When Heinie Got The Boot in Fall Classic
ALSO: DAN'S CRAZY PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEW SEASON
Reader Reacts
“The reason ABS challenges weren’t used in the WBC is that some of the parks did not have the appropriate equipment -- San Juan and Tokyo in particular.
Also, for the ABS system, players all have to be specifically measured, and all MLB players have had that done before this season. But players from NPB, KBO and other foreign leagues have not had that done.
It’s too bad, as you surely know, there were quite a few bad calls, including the one that ended the USA/DR game.
I would think by the next WBC they’ll have this in place.”
— Al Yellon, Chicago
Pregame Pepper
Baltimore outfielder Tyler O’Neill already holds the record for most consecutive Opening Days with home runs but will go for No. 8 next week . . .
With Trey Yesavage starting the season sidelined by a shoulder impingement, Toronto’s chances of retaining the AL East title have declined . . .
Bidding for Atlanta’s final rotation spot, rookie Didier Fuentes was almost perfect in his first nine innings this spring, posting a 2-0 record without yielding a hit or walk, retiring 26 of 27 batters faced, and fanning 17 . . .
Newly-acquired pitcher Grayson Rodriguez will open the season on the IL for the Angels with “a dead arm,” according to new manager Kurt Suzuki . . .
After hitting .103 during spring training, once-promising outfielder Dylan Crews has been sent to the minors by the Washington Nationals . . .
Any team needing bullpen help could do worse than signing Liam Hendriks, who has survived numerous health issues during his long and successful career . . .
Another veteran free agent likely to resurface soon is fleet and versatile infielder Jon Berti, who hit .375 for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic . . .
Even non-Mets fans will miss the dulcet tones of long-time radio voice Howie Rose, a great guy and great announcer who is retiring after this season.
Leading Off
Heinie Manush’s ejection in the 1933 World Series
By Andrew Sharp
Hall of Fame outfielder Henry Emmett Manush, ungraciously known as “Heinie” based on his German heritage, played for Washington for nearly six seasons in the 1930s, hitting .328 with a cumulative bWAR of 21.6.
In 1933, the Senators’ last pennant-winning season, his league-leading 221 hits and 17 triples produced 95 RBIs and a .336 average. He finished third in the MVP voting that season, behind teammate and manager Joe Cronin and the winner, Athletics slugger Jimmie Foxx.
Manush set a record that still stands: 30 hits over 10 games, accomplished from June 10 to June 23, 1933. Yet another Manush claim to fame is being one of just three players on the field ejected from a World Series game.
Manush was the second of the three. The first was Frank Chance, the Cubs’ first baseman and manager in 1910, booted for disputing a call against his team a bit too vociferously.
The ejection of Manush in Game 4 of the 1933 World Series came at a significant point in a game Washington lost in 11 innings on the way to the Giants’ triumph in five games.
In the bottom of the sixth with Buddy Myer on second and one out, Manush hit a sharp grounder past first baseman Bill Terry. An excellent backhand play by second baseman Hughie Critz kept the ball on the infield. Critz threw to pitcher Carl Hubbell, who hustled to cover first. The ball and Hubbell appeared to reach the bag after Manush had crossed it, but umpire Charlie Moran called Manush out.
Assuming he was safe, an incensed Manush ran up to Moran and slapped him on the chest, dislodging his bow tie. The umpire immediately ejected him, but Manush refused to leave the field for several minutes as Cronin and Myers joined the argument. Not wanting to lose Manush to a suspension, Cronin kept Manush from trying to punch Moran. The other umpires eventually persuaded Manush to head to the showers.
Cronin, who followed Manush in the batting order, struck out, leaving Myer, the tying run, at third. The Senators scored against Hubbell to tie it, 1-1, in the seventh, but the Giants scored in the 11th and hung on to win, 2-1.
The ejection of the third player on the field in a Series game came 52 years after Manush’s banishment. Cardinals’ pitcher Joaquin Andujar in Game 7 of the 1985 World Series was tossed by plate umpire Don Denkinger. Famously in Game 6, Denkinger had blown a ninth-inning call at first base that allowed the Royals to come back and win that game and the series.
Andujar, a 20-game winner in the regular season, came in relief with the Cards already down 9-0, most likely to give Denkinger a piece of his mind. He faced two batters, yielding a hit and a walk.
After the ball-four call, Andujar charged Denkinger and bumped him. He was immediately ejected, later fined $500 and given a 10-game suspension at the beginning of the 1986 season.
All the others before and since who have been ejected from World Series games were either managers or bench jockeys who weren’t playing.
Weirdly, the Cardinals Joe Medwick was removed from a World Series game in 1934 in part for his own safety by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis after Detroit fans wouldn’t stop throwing things at him from the stands. That came after a dispute between Medwick and Tigers’ third baseman Marvin Owen when Medwick tripled and slid into third.
That happened in the bottom of the inning with nobody arguing. The umpires asked Landis what should be done to avoid a forfeit. Landis had warned umpires before the Series began to be cautious about ejecting players after Manush was tossed the year before. St. Louis won the 1934 game and the Series anyway.
Nationals’ now-former manager Dave Martinez remains the last man in a World Series game to be ejected. He was arguing a runner interference call in Game 7 of the 2019 Series, which Washington won.
Manush and fellow Hall-of-Famer Leon “Goose” Goslin, teammates on the 1933 team, had been traded straight-up for each other early in the 1930 season. Washington owner Clark Griffith had re-acquired Goslin from the Browns for the ’33 season, just one coincidence that connects Manush and Goslin.
In 1928, Manush lost what would have been his second batting title by one point to Goslin, .379 to .378. Washington and St. Louis played each other on the final day of the season.
Goslin explained in a story recounted in the iconic Lawrence Ritter book The Glory of Their Times how he was fearful he’d lose the title in his final at-bat.
Manush was in left field with Goslin a fraction of a point ahead in the ninth inning. Manager Bucky Harris asked Goslin if he wanted to come out for a pinch-hitter. Goslin was aware that if he did, he’d win the title, but teammate Joe Judge warned him that “they’ll call you yellow.”
Goslin went up to bat, but quickly took two strikes. At that point he thought if he got ejected, his at-bat wouldn’t count, so he began swearing at and even pushed plate umpire Bill Guthrie.
Guthrie wasn’t having any of it. “You’re not going to get thrown out of this ball game no matter what you do….You’re going to bat and you better be in there swinging, too. No base on balls.” Guthrie told him, as Goslin recalled.
Goslin got back up, swung at the next pitch and doubled to right-center to win the title. For the rest of their playing days, Manush and Goslin placed pre-season bets on which one would have the higher batting average.
Manush and Goslin died three days apart in May 1971 during what turned out to be Washington’s final season in the American League.
Andrew Sharp is a retired daily newspaper journalist and a SABR member who lives in central New Jersey. He blogs about baseball in D.C, where he was raised, at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up
Wild & Wooly Pre-Season Predictions
By Dan Schlossberg
The smart way to pen a baseball preview is to avoid picking repeaters. But not in 2026.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are overloaded after adding Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz to their world championship roster and pushing their payroll to the $500 million mark.
If the Dodgers win their third World Series in a row, they’ll be the first team to do that since the 1998-99-2000 Yankees. But it wouldn’t be surprising.
Nor would it be surprising to see both New York teams, who also pay their players well, reach the post-season — maybe even in the first Subway Series since 2000.
Speaking of the Mets, don’t be surprised if their all-time home run king — Pete Alonso — takes advantage of Baltimore’s friendly fences to produce his second 50-homer season. Coupled with fellow newcomer Taylor Ward, that could be enough for the Birds to top the Jays in the battle for supremacy in the AL East.
After all, the Yankees will still start the season without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rondon. Even if Max Fried manages to win his first Cy Young, it won’t be enough.
Look for 50-homer seasons not only from Alonso but also from Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber, Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuna Jr., and 2025 AL Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz (the ball travels in West Sacramento).
The Tigers should decide by mid-season whether to trade Tarik Skubal, owner of the last two American League Cy Youngs, or to ride his arm to a potential world championship. Adding fellow lefty Framber Valdez definitely boosts that idea.
Detroit can’t sign Skubal after an expected lockout starts in December. The question is how long can owners hold out — even now that they seem as unified as the union on the salary cap question. The winter meetings, spring training, and maybe even all or part of the 2027 season could be toast.
With the Bat of Damocles hovering above the game, fans should focus on the 2026 season — perhaps the last of an era.
Ohtani will try to add a Cy Young to his four MVPs, while Juan Soto and Cal Raleigh seek their first. Freddy Peralta will push for his first Cy Young, thanks to fellow newcomers Bo Bichette and Marcus Semien making the Mets mighty again.
Age will handicap the Phillies a lot, the Dodgers a little, and beleaguered Commissioner Rob Manfred more than he’ll be willing to admit.
The Manfred Man, still looming in extra innings, will tilt the game’s power balance but the ABS umpire-checking system should actually help.
Everything will depend, once again, on who gets hot, who gets hurt, and whose last hurrah is the loudest. It might just belong to Andruw Jones, who finally got the Hall of Fame berth he deserved nine years ago.
Hope you all have a great year!
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a national baseball writer for forbes.com, columnist for Sports Collectors Digest, contributor to USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and author of 43 baseball books. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Extra Innings: USA TODAY Sports Weekly Writers Predict 2026 MLB Awards Winners
Only one of five USA TODAY Sports Weekly writers picks the Dodgers to win their third straight world championship but two pick the Mariners — who have never won a pennant . . .
The same quintet must hate picking repeat winners since only one picks Tarik Skubal to win his third straight American League Cy Young . . .
None picked Aaron Judge to win another AL MVP trophy but two picked different Seattle teammates (Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh) . . .
Kevin McGonigle, the new Detroit shortstop, drew three votes for the 2026 top rookie trophy, but the most interesting result was the total for Aaron Judge as American League MVP: none . . .
Three former MVPs — Shohei Ohtani, Bryce Harper, and Ronald Acuña, Jr. — split the votes for National League Most Valuable Player, with Juan Soto getting one . . .
Although the Mets began play in 1962, none of their players has ever taken the MVP trophy. The only other teams with no MVPs are the Rays and Diamondbacks, more recent expansion clubs.
Know Your Editors
Here’s the Pitch is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [biggentleben@hotmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.