Lefty O'Doul

Game 25, played May 3, 1924

The Seattle Indians played their 25th game of the 1924 season on May 3, 1924. The game resulted in a 3 to 2 loss for the Indians.

The loss put Seattle down  2 to 3 in the series against Salt Lake, and left the Seattle ball club at 10 wins and 15 losses for the year.

The game featured Ted Baldwin getting the boot from umpire Biff Schaller. Schaller had played some for the 1919 Seattle Indians, when the team returned to the PCL.

Before that, Schaller played for several years with the Seals, and even had some major league experience. He was a backup outfielder for a few games in 1911 with the Tigers, and saw some time in 1913 with the White Sox.  As a total aside, I just noticed that Red Killefer and Bill Lelivelt both played on the 1909 Tigers. Bill is, of course, Jack's brother.

Some other tidbits in the news that day concerned the expensive hands of some PCL fielders, one of whom would prove to be worth quite a bit for Murderers' Row.

While I'm sure most are familiar with Tony Lazzeri, Johnny Frederick had a nice career as well. He finally hit the majors in 1929, joining Tony in New York City, albeit a little further south at Ebbets Field, wearing number 1 for the Brooklyn Robins. He led the NL in doubles with 52 in his rookie year, finishing ahead of the 42 hit by team mate Babe Herman.

Herman, incidentally, was, in 1924, still a year away from a strong year for the 1925 Seattle Indians. Frederick roamed center field between Herman in right that year and Rube Bressler. How many players got to go to work with Babe and Rube?

Curiously enough, Bressler had started out as a pitcher, much like the pitcher who started that day for Salt Lake, Lefty O'Doul. O'Doul and Frederick would be teammates with Brooklyn's outfield corps in 1931, along with Herman and Bressler. O'Doul would hit .368 in 1932, to win the NL batting title. From 1924 to 1932, O'Doul hit, in the PCL: .392, .375, .338, .378; and in the MLB: .319, .398, .383, .336, and .368.

The year O'Doul hit .398, he closed out the season on a 15 game hitting streak in which he batted .462. One more game that year, and he's probably in the Hall of Fame.

In addition, Mike Sexton was visiting Seattle that week. He was the commissioner of the minor leagues, a position he would hold for 22 years, and had been involved during the off season in settling a dispute in the PCL about the control of the Los Angeles market. More on that later during a road trip to Vernon.

That story also mentions the trip Sexton took to see Daniel Dugdale, and references the Duke and Dugdale battery. I'm guessing this is for the 1889 Minneapolis Millers, for whom Dugdale caught and Martin Duke had a banner year, winning 24 games and striking out 347 batters.

As far as Sexton's story about the origin of organized baseball in Rock Island, I found in Baseball Reference a team from 1883 that was independent, and an 1879 team for Davenport. I am guessing this would be a good lead as far as the origin of that Rock Island team. (okay, I kept looking. I found an obituary on Google News Archive. Sexton was born in 1863, and died in 1937. He was President of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1908 to 1933. Baseball Reference shows that as 1909 to 1931, which aligns with another story I saw which said he was the head of the minors for 22 years.)
Simply click on the image at left and it should expand to a legible size. I included the scan of the hair gel ad. I presume this was a popular hair style.















































Game 9, Friday, April 18, 1924

"Pigg Slaughtered". I suppose Victor Pigg never really stood a chance of avoiding that headline. In this game, former Yankees and Red Sox pitcher, and future major league outfielder, Lefty O'Doul was the winning pitcher, with the Pigg performance contributing equilaterally to an evenly dismal start of .222 after nine games. And, being a quality pitcher, O'Doul knew what to do with a 9-4 lead in the fourth inning, so there wasn't much of a reason for anyone else to pitch for SLC. With the number of extra-bases being hit at Bonneville Park, I imagine Duffy Lewis, the Bees Manager, must have appreciated being able to rest his pitching staff once in awhile. O'Doul also contributed with his bat. The Indians and Bees would play two consecutive double headers on Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday game was added due to the rain outs. Sunday was the usual day for a PCL double header.

Game 8, Wednesday, April 16, 1924

The Indians travelled to Salt Lake City on Monday the 14th, but had a rain/snow out on the 15th. They finally kicked off the series with the Bees at hitter friendly Bonneville Park. Bill Plummer was the loser. One name to take note of is Tony Lazzerri, or as it's spelled in the box score, Lazerre. Another is Lefty O'Doul, who was working his way back to the majors after arm injuries sidelined his pitching career. A lot would happen to Lefty between this game and October 4, 1933, when he would get a single and 2 rbi's in his only career World Series at bat. Lazzeri is in the Hall of Fame, O'Doul is not. He should be. Baseball before WWII was always more than the Major Leagues and the Hall of Fame has recognized that in important ways. They should look at expanding their reach to individuals like O'Doul who do not fit into any tidy category or box. Players and managers who have exceptional contributions outside of the Majors should be recognized. Players who hit .349 for their career should be. I think O'Doul passes the HOF smell test in spite of his short playing career.

The Bees had moved to SLC in 1915, having first seen life as the Sacramento Solons. They would only last two more years in SLC (just long enough for Lazzerri to establish a record for home run excellence with 60) before moving to LA to be the Hollywood Stars, and then to San Diego to become the Padres. Although business was apparently good in 1915, by this game, only 200 fans would attend the early season games.








































The box score and column were reported on Thursday, April 17. The following column is from the same day. It details more information about a second rain out that day and how that might affect the pitchers getting stronger for the season. Also, it details some biographical information about Victor Pigg, who would have a four year career in the minors, starting with Seattle and ending in the Western League with Omaha. Follow that link from the Skagit River Journal, which gives details on Pigg's family and life. By 1927-8, Pigg was playing in Bellingham for Northwest baseball legend Tealey Raymond.