June 9, 1934: The Philadelphia Athletics beat the New York Yankees, 4-2 at Yankee Stadium. Until it had been won by the Washington Senators the previous year, the last 7 American League Pennants, and 11 of the last 23, had been won by one of these teams. Both were now in transition: The Yankees, from their "Murderers' Row" team led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to the team of Joe DiMaggio that would win it all in 1936; the A's, from their heights under Jimmie Foxx and Lefty Grove into poverty, as their owner could no longer afford high salaries.
That owner was Connie Mack. He was also their manager, and had been from Day One of the franchise, April 26, 1901. Before that, he had been manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1894 to 1896.
This was his 2,764th win as a major league manager, making him the all-time leader, surpassing John McGraw, who died a few weeks earlier, and had managed from 1899 to 1932, mostly with the New York Giants.
Ruth did not play in the game. Gehrig did, going 0-for-3 with a walk. Foxx went 2-for-4, but the only home run in the game was hit by A's left fielder Bob Johnson.
Finally forced into retirement by his family after the 1950 season, having almost entirely wasted the last 20 years, the man universally known as "Mr. Mack" and "The Grand Old Man of Baseball" finished with a final record as a manager of 3,731 wins and 3,948 losses, in 7,755 games, for a winning percentage of .481, over 53 seasons.
Those managerial records for wins, losses, games and seasons are unlikely to ever be broken, mainly because there are now rules against managers owning stock in their teams. The second-most is Tony La Russa: 2,884-2,499, .536, over 26 seasons, winning 6 Pennants and 3 World Series.
Mack's all-time winning percentage was under .500, but he won 9 Pennants, all in the American League: 1902, 1905, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, 1929, 1930 and 1931. And he won 5 World Series: 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929 and 1930.
In 1937, Mack, still managing the A's, and McGraw would become the 1st 2 managers elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
*
June 9, 1934 was a Saturday. Singer Jackie Wilson was born on this day. And these other baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-7 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia. Bill Terry, also the Giants' manager, went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs. Mel Ott went 4-for-5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Hal Schumacher went 6 2/3rds innings for the win, and also hit a home run. For the Phillies, catcher Al Todd went 4-for-5 with 2 triples and 3 RBIs. Each team scored a run in the 9th inning, but the Phils' comeback fell short.
* A doubleheader was split at Ebbets Field. The Boston Braves won the opener, 8-6. The Brooklyn Dodgers won the nightcap, 8-3.
* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Joe Cronin, the shortstop and manager of the Senators, went 2-for-5, with an RBI, helping Monte Weaver beat Lefty Grove, whom Sox owner Tom Yawkey had bought from Mr. Mack in the off-season. At the end of this season, Yawkey would buy Cronin from the Senators, even though he was married to Mildred Griffith, the niece of Senators owner Clark Griffith.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Browns, 3-1 at League Park in Cleveland.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-5 at Navin Field in Detroit. (The ballpark would later be renamed Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium.) Hank Greenberg went 0-for-5, but Marv Owen went 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* And the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The games were made up as part of a doubleheader on August 5. The Pirates swept, 6-4 and 7-2. Over the 2 games, Paul Waner went 5-for-10 with 3 RBIs, while Lloyd Waner went 6-for-11 with 3 RBIs.
No comments:
Post a Comment