Tag Archives: Sam Rice

July 16, 2020

This Date in 1920

Major league teams complete all nine scheduled games on July 16, 1920. The Braves beat the Cubs 3-2 in eleven innings, while the White Sox beat the Senators 4-1 in game one of their double header for the low scoring games of the day. At the high end, the Cardinals wallop the Phillies 11-2 and the White Sox beat the Senators 8-5 for the two high scoring games of the day. Fans got to see two very different games in Washington!

Joe Jackson of the White Sox takes home best offensive game of the day honors with his performance in game two of the double header. Jackson collects three hits and a hit by pitch in five plate appearances, homering and driving in four runs. That came after an 0 for 4 in game one. Jackson ends the day among the AL leaders in a number of categories, third in hits, third in doubles, second in triples, and fourth in RBI.

On the pitching side, Rube Benton of the Giants takes home best pitched game of the day as New York beats Pittsburgh 7-0 in seventeen innings. Benton goes the distance, allowing just nine hits and two walks while striking out four.

Benton’s opponent, Earl Hamilton, pitched 16 scoreless innings before the top of the 17th. He had allowed eight hits entering the final canto, then gave up five straight singles to start the seventeenth. That brought in two runs and loaded the bases. A force out at home left the bases loaded. Then in what only can be described as rubbing salt into the wound, Hamilton gives up consecutive triples. He is relieved by Wilbur Cooper, who immediately gives up the third triple in a row, and Hamilton is tagged with seven earned runs. Note that Benton drove in the first run of the inning, getting both the win and the game winning RBI.

Washington’s Sam Rice sees his hit streak ends when he goes 0 for 2 in the first game of the double header.

Tris Speaker of Cleveland posts a one for four to drop his AL leading BA to .412. George Sisler of the Browns goes three for four to raise his BA .410 and close the gap between the .400 hitters.

Both the Indians and Yankees lose, keeping the Indians in first place by 1 1/2 games. The double header sweep by the White Sox, however, allows them to close the gap on both teams, and they are just 3 1/2 games out of first place in the AL pennant race.

In the NL Brooklyn travels to Cincinnati for a five-game show down with the reigning World Series Champions. Brooklyn takes game one 6-4 and extends their lead to three games over the Reds. The Dodgers, down 4-0 after the second inning, rallied with a run in the fifth inning, three in the sixth inning, and two in the eighth inning for the victory. Pittsburgh loses and falls seven and a half games back in third place.

July 15, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues see five of the seven scheduled games played on July 15, 1920. It is a rather high scoring day, as the Indians 5-1, seven inning victory over the Athletics proves to be the low run total. The Yankees beat the Browns in eleven innings, 13-10, for the slugfest of the day.

The Yankees game features a milestone event, as Babe Ruth wins the game with a home run. That shot gave him twenty nine for the season, tying the record he set in 1919. He reached that mark on Sept. 27, so it took him less than ten months to tie the record again. This would be the second season in a row that Ruth shatters the home run record. There were four other homers in the game, including one by George Sisler, who finishes the contest still hitting .400.

Ruth’s game was not the best for a batter, however. Jake Daubert of the Reds, Ken Williams of the Browns, and Del Pratt of the Yankees all post game scores of 71. Pratt collected the most hits, four in five trips to the plate, but all of them were singles. Daubert went three for five with two triples as the Reds fell to the Phillies 7-5. Williams recorded three hits as well, but in six trips with a triple and a home run. I would lean toward giving the prize to Daubert, as he made fewer outs than Williams and produced more total bases than Pratt.

On the pitching side, Hippo Vaughn of the Cubs wins best pitched game of the day. He works eight innings without a decision, allowing six hits, one walk, and two earned runs along side four strike outs. The Cubs tie the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth, but Brooklyn scores two in the top of the tenth, and Cubs can only match one of those for a 4-3 Dodgers win. It was a nice recovery for Vaughn as, he pitched poorly in a stretch covering his previous seven appearances. He posted a 5.35 ERA in that time frame, with a 2-4 record.

In the AL Batting Title race (here with the other league leaders), Sisler and Tris Speaker each collect three hits. Sisler does so in six at bats to raise his BA to .406, but Speaker goes three for three and his BA leads at .414. In fifth place is Sam Rice of the Senators at .359. Rice hit in twenty nine straight games, during which time he batted .447.

With both Cleveland and New York winning, the Indians continue to lead the Yankees by 1 1/2 games in the AL pennant race. The idle White Sox drop to five games back.

In the NL, the Dodgers win and the Reds loss drops Cincinnati two games out. The Pirates beat the Braves 9-8 to remain in third place, 6 1/2 games out.

July 5, 2020

This Date in 1920

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With July 4, 1920 falling on a Sunday, the major leagues celebrate the work holiday of July 5, 1920 with eight doubleheaders. The Pirates beat the World Champion Reds 4-1 in game one of their doubleheader for the low scoring game of the day, with Pittsburgh taking game two for the sweep. At the high end of scoring, the Dodgers beat the Braves 9-5 in game one of their double header in Boston, taking ten innings to do so. Brooklyn would win the second game for a sweep.

Zack Wheat of the Dodgers and Mike Menosky of the Red Sox tie for the best offensive game of the day. Both posted Baseball Musings game scores of 72. Wheat goes three for six in game one of the double header against the Braves with power, hitting a double and a home run. Menosky goes four for four with a triple in game two against the Athletics, helping Boston to a 10-3 win and a sweep as Philadelphia continue to sink in the AL.

Menosky produced a short but productive career. He played from 1914 to 1923, missing 1918 due to World War One. From 1917 through 1921 he posted at least 2.0 rWAR every year. His batting slipped in 1923, right in his prime, and he finished his career in the minor leagues.

On the pitching side, Eppa Rixey of the Phillies takes home best pitched game of the day honors. He allows just one run and three hits in game one of the doubleheader against the Giants. He also struck out six while walking none for a game score of 83, helping the Phillies to a 5-1 win.

The Giants split the doubleheader, but game two turned out to be incomplete. The news story reports a 6-0 win by New York, with the afternoon game protested. The Phillies put two men on in the top of the seventh inning, and an infield fly was dropped, and the umpires wound up awarding a double play on what should have been an infield fly rule out. The Phillies win the protest, the game is resumed on Sept. 4, and the Giants scored seven more runs for a 13-0 victory in the books.

Babe Ruth‘s hit streak ends as he is removed from the first games with an 0 for 1 after hurting his wrist. Sam Rice retakes the top spot with a twenty game streak.

The Senators sweep the Yankees while the White Sox sweep the Indians, and suddenly the three team AL race tightens. Cleveland and the Yankees are separated by percentage points, while the AL champion White Sox are just 3 1/2 games back.

In the NL the Pirates sweep of the first place Reds moves Pittsburgh into fourth place, four games out. The Dodgers and Cardinals also sweep their doubleheaders, putting Brooklyn in second place 1/2 games behind, and the Cardinals in third place two games out.

Here are the league leaders through this date.

July 3, 2020

This Date in 1920

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Rain postpones two of the nine scheduled games on July 3, 1920. The Pirates beat the Cardinals 3-1 in St. Louis for the low scoring game of the day. At the high end, the AL Champion While Sox bomb the Browns by a score of 11-3. It’s a good day for teammates Eddie Collins and Shano Collins, as they combine to go six for nine with a walk, a double, triple, and a double play in the Chicago win.

A northsider takes home best offensive game of the day as Zeb Terry of the Cubs goes three for four with a double and a triple in a losing cause against the Reds. The 1920 season would prove to be Terry’s best in a rather short career. It ended, it appears, because he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Carl Mays of the Yankees wins best pitched game of the day, as the Yankees defeat the hapless Athletics 5-0 in game one of a double header sweep. The news story indicates that Mays needed to apologize before the Athletics allowed him to pitch in their park, but doesn’t say why. I assume it has to do with this incident:

But things went downhill for Mays in 1919. While he was at spring training, his farm house in Missouri burned to the ground; he suspected arson. During a Decoration Day series in Philadelphia, when Athletics fans were pounding on the roof of the visitors’ dugout, Mays threw a baseball into the stands, hitting a fan in the head.
SABR.org

Mays tossed a five-hit shutout, walking two and striking out one.

Two other news stories on the same page caught my attention. The first indicates that Christy Mathewson saw his health deteriorating. He is reported to be heading to the Adirondacks for a long rest. Mathewson suffered from the Spanish Flu and mustard gas in World War I, and wound up with tuberculosis.

The second regards the demotion of Benny Kauff to the minors. Kauff cleared waivers despite very good statistics. It appears there were criminal charges against him involving car theft, and the NL pushed him out of the league.

In the AL pennant race, the Yankees double header sweep gains them 1/2 game on both Cleveland and Chicago. New York leads the Indians by one game and the AL Champs by 6 1/2 games.

The Reds extend their lead to three games over the Dodgers as Brooklyn falls to Philadelpia. Six teams remain within five games of first place, Chicago and St. Louis tied for third, Boston and Pittsburgh tied for fifth.

Here are the league leaders through July 3, 1920. Sam Rice of the Senators is running away with the AL stolen base title with 30. Max Carey of the Pirates leads the NL with 25.

July 2, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues saw all nine scheduled games played on July 2, 1920. On a fairly high scoring day in the majors, two games came in at the low end with three runs each. The Dodgers defeated the Phillies 2-1 while St. Louis downed the Pirates 3-0. At the high end, the host Red Sox beat the Senators 10-9 in ten innings, one of four extra inning games on the day, and one of three walk-off wins.

Larry Doyle of the Giants earns best offensive game of the day as he hits well in game two of the double header against the Braves, won by the Giants 13-4. Boston won the first game 9-7 as Polo Grounds fans were treated to two slugfests. Second baseman Doyle went four for four with a double and a home run, scoring three times and driving in one run. He also singled and homered in game one. Doyle was a bit of a slugger in his youth. In 1911, at seasonal age 24, he led the majors with 25 triples, also hitting 25 doubles and thirteen home runs for a slugging percentage of .527. In 1915, he led the majors with 40 doubles. The 1920 season would be his last, and his two home run day accounted for half the long balls he hit that season.

Honorable mention goes to Charlie Pick of the Braves, who doubled, tripled, and homered in game one, then added two single in game two for a cycle in a double header.

The best pitched game of the day goes to Jeff Pfeffer of Brooklyn. He goes the distance, allowing the Phillies one run on seven hits and a walk, striking out six. It is his second outstanding performance in a row against the Phillies.

Sam Rice sees his hit streak climbs to seventeen games, with Babe Ruth right behind him at 16. Although the Cy Young Award was still a gleam in the eye of major league baseball, Pete Alexander leads the majors in Tom Tango Cy Young Points. Less than halfway through the season, he already accumulated 171 innings. He dominates the NL leader board.

In the AL pennant race, both New York and Cleveland win, the Yankees holding a 1/2 game lead on the Indians. The White Sox fell to the Browns and fall six games back in the standings.

The NL race remains close. A 6-5, eleven inning Reds win over the Cubs keeps Cincinnati two games in front of Brooklyn and drops Chicago three games back. The Cubs and Cardinals are now tied for third. Boston at 4 1/2 games back and the Pirates at five games back round out the contenders.

Here is the New York Tribune sports page for the day. Grantland Rice’s column wonders if George Sisler can break Ty Cobb‘s single season hit record. Sisler is batting .421 at this point with 115 hits. Cobb collected 248 hits in 1911.

May 18, 2020

This Date in 1920

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The major leagues played seven of their eight scheduled games on May 18, 1920. Games produced a wide variety of run totals. At the low end, the Phillies squeaked by the Cardinals 1-0 in St. Louis. At the high end, Washington hosted the Browns and pounded St. Louis 17-8.

Clyde Milan did some damage in that game, taking home best offensive game of the day. He missed the cycle by a home run, going four for five with a double, triple, and hit by pitch. Batting second, he scored four times as he set up Sam Rice and Braggo Roth for plenty of RBI opportunities.

Milan spent all sixteen years of this career with Washington. Even in that time, it was a bit unusual to spend an entire career with one team. He did an outstanding job as a top of the order hitter, finishing his career with a .353 OBP. He posted solid three and four WAR seasons, collecting tons of singles and walks. He also stole bases with abandon, leading the league in 1912 and 1913 with 88 and 75 steals respectively. He came up with Walter Johnson, and the two were best of friends and road roommates.

On the pitching side, Jessine Haines of the Cardinals just beats out Bob Shawkey of the Yankees. Haines took the loss on an unearned run while Shawkey earned a shoutout. Haines allowed just two hits and a walk, however, while Shawkey allowed three hits and three walks. Hanies game score beats Shawkey 84-80.

Haines pitched a lot in the first month of the season. Through May 18 he ranked fourth in innings with 69 2/3 IP, completing five of his six starts. He also made five relief appearances, finishing four games. He served as a starter, a long reliever, and a two inning closer.

Babe Ruth, off to a slow start, still led the majors with five home runs. Ruth sat out the Monday game on this date with a bad knee. The injury is described:

The Babe is suffering from an eccentric knee which sometimes slips its moorings, causing his feet to point in different directions at times.
New York Tribune

Given the rest of his career, the knee didn’t appear to hamper Ruth’s swing.