Bill James AL 1920-1929 All Decade Team

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, Herb Pennock





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

Herbert Jefferis Pennock (February 10, 1894 — January 30, 1948) was a left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his time spent with the star-studded New York Yankee teams of the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Pennock won two World Series championships with the Red Sox and then four World Series championships with the Yankees. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948.

Born in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Pennock went straight from high school to the major leagues by joining the Philadelphia Athletics in 1912. In 1914, Pennock showed promise, going 11-4 with a 2.79 ERA in just 151 2/3 innings pitched for the World Series-bound Athletics (they lost to the Boston Braves), but he started poorly the following year and was sold to the Boston Red Sox by Philadelphia manager Connie Mack.

Pennock's break-out year came in 1919, a year after not seeing any major league action, when he went 16-8 with a 2.71 ERA in 219 innings pitched. It was the first time he topped 200 innings in a season, but that would be the trend over the decade. After a dismal 1922 campaign in which he went 10-17, Pennock was traded to the New York Yankees. In New York, he had some of his finest seasons. In 1924, he went 21-9 with a 2.83 ERA while striking out a career-high 101 batters. In 1926 he posted a career-high 23 wins.

In 1929, Pennock saw his pitching time and pitching quality diminish. Over the rest of his career, never posted more than 189 innings pitched and didn't see his ERA drop below 4.00. Pennock eventually bowed out of the game in 1934, after a season spent largely in relief for the Red Sox. He finished with 240 wins, 162 losses and a 3.60 ERA.

Pennock pitched in five World Series, one with Philadelphia and four with New York, amassed a 5-0 career postseason record with two Saves, and was a part of seven World Series championships (1913, 1915, 1916, 1923, 1927, 1928, and 1932). Pennock was in the service in 1918 and missed out on Boston's World Series victory.

After retiring, Pennock became a coach and farm system director of the Red Sox, then, from 1944–48, the general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies. He died in 1948 at the age of 53 after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage, just weeks before he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included Pennock in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

Career statistics
Win-Loss 240-162
Earned run average 3.60
Strikeouts 1227
Teams

Philadelphia Athletics (1912-1915)
Boston Red Sox (1915-1922)
New York Yankees (1923-1933)
Boston Red Sox (1934)

Career highlights and awards

Led the AL in innings pitched in 1925 with 277.0
Led the AL in shutouts in 1928 with 5
Was part of AL pennant-winning teams in 1913 and 1926
World Series titles in 1913, 1915, 1916, 1923, 1927, 1928 and 1932

HOF, 1948, BBWAA 77.69% 8th Ballot

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, Waite Hoyt





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

Early life

Hoyt was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended Erasmus Hall High School.[1] Despite being a Dodgers fan he was signed to a professional contract by New York Giants manager John McGraw when he was but 15. Because of his extreme youth, he was immediately nicknamed "The Schoolboy Wonder." But Hoyt would not achieve his greatest success as a Giant.

After a brief stint with the Giants, McGraw sent the young pitcher to the minors for seasoning. It wasn't long before he reappeared in the majors, this time with the Boston Red Sox. His performance there attracted the attention of the Yankees, who acquired him in 1920. In his first season as a Yankee, 1921, he rose to instant stardom, winning 19 games and pitching three complete games in the World Series without allowing an earned run — over his career, he would win six American League pennants with the Yankees and one with the Philadelphia Athletics. In his finest years with the Yankees, 1927 and 1928, Hoyt would post records of 22 wins and 7 losses with a 2.64 ERA and 23 wins and 7 losses with a 3.36 ERA. During his 21-year career, he won 10 or more games 12 times, 11 of them consecutively. Hoyt pitched for eight years after leaving the Yankees in 1930, but did not consistently display similar levels of pitching dominance.

Hoyt finished his career with a win-loss record of 237–182 and an ERA of 3.59. By the time he retired in 1938, he was the winningest pitcher in World Series history (his World Series record with the Yankees and A's is 6-4).

His Brooklyn origins along with his unique surname led to the probably-apocryphal story that he was injured on one occasion, and a fellow Brooklynite remarked, "Hurt's hoyt!"

In addition to the "Schoolboy" moniker appearing on his Hall of Fame plaque, Hoyt was also known as "The Merry Mortician." For when he wasn't playing baseball he spent days working as a funeral director and nights appearing on vaudeville. As a vaudevillian, he appeared with many of the most well-known performers of the day, including Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, George Burns, and others. He kept in good shape during the off-season by playing semi-pro basketball.

He added to his repertoire by becoming an accomplished painter and writer. He was well-known as the pre-eminent authority on Babe Ruth, who was his teammate for almost 10 years. Robert Creamer, author of the definitive Ruth biography Babe, indicated in that book's introduction that the novella-length memoir written by Hoyt shortly after Ruth's death was "by far the most revealing and rewarding work on Ruth."

A longtime member of Alcoholics Anonymous, during the 1978 Old-Timers' Day, Hoyt said wistfully that he'd have won 300 games if he had stopped drinking during his playing days. After joining A.A., he remained sober for more than 40 years.

As a broadcaster

After retiring as a player, Hoyt went into broadcasting. During a stint as the host of "Grandstand and Bandstand" on WMCA, he tried to audition for the Yankees, but sponsor Wheaties vetoed him out of hand. The common view at the time was that former players didn't have enough of a vocabulary to be successful broadcasters. However, Hoyt was well known for telling umpire George Moriarty that he was "out of his element" and was better suited to being a policeman so he could "insult people with impunity."

Dodgers' voice Red Barber, however, thought more of Hoyt's abilities and hired him as color commentator and host of the pre- and post-game shows in 1940. After two years, he became the play-by-play voice of the Cincinnati Reds, a post he held for 24 years. He became as much a celebrity with the Reds as he was while a player. He was well known for calling games exclusively in past tense, which was and still is unusual for sportscasting. Where most baseball announcers would say, "Here's the pitch!" Hoyt would say, "There was the pitch!" He told author Curt Smith that he felt using past tense was more accurate because "as I speak to you, what happened a moment ago is gone." He often referred to himself as "a bad-news broadcaster," since the Reds were only a serious contender for the pennant nine times in his tenure. On August 16, 1948, Hoyt paid tribute to Babe Ruth, speaking on the air without notes for two hours upon learning of his death after a game. He called the 1961 World Series for NBC, during a time when it was common for the network to use the home team's primary broadcasters for the Fall Classic.[2]

He retired from full-time broadcasting work in 1965, though he would later make appearances on both radio and television including doing the color commentary for the Reds telecasts in 1972. Hoyt was known for entertaining radio audiences with anecdotes during rain delays. A selection of these stories is collected on two record albums "The Best of Waite Hoyt in the Rain" and "The Best of Waite Hoyt in the Rain, Volume 2." Whether one considers it a blessing or a curse on the subsequent evolution of sports broadcasting, Hoyt was one of the first professional athletes to develop a successful career in broadcasting and his name frequently appears on "all-time best" broadcaster lists.

On June 10, 2007, the Cincinnati Reds honored Hoyt, Marty Brennaman, and Joe Nuxhall with replica microphones that will hang on the wall near the radio booth.

Later life

An eternal optimist, Hoyt married his third wife, Betty Dearie in 1982. Dearie, a longtime fan, was an associate of Warren Giles, first President of the Reds and subsequently of the National League. Betty still lives in Cincinnati. Betty is interviewed extensively in the video biography "Waite's World". The bio was released on VHS in 1997 and includes interviews with his son Chris, the late hall of fame broadcaster Joe Nuxhall, reporter and television personality Nick Clooney, former Red Jim O'Toole and many more.

The aging Hoyt died of heart failure while preparing for what he realized would be his final visit to the Hall of Fame, in Cooperstown, New York.

Career statistics
Win–loss record 237-182
Earned run average 3.59
Strikeouts 1206
Saves 52
Teams

New York Giants (1918)
Boston Red Sox (1919-1920)
New York Yankees (1921-1930)
Detroit Tigers (1930-1931)
Philadelphia Athletics (1931)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1932)
New York Giants (1932)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1933-1937)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1937-1938)

Career highlights and awards

World Series champion: 1923, 1927, 1928
American League pennant: 1921, 1922, 1926, 1931
American League wins champion: 1927
2 20-win seasons

[Old Sweater]

Second Team, Pitcher, George Uhle





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

George Ernest Uhle (September 18, 1898 – February 26, 1985) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he began his playing career with his hometown Cleveland Indians. After ten seasons, during which time he led the American League in wins, innings pitched, complete games, shutouts, and games started, he was traded in 1928 to the Detroit Tigers for Jackie Tavener and Ken Holloway. He went on to play with the New York Giants, New York Yankees, and again with the Indians. When his career ended in 1936, he had won 200 games. His lifetime batting average of .288 is still a record for a pitcher (not playing at any other position).

Career statistics
Pitching Record 200-166
Earned run average 3.99
Strikeouts 1135
Teams

Cleveland Indians (1919-1926, 1936)
Detroit Tigers (1929-1932)
New York Giants (1933)
New York Yankees (1933-1935)

Career highlights and awards

Led league in wins in 1923 & 1926
Has highest career batting average for a pitcher (.288)

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Catcher, Mickey Cochrane





Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane (April 6, 1903 – June 28, 1962) was a professional baseball player and manager.[1] He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers. Cochrane was considered one of the best catchers in baseball history and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.



^ Cochrane (right), with Jimmie Foxx, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

Playing career

Philadelphia Athletics

Cochrane was born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts to Northern Irish immigrant John Cochrane, whose father had immigrated to Ulster from Scotland and Scottish immigrant Sadie Campbell.[2] He was also known as "Black Mike", because of his fiery, competitive nature.[2][3] Cochrane was educated at Boston University where he played five sports, excelling at football and basketball.[5] Although he considered himself better as a football player than as a baseball player, professional football wasn't as established as Major League Baseball at the time so, Cochrane signed a contract to play for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League in 1924.[6]

After just one season in the minor leagues, Cochrane was promoted to the major leagues, making his debut with the Philadelphia Athletics on April 14, 1925 at the age of 22.[1] He made an immediate impact by earning the starting catcher's assignment over Cy Perkins, who was considered one of the best catchers in the major leagues at the time. A left-handed batter, Cochrane ran well enough that manager Connie Mack would occasionally insert him into the leadoff spot in the batting order. Most frequently, Cochrane would bat third, but wherever he hit, his primary job was to get on base so that hard-hitting Al Simmons and Jimmie Foxx could drive him in. In May, he tied a major league record by hitting three home runs in a game.[8] He ended his rookie season with a .331 batting average and a .397 on base percentage, helping the Athletics to a second place finish.

By the start of the 1926 season, Cochrane was already considered the best catcher in the major leagues.[9] Cochrane won the 1928 Most Valuable Player Award mostly due to his leadership and defensive skills, when he led the American League in putouts and hit for a .293 batting average along with 10 home runs and 58 runs batted in.[2][10] Cochrane was a catalyst in the pennant-winning years of 1929, 1930 and 1931 when he hit .331, .357 and .349 respectively.[1][5] He played in three World Series with the Athletics, and was sometimes blamed for the loss of the 1931 World Series, when the St. Louis Cardinals led by Pepper Martin, stole eight bases in the series, although, in his book, The Life of a Baseball Hall of Fame Catcher, author Charlie Bevis cites the Philadelphia pitching staff's carelessness at holding baserunners close to their bases as a contributing factor.[11][12] Regardless, the blame for the World Series loss would dog Cochrane for the rest of his life.

Detroit Tigers

In 1934, Connie Mack started to disassemble his dynasty for financial reasons and sold Cochrane to the Detroit Tigers, who made him player-manager.[5] It was with the Tigers that Cochrane cemented his reputation as a team leader.[5] His competitive nature drove the Tigers, who had been picked to finish in fourth or fifth place, to the 1934 American League championship, their first pennant in twenty-five years.[5][13][14] Cochrane's leadership skills won him the 1934 Most Valuable Player Award, remarkable considering that Lou Gehrig won the Triple Crown and also finished with a much higher W.A.R. (10.7 versus 4.3).[5][15] He followed this by leading the Tigers to another American League pennant in 1935 and a victory over the Chicago Cubs in the 1935 World Series.[16] Due in part to his high strung nature, he suffered a nervous breakdown during the 1936 season.[5]

Cochrane's playing career came to a sudden end on May 25, 1937 when he was hit in the head by a pitch by Yankees pitcher Bump Hadley. Hospitalized for seven days, the injury nearly killed him. His accident generated a call for batter helmets, but tradition won out. [17] Ordered by doctors not to play baseball again (he was just 34 years old), Cochrane returned to the dugout but had lost his competitive fire.[14] He managed for the remainder of the 1937 season and was replaced midway through the 1938 season.[5] Cochrane's all-time managerial record was 348-250, for a .582 winning percentage.[18]

Despite his head injury, Cochrane served in the United States Navy during World War II,[3][5] as did Bill Dickey of the Yankees, giving the Navy the two greatest catchers baseball had yet seen; with Yogi Berra also serving but not yet having reached the major leagues, there were actually three possible "greatest catchers ever" in the WWII-era Navy. Having been a heavy smoker, Cochrane died in 1962 in Lake Forest, Illinois of lymphatic cancer, at the age of 59.



^ Mickey Cochrane in the cover of Time Magazine in 1935

Career statistics and honors

Cochrane compiled a .320 batting average while hitting 119 home runs over a 13 year playing career.[1] His .320 batting average was the highest career total for catchers until being surpassed by Joe Mauer in 2009.[19] His .419 on-base percentage is among the best in baseball history, and is the highest all-time among catchers.[2][20] In 1932, Cochrane became the first catcher in Major League Baseball history to score 100 runs and have 100 RBI in the same season.[21] He hit for the cycle twice in his career, on July 22, 1932 and on August 2, 1933.[22][23] In his first 11 years, he never caught fewer than 110 games.[2] Cochrane led American League catchers six times in putouts, and twice each in double plays, assists and fielding percentage.[23][24]

In 1947, Cochrane became the second catcher enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame, after Roger Bresnahan.[4][25] With the Athletics having moved out of Philadelphia in 1954, and never retiring the uniform number 2 he wore with them, the Philadelphia Phillies honored Cochrane by electing him to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame at Veterans Stadium.[26] The Athletics' plaques from that display have been moved to the Philadelphia Athletics Museum in Hatboro, Pennsylvania. The Tigers honored him by renaming National Avenue, behind the third-base stands at Tiger Stadium, Cochrane Avenue, but have never retired the uniform number 3 he wore with them.

In 1999, he ranked number 65 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.[27][28] New York Yankees Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle was named after Cochrane.

Career statistics
Batting average .320
Home runs 119
Runs batted in 832
Teams

As player

Philadelphia Athletics (1925–1933)
Detroit Tigers (1934–1937)

As manager

Detroit Tigers (1934–1938)

Career highlights and awards

2× All-Star selection (1934, 1935)
3× World Series champion (1929, 1930, 1935)
2× AL MVP (1928, 1934)

HOF, 1947, BBWAA 79.5%, Fifth Ballot

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, First Baseman, Lou Gehrig





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

Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig set several major league records.[1] He holds the record for most career grand slams (23).[2] Gehrig is chiefly remembered for his prowess as a hitter, his consecutive games-played record and its subsequent longevity, and the pathos of his farewell from baseball at age 36, when he was stricken with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Gehrig was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. In 1969 he was voted the greatest first baseman of all time by the Baseball Writers' Association,[3] and was the leading vote-getter on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, chosen by fans in 1999.[4]

A native of New York City, he played for the New York Yankees until his career was cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), now commonly known in the United States and Canada as Lou Gehrig's disease.[5] Over a 15-season span from 1925 through 1939, he played in 2,130 consecutive games, the streak ending only when Gehrig became disabled by the fatal neuromuscular disease that claimed his life two years later. His streak, long considered one of baseball's few unbreakable records,[6] stood for 56 years, until finally broken by Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles on September 6, 1995.

Gehrig accumulated 1,995 runs batted in (RBI) in 17 seasons, with a career batting average of .340, on-base percentage of .447, and slugging percentage of .632. Three of the top six RBI seasons in baseball history belong to Gehrig. He was selected to each of the first seven All-Star games (though he did not play in the 1939 game, as he retired one week before it was held),[7] and he won the American League's Most Valuable Player award in 1927 and 1936. He was also a Triple Crown winner in 1934, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and RBIs.

Career statistics
Batting average .340
Home runs 493
Hits 2,721
Runs batted in 1,995
Teams

New York Yankees (1923–1939)

Career highlights and awards

7× All-Star selection (1933, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939)
6× World Series champion (1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938)
2× AL MVP (1927, 1936)
Hit four home runs in one game on June 3, 1932
New York Yankees team captain (1935–1939)
New York Yankees #4 retired
Major League Baseball All-Century Team
Other accomplishments

HOF, 1939, Special Election

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Second Baseman, Bucky Harris



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

Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris (November 8, 1896 – November 8, 1977) was a Major League Baseball player, manager and executive. In 1975, the Veterans Committee elected Harris, as a manager, to the Baseball Hall of Fame.[1]

Harris was born in Port Jervis, New York and raised mostly in Pittston, Pennsylvania. Harris was discovered by baseball promoter Joe Engel, who led the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium. In 1919, at the age of 22, he came up to the Washington Senators, where his initial performance was unimpressive.[2] Harris' batting average was a meager .214, and he participated in only eight games in his first season.[2] Despite this poor showing, club owner Clark Griffith made him Washington's regular second baseman in 1920, and before long, Harris was batting .300, while distinguishing himself as a tough competitor.[2] The young player stood up even to the ferocious Ty Cobb, who threatened Harris when he tagged Cobb in their first encounter.[2]

Harris spent most of his playing career as a second baseman with Washington Senators (1919–28). One of baseball's "boy managers", Harris both played for and managed the Senators beginning in 1924. At the age of 27, he was the youngest regular major league manager, also serving as the team's second baseman.[2] Harris directed the team to a World Series Championship in his rookie season and the AL pennant the following year.[3] Baseball historian William C. Kashatus noted that, during the 1924 World Series, Harris excelled as a player.[4] "Not only did he set records for chances accepted, double plays and put-outs in the exciting seven-game affair, but he batted .333 and hit two home runs".[4]

After leaving the Senators initially in 1928 (he would twice return to manage them again from 1935–42 and from 1950–54), Harris was traded to the Detroit Tigers as player-manager.[1] His playing career essentially ended in 1928, though he had a few cameo appearances with the Tigers in 1929 and 1931. He managed the Tigers twice (1929–33, 1955–56), Boston Red Sox (1934), Philadelphia Phillies (briefly known as the Blue Jays, 1943), and the 1947 World Champion New York Yankees.[1] He closed his 29-year managing career with the 1956 Tigers,[1] then rejoined the Red Sox as assistant general manager in 1957–58. He succeeded Joe Cronin as Boston's GM in January 1959 and served two seasons in that post before his release in September 1960. On his watch, however, the BoSox finally broke the baseball color line by promoting Pumpsie Green from Triple-A on July 21, 1959. Late in his career, Harris was a scout for the Chicago White Sox and special assistant for the expansion Washington franchise that existed from 1961–71.

Bucky Harris died in Bethesda, Maryland, on his 81st birthday, and was buried at Saint Peter's Lutheran Church (in Hughestown, Pennsylvania).

During his 29-season managerial career, Harris presided over two world championships and three pennants.[1] He is sixth in MLB manager career wins with 2,157 wins to his name.[1]

Harris is mentioned in a version of Abbott & Costello's famous Who's on First? routine.

Parents: Thomas Harris, born ca. 1867, England or Wales, and Catherine (Rupp) Harris, born Hughestown, Pennsylvania; brother: Merle Harris, born Pennsylvania.

Career statistics
Batting average .274
Hits 1297
Runs batted in 506
Stolen bases 167
Managerial record 2157-2218
Teams

As Player

Washington Senators (1919-1928)
Detroit Tigers (1929, 1931)

As Manager

Washington Senators (1924-1928, 1935-1942, 1950)-1954)
Detroit Tigers (1929-1933, 1955-1956)
Boston Red Sox (1934)
Philadelphia Phillies (1943)
New York Yankees (1947-1948)

Career highlights and awards

World Series champion 1924, 1947
American League champion 1925
Managerial record: 2157-2218
General Manager of the Boston Red Sox (1959-1960)

HOF, 1975, Veterans Committee

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Third Baseman, Joe Dugan





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

Joseph Anthony (Joe) Dugan (May 12, 1897 - July 7, 1982), was an American professional baseball player.[1] Nicknamed "Jumping Joe", he played in Major League Baseball as a shortstop and third baseman from 1917 through 1931. Dugan played for the Philadelphia Athletics (1917–22), Boston Red Sox (1922), New York Yankees (1922–28), Boston Braves (1929) and Detroit Tigers (1931). He was considered one of the best defensive third basemen of his era.

Baseball career

Born in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, Dugan went directly from the College of the Holy Cross to the major leagues.[4] He made his major league debut with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics on July 5, 1917. Dugan struggled as a hitter his first two years, batting only a combined .195, but in 1919 he batted .271, and then the next year hit .322.[1] By 1920, Dugan was being cited as the best third baseman in the major leagues.[5] He was moved permanently to third base in 1921, and would be a steady .280-.300 hitter as well as a fine defensive third baseman for the rest of his career.

It was in his first years in baseball that Dugan acquired the nickname of "Jumping", a nickname bestowed on him since he would often take unauthorized leaves from the team.[4] After committing a few errors, he was booed by the Philadelphia fans.[6] Sensitive and temperamental, he would leave the team until Mack was able to coax him back.[7] Word of his departure spread around the league and, he would often be taunted by fans with the cry,"I want to go home!"[4]

In 1922, Dugan was traded by the Athletics to the Boston Red Sox.[8] On July 23, 1922 he was sent by the Red Sox to the New York Yankees in a controversial deal. Red Sox owner Harry Frazee had been unloading his Red Sox players almost haphazardly, and Dugan's acquisition by the Yankees helped them edge out the St. Louis Browns in a tight 1922 pennant race. Because Dugan's trade occurred in the latter part of the season, and worried that teams might try to buy their way to a pennant during the season, Major league Baseball would later move up its trading deadline to June 15.[9]

Dugan had his most productive season in 1923, when he hit .283, scored 111 runs, and led the league's third basemen in fielding percentage to help the Yankees win their first world championship.[1] In a United Press International article, Dugan was proclaimed the hero of the 1923 World Series for his spectacular defensive performance as well as his timely hitting which produced 5 runs batted in.[10] Dugan posted a .302 batting average in 1924 and, in a year end poll of major league baseball players, he was a near-unanimous selection as the best third baseman in the American League.[11]

Yankees manager Miller Huggins named Dugan as his leadoff hitter at the beginning of the 1925 season.[12] In August, he suffered a severely wrenched knee and had to miss the rest of the season.[13] He posted a .292 batting average for the season and once again led American League third basemen in fielding percentage.[1] Dugan was the starting third baseman on the 1927 Yankees, a team considered by many the greatest baseball team of all-time, although by this time Dugan was past his prime as injuries began to take their toll on his body.[14][15] In August 1928, Huggins replaced Dugan at third base with Mike Gazella in an effort to get more offense from the lineup.[16] After appearing in just 94 games, the Yankees gave Dugan his unconditional release in December of that year.

He signed a contract to play for the Boston Braves in 1929 and finished the season with a .304 batting average in 60 games. Dugan didn't play in 1930 but returned to play for the Detroit Tigers as a utility player in 1931. After playing in just eight games, he was released after playing his final major league game on May 26.

Career statistics
Batting average .280
Hits 1516
RBI 571
Teams

Philadelphia Athletics (1917-1921)
Boston Red Sox (1922)
New York Yankees (1922-1928)
Boston Braves (1929)
Detroit Tigers (1931)

Career highlights and awards

AL leader in at bats in 1923 with 644

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Shortstop, Wally Gerber





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

Walter Gerber (August 18, 1891 - June 19, 1951) was a professional baseball player. He played all or part of fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1914-15), St. Louis Browns (1917-28) and Boston Red Sox (1928-29), primarily as a shortstop. He batted and threw right-handed.

A native of Columbus, Ohio, Gerber was a fine infielder with quick hands and a fine throwing arm. From 1914 through 1918 he served as an utility for the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Browns, becoming the everyday shortstop for the Browns during the next nine seasons.

In 1923 Gerber set a major league for shortstops with 48 fielding chances in four consecutive games.[citation needed] Despite he led American League in errors in 1919 (45) and 1920 (52), he settled down to lead the league in double plays four times. Basically a lines drive hitter, his most productive season came in 1923, when he posted career-highs in batting average (.281), runs (85), hits (170), doubles (26), runs batted in (62) and games played (154). That season he was named to the Babe Ruth All-Star team, the year he won notoriety for his "$18,000 base hit" against the Detroit Tigers, which gave the Browns third place in the American League and a split in the World Series money.[citation needed] He played his final game with the Boston Red Sox in 1919.

In a 15-season career, Gerber batted .257 with seven home runs and 476 RBI in 1522 games. A disciplined hitter, he posted a fine 1.302 walk-to-strikeout ratio (465-to-357) in 5,099 at bats. As a shortstop, he recorded 2960 putouts, 4319 assists, 741 double plays, and 439 errors in 7718 chances for a .943 fielding percentage.

Following his playing career, Gerber served as an umpire in the Middle Atlantic League and also worked as a supervisor with the City Recreation Division of Ohio.[citation needed]

Gerber died in Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 59 and is buried in Green Lawn Cemetery.

Career statistics
Batting average .257
Home runs 7
Runs batted in 476
Teams

Pittsburgh Pirates (1914-15)
St. Louis Browns (1917-28)
Boston Red Sox (1928-29)

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Left Fielder, Ken Williams





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Wil...%28baseball%29

Kenneth Roy Williams (June 28, 1890 Grants Pass, Oregon - January 22, 1959, Grants Pass) was an American professional baseball player.[1] He played as an outfielder in Major League Baseball from 1915 to 1929. Williams began his major league career with the Cincinnati Reds before spending the majority of his playing days with the St. Louis Browns and, finally ended his career playing for the Boston Red Sox.[1] He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.[1] Williams was the first member of Major League Baseball's 30–30 club, for players who have reached the 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases plateaus in the same season.

Playing career

Williams began his professional baseball career in 1913 at the age of 23, playing for the Regina Red Sox of the Western Canada League.[3] In 1914, he played for the Edmonton Eskimos before moving to the Spokane Indians in 1915.[3] After posting a .340 batting average in 79 games for the Indians, he made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on July 14, 1915.[1] He hit for a .242 average in 71 games for the Reds during the peak of the Dead-ball era when only 6 players in the league hit above the .300 mark.[4] He played in only 10 games for the Reds in 1916, spending most of the season with Spokane and with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League.[1][3] Williams hit 24 home runs along with a .313 batting average for Portland in 1917 before being purchased by the St. Louis Browns.[3]

Williams was drafted into the United States Army in April 1918 and only appeared in only two games for the Browns that season.[5] He returned to the Browns in 1919 and hit for a .300 average along with 6 home runs in 65 games.[1] In 1920, Major League Baseball outlawed specialty pitches such as the spitball and experienced a subsequent jump in the league batting averages as well as home runs.[6] In Williams's first full season as a regular player in 1920, he posted a .307 batting average along with 10 home runs and 72 runs batted in.[1] He continued to improve in 1921 with a .347 batting average with 24 home runs, 117 runs batted in and a career-high .429 on base percentage.[1]

Williams had the best season of his career in 1922, leading the American League with 39 home runs and 155 runs batted in as, the Browns finished the season one game behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees.[1][7] 32 of his 39 home runs were hit at home in Sportsman's Park.[8] On August 7, 1922, during a game against the Washington Senators, he became the first player in American League history to hit two home runs in one inning.[9][10] His 39 home runs topped Babe Ruth, who had led the league the previous four seasons although, Ruth had been suspended well into the 1922 season by Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis for violating a curb on barnstorming.[2][11] He was one of only two players to break Babe Ruth's twelve-year string in which he led the American League in home runs (the other being Bob Meusel).[11] Also in 1922, Williams also became the first player in history to have 30 home runs and 30-plus stolen bases in the same season, which would not be achieved again until Willie Mays accomplished the feat with the New York Giants in 1956.[11]

In August 1923, the Washington Senators came into possession of one of Williams' bats and discovered that it had been bored out and plugged with a lighter wood.[12] The bat was turned over to National League umpire George Hildebrand for investigation and the Senators protested all the victories by the Browns in which Williams had used the bat.[12] Williams explained that he had ordered the bat specially made but, when he received it, he found it to be too heavy, so he plugged it with a lighter wood.[12] He was cited in the 1924 Reach Guide for using a corked bat, although major league baseball hadn't ruled plugged bats illegal at the time.[11][13] He finished the 1923 season with a career-high .357 batting average along with 29 home runs and 91 runs batted in and ended the season 15th in Most Valuable Player Award balloting.[1][14]

In November 1924, it was rumored that the Yankees were trying to trade for Williams, which would have teamed him with Ruth to make one of the most powerful home run combinations in baseball. However, St. Louis manager George Sisler's insistence on the Yankees trading Waite Hoyt for Williams was too high a price for Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert.[15]

Williams had another productive season in 1925, hitting .331 with 25 home runs and 105 runs batted in, and led the league with a .613 slugging percentage.[1] Williams continued to hit well for the remainder of his career with St. Louis until December 15, 1927, when he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox from for $10,000.[1] He played two more seasons for the Red Sox, hitting for a .345 average in 1929 at the age of 39.[1] Williams returned to the minor leagues in 1930 to play two more seasons for the Portland Beavers before retiring in 1931 at the age of 41.

Career statistics

In a 14 year major league career, Williams played in 1397 games, accumulating 1552 hits in 4862 at bats for a .319 career batting average along with 196 home runs, 913 runs batted in and an on base percentage of .393.[1] He retired with a .958 fielding percentage.[1] As baseball evolved out of the dead-ball era, Williams finished in the top four in the American League in home runs in seven consecutive seasons (1921–1927). He posted ten seasons with a batting average above .300 and, three seasons in which he scored more than 100 runs.[1] As of 2010, Williams' .319 career batting average ranks 57th all-time in major league history.[16] His .924 career on-base plus slugging percentage and his .530 career slugging percentage, rank 45th and 49th respectively all-time among major league players.[17][18] Williams holds St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles single season record for runs batted in with 155 in 1922.[19] He is the St. Louis Browns all-time leader in On-base percentage (.403), Slugging Percentage (.558) and OPS (.961)

Career statistics
Batting average .319
Home runs 196
Runs batted in 913
Strikeouts 154
Teams

Cincinnati Reds (1915-1916)
St. Louis Browns (1918-1927)
Boston Red Sox (1928-1929)

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Center Fielder, Al Simmons





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

Aloysius Harry Simmons (May 22, 1902 - May 26, 1956), born Aloisius Szymanski[1] in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was an American player in Major League Baseball for two decades. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Career

A "bucketfoot" hitter (his nickname was "Bucketfoot Al") who strode toward third base when hitting, Simmons starred as an outfielder for the Philadelphia Athletics during their heyday in the early 1930s, then went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and Boston Red Sox.

Simmons hit 307 career home runs, also compiling more hits than any right-handed batter in American League history until surpassed by Al Kaline. A deadly clutch hitter and a favorite of manager Connie Mack, Simmons won batting titles in 1930 and 1931 to help the A's to consecutive pennants. He recorded a .300 batting average and 100 or more runs batted in (RBI) in his first eleven major league seasons. Simmons' accumulated 2,000 hits in 1,390 games, which remains the shortest number of games needed to attain that mark in major league history.

Al Simmons' best year as a player was in 1930, when he drove in 165 runs and scored 152 in 138 games. He played for twenty years from 1924 through 1941, then appearing in 1943-44 and accumulating a lifetime batting average of .334. After his playing days ended, Simmons served as a coach for Mack's Athletics (1945–49) and the Cleveland Indians (1950).

He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1951.

In a 1976 Esquire magazine article, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Al Simmons was the right fielder on Stein's Polish team.

Death

Simmons died of a heart attack in Milwaukee at age 54. He was buried at St. Adalbert's Cemetery in Milwaukee. In 1999, he ranked number 43 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Career statistics
Batting average .334
Hits 2,927
Home runs 307
Runs batted in 1,827
Teams

Philadelphia Athletics (1924–1932)
Chicago White Sox (1933–1935)
Detroit Tigers (1936)
Washington Senators (1937–1938)
Boston Braves (1939)
Cincinnati Reds (1939)
Philadelphia Athletics (1940–1941)
Boston Red Sox (1943)
Philadelphia Athletics (1944)

Career highlights and awards

3× All-Star selection (1933, 1934, 1935)
2× World Series champion (1929, 1930)

HOF, 1953, BBWAA, 75.4% 7th Ballot