Bill James NL 1940-1949 All Decade Teams

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Left Fielder, Augie Galan



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

August John (Augie) Galan (May 23, 1912 - December 28, 1993) was a left fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1934 through 1949, he played for the Chicago Cubs (1934–41), Brooklyn Dodgers (1941–46), Cincinnati Reds (1947–48), New York Giants (1949) and Philadelphia Athletics (1949). Galan threw right-handed and began his career as a switch hitter. Starting in the latter part of 1943, he became left-handed hitter until the end of his career. He was born in Berkeley, California.

In a 16-season career, Galan posted a .287 batting average with 100 home runs and 830 RBI in 1742 games played. In 1937, Galan was the first player in Major League Baseball to hit switch-hit home runs in a game.[1] Galan played in three World Series, but his teams never won. In 1935, he became the first full time player to make 649 plate appearances and not hit into a double play, though he did hit into a triple play. Augie was often injured (he broke his knee in 1940) and had a deformed arm from a childhood injury. His knee injury was what eventually made Galan give up batting from the right side of the plate.

Galan died in Fairfield, California, at 81 years of age.

Career statistics
Batting average .287
Home runs 100
Runs batted in 830
Teams

Chicago Cubs (1934–1941)
Brooklyn Dodgers (1941–1946)
Cincinnati Reds (1947–1948)
New York Giants (1949)
Philadelphia Athletics (1949)

Career highlights and awards

3× All-Star selection (1936, 1943, 1944)

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Center Fielder, Pete Reiser



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

Harold Patrick "Pete" Reiser (March 17, 1919 - October 25, 1981), nicknamed "Pistol Pete," was an outfielder in Major League Baseball during the 1940s and early 1950s. He played primarily for the Brooklyn Dodgers, and later for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Cleveland Indians.

Early career

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Reiser originally signed with his hometown Cardinals, but at age 19 he was among a group of minor league players declared free agents by Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Reportedly, Cardinal general manager Branch Rickey — mortified at losing a player of Reiser's caliber — arranged for the Dodgers to sign Reiser, hide him in the minors, then trade him back to St. Louis at a later date. But Reiser's stellar performances in spring training in both 1939 and 1940 forced the Dodgers to keep him.[1] (Rickey would become GM of the Dodgers after the 1942 season, and witness Reiser's injury-caused decline as a great talent.)

Being injury-prone

As a rookie in 1941, Reiser helped the Dodgers take home the pennant. He was a sensation that year, winning the National League batting title and also leading the league in doubles, triples, runs scored, and slugging percentage. The following season, he was hitting .383 in August until he ran into a concrete outfield wall while running at full speed. That incident robbed him of any more effective play that year, and caused Brooklyn's drop in the NL standings.

Reiser gave great effort on every play in the field, and was therefore very injury-prone. He fractured his skull running into an outfield wall on one occasion (but still made the throw back to the infield), was temporarily paralyzed on another, and was taken off the field on a stretcher a record 11 times.[2] Pete was once given his last rites in the ballpark.

Leo Durocher, who was Reiser's first major league manager, reflected many years later that in terms of talent, skill, and potential, there was only one other player comparable to Reiser - Willie Mays. Durocher also said that "Pete had more power than Willie — left-handed and right-handed both. He had everything but luck."[3]

Reiser, a switch hitter who sometimes restricted himself to batting left-handed because of injury, served in the United States Army during World War II, playing baseball for Army teams. While serving, he was injured again and had to learn to throw with both arms. Durocher said, "And he could throw at least as good as Willie [Mays] right-handed and left-handed."

When Reiser returned to the majors in 1946, he was still suffering from a shoulder injury from playing Army baseball.[4] He later said: "It wasn't as serious as the head injuries but it did more to end my career. The shoulder kept popping out of place, more bone chips developed, and there was constant pain in the arm and shoulder."

He was never the same hitter that he was early in his career. However, he still retained his speed and stole home plate a record seven times in 1946.

Later life

Reiser managed in the minors for several years (including the Kokomo Dodgers in 1956-57,[5][6] among others), winning the 1959 Minor League Manager of the Year Award from The Sporting News. He served as a coach on Walter Alston's Los Angeles Dodger staff from 1960–1964 (including the 1963 world championship team). However, he was forced to step down in 1965 as skipper of the AAA Spokane Indians as the result of a heart attack. His replacement was Duke Snider — the man who had once replaced Reiser as the center fielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

When Leo Durocher was named manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1966, he brought many of his former players to coach on his staff. Reiser was one of them (1966–1969; 1972–1974). He coached for the California Angels (1970–1971), as well.

In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. They explained what they called "the Smoky Joe Wood Syndrome," where a truly exceptional player had a career curtailed by injury, in spite of not having had career statistics that would quantitatively rank him with the all-time greats, should still be included on their list of the 100 greatest players.

Reiser died in Palm Springs, California, of respiratory disease, at age 62, and was buried at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

Career statistics
Batting average .295
Hits 786
Runs batted in 368
Teams

Brooklyn Dodgers (1940–1942, 1946–1948)
Boston Braves (1949–1950)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1951)
Cleveland Indians (1952)

Career highlights and awards

3× All-Star (1941, 1942, 1946)
World Series champion (1963)
1941 NL batting title

This is one player whose injuries robbed him of a HOF career IMO.

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Right Fielder, Mel Ott



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

Melvin Thomas Ott (March 2, 1909 – November 21, 1958), nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants (1926-1947). Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. The first National League player to surpass 500 home runs, he was unusually slight of stature for a power hitter, at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), 170 pounds (77 kg).

Baseball career

In his 22-season career, Ott batted .304 with 511 home runs, 1,860 RBIs, 1,859 runs, 2,876 hits, 488 doubles, 72 triples, 89 stolen bases, a .414 on base percentage and a .533 slugging average.

A power hitter

Ott was a six-time NL home run leader, in 1932, 1934, 1936–38, and 1942. From 1928-1945, he led the New York Giants in home runs. This 18-season consecutive dominance is a record; no other player has ever led their team in more consecutive years in a single Triple Crown category. He was both the youngest player to hit 100 home runs and the first National Leaguer to hit 500 home runs. He passed Rogers Hornsby to become the all-time NL home run leader in 1937 and held that title until Willie Mays passed him in 1966.

Because of his power hitting, he was noted for reaching base via the base on balls. He drew five walks in a game three times. He set the National League record for most walks in a doubleheader with six, on October 5, 1929 did it again on April 30, 1944. He tied an MLB record by drawing a walk in seven consecutive plate appearances (June 16 through 18, 1943). He also led the NL in walks six times: in 1929, 1931–33, 1937 and 1942. He twice scored six runs in a game, on August 4, 1934 and on April 30, 1944. He is still the youngest major leaguer to ever hit for the cycle, which he accomplished on May 16, 1929. Ott was the first NL player to post eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons, and only Willie Mays, Sammy Sosa, Chipper Jones, and Albert Pujols have since joined him.

He used a batting style that was then considered unorthodox, lifting his forward (right) foot prior to impact. This style helped with his power hitting. More recent players who used a similar style include Harold Baines and Kirby Puckett, as well as the Japanese home run king, Sadaharu Oh.

In 1943, all of his 18 home runs came at home; only two others ever had a greater number of all-homefield home runs. Of Ott's 511 career home runs, 323 of them, or 63 percent, came at home. (Home Run Handbook, John Tattersall, 1975). Because of this, his home run record historically has been downplayed, suggesting that a 257-foot (78 m) foul line at the Polo Grounds resulted in higher numbers at home. As a balance, the Polo Grounds had the deepest power alleys in baseball. Also, he hit more career home runs in foreign stadiums than any other National League hitter at the time of his retirement.In some of his better seasons, he hit more homers on the road than in the Polo Grounds.

Though there may be reason to believe that he was a better hitter than his record holds due to differences in National League and American League ball specifications ("All too forgOtten" Steve Treder, October 2, 2007). Those differences are considered the most outstanding in the history of the game and made it considerably harder for National League hitters to achieve home runs.

During the prime of Ott's career, eleven seasons from 1931 through 1941, the American League home runs averaged 21% higher and peaked at 41% higher than the National League for every year of this period. Babe Ruth and Jimmie Foxx, contemporaries, and both American League players, were the only batters to surpass Ott's record during this time.

Postseason play

He played in the World Series in 1933, 1936 and 1937, winning in 1933.

He hit two home runs during the 1933 series. In game 1, he had four hits, including a two-run home run in the first inning. In game 5, he drove in the series-winning run with two outs in the top of the 10th, driving a pitch into the center-field bleachers.

In the 1936 World Series, Ott had 7 hits and 1 home run. In 1937, he had 4 hits and 1 home run.

Managing career

He managed the Giants for seven years between 1942 and 1948. The Giants best finish during that time was in third place in 1942. It was in reference to Ott's supposedly easy-going managing style that then-Dodgers manager Leo Durocher made the oft-quoted and somewhat out-of-context comment, "Nice guys finish last!"

Baseball honors

He was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951 with 87% of the vote. His number "4" was also retired by the Giants in 1949, and it is posted on the facade of the upper deck in the left field corner of AT&T Park.

He was a 12-time M.L. All-Star, from 1934 to 1945. He was also named four times to the Major League All-Star Teams of The Sporting News, in 1934-36 and in 1938. He is one of only six NL players to spend a 20+ year career with one team (Cap Anson, Stan Musial, Willie Stargell, Tony Gwynn, and Craig Biggio being the others). In 1999, he ranked number 42 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and he was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Broadcasting career

After his playing career was over, Ott broadcast baseball on the Mutual radio network in 1955. From 1956 to 1958, Ott teamed with Van Patrick to broadcast the games of the Detroit Tigers on radio and television.



^ Mel Ott (left) in the broadcast booth with Van Patrick.

Death and legacy

Ott died in an auto accident in New Orleans in 1958; he was interred in Metairie Cemetery. Ott died in a similar manner to two other N.Y. Giant Hall of Famers: Frankie Frisch in 1973 and Carl Hubbell in 1988 (the latter 30 years to the day of Ott's death). Ott is remembered in his hometown of Gretna, where a park is named in his honor. Since 1959, the National League has honored the league's annual home run champion with the Mel Ott Award.[2][3] In the 1989 film Field of Dreams, Ott was one of several deceased players portrayed in farmer Ray Kinsella's Iowa cornfield. In 2006, Ott was featured on a U.S. postage stamp, as one of a block of four honoring "Baseball Sluggers" — the others being Mickey Mantle, Hank Greenberg, and Roy Campanella. In announcing the stamps, the U.S. Postal Service stated, "Remembered as powerful hitters who wowed fans with awesome and often record-breaking home runs, these four men were also versatile players who helped to lead their teams to victory and set impressive standards for subsequent generations".[4] Ott is also remembered in the name of the Little League of Amherst, New York. The Mel Ott Little League began in 1959, named for the recently deceased superstar.

Career statistics
Batting average .304
Home runs 511
Hits 2,876
Runs batted in 1,860
Teams

As player

New York Giants (1926–1947)

As manager

New York Giants (1942–1948)

Career highlights and awards

12× All-Star (1934, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945)
World Series champion (1933)
San Francisco Giants #4 retired
Other records and accomplishments

HOF, 1951, BBWAA, 87.2% first ballot

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Pitcher, Johnny Vander Meer



^ Johnny Vander Meer in 1948

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

John Samuel "Double no-hit" Vander Meer (November 2, 1914 – October 6, 1997) was a Major League Baseball pitcher from 1937 through 1951. He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1937–1949), Chicago Cubs (1950) and Cleveland Indians (1951) and is most notable as being the only MLB pitcher to throw two consecutive no-hitters.

Vander Meer threw left-handed and batted as a switch hitter. He was born in Midland Park, New Jersey. A four-time All-Star, Vander Meer compiled a 119–121 record with 1294 strikeouts and a 3.44 ERA in 2104⅔ innings over a 13-year Major League career. Along with Tim Lincecum (2008–2010), Randy Johnson (1999–2002), and Warren Spahn (1949–52), Vander Meer is one of only four NL pitchers since 1940 to lead the league in strikeouts in three straight seasons (1941–43).[1] Just those four and Dizzy Dean (1932–35) have done it since 1931.[2] He had 29 career shutouts.

Vander Meer is the only pitcher in major league history to pitch no-hitters in two consecutive starts.[3] On June 11, 1938, he no-hit the Boston Bees at Crosley Field. Four nights later, in the first night game played at Ebbets Field, he no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers. After his double no-hit achievement, Reds management wanted Vander Meer to change his uniform number to "00" but he declined.[citation needed]

In 1952, having washed out of the majors, Vander Meer was still hanging on to the game, pitching in the Texas League for Tulsa.[citation needed] Fourteen years after he made history in the majors, Vander Meer no-hit Beaumont 12–0.[citation needed]

Vander Meer was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958. He died in Tampa, Florida, at 82 years of age.

Career statistics
Win–loss record 119–121
Earned run average 3.44
Strikeouts 1,294
Teams

Cincinnati Reds (1937–1943, 1946–1949)
Chicago Cubs (1950)
Cleveland Indians (1951)

Career highlights and awards

4× All-Star selection (1938, 1939, 1942, 1943)
World Series champion (1940)
Threw back-to-back no-hitters in 1938

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Pitcher, Hank Borowy



^ Borowy on the front page of Baseball Digest, 1945.

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

Henry Ludwig (Hank) Borowy (May 12, 1916 - August 23, 2004) was a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball. From 1942 through 1951, Borowy played for the New York Yankees (1942–45), Chicago Cubs (1945–48), Philadelphia Phillies (1949–50), Pittsburgh Pirates (1950) and Detroit Tigers (1950–51). He batted and threw right-handed. Born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, Borowy graduated from Bloomfield High School and Fordham University. He pitched in six World Series games and posted a 108-82 record with 690 strikeouts and a 3.50 earned run average in 1717 innings pitched.

Borowy debuted on April 18, 1942 with the Yankees, finishing with a 15-4 record, 85 SO, 2.82 ERA. Then, he started Game 4 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals without a decision.

In 1943 Borowy went 14-9, 107, 2.82, and won Game 3 of the World Series against St. Louis. Named an All-Star in 1944, he pitched three scoreless innings in the game, ending the season with 17-12, 107, 2.64.

Borowy enjoyed his best season in 1945 when he pitched for both the Yankees and Cubs and registered a combined 21-7, 82, 2.65, between the two teams. After a 10-5 start with the Yankees and being selected again to the All-Star Game, he was put on waivers inexplicably and was passed over by 15 teams. The Cubs snatched him for $97,500. Borowy went 11-2 for the remainder of the season, including three wins over the Cardinals down the stretch, and led the National League in winning percentage (.846) and ERA (2.14), as the Cubs won the pennant behind a Borowy's 4-3 win over Pittsburgh. The final margin for Chicago was 3 games over the Cardinals.

On October 3, 1945, the Tigers and Cubs meet in the World Series for the 4th time. In the opener, Borowy pitched a 6-hitter 9-0 shutout. He lost the fifth game, and then came back to win the sixth with four scoreless relief innings. Borowy started the final game on one day's rest but gave up hits to the first three batters before leaving. He took the loss and the Tigers won the Series. Borowy helped put the Cubs into their last World Series, and led to the end of Joe McCarthy's 15-season tenure as Yankees manager. McCarthy resigned in 1946. He is the last Chicago Cubs pitcher to win a World Series game.

For the remainder of his career, Borowy was plagued by finger blisters and a chronic sore shoulder. He pitched his final game on September 14, 1951.

Borowy grew up in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and was a longtime resident of Brick Township, New Jersey, where he died at age of 88.

Career statistics
Win–Loss record 108–82
Earned run average 3.50
Strikeouts 690
Teams

New York Yankees (1942–1945)
Chicago Cubs (1945–1948)
Philadelphia Phillies (1949–1950)
Pittsburgh Pirates (1950)
Detroit Tigers (1950–1951)

Career highlights and awards

2× All-Star selection (1944, 1945)
World Series champion (1943)
1945 NL TSN Pitcher of the Year

[Old Sweater]

Third Team, Pitcher, Jim Tobin



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

James Anthony Tobin, known as Abba Dabba, (December 27, 1912, Oakland, California—May 19, 1969, Oakland) was a right-handed major league baseball pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Bees/Braves and Detroit Tigers from 1937 to 1945. In 1944 with the Boston Braves he pitched two no-hitters (one a five-inning game).

Tobin was born in Oakland, California, where the hometown Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League picked him up. They sent him to their Bisbee-Douglas farm team in the Arizona-Texas League. The New York Yankees signed him shortly thereafter. He played for them in Binghamton and Wheeling in 1933 and 1934. The Yankees sent him back to Oakland in 1935, where he compiled an 11-8 record before tearing the cartilage in his left knee. Appendicitis kept him off the Yankee roster the following year, and he went 16-8 for the Oaks.

Rather than return to the Oaks in 1937, he arranged a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates, with whom he made his major league debut on April 30, 1937.

In 1940, Tobin joined the Boston Braves, where manager Casey Stengel made him a relief pitcher. On May 13, 1942, by then a starter, Tobin became the only pitcher in modern major-league history to hit three home runs in one game (Guy Hecker hit three homers in a game in the nineteenth century).

Still with the Braves in 1944, Tobin began throwing a knuckleball, and that season he his two no-hitters. The first was April 27, 1944, when he beat the Brooklyn Dodgers 2-0. The second was a five-inning game on June 22, 1944, in which the Philadelphia Phillies fell 7-0 (officially, this game is no longer considered a true no-hitter, as it lasted fewer than nine innings).

In another interesting event in 1944, Tobin drew a walk against Cincinnati Reds pitcher Clyde Shoun in the third inning of what would otherwise have been a perfect game for Shoun (who settled instead for a no-hitter).

Tobin was with the Tigers in 1945, when they won the American League pennant, but he did not appear in the World Series. He played his final major league game on September 23, 1945.

He was back in the Pacific Coast League the following year, pitching for the Seattle Rainiers and the San Francisco Seals. He was released in 1947, but the Oaks re-signed him in August 1948. That year he pitched the last out against the Sacramento Solons in a game that clinched the pennant for the Oaks.

Tobin was the brother of Boston Red Sox third baseman Johnny Tobin.

Career stats

While Tobin played only one major league game at a position other than pitcher, he pinch-hit over 100 times in his major league career. The fine-hitting hurler batted .230/.303/.345 in the majors. He totaled 35 doubles, 17 homers and 102 RBI in 796 at-bats.

Jim went 105-112 in the majors with a 3.44 ERA. He completed 156 of 227 career starts.

In the minors, Tobin won 81 games and lost 51.

Career statistics
Win-Loss 105-112
Earned run average 3.44
Strikeouts 498
Teams

Pittsburgh Pirates (1937-1939)
Boston Braves (1940-1945)
Detroit Tigers (1945)

Career highlights and awards

All star in 1944
Led NL in innings pitched in 1942 with 287.7
Led NL in complete games in 1942 with 28 and 1944 with 28