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.

Spring Training Begins, Monday, March 10, 1924

A few things to note above. One is obvious, Tony Lazzeri and his SLC teammates playing against a Japanese athletic club team. I've always maintained that the separation or desegregation present in the Majors or even high minors didn't reflect what was really going on in society, its the interactions you would see below the majors, with company teams, college teams, semi-pro teams, etc. At the semi-pro and barnstorming levels, baseball was where different communities came together, interacted, and, most importantly, played together. As far back as  baseball being reported on, we see these other stories in the fringes, written or implied, and we see them because the information would have been demanded by the news consumer. Its not that there wasn't segregation, of course there was. It's about where it was and how it was manifest and what all that means that is capable of elucidating the past and how it impacts today. These Bees were playing the Fresno Athletic Club and their great second baseman, Kenichi Zenimura. Fresno was one of the better semi-pro baseball teams.

Tony Lazzeri was a 20-year-old second baseman from San Francisco who would soon star in New York with the Yankees, along with a fellow San Franciscan, 19-year-old Mark Koenig, who was playing short stop that season in St. Paul, and a 21-year-old Eastern League star by the name of Lou Gehrig. Koenig was the first Yankee to wear #2 (although when he joined, he mostly hit leadoff, switching to 2nd in the order in 1927, with Combs hitting leadoff, the numbers themselves didn't make it onto uniforms until 1929, when Gene Robertson actually hit 2nd more), a number we will have to assume gets retired soon for Jeter. Tangent: I'm not much of a Yankees fan, by why doesn't Billy Martin 'share' his retired number with Earle Combs? Anyway, Lazzeri would hit 60 home runs in 1925 in 197 games for SLC (512 total bases!!!), and in 1926, he was a rookie and the leading home run hitter in the Yankee infield, with 18, since 1927 is really when Gehrig found his Major League home run stroke.

Two other names of quick note: Mickey Cochrane and Jack Quinn. Cochrane was still a month away from turning 21 on April 6 when he caught Portland's game against the Ambler's Athletic Club of Stockton (their hall is still for rent if you need a meeting space in Stockton). Jack Quinn? He's not listed above, but he pitched to Cochrane for the Athletics, played twice for the Yankees, and died the same year as Tony Lazzeri, although Lazzeri was 42 and Quinn was 62. One of four Major Leaguers, and the only one of note, born in Austria-Hungary. He would lose a World Series in 1921 with the Yankees and win two in 1929 and 1930 with the Athletics. Here are some webcams from where he was born, which is now part of Slovakia. Actually, Elmer Valo was also from an area that is now part of Slovakia, but that was in 1921, by which time the Empire had fallen. Oddly enough, he also played for the Yankees and Athletics!