Tag Archives: Joe Judge

September 3, 2020

This Date in 1920

All eight scheduled major league games played to completion on September 3, 1920. The Tigers defeated the first place Indians 1-0 for the low scoring game of the day. At the high end, the Senators pounded the Athletics in Philadelphia 14-5.

That high scoring game produced a tie for best offensive game of the day. Joe Judge and Braggo Roth, the Washington lead-off and cleanup hitters respectively, both going four for five with a triple. Judge scored four runs while Roth drove in five. For Judge it’s his 12th triple of the season, tying him for third place in the AL among the league leaders.

On the pitching side, Burleigh Grimes of the Dodgers takes home best pitched game of the day. He twirls a four-hit shutout as Brooklyn wins at home, 6-0 over Philadelphia. Grimes walks one and strikes out four to run his record to 19-9. He stand fifth in complete games (22), fifth in shutouts (4), and third in wins.

The news story of that game notes that the crowd numbered 5,000, which the reporter said was impressive. A transit strike made it difficult to reach the stadium, so the 5,000 who showed were rather intrepid.

In the AL batting race, Tris Speaker of the Indians went 0 for 3 to drop his batting average to .393. With George Sisler going one for four, the two batting title hopefuls are now tied for the league lead.

The Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-3 in Boston to move into a virtual tie with the Indians for first place in the American League. The Indians remain two up in the loss column, giving them the better winning percentage. The Browns beat the White Sox 2-1, and Chicago remains 1/2 game out of first place. In the Yankees game, Babe Ruth returns to action after a seven game absence due to a bug bite that needed surgery.

The National League saw the Giants beat the Braves 7-2 thanks to shoddy fielding by Boston, and the Reds downed the Cardinals 12-5. That leaves the standings unchanged, Cincinnati leading Brooklyn by 1/2 game, the Giants by 2 1/2 games. The Pirates run seems to be over as they lose to the Cubs 4-2 in 13 innings, and Pittsburgh sits 6 1/2 games out of first.

August 22, 2020

This Date in 1920

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All six scheduled games play to a decision on August 22, 1920. The two extra inning games are also the lowest scoring games on that day. The Giants beat the Cubs in Chicago 4-1 in eleven innings, while the home team Cardinals defeat the Braves 3-2 in ten innings. The Tigers and Yankees combine for 20 runs at the Polo Grounds, with the Tigers coming out on top 11-9.

Joe Judge of the Senators once again wins best offensive game of the day, and once again it involves his triples. Judge goes three for three with two triples and two walks, doing his job as a lead-off man to set the table. He just beats out Ty Cobb, who goes five for six with a double against the Yankees. Cobb denies he campaigned against Carl Mays. Mays is now schedule to pitch the next game of the series.

Fred Toney of the Giants takes home best pitched game of the day honors. He goes the distance, allowing just four hits in eleven innings with two walks and six strikeouts. The run against him was unearned. Toney is now top five in the NL in both starts (28) and wins (16).

Once again, the AL batting race stays the same as Tris Speaker and the Indians can’t play in Boston and George Sisler and the Browns can’t play in Philadelphia due to Sunday Blue Laws. The Browns last played on August 18, and will play doubleheaders on the 23rd and 24th to make up for lost games.

In the AL pennant race, the White Sox beat the Senators 8-4. They lead the Indians by two games, but are even in the loss column. The Yankees fall 3 1/2 games back in third place.

The NL sees the Dodgers beat the Reds 6-3, and the two teams are once again in a virtual tie. Cincinnati, up two games in the loss column, leads in winning percentage. The Giants win puts them two games back.

August 6, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors saw eight of nine scheduled games played on August 6, 1920. The Pirates at the Dodgers could not be played due to wet grounds. Fields did not drain well in 1920. The Athletics beat the Indians 2-1 in ten innings for the low scoring game of the day. On the high end, the Browns took out the Senators 14-7.

The Yankees also played in a high scoring game, beating the Tigers 11-7. Babe Ruth‘s two home runs result in him receiving the best offensive game of the day. Ruth hits home runs 40 and 41 to extend his single season record, and become the first person to reach the 40 HR level. He is two for four on the day with three runs scored and four RBI. Note that Joe Judge of the Senators had an identical batting line, but scored and drove in one fewer run.

Sam Coveleski of the Indians takes home best pitched game of the day in the loss to the Athletics. Coveleski lasts ten innings, allowing five hits and two runs, one of them earned. He did not issue a walk and struck out five. Coveleski is now tied for the lead in the AL with 20 complete games and is second among the league leaders in walks per nine innings pitched with 1.66.

Tris Speaker of the Indians posts a rare hitless day in three at bats, lowering his major league leading batting average to .418. Joe Jackson of the White Sox gains with a two for four day, now batting .402 in second place. George Sisler of the Browns goes one for four to fall to .401 in third place.

Baseball Musings favorite Dickey Kerr provides an outstanding relief performance for the White Sox in their ten inning win over the Red Sox. Kerr pitched two scoreless innings to preserve the tie, then singled in the bottom of the tenth to drive in the winning run. The Yankees and White Sox both gain on the Indians, New York now 3 1/2 games back in second place, the White Sox four games back in third.

The Dodgers watched the scoreboard, and saw the second place Reds beat the Phillies 8-2. That reduces the Dodgers lead to one game, but Cincinnati owns two fewer losses. The Giants sweep a doubleheader from the Cubs, and now New York is in the heat of the race. They are three games back in third place after a 20-5 run. The Pirates sit four games back in fourth place. The Giants starters posted the best average game score in this time, earning a 2.10 ERA.

July 28, 2020

This Date in 1920

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All ten scheduled major league games played to completion on July 28, 1920. That included two doubleheaders, the Braves hosting the Cubs in Boston and the Phillies hosting the Pirates in Philadelphia. The Browns shutout the Yankees in St. Louis 1-0 for the pitcher’s duel of the day. The Braves beat the Cubs 8-4 in game one of the double header for the high scoring game of the day.

Joe Judge of Washington once more records the best offensive game of the day. The Tigers win the game 6-4 in Detroit. Judge, the rare lead-off man who plays first base, goes four for five with a double and a triple, scoring twice. The day raises his OBP to .408.

Zeb Terry of the Cubs owns the best overall day at the plate, as he goes six for ten in the Boston doubleheader, as the team split the games. Half his hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a triple.

On the pitching side, Eddie Cicotte of the White Sox takes home best pitched game of the day honors as he earns one of four shutouts in the majors that day. Cicotte allows just three and one walk to down the Athletics, striking out four. Chicago wins the game 3-0.

Cicotte so far in 1920 had days of brilliance like this one, but also plenty of days of pitching poorly. The approaching scandal will bring those poor games into sharp focus.

A look at the league leaders demonstrates the difference in scoring between the two leagues. The top five in runs scored in the AL all scored at least 71 runs, with the top three with over 80 runs scored. In the NL, George Burns leads the league with 61 runs.

All three contenders for the AL pennant participate in shutouts. The Indians beat the Red Sox 8-0 in addition to the Yankees loss and the White Sox win. That puts Cleveland up 1 1/2 games in the standings over the Yankees and four games ahead of the White Sox. The news story of the day blames the Yankees loss on poor base running by Wally Pipp, who ran into two outs on the day.

The first place Dodgers took part in the other shutout, beating second place Cincinnati 9-0. Brooklyn now leads the NL by 2 1/2 games. The Dodgers and Reds continue to rank 1-2 in average game score by starting pitchers. You can see the Dodgers are dominating with their combination of low walks and high strikeouts.

Two years later, July 28, 1922, my aunt Frances is born. Happy 98th birthday to my oldest living relative!

July 27, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors saw all seven scheduled games played on July 27, 1920, including a double header. The White Sox defeated the Tigers 3-1 in the low scoring game of the day. At the high end, the Senators beat the Indians 19-6 in the second game of the double header to earn a split.

Joe Judge of the Senators dominated in that second contest for best offensive game of the day. He posted a perfect performance, going three for three with four walks, scoring four runs. This is the third time this season Judge earned the honor with a perfect day at the plate.

Jesse Barnes of the Giants earns best pitched game of the day in an 8-1 win over the Cardinals. Barnes allowed one unearned run on three hits, a hit batter, and two walks. He recorded two strikeouts. Barnes led the NL with 25 wins in 1919, but so far in 1920 he stands 11-11 with a 3.41 ERA. The news story notes the improvement of Barnes, as he pitched well in his last three starts. He finishes, strong, however to win 20 games. His 1919-1921 seasons represent his peak years of seasonal ages 26-28, and he posts 9.1 of his 21.5 rWAR in those three years.

Tris Speaker goes two for six to drop his batting average to .416. Joe Jackson goes 1 for 4 to fall below .400 at .398.

In the NL pennant race, the Dodgers hosted the World Champion Reds, and Cincinnati takes the game 8-3. That narrows Brooklyn’s lead to 1 1/2 games over the Reds. Pittsburgh beats Philadelphia 7-1 and now sits five games behind the leader.

In the AL, the Indians split with the Senators leaves them 1/2 game ahead of the idle Yankees, while the White Sox gain 1/2 game to move to four games out.

Here are the league leaders through this day.

May 21, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues played seven of the eight scheduled games on May 21, 1920. The low scoring games of the day both involved New York City teams on the road as the Giants beat the Cubs 2-1 while the Dodgers shut out World Champion Reds 3-0. The ten inning game in Washington saw 20 runs, with the AL Champion White Sox winning 11-9 over the Senators. The Indians at the Athletics produced a 9-4 score in favor of Cleveland. The news blurb notes that the four home runs in the game brought the stadium total to thirteen in five days, a record for the park.

Joe Judge wins offensive player of the day honors with a long, perfect day for the Senators. He collects three hits and three walks in six trips to the plate, one of the hits a double. Two weeks earlier, Judge had another perfect day at the plate, and this game extended his hit streak to sixteen games.

Leon Cadore pitches another gem for best pitched game of the day. His second shutout of the season lowers his ERA to 1.10. Note that after pitching a complete game in the famous 26 inning contest, Cadore took six days off, then pitched poorly. The Dodgers then rested him for eleven days. The news article notes that even in that day, people were a bit concerned about over-working pitchers:

Lieutenant Leon Cadore, who figured all the way in the celebrated 26 inning tie at Boston a couple of weeks ago, pitched his first full game since that effort and proved conclusively that his good right wing was not damaged.
New York Tribune

It actually seems to me that the arm was slightly injured, but the rest healed him.

The Giants and Yankees reached a settlement that allowed the AL club to keep using the Polo Grounds in 1921 which was the big story of the day. The news article is a rather long satirical column, painting the Yankees owners as poor orphans being kicked to the street. The only glimmer of what actually happened involves AL president Ban Johnson threatening the national agreement, which would lead to bidding wars for players similar to what happened when the Federal League sprang up a few years earlier. At this time, the AL and NL were still rival leagues, and did not have the cozy relationship they enjoy today. Leagues had their own powerful presidents, their own umpires, and players thought of themselves as NL or AL residents.

May 7, 2020

This Date in 1920

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May 7, 1920 proved to be a high scoring day as all sixteen major league teams saw action. The low scoring game of the day produced seven runs as the White Sox beat the Indians 6-1. At the other end of the spectrum, the Reds beat the Cardinals in St. Louis 15-11.

Joe Judge of the Senators takes home the honor of best offensive game of the day in a 6-5 victory over the Yankees. Judge went five for five with a double and two runs scored from the lead-off slot. It’s odd to see a first baseman leading off. Judge stood as a Washington fixture for 18 seasons. At seasonal age 26 in 1920, he hit his peak with a 4.0 rWAR season. He showed little decline until age through his age 36 season when he once again repeated a four rWAR year. He finished his career with the Dodgers and Red Sox, posting a .298/.378/.420 slash line, the type of hitter a team needs at the top of the order. He appeared to be fast, accumulating 433 doubles and 159 triples in his career, but just 71 home runs.

His biography notes his superb defense at first base, while Baseball Reference tends to rate his defense negatively.

Lefty Williams once again takes home best pitched game of the day, as he allows seven hits and one earned run with three strikes in a complete game win for the White Sox. Ray Fisher of the Reds finished at the bottom of the heap, with a game score of 21 in the St. Louis slugfest. What caught my eye is that Fisher received the win despite pitching just 4 2/3 innings. It turns out our modern rule that requires a starter to go five innings for a win was not in place until 1950. It would appear the commanding lead rule was applied:

Commanding Leads – Even for leads of three, four, and five, the AL handed out archaic wins by a 39–25 margin over the stingy NL.
rlosche.typepad.com

Williams regained the major league lead in innings pitched with his sixth complete game in as many starts.

Rogers Hornsby extended his hit streak to 14 games with a three for four day. He hit in 16 of 17 games so far in the season and owned a .485 BA.

The Yankees lost their business manager, Harry L. Sparrow, who died after a long illness at the age of 45. That would lead the Yankees to hire Ed Barrow, who built them into a dynasty.