June 19th, 1934 - Transactions

Pirates Announce Shakeup; Gibson Out, Traynor In as Skipper



The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they were releasing manager George Gibson, and that his replacement would be long time third baseman Pie Traynor. Ironically, the move comes after the Pirates won two games from the first place Giants. Overall, however, the Pirates are only 25-26, and have slipped from third to fifty place in recent weeks. Team owner, Florence Dreyfuss, the widow of the late long time owner Tom Dreyfuss (1900-1932), could not be reached for comment.

June 11th, 1934 - Transactions

Cubs, Phillies Swap First Sackers

The Cubs announced that they have traded first baseman Dolph Camilli to the Philadelphia Phillies. In return, they'll get first baseman Don Hurst, and a large, undisclosed sum of money. Hurst is currently hitting .255, with 2 home runs and 22 RBIs. Camilli is hitting .288, with 3 homers and 19 RBIs.

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 16th, 1934 - Transactions

Reds Announce Trade With Phils



The Cincinnati Reds announced today that they had reached a deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds will deal pitcher Syl Johnson (not to be confused with Si Johnson) and Johnny Moore (pictured) to the Phils in exchange for Phils pitcher Ted Kleinhans and outfielders Wes Schulmerich and Art Ruble.

Moore is currently batting .324 and Schmulmerich is hitting .347. Ruble is hitting .280. Kleinhans, a relief pitcher, has a 4.63 ERA and no decisions in four appearances. Johnson, also a reliever, has an ERA of 3.00.

May 15th, 1934 - Transactions

Cards release Grimes; Red Sox Acquire Shortstop; Cubbies add Pitching

Today witnesses a series of moves announced by major league front offices.

First, the St. Louis Cardinals announced that they were releasing spitballer Burleigh Grimes. Grimes, who has been pitching in the bigs since 1916 is among a few "grandfathered" pitchers still allowed to throw spitballs. During the 1920s, no pitcher won as many games as "Ol stubblebeard" as Grimes is known. Grimes has, however, only appeared in 5 games this year for the Cards, and has not been effective with an ERA of 7.11.

Grimes was acquired from the Cubs last year, after the Cubs had in turn acquired him from the Cards. Grimes has also pitched for Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, New York (NL), and Boston (NL) in his long career.

In other news, the Boston Red Sox acquired backup shortstop Lyn Larry from the New York Yankees. Their plan is to give hit solid hitting but error prone shortstop Bill Werber more time at third base, shoring up one of the key weaknesses - fielding.

Finally, in a complex series of maneuvers, the St. Louis Browns returned pitcher Jim Weaver to the New York Yankees from whom they purchased him. The Chicago Cubs however, exercised their rights to acquire Weaver off waivers, so the pitcher who first saw major league action in 1928, but who has played mostly in the minor leagues since, will be pitching for Chicago from now on.

May 9th, 1934 - Transaction

White Sox Trade Kress to Nationals for Boken

The Chicago White Sox, who recently replaced their manager with new skipper Jimmy Dykes, announced that they had made anothr move today, acquiring Bob Boken from the Washington Nationals for Ralph "Red" Kress. Kress has so far been used as a backup second baseman by Chicago this season, while Boken has mostly appeared at third for the Nationals. 'We'll use Red at a wide variety of positions,' said Nats' skipper Joe Cronin. 'He's a versatile player who can play just about anywhere.'

Dykes said that although the deal was done "in principle," it would take a few days to finish the paperwork before the players will actually change teams, even though the Sox are currently in Washington for a series against the Nationals.

May 8th, 1934 - News Item

White Sox Change Skippers Early On

The Chicago White Sox have announced that manager Lew Fonseca will be replaced by infielder Jimmy Dykes. The White Sox are 7-7 at this point in the season in our replay (IRL they were 4-10 when Dykes replaced Fonseca.

April 13th, 1934 - Transaction

Dodgers Deal McManus to Braves

Boston (NL) has purchased the contract of third baseman Marty McManus from the Brooklyn Dodgers for an undisclosed sum. McManus never actually played for Brooklyn, having been signed as a free agent by them in January. Last season McManus played for the Red Sox, where he hit .284 in 106 games. McManus has previously played for St. Louis (AL) and Detroit.

March 24th, 1934 - Transactions

Cards Swap Giants Watkins for Davis

The St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants traded regular outfielders today, with the Redbirds sending George Watkins to the Polo Grounds in exchange for George "Kiddo" Davis. Davis hit .258 in 126 games for New York while Watkins hit .278 in 138 games.

March 10th, 1934 - Transactions

Catcher Ruel Signed by Chi Sox

The Chicago White Sox have signed catcher "Muddy Ruel" to a contract for the 1934 baseball season. The veteran catcher has played for the St. Louis Browns, the Detroit Tigers, the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators in his 19 year major league career. Last season Ruel played in 36 games for the Browns, hitting only .190. Ruel is best known for scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning at Griffith Stadium to give Washington their only World Series victory.

March 5th, 1934 - Transactions

Reds Puchase Brennan Contract from Yankees

The Cincinnati Reds have purchased the contract of Don Brennan from the New York Yankees. Last season, Brennan was a 29 year old rookie pitcher for the Yanks, going 5-1 with an ERA of 4.98.

February 24th, 1934 - Transactions

Dodgers Name New Manager

Stengel Once Played for Brooklyn Club

The Brooklyn Dodgers announced yesterday that they were replacing manager Max Carey with former Dodger outfield Casey Stengel. Stengel played for the Dodgers from 1912 to 1917. During that period, the team was mostly known as the Robins. The team went back to the previous name "Dodgers" only two years ago. Dodgers had been the team's name in the 1911 and 1912 campaigns as well. "Darned if I don't know a few things about baseball, and I think I can teach baseball," Stengel told reporters yesterday.

February 13th, 1934 - Transaction

Rice Signs with Indians for '34 Season
Braves also make moves

The Cleveland Indians announced today that they had offered Sam Rice a contract for the 1934 season, and that the veteran of 19 seasons with the Washington Nationals had accepted. Rice had played nearly every game in the Nationals outfield until 1932, when he playing time began to dwindle. The Nationals recently dropped Rice.

In other moves, the Boston Braves announced that they had picked up free agent Dick Barrett and had selected Pirates pitcher Steve Swetonic off waivers.

February 6th, 1934 - Transactions

Reds Pick Up Dazzy Vance Off Waivers

St. Louis Declined to Keep Pitcher

The Cincinnati Reds announced today that they had picked pitcher Dazzy Vance up off of waivers. Vance was a long time star pitcher for the Brooklyn ball club (as shown in picture) between 1922-1932, but played last season for St. Louis (NL), where he went 6-2 with a 3.55 ERA. St. Louis is heavy on quality pitching this year, and decided to release Vance.

February 5th, 1934 - Transactions

Phillies Purchase Allen Contract From Redbirds

Phillies officials announed today that they had purchased the contract of outfielder Ethan Allen from the St. Louis Cardinals. Allen had been a fixture in the Cincinnati Reds outfield in 1928 and 1929, but since being traded to the Giants in 1930 has played more of a utility role. Last season he played in St. Louis, where he hit .241/.280/.291. He is expected to play more of an every day role on the hurting Philadelphia (NL) team.

January 20th, 1934 - Transactions

Pennock a Red Sox Once More

Recently released Yankees pitcher rejoins old team

Herb Pennock, recently released from the New York Yankees, has signed on to play with the Boston Red Sox for the 1934 baseball season, team officials said today. Pennock, known as the "Knight of Kennett Square," after his birthplace in Kennett Square, PA, pitched for Boston from 1915 to 1922 after being traded from Philadelphia. Pennock has been mostly a starter, but only saw limited action, much of it in relief, during the Yankees's 1933 campaign.

January 16, 1934 - Transactions

Yankees Re-sign the Babe

Bambino Takes Cut in Pay Despite 34 HRs Last Year

The Yankees announced that they have resigned their star slugger, Babe Ruth, for $35,000. Despite the large sum, it represents a large decrease in pay from his 1933 salary of $52,000. Ruth had also discussed signing on as player-manager with Detroit for 1934, so the announcement of his re-signing resulted in a collective sigh of relief from Yankee fans.

January 11th, 1934 - St. Louis sends O'Farrell, Johnson to Cinci

Cards Trade O'Farrell and Johnson to Reds

The Cardinals announced today that they have traded veteran catcher Bob O'Farrell (pictured) and Pitcher Syl Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Glenn Spencer.

O'Farrell has played most of his career for the Chicago Cubs, but has also spend a few seasons with the Cards and the Giants. The Reds will be his fourth NL team. He played on both the Cubs 1918 pennant winner and the Cards 1926 World Series championship team. O'Farrell also managed the Cards in 1927. Cincinnati announced that O'Farrell would manage the Reds in the 1934 season.

Johnson started off in the American League with the Detroit Tigers in 1922, but joined the Cardinals after the 1925 season. Last year, he was 3-3 with a 4.29 ERA in 84 innings pitched, nearly all in relief.

Spencer has pitched 5 seasons, mostly for Pittsburgh. Last year in NY (NL) he saw limited action, pitching only 47 innings with an 0-2 record and 5.13 ERA.

January 6, 1934 - Transactions

Yankees Release Veteran Players
Pennock and Sewell Won't be Re-signed, says McCarthy

The New York Yankees announced yesterday that they were releasing Herb Pennock (pictured), known as "the Knight of Kennett Square," and Joe Sewell. 11 year Yankee pitcher Pennock had at one time been an anchor of the Yankees starting rotation. He broke into the Majors with the Philadelphia A's in 1912, but was traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1915. After seven seasons with the Red Sox, he was sold to New York in 1923, where he regularly started on the great Yankees teams of the late 1920s. Pennock was especially productive for the Yankees in post season play, with a record of 5-0 for them in the World Series. Experts consider Pennock to be among the best left handed pitchers during the 1920s. Pennock is said to be talking with several teams about joining them.

Sewell signed with the Cleveland Indians in 1920 and was their regular shortstop for many years. He finished in the top 10 voting for the American League Most Valuable Player four times in that period before being traded to New York after the 1930 season. He played nearly every game each season for the Indians and Yankees during his career. After the 1928 season, he played the vast bulk of his games at third base. Sewell got his break when Indians shortstop, Ray Chapman, was killed by a pitch in the 1920 season. Sewell, a graduate of the University of Alabama, has made a name for himself as a fine hitter, and one of the hardest hitters to strike out. Although Sewell did well in his first year in New York, his productivity has markedly declined in the past two seasons.

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Ed note: Thanks to Brian for his correction.