Golden Outfield

Last updated

Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, and Duffy Lewis - Boston's famous "Golden Outfield" Boston Red Sox Golden Outfield.jpg
Harry Hooper, Tris Speaker, and Duffy Lewis – Boston's famous "Golden Outfield"

The Golden Outfield, also called the Million Dollar Outfield, were the three starting outfielders of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball from 1910 through 1915, considered one of the greatest outfields of all time. [1] [2] The three members of the Golden Outfield were left fielder Duffy Lewis, center fielder Tris Speaker, and right fielder Harry Hooper. The three helped the Red Sox win two World Series titles, in 1912 and 1915. Two members of the Golden Outfield, Speaker and Hooper, are enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. [2] [3] [4] All three were effective hitters, but were especially known for their fielding skill. [5] [6] Baseball writer Grantland Rice said that they were "the greatest defensive outfield I ever saw...They were smart and fast. They covered every square inch of the park – and they were like three fine infielders on ground balls. They could move into another country, if the ball happened to fall there." [1] Speaker, Hooper, and Lewis all had powerful throwing arms, as well. Both Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth said that it was the best outfield that they had ever seen. [7]

Contents

The Golden Outfield was broken up when Speaker was traded to the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1916 season after a salary dispute with Red Sox owner Joseph Lannin. [6]

Members

Speaker was the first to join the Red Sox. He joined the team in 1907 and became a regular in 1910. [8] He starred for the Red Sox in center field until being traded to the Cleveland Indians before the 1916 season. [8] He was the American League Most Valuable Player in 1912, and finished in the top 12 in the MVP voting each season from 1911 through 1914. [8] Speaker was known for playing very shallow in center field, allowing him to participate in 64 double plays in 1053 games as a Red Sox outfielder, and set a career record for outfield assists. [4] [6] [8] He was able to play so shallow because he was outstanding at catching balls hit over his head. [9] Speaker batted .337 for the Red Sox, with 1327 hits in 3935 at bats. [8] He also hit 241 of his all-time record 792 doubles for the Red Sox. [8] During his time with the Red Sox, he led the American League in doubles, home runs, extra base hits, and on-base percentage in 1912, and in hits, doubles, extra base hits, and total bases in 1914. [8] He was one of the first players elected into the Hall of Fame in 1937. [8]

Hooper joined the Red Sox in 1909, after attending Saint Mary's College of California, and became a regular in 1910. [10] Hooper's fielding prowess also forced Major League Baseball to change the rules regarding runners advancing when a fly ball was caught. Hooper used to juggle fly balls as he ran back to the infield, preventing runners from trying to advance until the ball was finally caught. [11] This forced a rule change in which runners could advance as soon as the ball was touched by the fielder, rather than having to wait until the ball was caught. [11] Hooper received MVP votes in both 1913 and 1914. [10] He led the American League in at bats and sacrifice hits in 1910. [10] With the Red Sox from 1909 through 1920, he batted .272 with 1707 hits in 6270 at bats. [10] He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971. [10]

Lewis also attended Saint Mary's College of California and joined the Red Sox in 1910, completing the Golden Outfield. [12] Until the 1930s, the Red Sox' home park, Fenway Park, had a slope in front of the left field wall. Lewis was so effective at playing balls off the cliff that it was nicknamed Duffy's Cliff. [11] Lewis played with the Red Sox until 1917 and led the American League in sacrifice hits in 1912. [12] He received MVP votes in 1914, finishing tied with Hooper at 20th overall in the voting. [12] During his time with the Red Sox, he batted .286, with 1248 hits in 4325 at bats. [12] Lewis has not been elected to the Hall of Fame, but did receive votes in several elections from 1937 through 1955. His best showing was in 1955 when he received 34 votes and 13.5% of the total, far below the 75% needed for election. [13]

Speaker, Hooper, and Lewis made their first start as a trio on April 27, 1910, in an 11–1 road win over the Washington Senators. [14] [15]

World Series play

In the 1912 World Series, Speaker batted .300, Hooper batted .290, and Lewis batted .188. All had three extra base hits in the series. [16] In addition, Hooper made a famous bare-handed catch to rob the New York Giants' Larry Doyle of a home run to preserve a Red Sox victory in game 7 of the series. [17] [18]

In the 1915 World Series, all members of the trio had solid hitting performances, with Lewis batting .444, Hooper .350, and Speaker .294. [19] [20] In addition Speaker made a spectacular catch to rob Dode Paskert of an extra base hit that would have won game 2 for the Philadelphia Phillies. [21] After the series, which the Red Sox won in five games, sportswriter George R. Holmes proclaimed that the Golden Outfield was the greatest outfield of all time. [22] In October 1965, Baseball Digest wrote that the 1915 Boston performance was the greatest by an outfield in World Series history. [23] It would be the last time that all three men played on the same team, as Speaker was traded to Cleveland before the 1916 season. [6]

Rivalry

During the 1910s, the Red Sox were beset by a religious rivalry, and members of the Golden Outfield were not immune to this. Lewis and catcher Bill Carrigan were leaders of the Catholic faction, while Speaker, pitcher Smokey Joe Wood, and third baseman Larry Gardner were leaders of the Protestant faction. [6] [24] Speaker and Lewis, in particular, did not get along. One day in 1913, Speaker annoyed Lewis by repeatedly knocking Lewis' cap off. Lewis said, "Do that again and I'll kill you." After Speaker continued to do it, Lewis hit him in the shins with a baseball bat, and Speaker had to be helped off the field. [25]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tris Speaker</span> American baseball player

Tristram Edgar Speaker, nicknamed "the Gray Eagle", was an American professional baseball player. Considered one of the greatest players in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), he compiled a career batting average of .345. His 792 career doubles represent an MLB career record. His 3,514 hits are fifth in the all-time hits list. Defensively, Speaker holds career records for assists, double plays, and unassisted double plays by an outfielder. His fielding glove was known as the place "where triples go to die."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Duffy</span> American baseball player and manager (1866–1954)

Hugh Duffy was an American outfielder and manager in Major League Baseball. He was a player or player-manager for the Chicago White Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Boston Reds, Boston Beaneaters, Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies between 1888 and 1906. He had his best years with the Beaneaters, including the 1894 season, when he set the MLB single-season record for batting average (.440), a batting record that has stood for 128 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Hooper</span> American baseball player

Harry Bartholomew Hooper was an American professional baseball right fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB). Hooper batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Hooper was born in Bell Station, California, and he graduated from Saint Mary's College of California. He played for major league teams between 1909 and 1925, spending most of that time with the Boston Red Sox and finishing his career with the Chicago White Sox.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duffy Lewis</span> American baseball player

George Edward "Duffy" Lewis was an American professional baseball left fielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, and the Washington Senators from 1910 to 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavvy Cravath</span> American baseball player and manager

Clifford Carlton "Gavvy" Cravath, also nicknamed "Cactus", was an American right fielder and right-handed batter in Major League Baseball who played primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies. One of the sport's most prolific power hitters of the dead-ball era, in the eight years from 1913 to 1920 he led the National League in home runs six times, in runs batted in, total bases and slugging percentage twice each, and in hits, runs and walks once each. He led the NL in several offensive categories in 1915 as the Phillies won the first pennant in the team's 33-year history, and he held the team's career home run record from 1917 to 1924. He is one of eight players to lead the majors in home runs for a season six times in a career. However, he played his home games at Baker Bowl, a park that was notoriously favorable to batting statistics. Cravath hit 92 career homers at Baker Bowl while he had 25 homers in all his games away from home. Moreover, he was an exceptionally slow base runner; so much so, in fact, that it was actually Cravath about whom sportswriter Bugs Baer famously wrote, "His head was sure full of larceny, but his feet were honest," a distinction which, along with Cravath's extreme lack of foot speed, has long been mistakenly ascribed to Ping Bodie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1912 World Series</span> 1912 Major League Baseball championship series

In the 1912 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Giants four games to three.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1915 World Series</span> 1915 Major League Baseball championship series

In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Snodgrass</span> American baseball player

Frederick Carlisle Snodgrass was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1916. He is best known for dropping a key fly ball in the 1912 World Series.

The following are the baseball events of the year 1956 throughout the world.

The following are the baseball events of the year 1958 throughout the world.

The following are the baseball events of the year 1954 throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Veach</span> American baseball player

Robert Hayes Veach was an American baseball player from 1910 to 1930 including 14 seasons in the major leagues. He was the starting left fielder for the Detroit Tigers from 1912 to 1923 and also played for the Boston Red Sox (1924–1925), New York Yankees (1925) and Washington Senators (1925).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olaf Henriksen</span> Danish baseball player

Olaf Henriksen was a Major League Baseball outfielder who remains to date the only Danish-born person ever to play in the major leagues. He played seven seasons (1911–17) for the Boston Red Sox as a teammate of Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Tris Speaker, among others, and he played a role in three World Series victories, namely in 1912, 1915 and 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baby Doll Jacobson</span> American baseball player (1890-1977)

William Chester "Baby Doll" Jacobson was an American baseball outfielder. He played 11 seasons of Major League Baseball, principally with the St. Louis Browns, between 1915 and 1927. He also played for the Detroit Tigers (1915), Boston Red Sox (1926–1927), Cleveland Indians (1927), and Philadelphia Athletics (1927).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1910 Boston Red Sox season</span> Major League Baseball season

The 1910 Boston Red Sox season was the 10th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 81 wins and 72 losses, 22+1⁄2 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics, who went on to win the 1910 World Series. The team played its home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1911 Boston Red Sox season</span> Major League Baseball season

The 1911 Boston Red Sox season was the 11th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. The Red Sox finished fourth in the American League (AL) with a record of 78 wins and 75 losses, 24 games behind the Philadelphia Athletics, who went on to win the 1911 World Series. This was the final season that the Red Sox played their home games at Huntington Avenue Grounds, before moving to Fenway Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1912 Boston Red Sox season</span> Major League Baseball season

The 1912 Boston Red Sox season was the 12th season in the franchise's Major League Baseball history. This was the first year that the team played its home games at Fenway Park. The Red Sox finished first in the American League (AL) with a record of 105 wins and 47 losses. The team set the franchise record for highest winning percentage (.691) in a season, which still stands; tied the franchise record for fewest losses in a season, originally set by the 1903 team; and set a franchise record for most wins, which was not surpassed until the 2018 club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clyde Engle</span> American baseball player

Arthur Clyde "Hack" Engle was a utility player who played in Major League Baseball between 1909 and 1916. Listed at 5' 10", 190 lb., Engle batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Dayton, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wally Rehg</span> American baseball player

Walter Phillip Rehg was a reserve outfielder in Major League Baseball, playing mostly as a right fielder for four different teams between the 1912 and 1919 seasons. Listed at 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m), 160 lb., Rehg batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Summerfield, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">$100,000 infield</span>

The $100,000 infield was the infield of the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 1910s. The $100,000 infield consisted of first baseman Stuffy McInnis, second baseman Eddie Collins, shortstop Jack Barry and third baseman Frank "Home Run" Baker. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the nickname reflects "the purported combined market value of the foursome", which is equivalent to about $2.9 million in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 Gay, T. (2005). Tris Speaker. University of Nebraska Press. p. 88. ISBN   0-8032-2206-8.
  2. 1 2 "Harry Hooper HOF". The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  3. ↑ "National Baseball Hall of Fame Members (by induction year)" (PDF). The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Tris Speaker HOF". The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved April 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ Ritter, L. (1992). "Harry Hooper" . The Glory of Their Times. Harper Paperbacks. p.  144. ISBN   0-688-11273-0.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Jensen, D. (2006). "Tris Speaker". In Jones, D. (ed.). Deadball Stars of the American League. The Society for American Baseball Research. pp. 434–437. ISBN   978-1-57488-982-6.
  7. ↑ Gay, Timothy M. (2007). Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend . Globe Pequot.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Tris Speaker". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  9. ↑ Ritter, L. (1992). "Joe Wood" . The Glory of their Times. Harper Paperbacks. p.  159. ISBN   0-688-11273-0.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Harry Hooper". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  11. 1 2 3 Gay, T. (2005). Tris Speaker. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 15–16. ISBN   0-8032-2206-8.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Duffy Lewis". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Duffy Lewis Facts". The Baseball Page. Archived from the original on May 7, 2006. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  14. ↑ Zingg, Paul; Reed, E. A. "Harry Hooper". SABR . Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Boston Red Sox 11, Washington Senators 1". Retrosheet . April 27, 1910. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  16. ↑ "1912 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  17. ↑ Zingg, P.; Reed, E. (2006). "Harry Hooper". In Jones, D. (ed.). Deadball Stars of the American League. The Society for American Baseball Research. pp. 447–450. ISBN   978-1-57488-982-6.
  18. ↑ "Harry Hooper Biography". Baseball Library. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Boston Red Sox Timeline". Major League Baseball. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  20. ↑ "1915 World Series". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  21. ↑ Gay, T. (2005). Tris Speaker. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 156–157. ISBN   0-8032-2206-8.
  22. ↑ Holmes, George R. "Boston Outfield Best of All Time". The Pittsburgh Press. October 14, 1915. p. 21.
  23. ↑ Waxman, Wayne. "The Greatest Outfield Performance" [ dead link ]. Baseball Digest. October 1965.
  24. ↑ Armour, M. (2006). "Duffy Lewis". In Jones, D. (ed.). Deadball Stars of the American League. The Society for American Baseball Research. pp. 451–452. ISBN   978-1-57488-982-6.
  25. ↑ Fleitz, David L. (2009). The Irish in Baseball . McFarland. p. 172.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.