Washington DC Baseball

GeoPoto · #1 12-25-2022, 05:06 AM

Player #88A: Alexander "Al" Schacht. Pitcher with the Washington Senators in 1919-1921. 14 wins and 3 saves in 3 MLB seasons. Was highly-regarded as a third base coach in Washington (1924-1934) and Boston (1935-1936). Performed player mimicry and comedy routines with fellow Washington coach Nick Altrock earning the nickname of "The Clown Prince of Baseball". After leaving coaching he continued comedy but settled in as a restauranteur.

Deveaux tells about one of Schacht's debut moments: Walter's (Johnson) arm hurt so much after this game (the game in which he no-hit the Red Sox) that he was not able to make his next start, the second game of a doubleheader, which was to follow a morning game against the Yankees at Griffith Stadium. Clark Griffith had advertised that Walter would be pitching, and he was hard up for someone to put out there as an emergency replacement. Asking for conscripts, he chose among the volunteers a grass-green rookie named Al Schacht. A New Yorker, Schacht would later write that he had sent Clark Griffith several letters in the past, in the manner effectively employed by Ty Cobb about fifteen years earlier. Schacht, who had simply signed the letters, "A. Fan," had begged Griff to scout a young phenom named Al Schacht.

We wouldn't be telling this story, naturally, if Schacht hadn't beaten the league's best offensive team that day. Babe Ruth, who would lead the league with his unbelievable total of 54 home runs, was the first to get a hit off Schacht -- in the fourth inning. Schacht came away with a seven-hitter and a 9-3 win, and needless to say, his pitching skills and penmanship earned him a tidy contract from Griffith for 1921. In this way began a playing career cut short by a sore arm, but followed by his very long run as a baseball comedian.

Widely recognized as the "Clown Prince of Baseball," Schacht became a full-time baseball comic in 1921, teaming up with Nick Altrock, coach and resident clown. The two revived some of the routines Altrock had first performed with Germany Schaefer. Eventually, Schacht would strike out on his own, touring major- and minor-league ballparks across America. His act, part pantomime and part anecdotes, got him bookings at 25 World Series and 18 All-Star games. During World War II, he would tour Europe, Africa and the Pacific theater with the USO. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1671966354

sb1 · #2 12-25-2022, 07:32 AM

Read thru this entire thread. A very in depth collection of cards and player history.

I will add a few more images from the W600 Series.

Kawika · #3 12-25-2022, 02:26 PM

Great show, Scott.

ValKehl · #4 12-25-2022, 08:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sb1

Read thru this entire thread. A very in depth collection of cards and player history.

I will add a few more images from the W600 Series.

Scott, I was aware that you had a very nice collection of W600s, but WOWZERS!!

While not nearly as gorgeous as any of Scott's W600s, but just as scarce, is this rough 1925 W504 Universal Toy & Novelty card of Al Schacht & Nick Altrock.

This National Photo of Schacht & Altrock appears in the Senators' 1924 WS Program.

GeoPoto · #5 12-26-2022, 04:25 AM

Scott, I am delighted to see your fantastic run of W600 cards featuring Nationals players. Is that just the Washington entries in a much larger collection of W600's, or do you have a focus on Washington cards in the set? Either way it is an amazing collection of high-quality cards. Thank you for showing them here.

You too, Val, I am continually amazed by the things you come up with. Thanks for helping. Meanwhile:

The 1921 Washington Senators won 80 games, lost 73, and finished in fourth place in the American League. They were managed by George McBride and played home games at Griffith Stadium.

Deveaux addresses the 1921 season which favored the Yankees and their new slugger over the Nats: McBride had an improving squad on his hands, and was able to guide the Nats to an 11.5-game improvement in the standings. They finished fourth, only a half game behind the Browns, but a full 18 games back of the Yankees. Babe Ruth arguably had the best season of his entire career in 1921, and that's saying something. Ruth had the kind of season only he has ever had in baseball history: 59 home runs, 171 RBIs, a .378 batting average, and an awesome .846 slugging percentage in 540 at-bats. It would remain his career best (Babe also had 540 at-bats in 1927, when he produced 60 homers, 164 ribbies, a .356 average, and slugged at .772.)

By contrast, the Senators in 1921 hit only 42 homers as a team. In fact, the Babe on his own hit more homers than any entire team except the Browns and the last-place A's. On May 7 of this season, Ruth slammed a drive toward center field off Walter Johnson; it was believed to be the longest ever in Washington up to that point. (The Washington Senators by Tom Deveaux.)

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1672049929

sb1 · #6 12-26-2022, 08:33 AM

These were the Washington players that had not yet been shown in the thread, I did not post the others that had previously been shown by others nor a very low grade Milan.

I am not a Washington collector, these are just part of my W600's.

sb1 · #7 12-26-2022, 08:41 AM

While I am posting here's another Washington HOFer, I don't think I saw a T204 Johnson in the posts.

GeoPoto · #8 12-26-2022, 09:15 AM

Scott: Thanks for the input, your W600 collection must be out of this world. And yes, I do not own a T204 of Walter (or a CJ), which are annoying holes in my collection that have been getting harder to fill of late, so thanks for adding yours to this thread. I'm editing this to add a Wow regarding Scott's T204. What a beautiful card!

Also, thank you for giving me an opening to show a Walter card I did add recently and (I don't think) has been shown yet -- from 1910 a well-loved E-91C (a side benefit of introducing Walter's E91-C is it gives Brian another opportunity to point out that Walter is a dead-ringer for one of the Pittsburgh players):

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1672067217
https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1672067220

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