Senators Won Only World Title in 1924
ALSO: PROMOTING NEW AARON BOOK MEANS MAKING MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS
Pregame Pepper
Surprise: the 1.34 ERA of new Atlanta starter López, signed out of free agency, puts him in good company, since the only other Atlanta Braves pitchersto post a lower ERA while making only starts through the first seven appearances in a season were Michael Soroka (1.01 in 2019), Greg Maddux (0.94 in 1994) and Tom Glavine (0.93 in 2002) . . .
Kudos: to Oakland A’s broadcasters Julia Morales and Jenny Cavnar, who became the first women to work together on a major-league telecast Monday after Morales, normally the in-game reporter, switched spots for a day with regular telecaster Todd Kalas . . .
Great name: journeyman relief pitcher Richard Lovelady, who has pitched in the big leagues during each of the past five seasons, has been designated for assignment by the Cubs . . .
More than a mouthful: Ralph Kiner broadcasting Braves catcher Biff Pocoroba batting against Mets pitcher Bob Apodaca . . .
Over a 10-day span, the Giants lost seven position players, including both their catchers and entire starting outfield, including Korean center-fielder Jung Hoo Lee, signed for $113 million plus a posting fee. Lee suffered structural damage to his left shoulder crashing into a wall and is expected to miss “significant” time . . .
Trevor Bauer Tuesday Tweet: “There’s not a single MLB team out there that has 3 starters better than me. Let alone 5. And I’m as cheap or cheaper than any of them since I’m willing to play for the minimum. And even though I have the support of players, coaches, fans, managers, and GMs league-wide, every time they go to the owner to sign me, they’re told no. Makes you wonder who is telling all the owners not to sign me.”
Leading Off
The 1924 World Series Win Belongs to D.C., Not Minnesota
By Andrew C. Sharp
On August 11, the Minnesota Twins plan to commemorate the 1924 World Series victory of the Washington Senators. Why? Well, I don’t blame you if you’ve forgotten that the Twins’ franchise began in D.C. in 1901 as the Washington Senators, an original member of the American League.
Calvin Griffith, who inherited control of the team from his uncle, Clark Griffith, moved the Senators to Minneapolis/St. Paul after the 1960 season. A few years later, he notoriously said that he did it because Minnesota had more white people.
So the Twins now have been in Minnesota longer than the franchise was in D.C. The Twins have reached the World Series three times, losing in 1965 before winning in 1987 and 1991. Minnesota has made the playoffs a dozen times. The Twins made it to the division series last season. Those are good things for Twins’ fan to celebrate.
Other than Walter Johnson’s pitching feats, the most often cited single-season franchise records (home runs, RBIs, hits, runs scored, batting average) are held by members of the Twins, not the Senators. Hall-of-Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew would hold the Twins’ career HR and RBI record, even if you didn’t count those he had for Washington.
In 1961, Washington was left with a pitiful expansion team that had just one winning season (1969) before it was hijacked to Texas by Robert Short, another nefarious owner, after the 1971 season. From 1972 through 2024, D.C. was the largest metropolitan area that did not have a team. Many Washington fans reluctantly began to support the Baltimore Orioles, less than 40 miles away, a franchise whose own move from St. Louis in 1954 hurt attendance in D.C.
The Dodgers and Giants kept the names of the original Brooklyn and New York teams when they moved. So did the twice-moved Braves and (so far) the nomadic Athletics. That connection makes it far easier for those franchises to keep their ancient memories alive.
The fact is that few casual fans know that the Twins were once the Senators, just as few Orioles’ fans know their team was once the Browns. The current Baltimore team does next to nothing to keep memories of the Browns alive. In any case, who would care? Better the Orioles commemorate Baltimore’s teams in the N.L. in the 1890s.
The Washington Nationals regularly recognize the legacy of both Senators’ franchises. (The 1924 team was officially the Nationals, even though few people called them that.) Despite their many losing seasons, those teams are a large part of Washington’s baseball history, not that of Minnesota’s. The Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints of the American Association are Minnesota’s 20th-century baseball history before the Twins.
Statues of Walter Johnson and Frank Howard stand outside Nationals Park in D.C. In 2020, the Twins rightly removed a statue of Calvin Griffith from outside their ballpark.
Although longtime D.C. fans like me feel the pain of baseball fans in Montreal, we do not look to this franchise’s years in Canada as our team’s history. It belongs to Montreal.
Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter and Tim Wallach, among many others, will always be remembered fondly in Montreal, not in Washington. Similarly, Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin and Mickey Vernon belong to D.C., not to the Twins.
So the Twins can go ahead and celebrate a century-old World Series, the only championship won by the original Senators. I doubt many Minnesota fans will care.
This September 13, 14, and 15, Nationals Park will host the “1924 Centennial Weekend” with fireworks and promotional giveaways. That’s where the real celebration should be. The 1924 -- and 2019 -- World Series victories always will belong to Washington, D.C.
Andrew C. Sharp is a retired daily newspaper journalist and a SABR member who blogs about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up
Promoting A New Book Means Making Multiple Author Interviews
By Dan Schlossberg
Thanks to the efforts of two publicists, I’m doing dozens of interviews to promote my latest Hank Aaron biography, Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron.
Earlier this week, my interviewer turned out to be Nestor Aparicio, cousin of Hall of Famer Luis Aparicio and long-time host of the Baltimore Positive show on WNST-FM. To localize his focus, we compared Cal Ripken, Jr. to Dale Murphy and drew a parallel between Ripken’s run for Lou Gehrig’s record (consecutive games played) and Aaron’s pursuit of Babe Ruth (lifetime home runs).
Also on my dance card are several interviews with the syndicated Sports Byline show, Sirius XM Satellite Radio, and such major AM outlets as WIP Philadelphia and WBZ Boston.
I even did an interview for a station in Aaron’s hometown of Mobile, Alabama.
On my third day, I talked to 11 different stations, from Albuquerque to California, and tried my best to keep my answers crisp, complete, and humorous and my voice fresh.
All this activity was sandwiched between two signings, one today at Books & Greetings in Northvale, NJ and one earlier this week at Mahwah Public Library.
I also have a pair of signings scheduled for the Baseball Hall of Fame, at 1 p.m. on June 20 as part of their Baseball Authors Series and at 11 a.m. July 20 in front of Willis Monie Books on Main Street as part of Induction Weekend.
My presentations include a Power Point presentation compiled by Chris Lucas, son of famed blind broadcaster Ed Lucas and a long-time friend in his own right.
Since most people are at least partially addicted to television, a Power Point — accompanied by my comments — helps tell the Hank Aaron story, adding lots of humor to a story that is often sad, sometimes maddening, and occasionally excruciating as well as exhilarating.
Did you know, for example, that Aaron and his siblings once hid under their bed because the KKK was marching down the street in front of his Mobile, AL home?
Or that Aaron and Felix Mantilla had the difficult job of integrating the all-white Sally League when they were sent to Jacksonville by the Milwaukee Braves?
Or that Aaron had to become an integration pioneer again when the Braves moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta?
Or that he was forced into accommodations separate from the team not only early in his career but late — after a torrent of hate mail from Babe Ruth supporters threatened his family’s safety?
It’s a classic rags-to-riches story, with the teenaged Aaron reporting to pro ball with a cardboard suitcase, hand-me-down clothes, a ham sandwich in his hand, and $2 in his pocket.
From there, he became what many believe was the best player in baseball history.
Don’t believe it? Come hear one of the talks. Or, better yet, get the book.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is the author of more than 40 baseball books since 1974. His email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia: Line-Drive Luis Makes Big Splash
“What a talent. It’s hard to believe we have a comp to Tony Gwynn but if there is one in our modern game, now we have him on our team.”
— Padres manager Mike Shildt on newly-acquired DH Luis Arraez
A batting champion in opposite leagues over the last two seasons, Arraez got four hits in his first game for San Diego after arriving from Miami . . .
Through 570 career games, Gwynn had a .326 average and 25 home runs, while Arraez had a .324 average and 24 homers . . .
Nicknamed Line-Drive Luis, he was the first Padre to produce four hits in his first game . . .
San Diego pitcher Michael King said that if he became a free agent, he would sign wherever Arraez went whenever he is eligible (two years from now) so that King won’t have to face him anymore . . .
The Marlins agreed to pay all but $592,000 of the remaining $8.4 million of the infielder’s salary.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.