1935 Boston Braves season

1935  Boston Braves
Babe Ruth's final season in majors
League	National League
Ballpark	Braves Field
City	Boston, Massachusetts
Record	38–115 (.248)
League place	8th
Owners	Emil Fuchs (April–August) Bob Quinn (August–September)
Managers	Bill McKechnie
Radio	Yankee Network (Fred Hoey)
←  1934 1936  →

The 1935 Boston Braves season was the 65th season of the franchise. The Braves finished with the worst record in the National League and the majors, with a record of 38 wins and 115 losses. ^[1]

In an attempt to make his dream come true to manage, Babe Ruth came to the Braves in February 1935. He was hired as vice president and assistant manager, and team owner Emil Fuchs promised Ruth a share of team profits.

Offseason

• October 2, 1934: Bill Lewis was drafted by the Braves from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1934 rule 5 draft. ^[2]
• February 26, 1935: Babe Ruth was signed as a free agent by the Braves. ^[3]

Regular season

On opening day, Babe Ruth was part of all of the Braves' runs in a 4–2 win over the New York Giants. However, Ruth was only a shadow of his former self. Although he had a fairly decent season in 1934, years of high living had begun taking their toll on his conditioning. His deterioration became more pronounced in early 1935. He couldn't run, and his fielding was so terrible that three of the Braves' pitchers threatened to go on strike if Ruth was in the lineup. A month into the season, Ruth stopped hitting as well. It soon became obvious that Ruth's titles as vice president and assistant manager were mere window dressing, and that he was only on the team due to the attention he commanded. He also discovered that rather than give him a share of the Braves' profits, Fuchs expected him to invest some of his money in the team. ^[4]

Seeing a team in utter collapse and realizing he was finished even as a part-time player, Ruth retired on June 1, six days after he had what remains one of the most memorable afternoons in baseball history. He clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career in a game at Forbes Field while playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. He'd wanted to quit as early as May 12, but Fuchs wanted him to hang on so he could play in every National League park. Fuchs lost control of the team soon afterward. ^[4]

Despite fielding essentially the same team that finished fourth a year earlier, the 1935 season quickly turned into a debacle. In fact, their Opening Day win was the only time they were over .500 all year. They won only four games in May, and by the time Ruth retired they were 9-27, their season all but finished. They ultimately finished 38–115, the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is tied for the seventh-worst in baseball history, and the sixth-worst in National League history. It is the second-worst in modern baseball history (behind only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics), and the worst in modern National League history. During the season, Braves pitcher Ben Cantwell would be the last pitcher in the 20th century to lose at least 25 games in one season. ^[5] The only highlight was outfielder Wally Berger, who led the League in home runs (34) and RBIs (130). ^[1]

Season standings

v t e National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	100	54	0.649	—	56–21	44–33
St. Louis Cardinals	96	58	0.623	4	53–24	43–34
New York Giants	91	62	0.595	8½	50–27	41–35
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	67	0.562	13½	46–31	40–36
Brooklyn Dodgers	70	83	0.458	29½	38–38	32–45
Cincinnati Reds	68	85	0.444	31½	41–35	27–50
Philadelphia Phillies	64	89	0.418	35½	35–43	29–46
Boston Braves	38	115	0.248	61½	25–50	13–65

Record vs. opponents

1935 National League record v t e Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	6–16	3–19	10–12	5–16	8–14	2–20	4–18
Brooklyn	16–6	—	5–17	11–11	9–13	12–9–1	11–11	6–16
Chicago	19–3	17–5	—	14–8	14–8	13–9	15–7	8–14
Cincinnati	12–10	11–11	8–14	—	8–14–1	13–9	8–13	8–14
New York	16–5	13–9	8–14	14–8–1	—	12–10–2	14–8	14–8
Philadelphia	14–8	9–12–1	9–13	9–13	10–12–2	—	6–16	7–15
Pittsburgh	20–2	11–11	7–15	13–8	8–14	16–6	—	11–11
St. Louis	18–4	16–6	14–8	14–8	8–14	15–7	11–11	—

Notable transactions

• June 1, 1935: Babe Ruth announces his retirement.
• August 5, 1935: Shanty Hogan was released by the Braves. ^[6]

Roster

1935 Boston Braves
Roster
Pitchers 28 Larry Benton 15 Huck Betts -- Al Blanche 11 Ed Brandt 12 Bob Brown 16 Ben Cantwell 14 Fred Frankhouse 21 Danny MacFayden 21 Leo Mangum 13 Flint Rhem 17 Bob Smith		Catchers 30 Art Doll  8 Shanty Hogan 22 Bill Lewis 22 Ray Mueller  9 Al Spohrer Infielders 26 Joe Coscarart  7 Fritz Knothe 23 Elbie Fletcher  5 Buck Jordan 20 Les Mallon 23 Rabbit Maranville 28 Marty McManus -- Ed Moriarty  2 Billy Urbanski  6 Pinky Whitney		Outfielders  4 Wally Berger 10 Hal Lee  7 Randy Moore 19 Joe Mowry  3 Babe Ruth 18 Tommy Thompson 24 Johnnie Tyler		Manager 33 Bill McKechnie Coaches 31 Hank Gowdy 32 Duffy Lewis

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Al Spohrer	92	260	63	.242	1	16
1B	Buck Jordan	130	470	131	.279	5	35
2B	Les Mallon	116	412	113	.274	2	25
3B	Pinky Whitney	126	458	125	.273	4	60
SS	Billy Urbanski	132	514	118	.230	4	30
OF	Hal Lee	112	422	128	.303	0	39
OF	Randy Moore	125	407	112	.275	4	42
OF	Wally Berger	150	589	174	.295	34	130

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Tommy Thompson	112	297	81	.273	4	30
Joe Coscarart	86	284	67	.236	1	29
Shanty Hogan	59	163	49	.301	2	25
Elbie Fletcher	39	148	35	.236	1	9
Joe Mowry	81	136	36	.265	1	13
Ray Mueller	42	97	22	.227	3	11
Babe Ruth	28	72	13	.181	6	12
Rabbit Maranville	23	67	10	.149	0	5
Johnnie Tyler	13	47	16	.340	2	11
Ed Moriarty	8	34	11	.324	1	1
Art Doll	3	10	1	.100	0	0
Bill Lewis	6	4	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Fred Frankhouse	40	230.2	11	15	4.76	64
Ed Brandt	29	174.2	5	19	5.00	61
Danny MacFayden	28	151.2	5	13	5.10	46

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Ben Cantwell	39	210.2	4	25	4.61	34
Bob Smith	46	203.1	8	18	3.94	58
Huck Betts	44	159.2	2	9	5.47	40
Bob Brown	15	65.0	1	8	6.37	17
Flint Rhem	10	40.1	0	5	5.36	10

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Larry Benton	29	2	3	0	6.88	21
Al Blanche	6	0	0	0	1.56	4
Leo Mangum	3	0	0	0	3.86	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AA	Seattle Indians	Pacific Coast League	Dutch Ruether
A	Harrisburg Senators	New York–Pennsylvania League	Art Shires
D	McKeesport Braves	Pennsylvania State Association	Wilbur Cooper

^[7]

See also

• List of worst Major League Baseball season records

References

1. Hollingsworth, Harry (1994). The Best & Worst Baseball Teams of All Time: From the '16 A's to the '27 Yanks to the Present!. United States: SPI Books. p. 189. ISBN   1561713082.
2. Bill Lewis page at Baseball Reference
3. Babe Ruth page at Baseball Reference
4. Neyer, Rob (2006). Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders. New York City: Fireside. ISBN   0-7432-8491-7.
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.349, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
6. Shanty Hogan page at Baseball Reference
7. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997

External links

• Boston Braves team page at Baseball Reference
• 1935 Boston Braves team page at www.baseball-almanac.com