Tag Archives: Dutch Leonard

September 7, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors saw action in seven of the eight scheduled games on Sept. 7, 1920, including two doubleheaders. The Yankees hosted the Athletics, the New Yorkers taking the game 2-0 for the low score of the day. At the high end of scoring, Brooklyn completed a sweep of their twin bill at Philadelphia with a 9-5 win in game two.

Roger Peckinpaugh of the Yankees provides quite a lot of the offense in the low scoring game, giving him the best offensive game of the day. He collects three hits, one of them a triple, and drives in the insurance run. According to the game story, Peckinpaugh made one of two errors in the eighth inning, but pitcher Carl Mays escaped without allowing a run.

Mays’s shutout earns him best pitched game of the day, but he has stiff competition. Mays allows four hits and one walk while striking out five. Both Leon Cadore of the Dodgers and Dutch Leonard of the Tigers pitched five-hit shutouts. Both walked three batters, however, and each fell short of Mays’s strike out total. In the end, Mays comes in with a game score of 83, Cadore 78, and Leonard 76.

Mays earns his twenty-third win of the season, second among the AL leaders to Jim Bagby‘s 27. It’s also May’s fifth shutout of the season, tied with teammate Bob Shawkey and Urban Shocker of the Browns.

Both the Indians and the Browns have the day off, so there is no change in the AL batting race between Tris Speaker and George Sisler.

The Yankees win coupled with the White Sox loss to Leonard moves the Yankees solidly into second place, New York and Chicago now even in the loss column. The Indians lead New York by 1/2 game and Chicago by 1 1/2 games.

The Dodgers sweep is not enough to push them into first place as the Reds do not play. The Giants are rained out, so Brooklyn is no 1/2 game behind Cincinnati with the Giants 2 1/2 games out.

The second game victory is costly for Brooklyn as Al Mamaux sustains an injury due to a collision with opposing pitcher Eppa Rixey as Mamaux covered first base. He leads the NL in K per 9 IP.

On the front page, northern Italy suffers a devastating earthquake.

August 19, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues only see four of six scheduled games played on August 19, 1920. The Tigers beat the Red Sox 4-0 for the low scoring game of the day. On a rather low scoring day, the Phillies beat the Pirates in twelve innings 5-2 for the high scoring game of the day.

The best offensive game of the day comes off the bat of Babe Ruth. The Sultan of Swat goes two for three with a double, home run, and walk, but the Indians win the game 3-2. Ruth now leads the AL and the majors with 43 home runs. The three AL batters in second and third place combined for 42 home runs.

Dutch Leonard of the Tigers pitched the shutout against Boston to win best pitched game of the day. He held Boston, his former team, to three hits and two walks, striking out two. Leonard picks up his seventh win, but ranks third in the AL in losses with 16.

There is no change in the AL batting race as neither George Sisler nor Tris Speaker play.

The Indians win keeps them in first place. They pick up 1/2 game on the idle White Sox, and lead by a full game. The Yankees stay in third place but now 1 1/2 games out.

In the NL, the Dodgers visit the Reds, the top two teams in the NL going head-to-head. The Reds win in thirteen innings by a score of 3-2. Brooklyn catcher Rowdy Elliot allowed a passed ball in the eighth inning to tie the game, and Ivey Wingo of the Reds hit a triple in the thirteenth after the only walk allowed by Brooklyn pitchers. Wingo, a catcher, hit 81 triples in his career. The World Champion Reds now lead the Dodgers by one game, with the idle Giants three games back.

In Cleveland, the Chapman family finalized funeral arrangements. The ceremony takes place tomorrow with the whole team in attendance. Their missed game with the Red Sox means a double header on Monday.

June 15, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors saw seven of eight scheduled games played on June 15, 1920. Runs would be plentiful as this turns out to be the fourth highest scoring day of the season in terms of runs per game (minimum six games played), with six of the seven games topping ten runs total. The Tigers beat the Athletics 3-2 for the lone low scoring game, Detroit sweeping the series. The Tigers started the season with a long losing streak, but have now passed the Athletics and sit in seventh place. The Browns beat the Red Sox 12-8 in a slugfest in St. Louis, the Browns also sweeping the series.

Two batter produced Baseball Musings Game Scores of 74 to tie for best offensive game of the day. High Pockets Kelly of the Giants posted a three for four day with a home run and four RBI. The Cardinal win the game, however, 8-7. In the game, Rogers Hornsby of the Cardinals left after being hit in the head by a pitch. It was bad enough that the spectators thought he would be sidelined a while, but it turned out to be a cut above the ear. Hornsby’s name appeared all over the NL leader boards at the time.

Joe Jackson of the White Sox shared the offensive honor with a three for five day, hitting a double and a home run. He also drove in four runs. Chicago beats Washington 9-5. Jackson is among the AL leaders in hits, doubles, triples and RBI.

Two pitchers tied with games scores of 68 for best pitched game of the day. Dutch Leonard of the Tigers and Jim Bagby of the Indians produced identical lines, nine innings, seven hits, two earned runs, two walks, and five strike outs, the Indians drubbing the Yankees 10-2. Leonard starred with the Red Sox the in the teens, averaging 5.5 rWAR from 1913-1917. The 1920 season would be his first with a high ERA, but the game changed and he still pitched decently relative to the league. He would only see action in three more seasons, however.

Bagby’s win pushed his record to 12-2, and he would go on to win 31 games for the pennant winning Indians. This win put him on top of the AL with that total. This would be his last great season as Bagby averaged 5.8 WAR from 1916 through 1920.

In the unusual win of the day, the Pirates beat the Phillies 7-6 in ten innings. The Pirates scored the winning run in the top of the tenth inning when a walk, a ground out, and a single put Pirates Possum Whitted on third and Charlie Grimm on first. The two then executed a double steal to push home the winning run.