FORGOTTEN:PART ONE PART TWO PART THREE PART FOUR
AN ARTICLE FOR BASEBALL GURU: MARCH:
FROM
ONEMOREINNING
FORGOTTEN
PLAYERS:
ERNEST
SHORE
BABE
Ruth reared back and threw a curve ball to the
Washington Senators lead off man Ernie Foster and umpire Brick Owens called
it a ball. It was a typical baseball day. Clear blue azure sky, a bit warm
but with a nice comfortable feel to it, and a good crowd in attendance to
see that sensational Red Sox pitcher, Babe Ruth, who by the way wasnt
a bad hitter either. A nice day for a game. Ruth shook his head at the call,
went back to the mound and threw another pitch, which seemed to nick the
plate. Ball two. The Babe put his hands on his hips and looked
back at Owens with what some people described as a glare. Owens looked back
at Ruth with what some people described as a look that signified, well
thats the way I saw it and thats what it is. He then proceeded
to call the next pitch ball three. Ruth yelled something at Owens, kicked
some dirt around the mound, went into his windup and threw a pitch over the
middle of the plate. Owens hesitated for a split second and then yelled out
in a loud, clear voice, Ball four, take your base. The next few
moments have ingrained themselves into the legend and history of baseball.
RUTH
stared at Owens
in disbelief, waved his hands into the air, and then charged the mound, screaming
at the top of his voice. He pushed Owens back several times and then emphasized
his feel-
Ings by punching him
in the jaw. When order was restored Ruth was out of the game, Eddie Foster
was on first, and striding in to relieve the Babe was journeyman pitcher
Ernie Shore. From this moment on the incredible takes place. Foster, with
a big lead off first, heads towards second and Ernie Shore throws a perfect
bullet to second for out number one. And thats it!. Ernie Shore then
goes on to retire the next 26 men for not only a no-hitter but a perfect
game!
NEVER
before and never
since (this was in 1917) has anyone come into a game in relief and accomplished
this feat. Up until 1991 Shore was given credit for a perfect game. Recently
an eight man committee established by Major League baseball decided that
a no-hit game is one in which the game ends after nine or more innings without
a hit given up. It was declared that since Ruth had started and Shore had
relieved him, the game was now considered to be a combined no-hitter. So
much for the brilliance of eight-man committees.
THIS was Ernie Shores shining moment.
Its not generally known but both he and Ruth came to the Boston Red
Sox along with Ben Egan for $25,000. Later they both ended up with the New
York Yankees and even shared a room together. His lifetime won and lost
record was 65 wins and 42 losses
with a 2.45 ERA. He did have a 3-1 record in World Series play. He lasted
for seven years and died in 1980 and is forgotten for the most part by the
baseball world. Well, maybe not. He retired and lived out his remaining days
in Winston-Salem. He served as Forsyth County Sheriff and was fondly thought
of by the local townspeople. When it came time to build a new Minor League
ballpark there was only one name considered and so now the Winston-Salem
Warthogs play in the Ernie Shore Sports Stadium. Some of the alumni who have
played there you may have heard of: Wade Boggs, Cecil Cooper, Dwight Evans,
Harvey Haddix, Sparky Lyle, Jim Lonborg, and Wilbur Wood.
EVERY
once in a while
some baseball historian mentions his perfect game which is now not considered
his, but that is every once in a long, long, while.
FORGOTTEN PLAYERS:
RiggsOLD
HOSSsTEPHENSON
TY
COBB, ROGERS HORNSBY, JOE
JACKSON, ED
DELAHANTY, TED WILLIAMS, BILLY HAMIL- TON, TRIS SPEAKER, ED BROUTHERS,
BABE RUTH, HARRY HEILMAN, PETE BROWNING, WEE
WILLIE KEELER, BILL TERRY,
GEORGE SISLER, LOU GEHRIG, JESSE BURKETT, NAPOLEAN LA-JOIE,
RIGGS OLD
HOSS STEPHENSON: Which player of the 20 listed here is not in the
Hall of Fame?
RIGGS STEPHENSON HAS THE 20TH
HIGHEST BATTING AVERAGE
IN THE MAJOR LEAGUES.
ALL OF THE ABOVE 19 NAMES AHEAD
OF OLD HOSS ARE IN THE HOF. STEPHENSON
ISNT.
SOMETIMES a fleeting moment can change the destiny of things
to come.
Its a windy afternoon at the University
of Alabama. Quarterback Riggs Stephenson, solidly built with an accurate
and strong throwing arm, gets the snap of the ball, cuts to his right, rears
back to throw, and is blindsided,by two linebackers who smash him to the
turf. He lands on his shoulder and what could have been a Hall of Fame baseball
career ends at that moment. Why bring in baseball when its football
that we are talking about here? Well, baseball was Stephensons first
love. Realizing that his quarterbacking days were over because of his shoulder
injury he concentrated on playing first base in the Minors, which wasnt
such a good idea. His throwing arm, because of the injury, was so weak that
when he came up to the Majors he was quickly converted to the outfield, which
also wasnt such a good idea. It was his hitting though that that kept
him in the Majors. With Cleveland, because
of his poor throwing arm, he
was mostly a part time player. Could he hit though! In five years with the
Tribe his averages were:
1921/.330
1922/.339
1923/.319
1924/.371
1925/.296
IN
1926 Cleveland traded Riggs to
the Cubs where in 281 times at bat he hit .338. The best was yet to come.
Playing full time for Chicago in 1927, he got up 527 times and hit .344 with
82 RBIs and 46 doubles. He followed that with .324 and in 1929 he had his
best year, hitting .362 with 110 RBIs, 17 HRs, and 36 doubles. That year
was the only time any outfield in ML history had all three members getting
100 or more RBIs in the same season.
Riggs, Hack Wilson, and Ki ki Cyler. It wasnt until has last
year in baseball that his average dipped below .300.
He played in two World Series and had a total
of 14 hits in 37 at bats for a .378 BA. He was a hitting machine under any
circumstance.
AH
THAT football injury! With a decent
throwing arm who knows what he could have achieved. His lifetime batting
average is the twentieth best in the history of the game. All nineteen of
the players ahead of him are in the Hall of Fame. A case might be made for
Old Hoss as well, bad arm and all. Here are the names of Hall
of Famers who have BAs inferior to Riggs:
Roger
Bresnahan .279 Fred Clarke
.312 Jimmy Collins
.294 Frank Chance
.296 Rabbit Marranville .258 (forget it, I dont
care how good a fielder you are, nobody with a .258 lifetime average should
be in the HOF) Ray Schalk .253 (ditto),
Max Carey .285 Chick
Hafey .317 Harry Hooper
.281 (Harry Hooper ?) Babe
Herman .324 (he was quite possibly a worse fielder then
Stephenson), Brooks
Robinson .267 Rick Ferrell
.281 Joe Morgan
.271
Recent new comers are not much
better:
Dave
Winfield .283 Kirby Puckett
.308 George Brett
.312 Robin Yount
.290 Bill
Mazeroski .261 (he was a fine fielder but not that fine a fielder
and .261 and he makes the HALL? Come
on). So many of the
aforementioned made it for their glove so why not Old Hoss for his bat!
IT
SEEMS to me that the twentieth
highest batting average in the history of a game that has had over 16,000
participants over the years should be good enough to qualify for inclusion.
Youll notice hes ahead of the likes of Joe Dimaggio, Hank Aaron,
Willie Mays, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Eddie Mathews, Frank Robinson, Hack Wilson,
Peewee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Eddie Collins, Bobby Doerr, etc.
THE
HALL has long ago lost its
significance for me as an
institution for the very best in the sport. It is so watered down with players
who have credentials that dont warrant their inclusion. Having stated
that, how do you justify leaving out the nineteenth best average in the history
of the game.
OLD
HOSS batted .319 or better in 12
of his 14 years. A forgotten player!
RIGGS
STEPHENSON: 14
YEARS. 1,310
GAMES 63
HRs. 773
RBIs .336
BA