Washington DC Baseball

ValKehl · #1 02-21-2023, 03:17 PM

A bit more about Al Schacht. He pitched for the Senators for 3 years, 1919-1921, compiling a 14-10 won-loss record and a 4.48 ERA in 53 appearances. But he suffered an arm/shoulder injury in the middle of the 1921 season that effectively ended his pitching career. Schacht then became a Senators coach for many years, and along with fellow coach Nick Altrock formed an entertaining baseball comedy duo, even though the two didn't much like one another. The SABR bio of Schacht is an interesting read: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/Al-Schacht/

The only baseball card that I am aware of for Al Schacht that was issued around this time is this 1925 Universal Toy & Novelty Mfg. Co. W504 card that pictures both Schacht and Altrock. Unfortunately, this card is in rough condition, but there are no examples of this card in the pop reports (all of the W504 Senators cards are very scarce/rare). Also, below is a photo of Schacht and Altrock by National Photo - this photo appears in the 1924 Senators' World Series program.

brianp-beme · #2 02-21-2023, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ValKehl

The only baseball card that I am aware of for Al Schacht that was issued around this time is this 1925 Universal Toy & Novelty Mfg. Co. W504 card that pictures both Schacht and Altrock. Unfortunately, this card is in rough condition, but there are no examples of this card in the pop reports (all of the W504 Senators cards are very scarce/rare).

Here is a W504 Schacht/Altrock card that an alternate Net54 Brian has posted on several occasions. Looks like this comedic coach team duo hadn't quite earned the second 'n' in 'Funny' yet.

Brian

GeoPoto · #3 02-22-2023, 04:11 AM

Thanks to Val and Brian for the W504 additions. Funy how poor proof reading was in the 1920's, at least when it came to baseball cards.

Player #54M: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson Part 1. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

Deveaux takes on Walter's 1924 season: Fast approaching age 37, Walter Johnson made it known to Griffith following his contract signing in January that 1924 would be his last year. The Big Train intended to buy the Vernon (Los Angeles) franchise of the Pacific Coast League. At spring training, though, Walter had discovered that his arm was totally pain-free for the first time since 1920. There had been a knot above his elbow which had gotten smaller in size each year since then. Now, it was gone. When the Nats faced the New York Giants in a preseason game, the National League champions' shortstop, Travis Jackson, commented that if Walter Johnson had been faster, he was glad he'd been in kindergarten at the time.

On opening day, doubt that the Big Train was all the way back evaporated. With President Calvin Coolidge presiding and providing Johnson with another autographed presidential baseball, Barney shut out the A's 4-0 before the home crowd. The Big Swede would have his best campaign of the past five years, and toward the end, on August 25, he would no-hit the St. Louis Browns in a game shortened to seven innings because of rain. This would be Barney's league-leading sixth and last shutout of the season, the 107th of his career. Would the Big Train really retire? (Hint: the record shows he had six more shutouts in him.) Certainly, Johnson's excellent 23-7 performance in 1924 militated against that. As well as in shutouts, Barney was also tops in the A. L. in wins (23), games (38), strikeouts (158) and ERA (2.72).

While Walter was solid all year, the club had floundered at first. Those who had dubbed Griffith's hiring of Harris "Griffith's Folly" definitely had the upper hand by mid-May, as the Nats were cowering in the depths of the second division. On May 23, Walter Johnson pitched one of the great games of his career, facing 28 batters and striking out 14 in blanking Chicago 4-0 on one measly hit and one measly walk. He tied a league record by striking out six in a row. By this stage of the new season, the Big Train already had four shutouts.

Within a couple of weeks the Nats were back at the .500 level, prompting Babe Ruth to quip that he'd never seen a team turn things around so quickly. In late June, the club was red hot and built a four-game lead by month's end. By now, one of the nation's foremost sports scribes, Grantland Rice, was writing about how most Americans, if they could vote for such a thing, would want to see the Senators win the pennant. If only, many felt, Walter Johnson could finally make an appearance in one World Series before calling it quits. . . .

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1677060449

ValKehl · #4 02-22-2023, 11:05 PM

Unfortunately for Senators' collectors, 1924 was a sparse year for card issues.

GeoPoto · #5 02-23-2023, 04:18 AM

Thanks again Val for helping us avoid a shutout. As you say, 1924 did not see a lot of cards issued.

Player #54M: Walter P. "Barney" Johnson Part 2. "The Big Train". Pitcher for the Washington Senators in 1907-1927. 417 wins and 34 saves in 21 MLB seasons. 1924 World Series champion. 1913 and 1924 AL Most Valuable Player. 3-time triple crown. 6-time AL wins leader. 5-time AL ERA leader. 12-time AL strikeout leader. He had a career ERA of 2.17 in 5,914.1 innings pitched. He pitched a no-hitter in 1920. He holds the MLB record with 110 career shutouts. MLB All-Time Team. Inducted to the MLB Hall of Fame in 1936. One of his best seasons was 1913 as he posted a record of 36-7 with a 1.14 ERA in 346 innings pitched.

. . . Johnson told the editors of Baseball Magazine that he longed for the days when his arm had been able to bounce back on a daily basis. Now he preferred to pitch every four days. If he could do now what he could then, he said, he knew that he would have even more success, considering the quality of the teams which had usually backed him up in the past. But Walter Johnson was not one to get too caught up in reverie, and he proclaimed himself still good enough to help a contended like this edition of the Washington Senators.

The club lost five in a row in the smothering heat of St. Louis and dropped back behind not only the Yankees, but the Tigers as well. It was Johnson who broke a six-game losing streak for the club on August 7, keeping the Nats in the race. Washington regained second spot by taking four of five from the Tigers at home. Johnson was extraordinary on the 17th, giving up four hits, no walks, and getting the side out in order in seven of the nine innings. He struck out Ty Cobb to end the game, which the Nationals won handily, 8-1.

From now on, Walter told Bucky Harris, he wanted the ball every third day. He would do anything he could to bring a pennant to Washington, and told the skipper he didn't care what the consequences were for his arm. If he ended up knocking himself out of action and missing a World Series, then so be it. This was Walter Johnson.

Punctuated by Barney's rain-shortened no-hitter against the Browns on the 25th, a nine-game winning streak ensued. Following the seven-inning masterpiece, George Sisler, the Browns' star hitter, commented that he thought the Big Train had looked very much like his old self. Any hitter, Sisler thought, would have considered it an accomplishment just to make contact.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1677147390

Hankphenom · #6 02-23-2023, 09:33 AM

Great stuff, George and Val, thanks for posting!

GeoPoto · #7 02-24-2023, 04:06 AM

You're welcome, Hank.

Player #102B: Harry L. "Nemo" Leibold. Outfielder with the Washington Senators in 1923-1925. 1,109 hits and 136 stolen bases in 13 MLB seasons. 1917 and 1924 World Series champion. He had a career OBP of .357. He debuted with the Cleveland Naps in 1913-1915. His best season statistically was 1919 with the Chicago White Sox as he posted a .404 OBP with 81 runs scored in 523 plate appearances.

Leibold's SABR biography picks up his story as he joins Washington: Playing sparingly for new Red Sox manager Frank Chance in 1923, Leibold had a stroke of luck when Washington Senators player-manager Donie Bush, to whom he had been compared as a young player, persuaded Clark Griffith to acquire Leibold at the waiver price in late May. Installed as the starting center fielder soon after his arrival, Leibold batted .305, one of five regulars to bat over .300.

Under the leadership of new player-manager Bucky Harris, the Senators got off to a slow start in 1924. Their record on June 16 was 24-26. Then the Senators caught fire, winning 68 of their final 104 games to claim their first pennant. Harris praised Leibold�s ability to get on base and start rallies. With a .293 batting average and a .398 on-base percentage (trailing only Goose Goslin), Leibold was part of an outfield The Sporting News considered one of the strongest in baseball.

A steady, dependable, and experienced leader on the field, Leibold was thought to be finished as a player when the Senators acquired him. However, Clark Griffith said during the final days of September, �The splendid playing of Leibold has proved one of the season�s surprises in the American League.�

Facing the powerful New York Giants in the World Series, the Senators took the National League champs to Game Seven. Down 3-1 with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Leibold pinch-hit for third baseman Tommy Taylor and responded with the biggest hit of his career: a double to left field, which put him in position to score along with Muddy Ruel on Harris�s two-out single to tie the game. �[Leibold�s] vitally necessary two-bagger was no surprise,� said Harris after the game. In the bottom of the 12th, Earl McNeely scored Ruel with a dramatic game-ending hit to give the Senators and Walter Johnson, who pitched the final four innings in relief, their first title.

Citing Leibold�s leadership qualities, Bucky Harris and Clark Griffith thought he would be an excellent coach or manager. They may have even toyed with the idea of naming Leibold a Senators coach for the 1926 season, his last in the major leagues. While the Senators won their second consecutive pennant in 1925 in convincing fashion, the 33-year-old Leibold was hobbled by nagging injuries to his legs and had difficulties playing in the outfield. In 84 at-bats, his lowest total since 1916, he batted .274. In the Senators� seven-game World Series defeat by the Pittsburgh Pirates, Leibold saw action as a pinch-hitter on three occasions (hitting a double and scoring in the Game Five defeat), but did not play in the field.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1677233036

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