Cecil Travis - Forgotten Superstar

[RickD]

Cecil Howell Travis (August 8, 1913 - December 16, 2006) was a shortstop and third baseman from 1933 to 1947 who spent his entire career with the Washington Senators. He made 18 appearances in 1933, batting .302 with 13 hits at age 19.

You can check out all his stats via B-R: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/travice01.shtml

He followed up his 1st season with 8 fabulous seasons. He earned 3 AS game appearances and was in MVP contention 4 of those years. He put up 1,370 hits in those first 9 years, batting over .400 twice.

This was a player bound for the Hall of Fame until WW2 came along.

Like many players of his day, Travis joined the Army ready to do his part. He spent most of World War II in the States, playing on military baseball teams. Sent to Europe in late 1944, he suffered a bad case of frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, necessitating an operation to prevent amputation of his feet. Travis received a Bronze Star for his military service. Although only 31 years old when he returned to baseball, he was not the same player as he had been before the war, and hit .241 in late 1945 and .252 in 1946. He retired after batting .216 in 74 games in 1947. One month before his final game, he was honored with "Cecil Travis Night", with General Eisenhower in attendance.

A forgotten superstar and one of many impacted by WW2.

[runningshoes]

This is the only decent sized photo I could find of Travis.

http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g366/runningshoes66/Historic%20baseball%20photos/6431002729_79a26ceb03.jpg

[catman]

Agreed. Cecil Travis was an unsung star.

[Mudge]

Great story. Thanks.

http://www.baseballinwartime.com/images/cecil_travis_cartoon.jpg

[BobH]

That's a great caricature of a really great player, Mudge-BH

[RickD]

I think Cecil is one of those guys who deserves HoF consideration. If not for the war, he would have been in for sure.

[runningshoes]

Here's his short bio from the SABR biography project.

http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=597&pid=14327

[RickD]

Nice. That was a fairly extensive bio and gives you a better picture of his life and career.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

He was such a modest man too. When Ted Williams talked about him during I think the 1999 All-Star game the internet went crazy on who Cecil Travis was. I made a post on him earlier tonight about HOF but I think the HOF needs to focus on WW2 vets who should be remembered before they all die off. It baffles me how these guys are forgotten. I have no doubt Cecil Travis woulda gotten at least 2500 hits as a shortstop had he not lost so much time due to protecting our country.

2500 hits for a shortstop especially during his era woulda put him in without a doubt. He left for the war at age 27 too and 1941 was a breakout year for him so I know he woulda averaged at least 180 hits for those four years he lost. plus I would think he woulda had at least 3 or 4 good seasons after. He coulda been close to 3000 hits and for a shortstop that woulda been very good.

I think because the old Senators moved to Minnesotta and the Twins really don't honor their old heritage is a big reason Cecil Travis gets forgotten.

I read his book and he doesn't blame the war for his decline but he admits he lost his timing and he did get a severe frostbite on his feet so personally I do feel he is being extremly modest on not blaming his time off. Being gone almost 4 years will do that but at the same time he deserves alot more recognition than what he's gotten. What really irks me about him is that he never even recieved a vote for the HOF. I say screw guys like Tommy John or Jim Kaat, Cecil Travis is the guy who desreves to be honored.