May 25th, 1934 - Transaction

Red Sox and Indians Reach Accord for Ferrell

Sox to send Bob Weiland to Tribe in exchange; Seeds and Porter also part of the package

The saga of Wes Ferrell in Cleveland has come to an end, and today Ferrell (pictured) happily donned a Red Sox cap as the news was announced that the Cleveland Indians were trading the contract of their hold-out starting pitcher and that of right fielder Dick Porter to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Sox starter Bob Weiland and outfielder Bob Seeds.

Ferrell has not pitched for Cleveland this year due to a contract dispute. Ferrell played in last year's 'All Star' game, but was injured for part of the season, and did not win as many games as he did in 1932, which led the Indians to reduce his salary sharply for 1934. In joining the Red Sox, Weiland joins brother Rick who is the Sox catcher.

May 24th, 1934 - AL Player of the Week - Joe Cronin

AL Player of the Week - Joe Cronin

"Oh my, yes, Joe is the best there is in the clutch. With a man on third and one out, I'd rather have Cronin hitting for me more than anybody I've ever seen."

-Connie Mack

A "jovial, square jawed Irishman" is how Joe Cronin's official Hall of Fame biography describes him. Cronin started in Pittsburgh in 1926, but only stayed for two seasons before joining the first of the two teams he'd spend most of his career with.

In 1928, he want to Washington where be eventually became the player-manager (and son-in-law to owner Clark Griffith) and lead the Nationals to the pennant in 1933. After the 1934 season, however, Griffith sold him to Boston's new owner Tom Yawkey for a then-record of $225,000 or $250,000 (depending on the source) and Cronin spent the bulk of his career (11 seasons out of 20) as a player manager for the Red Sox, leading them to a pennant in 1946.

Cronin was a seven time All Star (the first All Star game was not until 1933) and finished in the top 10 for MVP votes five times. Although not an official title in 1930, Cronin was a consensus choice among sports writers for MVP in 1930.

After his playing days finished in 1945, Cronin remained as the bench manager of the Red Sox until after the 1947 season, when he became the General Manager - a post he held until he became President of the American League in January of 1959.

Cronin was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1956.

May 24th, 1934 - Current AL Totals

I thought everyone might enjoy a bird's eye view of the AL team stats at this point.

Strat-O-Matic Report

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LEAGUE GRAND TOTALS (primary report) FOR 1934 American League 

 

 

TEAM                   AVG    AB    R     H   2B  3B   HR  RBI   SB   CS    E

1934 Chicago          .314  1001  153   314   45   6   11  143   10    8   26

1934 Cleveland        .304   963  148   293   77   5   22  146    2    4   22

1934 Philadelphia     .301  1059  171   319   62  10   33  164   12    7   43

1934 Detroit          .298  1071  178   319   72  10   16  160   20    7   34

1934 Washington       .294  1106  158   325   65  18    8  148    2   12   32

1934 Boston           .285  1095  163   312   57  12   15  154   17    6   43

1934 St. Louis        .268   946  124   254   50  17   15  121    6    3   35

1934 New York         .260  1014  160   264   51   8   27  155    8    5   31

--------------------  ---- ----- ---- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

LEAGUE TOTALS         .291  8255 1255  2400  479  86  147 1191   77   52  266

 

 

TEAM                   ERA   W   L      IP     H    R   ER   HR   BB    SO OAVG

1934 New York         4.08  14  16   265.0   274  145  120   20  109   138 .268

1934 Boston           4.26  17  14   279.0   330  155  132   12  105   105 .298

1934 Detroit          4.41  16  14   267.1   307  144  131   18  108   125 .289

1934 Philadelphia     4.56  19  11   268.1   285  167  136   18  147    90 .272

1934 Washington       4.70  18  14   281.2   335  169  147   12   99    94 .297

1934 Chicago          5.00  13  15   246.2   307  161  137   28  101    78 .307

1934 Cleveland        5.04  12  15   232.0   263  145  130   20  103    85 .288

1934 St. Louis        5.33   9  19   241.2   299  169  143   19  130    95 .307

-------------------- ----- --- --- ------- ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----

LEAGUE TOTALS         4.65 118 118  2081.2  2400 1255 1076  147  902   810 .291

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