Tag Archives: Ping Bodie

September 8, 2020

This Date in 1920

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All five scheduled games play to completion on September 8, 1920, including a doubleheader in Boston between the Giants and the Braves. The two games of that twin bill each produced six runs, the Giants winning game one 6-0 and then sweeping with a score of 5-1 in the night cap. At the high end of scoring, the Dodgers beat the Phillies 7-4 in Philadelphia.

Walt Tragesser of the Phillies wins best offensive game of the day in the loss. He goes three for four with a double and a home run, scoring one run and driving in one run. Tragesser is hitting a poor .224/.248/.421 at this point, but has won two best game of the day awards. It just goes to show that in baseball, anyone can be the hero.

Fred Toney of the Giants takes home best pitched game of the day in game one of the doubleheader. Toney pitches a four-hit shutout, walking one and striking out two for a game score of 80. His teammate Slim Sallee allows one run in the second game, for second place and a game score of 71. Toney is now tied for fifth in the NL with 18 wins.

In the AL batting race, George Sisler of the Browns plays while Tris Speaker of the Indians has the day off. Sisler goes 0 for 4 and drops one point behind Speaker to .391. The White Sox beat the Browns 5-3.

In other news, the Yankees play an ill-fated exhibition game in Pittsburgh, that results in centerfielder Ping Bodie breaking a leg. He will miss the rest of the season. Bodie was one of the best hitters on the team, and played a fine defensive outfield.

The White Sox were the only one of the thee AL contenders to play on this day. They gain half a game on first place Cleveland and second place New York. The Yankees sit 1/2 games back, with the White Sox one back.

The Giants and Dodgers both gain on the idle Cincinnati Reds. Brooklyn is even in games back, but three games down in the loss column to the Reds. The Giants gain a game to sit 1 1/2 games back in third.

August 27, 2020

This Date in 1920

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All nine scheduled major league games saw action on August 27, 1920, but only eight played to a decision. Game one of the important doubleheader between the Giants and Reds in Cincinnati went seventeen innings, with New York winning. That left scant daylight to play game two, called a tie after five innings with no score. The lowest scoring game of the day that reached a decision took place in Washington, where the Senators beat the Tigers 3-1. At the high end of runs, the Indians defeated the Athletics in Philadelphia 15-3.

Tris Speaker of the Indians breaks out of his thirteen game, nineteen day slump to capture best offensive game of the day. The Hall of Famer did what he does best, collect multiple doubles and get on base. Two doubles are included in his three for four day to go along with two walks. That raises his batting average to .397, second among the AL leaders. George Sisler of the Browns still leads the majors after a one for four day drops his average at .400.

On the pitching side, Art Nehf of the Giants posts a game score of 79 for best pitched game of the day. He goes all seventeen inning in the game one win. Nehf allowed sixteen hits and three of the four runs were earned. He walked two, but failed to strikeout a batter. Nehf now ranks four in the NL in wins with 17 and third in walks per nine innings with 1.43 BB/9.

The Indians win helps them gain a game on the league leading White Sox as the Yankees beat Chicago 6-5 in twelve innings at the Polo Grounds. Carl Mays pitched the game, and the White Sox did not boycott. A fight almost broke out between Yankees centerfielder Ping Bodie and Fred McMullin, coaching at first for the White Sox. It appears that McMullin “hit Ping Bodie behind the ear with a handful of aspersions.” Both trailing teams move up, the Indians now 2 1/2 games back and the Yankees three games back.

Brooklyn beats the Cubs 6-3 in Chicago, and now sit alone in first place in the National League. The Reds fall one game back, and the Giants remain three out.

August 8, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues see all seven scheduled games played on August 8, 1920, including a doubleheader in St. Louis between the Senators and the Browns. The low scoring game of the day came in Detroit where the Tigers beat the Yankees 1-0, one of three shutouts on the day. The high scoring game took place in game two of the doubleheader, with St. Louis beating Washington 11-4 to complete a sweep.

George Sisler of the Browns earns best offensive game of the day in that night cap. Sisler treats the fans who struck around to a cycle, going four for five with two runs and four RBI. He ends the day with a six for nine, including two doubles, the triple, and the home run. That brings his batting average among the league leaders to .407. Tris Speaker of the Indians did not bat that day and stays at .420. Sisler is also second to Babe Ruth in slugging percentage at .617, Ruth sitting in the stratosphere at .883.

Ruth and the Yankees did not hit much as Howard Ehmke tossed the shutout for the best pitched game of the day. Ehmke allowed just three hits and one walk while striking out eight for a game score of 88. This was his sixth appearance of the season against the Yankees, including two other starts in while he allowed just one run. In two of the six appearances the Yankees hammered him, scoring 17 of their 20 runs. It’s all or nothing against New York for Ehmke.

In the same game, Ping Bodie of the Yankees was caught by the hidden ball trick. Shortstop Babe Pinelli of Detroit appeared to distract Bodie, then second baseman Ralph Young applied the tag.

The White Sox and Indians won the other two shutouts, so Cleveland extends their lead over the Yankees to 4 1/2 games, while Chicago remains five games out in the AL pennant race.

In the NL, the Dodgers won another close, low scoring game, beating Pittsburgh 2-1. The Reds had the day off, but the Giants win against the Cubs. Brooklyn leads Cincinnati by one game, three over the Giants, and four over the Pirates.

August 5, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues saw all seven schedule games played on August 5, 1920. The Braves beat the Cardinals 1-0 in Boston for the low scoring game of the day. The Pirates took ten innings to defeat the Dodgers 8-5 in Brooklyn, the high scoring match on that Thursday.

Ralph Young of Detroit helps demolish the Yankees 7-1 to take home best offensive game of the day. Young collects four hits in five at bats, including a double and triple, to the delight of the home crowd. According the news account, however, the triple resulted due to a misplay by Ping Bodie.

Young profiled as a typical light hitting infielder through 1919. In 1920, maybe due to rule changes involving spit balls, he started hitting for a high average, and did so through the 1921 season. Those two years generated most of his career offensive value.

On the pitching side, Jesse Barnes of the Giants, Dolf Luque of the Reds, and Mule Watson of the Braves all generated game scores of 80 to tie for best pitched game of the day. It’s very tough to pick one of them as better than the others. Luque and Watson pitched shutouts, each allowing five hits plus walks. Barnes allowed a run, but gave up two hits and no walks. Watson struck out two, while each of the others struck out one. It’s really a tie.

Watson played for the Braves twice in 1920. He came up in 1918 with the Athletics, but in 1920 he found himself in the minors. The Braves purchased him, used him in one game, then they waived him and Pittsburgh picked up his contract. He pitched five games for the Pirates, they waived him, and Boston took him back. I suspect the Braves and Pirates might have been involved in some roster manipulation.

Tris Speaker and the Indians had the day off, so Speaker’s AL leading BA remained at .421. George Sisler of the Browns gained ground, going one for two to raise his BA to .403, while Joe Jackson of the White Sox goes three for four to raise his BA to .401, and once again the AL owns three .400 hitters.

The White Sox lose to the Red Sox 4-2, so coupled with the Yankees loss, the Indians extend their lead in the AL pennant race 1/2 game against each. They are up 4 1/2 games on the Yankees, five games on the White Sox.

In the NL, The Reds beat the Phillies 7-0 behind Luque, and that cuts the Dodgers lead to 1 1/2 games. The Giants also win, and stay tied with the Pirates, both teams now four games out of first place.

July 21, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors see all seven scheduled games played on July 21, 1920. The Sox win, as Boston beats Chicago 2-1 at Fenway Park for the low scoring game of the day. At the high end, the Athletics get a rare victory as they defeat the Browns 7-2. It is one of the low scoring days of the season, the games producing just 6.57 runs per game.

The most important game of the day pitted the leading teams in the AL against each other in New York. The Yankees beat the Indians 4-3 to cut Cleveland’s lead to one game for the pennant. The score wound up close but the game was not. The Yankees led the Indians 4-0 from the third inning on. The news story goes to great lengths to make the point that it’s a nine inning game.

That was the story for eight innings. But the Yankees and the bat boys and the crowd had apparently forgotten about the ninth — everyone had forgotten it except the Cleveland team.

New York Tribune

In the ninth, five of the first six Indians reach base, closing the gap to one run, and chasing starter Carl Mays from the game. With men on first and second, Rip Collins enters the game. In something that would never happen today, Cleveland starting pitcher Ray Caldwell bats and singles to center. Ping Bodie, however, throws the runner from second out at the plate. Collins walks the next batter to load the bases, they strikes out Ray Chapman to end the game. A very exciting finish to a game lacking action.

Joe Jackson of the White Sox takes home best offensive game of the day honors in the loss to the Red Sox. Jackson goes three for four with a home run, the only run of the game for Chicago. That puts Jackson’s average back over .400 at .403, third in the AL. Tris Speaker of the Indians went two for three in the game above, starting the ninth inning rally with a double. He’s now leading the league at .421. George Sisler of the Browns goes two for four to stay ahead of Jackson at .405.

On the pitching side, Bill Doak of the Cardinals goes twelve innings in the 3-2 win over the Braves to capture best pitched game of the day. Doak allows eight hits and two runs, one of the earned. He walked three and struck out two. This is Doak’s third superior start in a row, giving him a 1.50 ERA of the last 30 innings.

In the NL pennant race, the Pirates beat Brooklyn 4-3 and the Giants take the Reds 5-3. Brooklyn holds their three game lead over Cincinnati, while the Pirates move up to seven games out in third place, with the Cardinals right behind at eight games out.

July 18, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The majors only scheduled five games on Sunday, July 18, 1920, as Sunday baseball was still a bit frowned upon in places. The Phillies beat the Cardinals 2-1 in St. Louis in the low scoring game of the day. At the high end, the Senators win over the Tigers produced thirteen runs, Washington taking the game 10-3.

Ping Bodie of the Yankees starred at the plate in New York’s 8-4 win over the White Sox, and takes home best offensive game of the day honors. Bodie goes three for four with a double and a home run, driving in six runs. The news story of this day (and most days Bodie does well) contains a very colorful nickname for the player that would not go over well today. Bodie came out of a mini-slump, five for twenty five in his previous seven games.

Lee Meadows of the Phillies pitches the best game of the day in the win over the Cardinals. He allows one run, unearned, on seven hits and one walk. He struck out five batters. Meadows continues to be the petunia in the onion patch for the Phillies staff. The team is 33-47, with Meadows winning ten of those games.

The Indians sit idle as the Yankees gain 1/2 game to sit 1 1/2 games out of first place in the AL pennant race. The White Sox fall to 5 1/2 games back.

The Reds beat the Dodgers 4-1, a rare loss for Brooklyn lately. A capacity crowd of 23,000 (see news link above) in Cincinnati saw the World Champs cut the Dodgers lead to three games.

Here are the league leaders for the day.

June 1, 2020

This Date in 1920

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Offense ruled the day on June 1, 1920 as games average 14.5 runs per game. This would be the highest scoring day of the 1920 season on which at least six games were played. Eight of nine scheduled games took place. The Athletics won in Boston, take game two of the double header 7-2 for one of the low scoring game of the day. That tied the Cardinals 5-4, fifteen inning win in Pittsburgh. Two games produced twenty one runs in the same fashion, the Yankees blowing out the Senators in New York 14-7, while the Tigers squeaked by the Indians in Cleveland 11-10.

Ping Bodie of the Yankees and Harry Heilmann of the Tigers tie with a Baseball Musings Game Score of 82 for best offensive game of the day. Bodie went three for four with a home run and a walk, driving in five runs. Heilmann posted a perfect five for five day with a double and two runs scored.

Born Francesco Stephano (anglicized to Frank Stephen) Pezzolo, Bodie represented one of the early American-Italian players in the major leagues. His major league career was a bit shorter than it might have been, as he returned to the San Francisco Seals for two years in his prime. He joined the Yankees in 1918, paving the way for the great west coast American-Italian players the Yankees would use to dominate the 1930s.

On the pitching side, Slim Harriss pitched the one decent game of the day, getting the win the second game of the Athletic’s double header. He allowed two runs in the complete game, allowing seven hits and four walks, while striking out just one. Harriss, a rookie in 1920, would pitch nine seasons with a career ERA of 4.25. He would at least 20 games twice, usually the sign of a good pitcher. He only winning season came in 1925, posting a 19-12 record for the A’s with a 3.49 ERA. He was in fact, a solid two-WAR pitcher, accumulating 18.5 rWAR over his career.

Babe Ruth took the mound for a bit for the Yankees, who were short pitchers on the day. He started and pitched four innings, then went to right field, yielding to the bullpen. He went two for four with a double at the plate. By the rules of the day, Ruth got the win.