$Unique_ID{BAS00039} $Title{Lives of the Players: T-V} $Author{} $Subject{Tannehill Taylor Tenace Terry Thomas Thompson Tiant Tinker Torre Torriente Trammell Traynor Trout Uhle Vance Vaughan Vaughn Veeck} $Log{ Bill Terry (center), Jake Ruppert, and Joe McCarthy*0039001.scf Sam Thompson*0056901.scf Luis Tiant*0057101.scf Joe Torre*0057401.scf Alan Trammell*0057501.scf Harold "Pie" Traynor*0057601.scf George Uhle*0058101.scf Dazzy Vance*0058401.scf Arky Vaughan*0058701.scf Bill Veeck (left) and Al Lopez*0035601.scf} Total Baseball: The Players Lives of the Players: T-V Jesse Tannehill Pitcher, Cin (N) 1894, 1911, Pit (N) 1897-1902, NY (A) 1903, Bos (A) 1904-08, Was (A) 1908-09 A great control pitcher, lefthander Tannehill won 20 games six times from 1898 to 1905 and had a 197-116 career record. He averaged only 1.6 walks per nine innings. He helped pitch the Pirates to the 1901 and 1902 NL pennants. He won the 1901 ERA title with a 2.18 mark. The Pirates won the 1903 pennant without Tannehill; he and Happy Jack Chesbro jumped to the AL New York Highlanders (Yankees) that year. It cost him a chance to appear in the first World Series. He was a disappointing 15-15 in New York and was traded to Boston, the winner of the 1903 Series. His 21-11 season helped Boston win the 1904 pennant, but again he lost his World Series chance when the NL's Giants refused to meet the AL champs. With Cy Young, Bill Dineen, and Tannehill doing most of the pitching, Boston set a team record low of 1.5 walks per nine innings in 1904. Jack Taylor Pitcher, Chi (N) 1898-1903, 1906-07, StL (N) 1904-06 Taylor won 20 games four times and 152 during his career, but his claim to fame is an uncanny ability to finish what he started. On June 20, 1901, he pitched a complete game. Through his next 186 starts--more than five years' worth--he would pitch a complete game every time he started. One game went nineteen innings; another went eighteen. He finished them both. On another occasion, he pitched both ends of a doubleheader. Fifteen times he relieved other, less stouthearted hurlers, and each time finished the game. Taylor wasn't a particularly imposing physical specimen. At five-ten and 170 pounds, he was average or a little less for a pitcher of his day. Finally, on August 9, 1906, he was relieved in a game. Although he pitched only ten years in the NL, two of them partial seasons, Taylor had six seasons of over 300 innings and completed 278 of his 286 starts. Gene Tenace Catcher, Oak (A) 1969-76, SD (N) 1977-80, StL (N) 1981-82, Pit (N) 1983 Tenace was the steady catcher for the Oakland A's dynasty that won three World Series, 1972-74. A decent enough defensive catcher, he was actually very dangerous with the bat, despite a dreary .241 batting average. Over his career, he was nearly as likely to get a walk as to get a hit--984 walks to 1,060 hits. He led the AL twice in bases on balls and had a .380 on-base average. When he did get a hit, the odds were five-to-one it would go out of the park. Nearly 20 percent of his hits were homers--201. Tenace first showed he could be something out of the ordinary in the 1972 World Series. He'd just limped through a .225 season with 5 homers, followed by an .059 LCS. He looked like a soft touch to the Reds. So in his first two Series at bats he homered, not only setting a record but also providing the A's with all the runs they needed in a 3-2 win. For the Series he hit .348 and had 4 homers and 9 RBIs. Bill Terry First Baseman, NY (N) 1923-36. Manager, NY (N) 1932-41 Terry was the last NL batter to hit .400, but it doesn't impress some modern commentators, who point out that when Memphis Bill hit .401 in 1930, the whole blessed league hit .303. Still, anyone who knocks out 254 hits as Terry did in 1930 deserves respect. And it wasn't that he was a one-year wonder. He played fourteen seasons and topped .300 eleven times. Besides his .400 year, he had averages of .372, .354, .350, .349, and .341--the last mark also being his career average. He wasn't Lou Gehrig, of course. His 154 career homers don't look all that great against Gehrig or Foxx, two AL first basemen of the period. There are two answers to that. The first is obvious: Terry wasn't the home run hitter that either of those brawny gentlemen were. He was a line drive hitter who hit to all fields. And that's part of the second answer: he played his home games in the Polo Grounds, which had wonderfully short foul lines for dead pull hitters and horrifyingly deep power alleys for anyone who wasn't. Terry made the decision to go with the percentages, which was considered smart baseball in his day. One tipoff is that in five of the six years from 1927 through 1932, he averaged 20 homers a year. The sixth year was 1930 when he hit only 9. That looks suspiciously as though he cut his swing just a little when he saw a chance to hit .400. Some oldtime sportswriters are kind of happy to see Terry low-rated. He was the kind of player who, if he thought you were a jerk, said so. Some call that "refreshing honesty"; others call it "arrogance." Whatever. Once the reputation was set, he couldn't say anything to please some writers. One day in 1934, after he'd become manager of the Giants, a writer asked him what he thought of the Dodgers, at a time when everyone knew the Dodgers were pretty awful. Terry, trying to be one of the guys, made a little joke. "Is Brooklyn still in the league?" he asked. Naturally it got blown all out of proportion, especially when the Dodgers beat the Giants a couple of times at the end of the season to knock them out of the pennant. One thing about Terry: he was a much better fielder than the home run-hitting first sackers of his time. And he also became a better manager, winning three pennants and a world title in 1933 when he was a player-manager. Sam Thompson Outfielder, Det (N) 1885-88, Phi (N) 1889-98, Det (A) 1906 Big Sam played in two Hall of Fame outfields. In the early 1890s, he, Billy Hamilton, and Ed Delahanty made a heavy-lumber trio for the Phillies. In 1894 Hamilton hit .404, Delahanty .407, and Thompson .407. The second Hall of Fame outfield was in 1906, when the Detroit Tigers had suffered so many injuries that they asked Sam out of retirement. For the final eight games of the season, he lined up with Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. He hit a mere .226, but he was forty-six years old at the time. Thompson started with the old NL Detroit Wolverines in 1885. At first they didn't have a uniform to fit his six-two, 220-pound frame, and he squeezed into what was available. Running out a double, he split his pants right up the middle. The modest, good-humored slugger became the most popular player in Detroit. In 1887, when they won the NL pennant, he led the NL with a .372 batting average and 166 RBIs. Thompson compiled a .331 career batting average. One of the best home run hitters of the nineteenth century, he led the NL with 20 in 1889 and 18 in 1895. His 127 career homers rank him second only to Roger Connor for the era. And Thompson's ratio of RBIs to games played is the best of all time. An outstanding fielder, he was renowned for his powerful arm. Reportedly he popularized throwing all the way from the outfield to the catcher on one bounce. In 1974 he was named to the Hall of Fame. Luis Tiant Pitcher, Cle (A) 1964-69, Min (A) 1970, Bos (A) 1971-78, NY (A) 1979-80, Pit (N) 1981, Cal (A) 1982 The herky-jerky Cuban dervish Tiant won 20 games four times and finished with a 229-172 record in a career that looked to be over in the middle. After four merely good years with Cleveland, he was suddenly great in 1968 with a 21-9 mark and a league-leading 1.60 ERA. But the next year he led the AL in losses at 9-20. Traded to Minnesota, he appeared washed up with no arm left. Boston took a chance on him, but he struggled to 1-7 in 1971. But the next year he was the Comeback of the Year with 15-6 and his second ERA title (1.91). He won 20 games three times for the Red Sox but was at his best in 1975, when his season's record was 18-14. The Sox won the division; then Luis started them on a three-game sweep in the LCS with a three-hitter over Oakland. He opened the World Series against the powerful Reds with another shutout, threw a 163-pitch, complete game victory in Game Four, and went seven innings in Game Six before weakening. After games Luis would entertain writers, puffing his long Cuban cigar and telling stories. Some say he took the cigar with him into the shower. Tiant's father, Luis Sr., had been a skinny lefthanded junk pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Neither had seen the other pitch until the older man got a visa to leave Havana and was given an emotional welcome to Fenway Park. Joe Tinker Shortstop, Chi (N) 1902-12, 1916, Cin (N) 1913, Chi (F) 1914-15. Manager, Cin (N) 1913, Chi (F) (1914-15, Chi (N) 1916. Sometimes the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and that sort of rep seems to forever follow Tinker, Evers, and Chance. Bound together in F.P. Adams' famous bit of doggerel and in their simultaneous election to the Hall of Fame in 1946, the impression persists that they were three ordinary guys who somehow made magic only as a trio. The impression is unfair. Each was an excellent player, and no doubt they could have proved their worth as individuals. Manager Chance's Cubs depended on pitching, speed, and defense. They won four pennants and two world championships from 1906 to 1910 using that recipe. None of the Cubbies hit much in those dead-ball days; the 1907 world champs didn't have a .300 hitter, their RBI leader had 70, and the Cubs' best home run man had 2. Of course, most other NL teams were similar. In that context, Tinker was a pretty decent hitter for his time. His .262 average ranks right up there with those of shortstops of later, better-hitting eras. He usually knocked in 60-70 runs a season, and he hit 6 homers in 1908. He was practically a slugger! For some reason, Lord knows why, he always hit Christy Mathewson well, and since the Giants were always trying to nudge the Cubs out of first place, that was a very valuable talent. Once on base, Joe also had the required speed, stealing 336 bases over his career. But Joe was paid to field. And that he did very well, leading NL shortstops five times in average, in assists twice, and in putouts twice. He even led once in double plays. Only once, you ask? Isn't that the maneuver T-to-E-to-C were supposedly such whizzes at? Well, they were--everyone who saw them agrees--but the Cubs' pitchers just didn't give them as many chances to get two as some other combinations had. In the case of double plays, it looks like the sum wasn't equal to the parts. Joe Torre Catcher/First Baseman/Third Baseman, Mil (N) 1960-65, Atl (N) 1966-68, StL (N) 1969-74, NY (N) 1975-77. Manager, NY (N) 1977-81, Atl (N) 1982-84, StL (N) 1990- Torre started out with the Braves as a catcher because he kept getting fat. The idea was that catchers don't have to run much, something fat guys hate to do. Everything went well for a while. Joe didn't have the best arm in the world, but it wasn't embarrassing. He did all the other catching chores okay, and he was a terrific hitter. They selected him for the NL All-Star team from 1963 through 1967. The only thing was that catchers need rest every couple of days. In Joe's case, he usually spent his day of rest at first base so they could keep his bat in the lineup. In 1969 he was traded to the Cardinals, who put him at first base full-time. Along about then, Joe figured he'd better get serious about a diet. It wasn't quite as quick as with the frog who turned into a prince, but in 1971, slim, trim Torre emerged as a third baseman and had the season of his life. He led the NL in batting (.363), hits (230), and RBIs (137). He was named MVP. Although he never got back to that level, Torre had a lot of good seasons in his eighteen years. He finished with a .297 career average, 252 homers, and 1,185 RBIs. Cristobal Torriente Outfielder, Negro League, 1914-32, Cuban Stars, Chicago American Giants, Kansas City Monarchs, Detroit Stars, Gilkerson's Union Giants, Atlanta Black Crackers, Cleveland Cubs Many authorities pick the big Cuban on the all-time All-Negro League outfield. In 1919 Torriente, Oscar Charleston, and speedster Jimmy Lyons patrolled the outfield for the Chicago American Giants, making perhaps the best trio ever among black teams. Torriente was called the Ruth of Cuba, and in 1920 the two faced each other in Havana, one on one. Torri got three homers, two off first baseman Highpockets Kelly and one off Ruth himself. The Babe went 0-for-4 against Cuban hurling. Two home runs were usually good enough to lead the league for an entire season in the cavernous parks down there, making Torri's feat the more remarkable. Cris wore bracelets, which he shook before going to bat, and a red bandana around his neck, for his Cuban club, the Rojos, or Reds. He was Cuban batting champion three times, stolen base champ four times, and triple and home run champ five times each. In 1919-1920 he led in every batting department. Torriente's highest averages were .401 in Cuba, 1915-1916, and .402 in the States in 1920. He led the Negro League in 1923 with .389. Torri pitched occasionally and even played a lefthanded second base. He was also a notorious playboy, and he died an alcoholic at an early age. Alan Trammell Shortstop, Det (A) 1977- Trammell is a good glove in the process of becoming an outstanding bat. He and second baseman Lou Whitaker have held down the keystone positions for the Tigers for thirteen seasons. A four-time Gold Glove winner, Trammell's home runs climbed from 2 in 1978, his first full season, to 14 in 1983, to 28 in 1987. His batting average, though its climb has not been so steady, began in the .260s and peaked with .343 in 1987, as the Tigers won the Eastern Division. In 1984, when the Tigers won the World Series, Trammell was named Series MVP for his .450 average, including two homers and six RBIs in five games. Harold "Pie" Traynor Third Baseman, Pit (N) 1920-37. Manager, Pit (N) 1934-39 Traynor used to be figured as the best-ever third baseman, but his halo has tarnished a little of late, as sluggers like Eddie Mathews, Brooks Robinson, Graig Nettles, and Mike Schmidt have appeared. There even seems to be some effort to show that he wasn't even the best when he was playing, but that's a little harder to swallow. Traynor, who usually batted fifth for the Pirates, was no home run hitter; he knocked a mere 58 in his 1,941 games. Of course, half those games were in Forbes Field, where any righthanded batter who swung for the distant left field fence would have been considered a little goofy. Traynor doubled and tripled at a pretty good clip. He seems to have driven runs home pretty well too, with seven seasons of 100-plus RBIs, but some critics worry that he didn't walk a whole lot. They also point out that batting averages were at an all-time high in the twenty years between the World Wars, making his .320 less impressive. However, it does happen to be the best for any of the third basemen who played during that period. Traynor was regarded as the top-fielding third baseman of his day. A Pittsburgh sportswriter once wrote: "He doubled down the left field foul line, but Traynor threw him out." He led NL third sackers in putouts seven times, assists three times, and, surprisingly, only once in fielding average. There's no way to really rank him against modern third basemen. His career and single-season marks have been far surpassed by post-World War Two players, perhaps because more business comes to the hot corner now that most players try to pull the ball. Fielding stats being what they are, they neither prove nor disprove that he was the best gloveman playing third during his time. Most of the fans, teammates, and opponents thought he was, but they could be wrong. Maybe they gave him extra for personality; Traynor was a genial, articulate man, with more friends than bookkeepers have decimal points. The Sporting News named him to its All-Star Major League team seven times between 1925 and 1933. He finished in the top ten in NL MVP voting six times through the same period. Let's put it this way, the people who looked at third basemen when Pie was playing thought he was Pie a la mode. Some moderns disagree. Of course, there are also people around today who can prove that Elvis lives, nobody ever walked on the moon, and fast food is good for you. Traynor was named to the Hall of Fame in 1948. Paul "Dizzy" Trout Pitcher, Det (A) 1939-52, Bos (A) 1952, Bal (A) 1957 It was a wartime year, but in 1944 Trout was 27-14 and led the AL in ERA, complete games, innings pitched, and shutouts. Dizzy's teammate Hal Newhouser got the headlines with 29-9, but Trout may have been even better. He finished second to Hal in the MVP voting, 232 to 236. In 1945 Diz was only 18-15 (while Newhouser was 25-9), but in the stretch, he pitched six games in nine days and won four of them, as the Tigers won the pennant on the final day. In the Series he had an 0.64 ERA but had to split his two decisions. He won the fourth game 4-1 and lost the sixth game in relief in the twelfth inning. After the war, Trout's record slipped more than Newhouser's, but for two years they were terrific. Trout's son Steve is a current major league pitcher, and their total of more than 250 wins makes them the winningest father-son combo. George Uhle Pitcher, Cle (A) 1919-28, 1936, Det (A) 1929-33, NY (N) 1933, NY (A) 1933-34 One of the best hitting pitchers ever, with a .288 career batting average, Uhle (pronounced "Yoo-lee") was also one of the first to throw a slider, two decades before it became widespread in the 1940s. He was 26-16 for third-place Cleveland in 1923 and 27-11 for the second-place Tribe in 1926, leading in wins, complete games, and innings pitched each year. He was also first in putting men on base the latter year, with 300 hits and 118 walks, or a dangerous 11.8 per nine innings. George pitched a 20-inning game in 1929. He finished his seventeen-year career with exactly 200 wins. Arthur "Dazzy" Vance Pitcher, Pit (N) 1915, NY (A) 1915, 1918, Bkn (N) 1922-32, 1935, StL (N) 1933-34, Cin (N) 1934 One of the Dodgers' Daffiness Boys, Dazzy didn't win his first big league game until he was thirty-one in 1922. Vance had pitched five complete games in seven days in the minors, causing a chronic sore arm which almost ended his career. He bounced around the minors for ten years until manager Wilbert Robinson of the Dodgers tried starting him every fifth day, instead of every fourth, the common practice. Vance responded magnificently. His high-kick windup and extremely long arms (he had an eighty-three-inch reach) gave him a roaring fastball. Pitching with a tattered sleeve to confuse the hitters, he led the NL in strikeouts seven straight years, a record, in ERA three years, and in wins two. Dazzy was the best pitcher in the league in 1924, with 28-6, as the Bums almost beat the Giants for the pennant. He won the MVP, even though Rogers Hornsby hit a mere .424 that year. In 1925 the Bums fell to seventh, but Vance led in wins again, with 22-8. One was a one-hitter, and another, five days later, a rare 1920s no-hitter (against the Phils). In 1928 the Dodgers were sixth, but Vance was 22-10. Vance was as famous for clowning as for pitching. He liked to party, often staying out until the detectives in the lobby yawned and went to bed. Then he would slip in unnoticed. He was the key man in the famous play when Babe Herman doubled into a double play. Vance was on second base, but instead of scoring on Herman's drive, he rounded third and then went back to find Herman and one other runner sliding in from the opposite direction. Vance was named to the Hall of Fame in 1955. Floyd "Arky" Vaughan Shortstop, Pit (N) 1932-41, Bkn (N) 1942-43, 1947-48 Next to Honus Wagner, Vaughan may have been the best-hitting shortstop ever, hitting over .300 twelve times, including his first ten years in the NL. His .385 in 1935 is the twentieth-century record for shortstops. In fourteen seasons he averaged .318 and led the league in runs scored three times. Vaughan had a good eye and rarely whiffed; from 1934 to 1936 he was the top NL hitter in drawing walks. Though he was not a power hitter, Arky hit 19 homers one season and led the league in triples three different years. He slugged two home runs in the 1941 All-Star Game, the first man to do so. He fielded his position well and led NL shortstops in putouts and assists three times each. Vaughan was respected around the league for his honesty and integrity. In 1943, believing Brooklyn manager Leo Durocher had unfairly suspended another player and then lied about him to reporters, he handed in his uniform, threatening to leave the team until Durocher backed down. He retired at the end of the season and didn't return to the Dodgers until 1947, when Durocher was suspended for the season. Vaughan was named to the Hall of Fame in 1985. James "Hippo" Vaughn Pitcher, NY (A) 1908, 1910-12, Was (A) 1912, Chi (N) 1913-21 Like Harvey Haddix, lefthander Vaughn is remembered for one outstanding game, somewhat obscuring the fact that he pitched a number of excellent games. Indeed he was one of the best pitchers around during the World War One period. He didn't really settle in until he was twenty-six years old in 1914. But in seven years with the Cubs, he won 20 or more games five times, 10 once, and 17 once. In 1918 he was 22-10 to lead the NL in wins, tops in ERA at 1.74, and led in strikeouts and innings pitched. In the World Series that year, he pitched three complete games and gave up only three earned runs, yet he was only 1-2. Now about The game. On May 2 in Chicago, he hurled nine no-hit innings against Cincinnati. What made this no-hitter really special was that Fred Toney, pitching for the Reds, also tossed a no-hitter. So they went into the top of the tenth and Hard Luck Hippo gave up a single to light-hitting Larry Kopf. An outfield error followed, putting the runner on third. The next batter, Jim Thorpe, topped a little roller down the third base line. Vaughn was called Hippo because he ran like one, but he was on the ball quickly and shoveled it to the catcher. Too late. The runner slid in with the run. In the bottom of the tenth, Toney retired the Cubs hitless again. Bill Veeck Owner, Cle (A), StL (A), Chi (A) Veeck sent a midget to bat, integrated the AL, invented the exploding scoreboard, put players' names on their uniforms, and gave baseball its first two-million-attendance team, the 1948 Indians. He even tried to field an integrated Phillies club in 1943 until Judge Landis shot down his quest for ownership. With his open collar, his wooden leg (a souvenir of the Marines), and his extroverted twinkle, Bill was a fans' owner who lounged in the bleachers, chain-drinking beer and listening to gripes. He owned three different AL teams at various times. He learned the game at the hotdog stand in Wrigley Field, where his father was general manager for the Cubs. Later, Bill himself became general manager of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers. After the war Veeck brought Cleveland a pennant in 1948. His promotions brought in fans and he brought in the players, including Larry Doby, the AL's first black player and forty-two-year-old Satchel Paige. In the early 1950s, Veeck tried to save the Browns. Some of his gimmicks were outrageous, such as sending midget Eddie Gaedel to pinch-hit (he walked) and having the fans manage a game by holding up decision cards. As White Sox owner, he gave the team its first flag in forty years in 1959. His iconoclastic ways alienated the other owners but enchanted the fans. He wrote about his adventures entertainingly in Veeck as in Wreck. He even wrote about his sabbatical as a race track owner in a book entitled 30 Tons a Day. Veeck died in 1986.