hand jabs in the boxing ring, but a home run is a knock-out punch,” he asserted. “It is the clean-up man of the club that does the heavy scoring work even if he is wide in the shoulders and slow on his feet. There is no advice I can give in batting, except to hammer the ball. Some players steal bases with hook slides and speed. I steal bases with my bat.” Not fitting the mold of the stereotypical Deadball Era fly chaser, Cravath had difficulty breaking into a Boston outfield that soon became dominated by the fleet-footed Tris Speaker and Harry Hooper. Throughout his career Gavvy remained sensitive about his relative lack of speed. “They call me wooden shoes and piano legs and a few other pet names,” he once said. “I do not claim to be the fastest man in the world, but I can get around the bases with a fair wind and all sails set. And so long as I am busting the old apple on the seam, I am not worrying a great deal about my legs.” Cravath was batting .256 with only a single home run (but 11 triples) when the Red Sox sold him to the Chicago White Sox in February 1909. A slow start in the Windy City in 1909 got him traded (along with sore-armed pitcher Nick Altrock and backup first-baseman Jiggs Donahue) to the lowly Washington Senators for Sleepy Bill Burns, a promising but corrupt pitcher who had posted a 1.70 ERA as a rookie in 1908. Washington manager Joe Cantillon also was the owner of the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, and he sent Gavvy to Minneapolis after the new outfielder went hitless in six at-bats for Washington. The 1910-11 Millers are now recognized as the outstanding minor-league team of the Deadball Era, and Cravath became the team’s biggest star. Learning to hit to the opposite field to take advantage of Nicollet Park‘s short porch (it was a lot like Baker Bowl, running 279 feet down the right-field foul line with a 30-foot fence), the right-handed hitting Cravath batted .327 with 14 home runs in 1910. The following year he led the Association with a .363 batting average, and his 29 home runs were the most ever recorded in organized baseball. At one point that season Cantillon threatened to fine Gavvy $50 if he hit any more home runs over the right-field barrier; apparently, he’d broken the same window in a Nicollet Avenue haberdashery three times during a single week. Also, his nickname: It was during his semi-pro days that he gained the nickname “Gavvy.” There are many stories about its origin, but it’s apparently a contraction for the Spanish word gaviota, which means “seagull.” During a Sunday game in the early 1900s, Cravath reportedly hit a ball so hard that it killed a seagull in flight. Mexican fans shouted “Gaviota.” The English-speaking fans thought it was a cheer and the name stuck. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659260207 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659260212 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659260215 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659260220 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659260225
|
|
#4
07-31-2022, 11:29 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Gavvy was ahead of the curve when it came to power hitting. If he had instead been born 15-20 years later, he probably would have put up some hefty numbers in the post-deadball era.
Someone took a bite out of this Standard Biscuit. Brian
|
|
#5
08-01-2022, 04:33 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Jim Delahanty
Brian: Thanks for posting the Cravath Standard Biscuit. If he were around now, Cravath would be Adam Dunn. Or Kyle Schwarber.
Player #46B: James C. "Jim" Delahanty. Second baseman for the Washington Senators in 1907-1909. 1,159 hits, 19 home runs and 151 stolen bases in 13 MLB seasons. Debuted with the Chicago Orphans in 1901. His best season was 1911 as he posted a .411 OBP with 15 stolen bases for the Detroit Tigers in 628 plate appearances. In all he had 5 MLB seasons with more than 500 plate appearances. His final years in MLB were with the Brooklyn Tip-Tops in 1914-1915. We return to Delahanty's SABR biography to pick up his time after Washington: Jim remained with Washington through August 1909, when he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Germany Schaefer and Red Killefer. Delahanty played 46 games down the stretch for the eventual AL champs, and appeared in all seven World Series games, leading the Tigers with a .346 average, including five doubles, in a losing cause. After the Series, Alfred Spink remarked that Del’s “aggressive playing, desperate base running and timely bingling was probably one of the real features of this series.” After another solid campaign in 1910, Delahanty put together the best season of his career in 1911–thanks in part to the new cork-centered baseball–as he stayed healthy all year and batted .339 with career highs in on base percentage (.411), slugging percentage (.463), runs (83), hits (184), doubles (30), triples (14) and RBI (94). With the 32-year-old Delahanty having lost several steps in the field, however, manager Hughey Jennings also played Delahanty at first base 71 times during the season. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659346284 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659346298 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659346307
|
|
#6
08-02-2022, 02:12 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Jiggs Donahue
Player #51: John A. "Jiggs" Donahue. First baseman for the Washington Senators in 1909. 731 hits and 143 stolen bases in 9 MLB seasons. 1906 World Series champion. He debuted with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1900-1901. He was a superb defensive player. His best offensive season was 1905 with the Chicago White Sox as he posted a .346 OBP with 76 RBI's and 32 stolen bases in 608 plate appearances. 1909 was his final MLB season. Donahue was regarded as the best defensive first baseman of his time. He was also one of the best hitters among the "hitless wonders" team that won the 1906 AL pennant and then upset the Chicago Cubs in that year's World Series.
When in your vaunted pride you hear The roaring welcome of the stands, The unleashed hero-tinted cheer, The echo of applauding hands, Lift up your head above all men – Think how these thousand worship you – Go to it – eat it – pal – and then Remember Donahue When headlines on the Printed Page Rate you the Ruler of the Field – The war god of a golden age That reels before your lance and shield – Take in the boost of voice and pen, Say, “Here at last, I’ve drawn my due” – Swell with the thrill of it – and then Remember Donahue What is there left to curb you now? The world is at your steel shod feet, The laurel grips your clammy brow Where no man comes who might compete: So lift your beaker up again, Nor turn to Time’s remorseless cue – Here’s how – Cobb, Matty, Walsh – and then Drink one to Donahue. — Grantland Rice, “Donahue Eulogy” Donahue's SABR biography summarizes his heyday in Chicago and his untimely end: When Donahue arrived in Chicago, veteran Frank Isbell was entrenched at first base. It took only a few weeks for Jiggs to claim the position with his glove work, with Isbell being exiled to second base and the outfield. Donahue played in 102 games. His batting average was .248 with 17 of his 91 hits for extra bases. But it was his defense that kept him in the lineup. The second year in Chicago added to Donahue’s reputation as the best defensive first baseman in the game. He led American League first basemen in fielding percentage (.988), putouts (1,645), assists (114), and double plays turned (77). He batted.287, his major-league best. The White Sox of 1906 were dubbed the Hitless Wonders. By season’s end they had just three players hitting over .250, Jiggs among them at .257. At the end of July the White Sox were 7½ games behind the Philadelphia A’s in fourth place. They began August with a 19-game winning streak and finished in first place, 5½ games ahead of the second-place New York Highlanders. Their victory set up the only Windy City World Series, against the powerhouse and highly favored Chicago Cubs, who set a major-league record with 116 victories in 152 games. (The 2001 Seattle Mariners tied the record in a 162-game season.) Financial agreements for the World Series called for the winners to get a 75 percent share of the Series receipts. In a pre-Series meeting the White Sox players discussed proposing a 50-50 split with the Cubs. Showing what a team leader he had become, Jiggs took the floor, and declaimed, “I want to knock that scheme with all my might. I think we ought to play the string out. … For my part, boys, if we go out and let these fellows beat us, I am in favor of pocketing our 25 percent and not saying a word. If they skin us that is all we deserve. But they can’t beat us. … I say play for the big money.” Donahue also led on the field, offensively and defensively, as the White Sox took the Cubs in six games. He batted .333 and recorded the only hit against the Cubs’ Ed Reulbach in Game Two. But again, it was his defense that stood out most. On July 19, 1913, Jiggs Donahue died (of Syphilis). He had just turned 34 years old. It was front-page news in Springfield, including the Grantland Rice poem above. Ed Walsh and William Sullivan (Jiggs’s White Sox roommate) represented the White Sox at his funeral. (Although their train arrived too late for the Funeral Mass, they were in time for the graveside service.) Charles Comiskey sent an arrangement of roses. Donahue, considered by many baseball’s greatest defensive first baseman, was laid to rest in Springfield’s Calvary Cemetery in an unmarked grave. https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659424117 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659424123
|
|
#7
08-03-2022, 04:51 AM
|
||||
|
||||
|
Tabasco Kid Elberfeld
Player #47B: Norman A. "Kid" Elberfeld. "The Tabasco Kid". Shortstop for the Washington Senators 1910-1911. 1,235 hits, 10 home runs, and 213 stolen bases in 14 MLB seasons. Fiery temper involved him in numerous ferocious arguments and assaults on umpires. Managed the New York Highlanders in 1908. Debuted with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1898. Had a career OBP of .355 and 7 MLB seasons with at least 500 plate appearances.
(As the Senators revised the roster leading up to the 1910 season,) The new third baseman was Kid Elberfeld, the "Tabasco Kid," a former star shortstop with the New York Highlanders who, at 35 was, needless to say, not a kid anymore. Elberfeld didn't help much, batting .251 with just about the worst fielding average among the league's starting third baseman. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.) https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520086 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520092 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520098 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520117 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520121 https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1659520126
|
 |
|
|
Similar Threads
|
||||
| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| WTB: Washington-related baseball memorabilia | Runscott | Baseball Memorabilia B/S/T | 4 | 05-23-2014 05:18 PM |
| WTB: Specific Claudell Washington, U.L. Washington, Garth Iorg and Johnny Grubb Cards | EGreenwood | 1950 to 1959 Baseball cards- B/S/T | 0 | 12-07-2012 10:27 PM |
| 1920's washington senators baseball cap | bryson22 | Baseball Memorabilia B/S/T | 1 | 12-30-2010 09:21 PM |
| The Oregon-Washington Baseball League??? | slidekellyslide | Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used | 7 | 06-12-2009 07:55 PM |
| Baseball cabinet - Washington Senators? | Archive | Net54baseball Sports (Primarily) Vintage Memorabilia Forum incl. Game Used | 1 | 06-18-2008 02:33 PM |
Hybrid Mode
