May 25th, 1934 - NL Player of the Week - Chuck Klein

NL Player of the Week - Chuck Klein

Our last AL Player of the Week (Lou Gehrig) was probably the best known player of the 1930s. Our NL Player this week, Chuck Klein (HA40), is among the least well known of the 1930s stars.

One reason for this is that although Klein is playing for the Cubs in our 1934 replay, he actually spent nearly all of his career with the cellar dwelling Phillies (1928-1933, 1935-1939, 1940-1944) with interludes in Chicago (1934-1935) and Pittsburgh (1939). He makes Bill James's All Star team of players on 100 loss teams.

According to James, Klein wound up in Philadelphia because the Cardinals felt constrained from purchasing Klein's contract, despite general manager Branch Rickey's view that he was the best player in the Central League (AAA). The Cardinals already controlled two teams in the league, and were fueding with Commissioner Landis over the extent of their farm system. Rickey felt that if the Cards obtained a player from a team they didn't control, it might upset the apple cart with the tempestuous Landis. Accordingly, Rickey spoke with his good friend and thefuture manager of his Brooklyn teams, Burt Shotten, then managing in Philadelphia, and convinced Shotten to purchase Klein's contract for Philadelphia. Having read extensively about Rickey, I suspect that Rickey was, in essence, neutralizing Klein as a threat to the Cards by ensuring that he wound up with a team that could not compete.

Klein proved Rickey's judgment correct. He was the NL MVP in 1932 and the runner up in 1931 and 1933. He won four home run titles and a triple crown. Another notable achievement is being the first NL player to hit four home runs in a game in the 20th century. Klein was also a superb fielder and holds the record for most assists in the modern era (44) in that position.

While the left handed hitter Klein benefited from the short right field in the Baker Bowl (a high right field tin fence that was between 280 and 320 feet from home plate from the line to right-center), an analysis of 1930s players at The Hardball Times concludes that Klein "was a legitimately tremendous hitter (who waited far too long to be elected to the Hall of Fame)..."

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1980.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/35876/chuck_klein_an_overlooked_hall_of_famer.html
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/printarticle/leveling-the-1930s-playing-field-part-2-the-careers/

May 25th, 1934 - AL Game Summaries

Tigers Cruise in 8-3 Win Over A's
Gee Walker leads Tigers hitters

Athletics....... 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 - 3 12 1
Tigers........... 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 4 x - 8 12 1

The Detroit Tigers easily topped the Philadelphia Athletics; the final scorewas 8 to 3. Philadelphia never recovered after Detroit took the lead in the bottom of the 7th inning plating an isolated run on 3 hits. Both teams finished the game with 12 hits. Vic Sorrell(3-3) allowed 3 runs in 7 innings, and picked up the victory. Sorrell got help from Chief Hogsett who was credited with his 4th save. Sugar Cain(4-3) was given the loss. He got hit pretty hard, allowing 11 hitsand 6 walks in 7 and 2/3 innings.


Nationals Breeze 3-1 Against Browns
Whitehill wins 8th game

Nationals....... 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 - 3 10 0
Browns.......... 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 5 0

Earl Whitehill completed the game without help from the bullpen as the Washington Nationals topped the St. Louis Browns by a score of 3 to 1 at Sportsman's Park.

St. Louis surrendered all of the runs Washington needed in the 4th inning when they scored 3 runs on 4 hits. Neither team managed to score after the 4th inning.
Whitehill (8-1) was the winner allowing 1 run for the game. GeorgeBlaeholder (2-4) was charged with the loss. He surrendered 3 runs and 9 hits in 8 innings.



Byrd Smacks two Homers as Yanks Win 5-1 at Comiskey
First start this season for Yankee left fielder

Yankees......... 0 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 - 5 9 0
White Sox....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1 7 0

Sammy Byrd smacked 2 homeruns and had 3 RBI at Comiskey Park where the NewYork Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox by the score of 5 to 1.

Byrd led the offense for New York. He ripped a base-knock in the 1st inning, blasted a solo shot in the 3rd inning and smashed a two-run homer (his 2nd ofthe season) in the 5th inning. New York had a total of 9 hits for the game.

George Uhle (1-0) went 8 innings allowing 1 run for the victory. George Earnshaw(3-4) took the loss. He pitched 7 innings and surrendered 9 hits and3 walks.


Sox Bats Continue to Suffer, Lose 6-2 at League Stadium

Pearson throws complete game for fourth victory of year

Red Sox......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2 5 0
Indians.......... 0 0 3 1 1 0 0 1 x - 6 11 0

Monte Pearson was able to finish what he started and was credited with a complete game as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Boston Red Sox by a score of 6 to 2 at League Park. Cleveland scored 3 runs in the 3rd inning when they had 4 base hits. That was all the runs Pearson(4-3) needed.


Cleveland totaled 11 on the afternoon. Gordon Rhodes (3-6) was the losing pitcher. He was hit hard and gave up 10 hits and 4 walks in 7 innings.

With this win, Cleveland has a 13-15 record. They have been 5-5 lately. With this loss, Boston has a 3-7 record of late,17-15 overall.

May 25th, 1934 - AL Standings and Leaders

NEWSPAPER STYLE RECAP FOR 1934 American League Date: 5/26/1934 TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN 1934 PHA 20 12 J.Stone WAA .442 J.Foxx PHA 13 L.Gehrig NYA 51 1934 WAA 20 14 J.Vosmik CLA .434 L.Gehrig NYA 12 J.Foxx PHA 33 1934 DEA 17 15 E.Averill CLA .404 E.Averill CLA 11 B.Johnson PHA 31 1934 BOA 17 15 J.Foxx PHA .402 B.Johnson PHA 10 E.Averill CLA 30 1934 NYA 16 16 J.Dykes CHA .394 Z.Bonura CHA 6 A.Simmons CHA 28 1934 CLA 13 15 1934 CHA 13 17 WINS SAVES ERA 1934 SLA 9 21 E.Whitehi WAA 8 H.Pennock BOA 4 M.Harder CLA 2.55 M.Harder CLA 5 F.Ostermu BOA 4 R.Ruffing NYA 2.55 L.Gomez NYA 5 C.Hogsett DEA 4 B.Newsom SLA 2.55 OTHERS TIED W 4 J.Murphy NYA 3 B.Weiland *** 2.60 OTHERS TIED W 2 S.Rowe DEA 2.61 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS J.Foxx PHA 14 G.Walker DEA 8 L.Gomez NYA 40 R.Warstle PHA 14 F.Uhalt CHA 6 R.Ruffing NYA 33 R.Johnson BOA 12 J.White DEA 6 B.Newsom SLA 29 B.Johnson PHA 11 B.Chapman NYA 6 F.Marberr DEA 28 L.Gehrig NYA 10 B.Werber BOA 5 M.Pearson CLA 27 YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS BOA 2 at CLA 6 BOA-Ferrell(0-0, ----) at DEA-Bridges(1-5, 5.40) NYA 5 at CHA 1 NYA-Broaca(0-0, ----) at SLA-Hadley(2-3, 8.03) PHA 3 at DEA 8 PHA-Dietric(3-1, 4.43) at CLA-Hudlin(2-3, 4.05) WAA 3 at SLA 1 WAA-Thomas(2-0, 3.72) at CHA-Galliva(0-2, 7.67) WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS E.Averill CLA .419 31 13 15 5 5 E.Whitehill WAA 27 20 6 9 8 0 300 Z.Bonura CHA .273 33 9 11 7 4 M.Harder CLA 18 12 1 2 5 1 200 L.Gehrig NYA .405 37 15 15 5 3 L.Gomez NYA 18 12 4 6 12 0 200 J.Foxx PHA .475 40 19 11 5 3 J.Knott SLA 10 3 0 7 6 0 001 B.Werber BOA .267 30 8 7 8 3 B.Newsom SLA 18 18 4 11 13 1 200 WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS O.Melillo SLA .158 38 6 4 0 0 L.Stewart WAA 12 21 13 5 4 0 020 B.Cissell BOA .185 27 5 2 3 0 A.Benton PHA 8 15 12 10 5 1 111 R.Pepper SLA .171 35 6 4 3 0 G.Rhodes BOA 16 25 15 8 1 1 120 E.Phillips WAA .069 29 2 2 7 0 I.Andrews SLA 6 12 5 0 3 0 010 D.Cooke BOA .083 24 2 2 6 0 H.Johnson BOA 6 14 7 4 4 0 000 INJURY REPORT No injuries to report

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 1934 American League WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC# ACTWON ACTLOST ACTPCT 1934 Philadelphia PHA 20 12 .625 ---- 121 68 82 .453 1934 Washington WAA 20 14 .588 1.0 66 88 .429 1934 Detroit DEA 17 15 .531 3.0 101 53 .656 1934 Boston BOA 17 15 .531 3.0 76 76 .500 1934 New York NYA 16 16 .500 4.0 90 64 .584 1934 Cleveland CLA 13 15 .464 5.0 85 69 .552 1934 Chicago CHA 13 17 .433 6.0 53 99 .349 1934 St. Louis SLA 9 21 .300 10.0 67 85 .441 OVERALL RECORD Team WON LOST PCT HOME ROAD LEFT RIGHT EXTRA 1-RUN LAST 10 STREAK BOA 17 15 .531 12- 8 5- 7 5- 2 12-13 1- 1 5- 5 3-7 Lost 3 CHA 13 17 .433 5-10 8- 7 3- 1 10-16 0- 1 2- 4 2-8 Lost 3 CLA 13 15 .464 9- 3 4-12 5- 6 8- 9 1- 0 3- 4 5-5 Won 2 DEA 17 15 .531 10- 7 7- 8 3- 6 14- 9 1- 1 4- 5 6-4 Won 1 NYA 16 16 .500 8- 7 8- 9 3- 4 13-12 0- 1 3- 6 7-3 Won 5 PHA 20 12 .625 10- 5 10- 7 2- 1 18-11 2- 0 7- 1 7-3 Lost 1 SLA 9 21 .300 6- 7 3-14 4- 5 5-16 0- 2 2- 4 4-6 Lost 2 WAA 20 14 .588 11- 7 9- 7 2- 4 18-10 1- 0 5- 2 5-5 Won 2 TOTAL 125 125 .500 TEAM -APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT+ BOA 8- 3 9-12 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 CHA 6- 4 7-13 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 CLA 6- 3 7-12 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 DEA 5- 5 12-10 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 NYA 4- 7 12- 9 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 PHA 5- 7 15- 5 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 SLA 2- 7 7-14 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 WAA 6- 6 14- 8 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 WINS ARE ACROSS, LOSSES ARE DOWN: TEAM BOA CHA CLA DEA NYA PHA SLA WAA BOA - 2 2 2 3 1 3 4 CHA 3 - 1 3 1 0 3 2 CLA 3 1 - 2 1 1 3 2 DEA 2 3 1 - 3 3 3 2 NYA 1 5 3 2 - 3 1 1 PHA 2 4 3 3 3 - 3 2 SLA 2 0 2 0 3 1 - 1 WAA 2 2 3 3 2 3 5 -

May 25th, 1934 - NL Standings and Leaders

NEWSPAPER STYLE RECAP FOR 1934 National League Date: 5/25/1934 TEAM WON LOST BATTING AVERAGE HOME RUNS RUNS BATTED IN 1934 CHN 23 12 M.Ott NYN .430 G.Hartnet CHN 8 M.Ott NYN 34 1934 NYN 22 12 J.Medwick SLN .418 M.Ott NYN 7 W.Berger BON 27 1934 PIN 15 14 B.Terry NYN .392 R.Collins SLN 7 K.Cuyler CHN 27 1934 BRN 16 15 A.Vaughan PIN .387 W.Berger BON 6 A.Vaughan PIN 27 1934 SLN 17 16 D.Bartell PHN .380 L.Koeneck BRN 6 J.Medwick SLN 26 1934 PHN 13 17 1934 BON 11 19 WINS SAVES ERA 1934 CIN 9 21 C.Hubbell NYN 8 J.Haines SLN 4 B.Cantwel BON 1.45 L.Warneke CHN 6 B.Smith BON 3 C.Hubbell NYN 1.80 R.Benge BRN 5 H.Bell NYN 3 P.Derring CIN 1.93 G.Bush CHN 5 W.Hoyt PIN 3 L.Warneke CHN 2.26 F.Fitzsim NYN 5 OTHERS TIED W 2 F.Fitzsim NYN 2.87 CUR HIT STREAK STOLEN BASES STRIKEOUTS B.Ryan NYN 13 P.Martin SLN 9 D.Dean SLN 45 B.Herman CHN 11 D.Taylor BRN 5 V.Mungo BRN 44 S.Leslie BRN 10 J.Rothroc SLN 5 L.Warneke CHN 42 P.Waner PIN 9 OTHERS TIED W 4 P.Malone CHN 32 J.Medwick SLN 9 C.Hubbell NYN 32 YESTERDAY'S GAMES TODAY'S SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE STARTERS CHN 8 at NYN 3 CIN 3 at PHN 2 PIN 5 at BON 12 SLN 3 at BRN 7 WHO'S HOT - BEST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS L.Koenecke BRN .433 30 13 8 7 3 V.Mungo BRN 17 8 2 4 10 0 110 J.Medwick SLN .486 37 18 10 2 3 H.Schumacher NYN 18 12 4 3 11 0 100 B.Terry NYN .343 35 12 13 4 2 C.Hubbell NYN 26 25 9 1 15 2 210 M.Ott NYN .333 36 12 9 3 3 B.Cantwell BON 13 11 1 3 7 0 000 T.Cuccinello BRN .345 29 10 9 4 1 S.Johnson CIN 22 19 7 3 11 1 110 WHO'S NOT - WORST IN LAST 10 DAYS BATTER TM AVG AB H RB BB HR PITCHER TM IP H ER BB Ks HR WLS H.Critz NYN .171 35 6 2 0 0 B.Frey CIN 8 13 8 3 1 0 010 M.Koenig CIN .182 33 6 0 2 0 B.Swift PIN 11 19 10 2 2 1 020 C.Lavagetto PIN .080 25 2 1 3 0 A.Herring BRN 6 8 6 9 1 0 010 T.Piet CIN .188 32 6 1 1 0 B.Harris PIN 5 11 6 1 3 0 000 F.Lindstrom PIN .125 24 3 1 2 0 R.Lucas BRN 5 7 5 3 0 1 000 INJURY REPORT No injuries to report

LEAGUE STANDINGS FOR 1934 National League WON LOST PCT GB MAGIC# ACTWON ACTLOST ACTPCT 1934 Chicago CHN 23 12 .657 ---- 120 86 65 .570 1934 New York NYN 22 12 .647 .5 93 60 .608 1934 Pittsburgh PIN 15 14 .517 5.0 74 76 .493 1934 Brooklyn BRN 16 15 .516 5.0 71 81 .467 1934 St. Louis SLN 17 16 .515 5.0 95 58 .621 1934 Philadelphia PHN 13 17 .433 7.5 56 93 .376 1934 Boston BON 11 19 .367 9.5 78 73 .517 1934 Cincinnati CIN 9 21 .300 11.5 52 99 .344 OVERALL RECORD Team WON LOST PCT HOME ROAD LEFT RIGHT EXTRA 1-RUN LAST 10 STREAK BON 11 19 .367 4- 8 7-11 0- 5 11-14 1- 1 5- 6 6-4 Won 1 BRN 16 15 .516 5- 7 11- 8 4- 3 12-12 0- 0 3- 7 5-5 Won 1 CHN 23 12 .657 13- 6 10- 6 6- 1 17-11 1- 0 9- 4 6-4 Won 1 CIN 9 21 .300 5-10 4-11 3- 4 6-17 1- 2 5- 5 2-8 Won 1 NYN 22 12 .647 12- 5 10- 7 6- 2 16-10 1- 3 7- 7 8-2 Lost 1 PHN 13 17 .433 10- 4 3-13 1- 5 12-12 1- 0 4- 6 5-5 Lost 1 PIN 15 14 .517 10- 7 5- 7 6- 5 9- 9 1- 1 4- 5 4-6 Lost 1 SLN 17 16 .515 12- 8 5- 8 3- 4 14-12 2- 1 5- 2 4-6 Lost 1 TOTAL 126 126 .500 TEAM -APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT+ BON 5- 6 6-13 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 BRN 6- 5 10-10 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 CHN 8- 4 15- 8 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 CIN 4- 7 5-14 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 NYN 6- 5 16- 7 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 PHN 5- 6 8-11 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 PIN 7- 3 8-11 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 SLN 3- 8 14- 8 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 WINS ARE ACROSS, LOSSES ARE DOWN: TEAM BON BRN CHN CIN NYN PHN PIN SLN BON - 3 0 4 2 0 2 0 BRN 2 - 1 2 2 3 3 3 CHN 3 6 - 4 3 2 1 4 CIN 2 0 2 - 1 2 1 1 NYN 3 1 2 5 - 3 3 5 PHN 2 2 4 1 2 - 2 0 PIN 1 2 2 3 0 4 - 3 SLN 6 1 1 2 2 3 2 -

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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