Bill James NL 1920-1929 All Decade Team

[Mattrd26]

This is really interesting. Thanks for the information Old Sweater!

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Right Fielder, Cy Williams





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cy_Williams

Frederick "Cy" Williams (December 21, 1887 - April 23, 1974) was a Major League Baseball player for the Chicago Cubs (1912–17) and Philadelphia Phillies (1918–30).

Born in Wadena, Indiana, Williams attended Notre Dame where he studied architecture and played football with the legendary Knute Rockne. His hitting prowess caught the attention of the Chicago Cubs who purchased his contract after he graduated from college. From 1915-1927 he was a consistent power hitting center fielder, leading the National League in home runs four times during his career. He was the first NL player to hit 200 career home runs; he finished his career with 251. He is also one of three players born before 1900 to hit 200 homers in his career (Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby are the other two)

He hit for the cycle on August 5, 1927.

After retirement he worked as an architect in Three Lakes, Wisconsin. He died there at age 86 in 1974.

All time Phillies leader in extra innings grand slams with 2.

Career statistics
Batting average .292
Home runs 251
RBI 1,005
Teams

Chicago Cubs (1912-1917)
Philadelphia Phillies (1918-1930)

Career highlights and awards

Led league in slugging percentage 1 time
Led league in home runs 4 times


---------- Post added at 07:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:44 PM ----------

This is really interesting. Thanks for the information Old Sweater!

You're very welcome. Fancy sig you got going there.

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, Dolph Luque





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolph_Luque

Adolfo Domingo De Guzmán "Dolf" Luque (August 4, 1890 – July 3, 1957), was an early 20th century Cuban starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. Luque was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1967.

A native of Havana, Luque played winter baseball in the Cuban League from 1912 to 1945. He was also a long-time manager in the league. He was elected to the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957.

United States

Luque debuted with the Boston Braves in 1914. In 1918, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds, with whom he would play the next 12 seasons. In the notorious 1919 World Series, he appeared in two games as a relief pitcher. Luque also played for the Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers from 1930 to 1931 and with the New York Giants from 1932 to 1935. He was with the Giants in the 1933 World Series, and, pitching in relief, won the 5th and final game over the Washington Senators. He ended his career with a record of 194–179 and a 3.24 ERA.

Luque became a starting pitcher in 1920. Primarily pitching with a curveball, he led the National League in losses in 1922, then had his best year in 1923, leading the league with 27 wins and an ERA of 1.93. Luque also led the NL in ERA with a 2.63 in 1925. He was known as an adept mentor in the later years of his pitching career, and went on to become the pitching coach of the Giants from 1936–38 and 1942–45.

As a blue-eyed, fair-skinned, white Cuban, he was one of several white Cubans to make it in Major League Baseball at a time when non-whites were excluded. Between 1911 and 1929 alone, seventeen Cuban-born Caucasian players played in the Major Leagues. Many of them including Luque also played Negro League baseball with integrated teams from Cuba. Luque played for Cuban Stars in 1912 and the Long Branch Cubans in 1913 before signing with organized baseball (Riley, 498).

Luque was known to have a temper. While with the Brooklyn Dodgers, a heckler in the stands hollered "Lucky Luque! Lucky Luque!" repeatedly. Luque went over to the dugout and told manager Wilbert Robinson, "I tell you, Robbie, if this guy don't shut up, I'm gonna shut him up." "Aw, come on, Dolf," said the manager. "He paid his way in--let him boo." Just then the heckler spotted the rotund Robinson and yelled, "Hey, fat belly!" Robinson said, "OK, Dolf--go ahead and clobber the jerk." Luque obliged his manager's request.

Luque also served as a coach at the Major League level for seven seasons (1936–1937; 1941–1945) with the New York Giants, working under managers Bill Terry and Mel Ott. As a coach, Luque was a member of the Giants' 1936 and 1937 National League champion teams.

Cuba

Luque made his professional debut in Cuba for the Habana baseball club against a major league league opponent, the Philadelphia Phillies, in an exhibition series if the fall of 1911. He left the game after 8 innings with his team ahead 6 to 5, but his reliever failed to hold the lead and left Luque with a no decision. He then pitched against the New York Giants, going 1–2, getting the only win for Habana in six games. He debuted in the Cuban League in the winter of 1912, but went 0–4, 0–2, and 2–4 his first three seasons. In 1914/15 he moved to Almendares and had his first winning season, going 7–4. The following season he led the league in wins with a 12–5 record. The next winter, 1917, he tied for the league lead in wins and also led in hitting with a .355 average.[3]

In 1919/20 Luque became a playing manager for Almendares and led the team to a championship in his first season at the helm, the first of seven championships as a manager. He contributed on the pitching mound with a 10–4 record, leading the league in wins. In 1922/23 he moved to Habana (where Miguel Angel González was manager) and again led the league in wins with an 11–9 record. The next season, he took over the helm as Habana's manager and went 7–2 as a pitcher. Later in the decade, Luque's major league team, the Cincinnati Reds, did not allow him to play winter baseball in Cuba. Luque sometimes evaded the ban by playing under assumed names. [4]

By the 1930s, Luque had returned to Almendares as manager. He generally pitched only occasionally, though in 1934/35 he contributed as a pitcher to his second championship as a manger; he tied for the league lead in wins with a 6–2 record and led the league with a 1.27 ERA. As manager, he again led Almendares to championships in 1939/40, 1941/42, and 1942/43, led Cienfuegos to a championship in 1945/46, and returned to Almendares for his final championship in 1946/47. He continued to manage for various teams until 1955/56.[5]

Luque's career Cuban League pitching record was 106–71. Luque is the all-time Cuban League leader in years pitching with 22, ranks second (behind Martín Dihigo) in wins with 106, and ranks seventh in winning percentage with .599.[6]

Luque died in 1957 and is buried at Colon Cemetery, Havana.

Career statistics
Pitching Record 194–179
Earned run average 3.24
Strikeouts 1130
Teams

Boston Braves (1914–1915)
Cincinnati Reds (1918–1929)
Brooklyn Robins (1930–1931)
New York Giants (1932–1935)

Career highlights and awards

3x World Series champion (1914, 1919, 1933)
National League ERA champion: 1923, 1925
National League wins champion: 1923
3-time National League shutout leader

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, Dazzy Vance





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzy_Vance

Charles Arthur "Dazzy" Vance (March 4, 1891 – February 16, 1961) was a star Major League Baseball starting pitcher during the 1920s.

Born in Orient, Iowa, Vance played a decade in the minors before establishing himself as a big league player in 1922 with the Brooklyn Dodgers at the age of 31, when he went 18–12 with a 3.70 ERA and a league-leading 134 strikeouts. His best individual season came in 1924, when he led the National League in wins (28), strikeouts (262) and ERA (2.16) (see Triple crown) en route to winning the National League MVP award. He set the then-National League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game when he fanned 15 Chicago Cubs in a game on August 23, 1924.[1] (He struck-out 17 batters in a 10-inning game in 1925.)

On September 24, 1924, Vance struck out three batters on nine pitches in the second inning of a 6–5 win over the Chicago Cubs. Vance became the fifth National League pitcher and the seventh pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the nine-strike/three-strikeout half-inning. He finished the season with 262 strikeouts, more than any two National League pitchers combined (Burleigh Grimes with 135 and Dolf Luque with 86 were second and third respectively). That season, Vance had one out of every 13 strikeouts in the entire National League.

Vance's play began to decline in the early 1930s, and after bouncing to the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and back to the Dodgers, he retired after the 1935 season. Vance led the league in ERA three times, wins twice, and established a National League record by leading the league in strikeouts in seven consecutive years (1922–1928). He retired with a 197–140 record, 2045 strikeouts and a 3.24 ERA – remarkable numbers considering he only saw 33 innings of big league play during his twenties.

Vance was also involved in one of the most famous flubs in baseball history, the "three men on third" incident. With Vance on second and Chick Fewster on first, Babe Herman hit a long ball and began racing around the bases. As he rounded second, the third base coach yelled at him to go back, since Fewster had not yet passed third. Vance, having rounded third, misunderstood and reversed course, returning to third. Fewster arrived at third. Herman ignored the instruction and also arrived at third. The third baseman tagged out Herman and Fewster; Vance was declared safe by rule.[2]

Vance pitched a no-hitter in 1925.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. Vance is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

Career statistics
Win–loss record 197–140
Earned run average 3.24
Strikeouts 2,045
Teams

Pittsburgh Pirates (1915)
New York Yankees (1915, 1918)
Brooklyn Robins/Dodgers (1922–1932)
St. Louis Cardinals (1933)
Cincinnati Reds (1934)
St. Louis Cardinals (1934)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1935)

Career highlights and awards

World Series champion (1934)
1924 NL MVP
1924 Triple Crown
Led NL in ERA in 1924, 1928, 1930
Led NL in wins in 1924, 1925
Led NL in strikeouts from 1922–1928

HOF, 1955, BBWAA 81.7% 12th Ballot

Comforting to know that the voters of old took 12 times to elect a player with the same damn stats. What is it with these guys?

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, Wilbur Cooper





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Cooper

Arley Wilbur Cooper (February 24, 1892–August 7, 1973) was an American left-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A four-time winner of 20 games in the early 1920s, he was the first National League left-hander to win 200 games. He established NL records for left-handers – second only to Eddie Plank among all southpaws – for career wins (216), innings pitched (3466⅓) and games started (405); all were broken within several years by Eppa Rixey. His career earned run average of 2.89 is also the lowest of any left-hander with at least 3000 innings in the NL. He still holds the Pirates franchise records for career victories (202) and complete games (263); he also set club records, since broken, for innings (3201), strikeouts (1191), and games pitched (469).

Cooper was born in Bearsville, West Virginia, and his family moved to Waterford, Ohio when he was a boy. He began his professional career in 1911 with a Marion, Ohio minor league team partially owned by future U.S. President Warren G. Harding; some reports suggested that Harding was the person who recommended Cooper to the Pirates, although he pitched for another minor league team before reaching the majors. In his first start with Pittsburgh in 1912, he pitched a shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1916 he set a team record, still unbroken, with a 1.87 earned run average. He won at least 17 games each year from 1917 through 1924, peaking with seasons of 24, 22 and 23 wins from 1920 to 1922, and led the league in starts and complete games twice each, and in wins, innings and shutouts once each. He worked quickly in his starts, often not getting the signal from his catcher until he had already begun his windup. Also known as an excellent fielder, in 1920 he became the only pitcher in major league history to begin two triple plays in a single season (on July 7 and August 21), and in 1924 he picked off a record seven runners at third base; that year the Pirates finished within three games of first place, the closest he would come to a championship.

In October 1924 Cooper was traded to the Chicago Cubs, along with Charlie Grimm and Rabbit Maranville, in a decidedly unpopular six-player deal; he was greatly disappointed to leave the Pirates, and never pitched as effectively again. In 1925, while Pittsburgh won the NL pennant for the first time since 1909, he surpassed Rube Marquard for the NL career innings record for left-handers; the following year, he broke Marquard's league record for career starts. In June 1926 he was picked up by the Detroit Tigers, and he ended his major league career after eight games with the team, though he played in the minor leagues through 1930. Over his career, he was 216-178 with a 2.89 ERA in 517 games, and struck out 1252 batters in 3480 innings. In addition to his NL career records for left-handers in wins, starts and innings, he also ranked second among league southpaws to Marquard in strikeouts (1250) and games pitched (509), second to Ted Breitenstein in complete games (279), and second to Nap Rucker in shutouts (35). His Pirates team records for innings and strikeouts were later surpassed by Bob Friend, and his record for games pitched was broken by teammate Babe Adams in 1926. Cooper, who batted right-handed, was also a fine hitter, and teammate Pie Traynor recalled that he would often bat in the #8 slot when he was starting; in 1924, he batted .346 in 104 at bats. He had a career .239 average with 6 home runs.

Cooper died of a heart attack at age 81 in Encino, California.

Career statistics
Win-loss record 216-178
Earned run average 2.89
Strikeouts 1252
Teams

Pittsburgh Pirates (1912–1924)
Chicago Cubs (1925–1926)
Detroit Tigers (1926)

Career highlights and awards

National League wins champion: 1921
2-time National League complete game leader


First Arley I have took note of since old man Mr.Huff up the street, when I was a kid. Good name, should be more of them.

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Catcher, Bubbles Hargrave





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubbles_Hargrave

Eugene Franklin "Bubbles" Hargrave (July 15, 1892 – February 23, 1969) was an American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Yankees. He won the National League batting title in 1926 while playing for Cincinnati. Bubbles' younger brother, Pinky Hargrave, was also a major league catcher.

Biography

Hargrave was born in New Haven, Indiana. He started his professional baseball career in 1911 in the Central League and made his major league debut in 1913 with the Chicago Cubs. He was their backup catcher until 1915. From 1916 to 1920, he played mostly in the American Association. In 1920, he had a big season with the St. Paul Saints, batting .335 with 22 home runs and finishing second in the league batting race. St. Paul won the pennant.[1]

Hargrave was then acquired by the Cincinnati Reds. He was their starting catcher for most of the 1920s and consistently put up good hitting numbers. In 1926, he won the National League batting title with a .353 average. The rules at the time required batting champions to play in at least 100 games, and Hargrave pinch hit several times to get to 105. He was the first catcher to lead the NL in batting average.[2] In 1927, he led the league's catchers in fielding percentage.

Hargrave went back to St. Paul for the 1929 season. He managed the club to a second place finish and also made the league All-Star team.[3] He batted .369 in 104 games.[4] The following year, Hargrave served as a backup catcher for the New York Yankees. He then went back to the minors for a few seasons before retiring in 1934.

After his baseball days, Hargrave worked for a valve company.[5] He died at age 76 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1962 and the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005.

Career statistics
Batting average .310
Home runs 29
Runs batted in 376
Teams

Chicago Cubs (1913-1915)
Cincinnati Reds (1921-1928)
New York Yankees (1930)

Career highlights and awards

National League batting champion: 1926

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, First Baseman, Jack Fournier





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Fournier

John Frank "Jack" Fournier (September 28, 1889 – September 5, 1973) was a first baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Robins, and Boston Braves.

Purchased by the White Sox from the Red Sox in 1912, Fournier presented Clarence "Pants" Rowland, and a half-dozen other managers, with the dilemma of what to do with this poor-fielding, pure hitter. Rowland solved that problem in 1916, a year after Fournier had led the AL in slugging, by replacing him at first base with the marginal Jack Ness. Before 1920, a first baseman was one of the key fielding positions because of the constant threat of the bunt; Fournier could not field the bunt with any degree of competence.

Fournier hit .350 for the Yankees in limited duty in 1918 before they passed him off to the Cardinals. After three productive years in St. Louis, Fournier was dealt to Brooklyn on February 15, 1923. Fournier said he would quit the game rather than leave St. Louis, but he eventually ended his holdout and reported to the Dodgers. Fournier had found his spot, among an offensive unit that included Zack Wheat, Milt Stock, and Zack Taylor. He turned in a six-for-six performance on June 29 of that year, hit .351, and made a league-high 21 errors. In 1924, Fournier led the NL with 27 home runs, and in 1925 was second to Rogers Hornsby with 130 RBI.

Fournier hit 136 career home runs in 14 seasons while rapping .313 with a .393 on-base percentage. He also racked up three straight seasons (1923–25) with 20+ home runs, 20+ doubles, a .400 or higher on-base percentage, a .330 plus batting average, and 90+ runs. Bill James ranked him as the 35th best first baseman of all-time.[1]

Following his playing career, Fournier was the head coach at UCLA from 1934 to 1936. He later scouted for the St. Louis Browns (1938–1942, 1944–1949), Chicago Cubs (1950–1957), Detroit Tigers (1960), and Cincinnati Reds (1961–1962).

Career statistics
Batting average .313
Home runs 136
RBI 859
Teams

Chicago White Sox (1912–1917)
New York Yankees (1918)
St. Louis Cardinals (1920-1922)
Brooklyn Robins (1923-1926)
Boston Braves (1927)

Career highlights and awards

League leader in home runs: 1924 (27)
League leader in walks: 1925 (86)

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Second Baseman, George Grantham





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Grantham

George Farley "Boots" Grantham (May 20, 1900 in Galena, Kansas - March 16, 1954 in Kingman, Arizona), was a former professional baseball player who played second base in the Major Leagues from 1922 through 1934. He played for the Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, and New York Giants. He attended Northern Arizona University.
Hitting stats

1,444 Games
1,508 Hits
105 Home Runs
712 RBIs
.302 Batting Average



http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...rantge01.shtml

Since there wasn't to much info about Grantham @ Wiki, I decided to add the link for his BR page.

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Third Baseman, Jimmy Johnston





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Johnston

James Harle Johnston (December 10, 1889, Cleveland, Tennessee—February 14, 1967, Chattanooga, Tennessee) was a major-league baseball player from 1911 through 1926. He played mostly with the Brooklyn Robins of the National League.

Jimmy Johnston, who batted and threw right-handed, made his major-league debut on May 3, 1911 with the Chicago White Sox. He played only one game that season, and did not return to the majors until 1914, when he played 50 games with the Chicago Cubs. From 1916 through 1925 he was with the Brooklyn Robins. He finished up his career the following year, playing for two teams that year. His final game was played on September 11, 1926.

Flexibility was the reason for Jimmy Johnston's long career. He played 13 seasons, 10 of them with the Brooklyn Robins. He played 448 games at third base, 354 in the outfield, 243 at second, 178 at shortstop, and 49 at first base.

He had a decent .294 lifetime batting average, hitting in the .270 to .280 range near the end of the dead-ball era and going over .300 once the live-ball era started. He stole 169 bases in his career, mostly from 1916 to 1923. He had little power, except in 1921 when he had 41 doubles and 14 triples.

He appeared in the 1916 and 1920 World Series. He was used selectively. In the 1916 World Series he started two of the games, batting in the lead-off position. In the 1920 World Series, he appeared in four of the games, batting second mostly but also batting sixth in one of the games.

Almost all of his managers were Hall of Famers. Hugh Duffy managed him in 1911, Wilbert Robinson in his Brooklyn days, Dave Bancroft in Boston, and John McGraw in New York. The only non-Hall-of-Famer was Hank O'Day in 1914.

After his playing career ended, Jimmy Johnston was a coach with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1931. James married Nora Belle JONES on Nov 1 1910. Nora was born July 31, 1888. She died May 14, 1974 in Chattanooga, Hamilton, TN and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, Hamilton Co, TN.

They had the following children:

James Hunter JOHNSTON was born January 10, 1913 and died September 2, 2001. Dorothy JOHNSTON was born 1915. She died 1928. Ruth JOHNSTON Harris Gregg JOHNSTON Caroline Virginia JOHNSTON was born October 23, 1922 and died February 4, 2006.

Career statistics
Batting average .294
Home runs 22
Runs batted in 410
Stolen bases 169
Teams

Chicago White Sox (1911)
Chicago Cubs (1914)
Brooklyn Robins (1916-1925)
Boston Braves (1926)
New York Giants (1926)

Ruth JOHNSTON Harris Gregg JOHNSTON Caroline Virginia JOHNSTON was born October 23, 1922 and died February 4, 2006.

Now I can see triplets being born the same date, but to die on the same date is odd and had to be a car wreck/plane crash, or something like that.

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Shortstop, Rabbit Maranville





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Maranville

Walter James Vincent Maranville (November 11, 1891 – January 5, 1954), better known as Rabbit Maranville due to his speed and small stature (5'5", 155 pounds), was a Major League Baseball shortstop. At the time of his retirement in 1935, he had played in a record 23 seasons in the National League, a mark which wasn't broken until 1986 by Pete Rose. He was known as one of "baseball's most famous clowns" due to his practical jokes and lack of inhibitions.[1]

When he was appointed manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1925—one of their worst seasons ever—he did not change his behavior. One night he went through a Pullman car dumping water on sleeping players' heads, saying, "No sleeping under Maranville management, especially at night." Not long after that, he was out on the street outside Ebbets Field in Brooklyn mimicking a newsboy hawking papers. He cried out, "Read all about it! Maranville fired!" And so he was—the very next day.[2]

Over his lengthy career, Maranville played for the Boston Braves (1912–1920, 1929–1933, 1935), Pittsburgh Pirates (1921–1924), Chicago Cubs (1925), Brooklyn Robins (1926) and St. Louis Cardinals (1927–1928). He retired having compiled a .258 batting average, 2,605 hits, 1,255 runs, 28 home runs, 884 RBI and 291 stolen bases. As a shortstop, he finished his career with a positional record 5,139 putouts.[3] He won his only World Series championship in 1914 as a member of the Braves, and won his only other National League championship in 1928 as a member of the Cardinals.

Maranville was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954, after 13 failed attempts. He has the lowest batting average of any shortstop in the Hall of Fame.

Career statistics
Batting average .258
Home runs 28
Runs batted in 884
Hits 2605
Teams

Boston Braves (1912–1920; 1929–1933; 1935)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1921–1924)
Chicago Cubs (1925)
Brooklyn Robins (1926)
St. Louis Cardinals (1927–1928)

Career highlights and awards

World Series champion: 1914
National League pennant: 1928

HOF, BBWAA, 82.94% 14th Ballot