Month: January 2018

JAN 2: Spitter OK for some

JANUARY 2,  1918 | BROOKLYN, NEW YORK • The Brooklyn Robins (today’s Los Angeles Dodgers) got a pitcher in a trade on this day in baseball history who became known for openly throwing an outlawed pitch. Burleigh Grimes came to the Robins by way of a 5-player deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Grimes made good use of the spitter, winning more than 20 games five times.

Grimes’ best pitch was the spitball, which was legal when he broke in, but banned by major league baseball in 1920 when he was just 26-years old. “Old Stubblebeard,” as he was called, became one of 17 pitchers already in the majors who were exempt from the ban. They could continue throwing the spitter as long as they played. Grimes ended up throwing it the longest, becoming the last pitcher to “legally” throw a spitball.

Grimes made good use of the spitter, winning more than 20 games five times. He was 25-14 in 1928. Twice he won 19. Grimes won 270 games in his career, appeared in four World Series, and ended up in the Hall of Fame. Though he wore 7 different uniforms in a 19-year career, Grimes spent most of his career with Brooklyn.

When his playing days were over, he managed the Dodgers for two unremarkable years. He stayed in baseball for many years, but mostly as a scout and minor league coach.

Burleigh Grimes was born August 18, 1983 in small farming community of Emerald, Wisconsin. He died in nearby Clear Lake in 1985 at the age of 92.

17 pitchers allowed to throw the spitter after 1920:
National League
Bill Doak
Phil Douglas
Dana Fillingim
Ray Fisher
Marv Goodwin
Burleigh Grimes
Clarence Mitchell
Dick Rudolph

American League
Doc Ayers
Ray Caldwell
Stan Coveleski
Red Faber
Dutch Leonard
Jack Quinn
Allan Russell
Urban Shocker
Allen Sothoron

Contributing sources:
Hall of Fame
Burleigh Grimes
Baseball-Reference

Bill Grimes,  the author, is no relation to Burleigh Grimes, the pitcher.

JAN 1: A STAR IS BORN

JANUARY 1, 1911 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK • A star is born. Slugger Hank Greenberg was born to an orthodox Jewish family on this date in baseball history. He broke into the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 1930, just 19 years later.

Greenberg was a 2-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) and 5-time all-star, though he only played 9 full seasons. Henry Benjamin Greenberg, like many major leaguers, had some of his best years interrupted by military service in World War II. He missed 3 full seasons and parts of 2 others.

Greenberg was a fearsome hitter. He hit 58 home runs in 1938 – at the time only Babe Ruth had hit more (Jimmie Foxx hit 58 home runs in 1932). Greenberg’s 183 RBI in 1937 are eclipsed only by Hack Wilson‘s 191 in 1930 and Lou Gehrig’s 184 in 1931. Only a handful of players have a higher lifetime slugging percentage than Greenberg’s .605.

As a youth, Greenberg was an all-around athlete in New York City. He led James Monroe High School to the New York City basketball championship, but his favorite sport was baseball. The Yankees showed interest in the first baseman in 1929, but he decided the odds of cracking the lineup were pretty slim with another New York born slugger already a fixture at first – Lou Gehrig. Greenberg enrolled at New York University, but signed with the Detroit Tigers the following year.

Greenberg quit playing in 1948 to become farm director of the Cleveland Indians. He moved into the Indians front office as general manager and part-owner with Bill Veeck two years later. He became a part-owner of the Chicago White Sox with Veeck in 1959. Their timing couldn’t have been better. The Sox won the pennant for the first time in 40 years. Greenberg and Veeck sold their interests in the White Sox in 1961, and Greenberg went on to a successful career in private business.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956. Hank Greenberg died September 4, 1986 in Beverly Hills, California.

Contributing sources:
More on Hank Greenberg
Jewish Virtual Library