Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 01 of the 2008 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 1 week of January.
January 1
1927 The press is informed that outfielder Zack Wheat, after 18 consecutive seasons with the Robins, has been released. The Brooklyn outfielder, who led the National League in hitting in 1918 with a .335 batting average, will hit .324 in 88 games for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s this season and will finish his distinguished Hall of Fame career with a lifetime mark of .318.
Zachariah Davis Wheat, nicknamed “Buck”, was born May 23, 1888 in Hamilton, Missouri.
From 1909, when he reported to Washington Park after almost three days on a train from Louisiana, until 1926, when his legs gave out at Ebbets Field, Zach Wheat was a fixture in left field for Brooklyn.
A left-handed line-drive hitter and model of consistency he batted .300 or better 13 times, hit .317 for his career, and led Brooklyn to its first two World Series appearances, in 1916 and 1920. His hit totals exploded with the advent of the lively ball in 1920, as he collected 200 hits three times and batted over .350 three consecutive years.
Wheat made his major league debut in 1909 with the Brooklyn Superbas, the team that would later become the Robins and then the Dodgers. He played his first full season in 1910. Over the following decade, he established himself as a steady hitter, regularly batting .300 and placing in the league’s top ten in doubles, triples, home runs and Runs Batted In. In 1918 Wheat won the National League batting title with an average of .335. Amazingly, he hit no home runs that year.
Wheat’s career took off in the 1920s, however. From 1920 to 1925, Wheat hit .320 or higher every season, hit 14 or more home runs four times, drove in 100 runs twice and posted an on base percentage of .400 or more three times.
Zack was the eldest of three sons, all of whom played professional baseball. The middle brother, Mack, spent five years as Zack’s teammate with Brooklyn, while the youngest brother, Basil, was a longtime outfielder and catcher in the minors. Their mother was said to be a full-blooded Cherokee but Zack was reluctant to discuss his Native American background.
Zack’s father died when Zack was 16, and the Wheats moved to Kansas City, Kansas, where Zack got his start as a second baseman with the semipro Union Club. With his family nearly destitute, Zack set out to make a living as a ballplayer. In 1906 he went to Enterprise, Kansas, where he earned $60 per month playing for an independent team. That was followed by minor league stops in Fort Worth, Shreveport, and Mobile. Wheat quickly won a reputation as a top-notch defensive outfielder but was lackluster at the plate.
Brooklyn purchased Wheat’s contract from Mobile for a reported $1,200 in August 1909, and that September Zack batted .304 in 26 games for the Superbas. In 1910, his first full major league season, Wheat finally became the offensive threat he had never been in the minors, leading the Dodgers with a .284 average while ranking among the league leaders in hits, doubles, and triples.
Wheat later explained his minor league lack of hitting by stating, “I was young and inexperienced. The fellows that I played with encouraged me to bunt and beat the ball out. I was anxious to make good and did as I was told. When I came to Brooklyn I adopted an altogether different style of hitting. I stood flat-footed at the plate and slugged. That was my natural style.”
Over the next several seasons Wheat established himself as “one of the most dreaded and murderous sluggers in the National League,” ranking among the league leaders in home runs every year from 1912 to 1916. Five of his nine homers in 1914 were of the over-the-fence variety, considered a remarkable achievement at the time.
Wheat was far ahead of his time in many aspects of hitting, adopting strategies that wouldn’t be widely accepted until decades later. He was sometimes criticized for his reluctance to bunt, but he argued that he was more valuable to the team by swinging away. Zack also came to favor a lighter bat than most, which enabled him to generate more bat speed. He explained to F. C. Lane. “I am an arm hitter. When you snap the bat with your wrists just as you meet the ball, you give the bat tremendous speed for a few inches of its course. The speed with which the bat meets the ball is the thing that counts.”
One afternoon he found himself in a sacrifice situation, awaiting the obvious sign from manager Wilbert Robinson, who was coaching third. Because Uncle Robby had forgotten the bunt sign, he went through an improvised set of gestures. Realizing they did not convey the message, Robinson simply pantomimed a bunt. Team captain Wheat decided he hadn’t received the bunt sign and lined the next pitch out of the ballpark. As Wheat rounded third, the jubilant Robinson slapped him on the back, though he could have slapped him with a fine.
But even after years of hitting .300, it was Wheat’s stylish defense that won him the most admirers. Baseball Magazine in 1917 stated: “What Lajoie was to infielders, Zach Wheat is to outfielders, the finest mechanical craftsman of them all. Wheat is the easiest, most graceful of outfielders with no close rivals.”
An extremely fast runner, Zack was as close to a five-tool player as anyone of his era. His only weaknesses were his poor base-stealing ability and proneness to injury.
In May 1912, Wheat married Daisy Forsman. In marrying Daisy, Zach acquired not only a wife but an agent, as well. “I made him hold out each year for seven years,” Daisy remembered, “and each time he got a raise.”
In the offseason Wheat raised stock — during World War I he sold mules to the Army to serve as pack animals on the battlefields of Europe–and he used the second job as leverage in contract negotiations. Unless Brooklyn met his demands each spring, Zack was perfectly content to stay on his farm in Polo, Missouri. In an era when the balance of power rested entirely with the owners, the threat of a holdout was the only negotiating tool he had. By 1926, his last year with Brooklyn, Wheat was making $16,000 as player and assistant manager.
In 1916 Wheat had a magnificent season, batting .312 while ranking among the National League leaders in virtually every offensive category. He also set a Brooklyn record by batting safely in 29 consecutive games. Even better, for the first time in Wheat’s career the Dodgers found themselves in a pennant race. Brooklyn eked out the pennant but lost the World’s Series handily to Boston, as Red Sox pitchers held Wheat to a miserable .211 batting average.
In 1919 Wheat was appointed captain of the Robins, and that season marked a turning point for both Wheat and the game he loved. Over the last decade of the Deadball Era, Wheat compiled more total bases than any other National Leaguer, and in hits he ranked second.
But as great a Deadball hitter as he was, Wheat’s powerful stroke enabled him to take advantage of the new lively ball like few others. In 1920 he led the Dodgers to the pennant while setting new career highs in hits, runs scored, and slugging percentage. In the first six years of the lively ball he averaged .347. In 1923-24 Wheat posted back-to-back .375 batting averages, and in 1925 he had one of the best seasons ever by a 37-year-old: a .359 batting average with 125 runs scored, 221 hits, and a .541 slugging percentage.
Wheat’s last home run for Brooklyn signaled the end of his great Dodger career. He had injured his heel and, with only a few games to play in the 1926 season, was resting his aching legs. Sent in to pinch hit, he pulled a pitch to right field and raced down the line. As the ball cleared the wall, he got a charley horse. As he hobbled on, his other leg failed him, and he lurched into second base. He sat down on the bag as time was called. Manager Robinson and the umpires consulted. Finally, Wheat got his to feet. With the crowd wincing with him on every step, he virtually crept over to third. It took him an estimated five minutes to finally score.
In 1927 the Dodgers decided they no longer needed Wheat. In recognition of his many years of service, the club released him rather than trade him so he could negotiate his own deal with whomever he chose. After being wooed by the Giants, Yankees, and Senators, Wheat signed a $15,000 contract with the Philadelphia Athletics and batted .324 in part-time duty there. In 1928 he signed with Minneapolis of the American Association, batting .309 before suffering a bruised heel that put him on the shelf for the season and, as it turned out, forever.
Wheat decided to retire from baseball in 1929. At the time, his 2,884 hits were tenth on the all-time major league list, while his 4,100 total bases ranked ninth. He also holds the Dodger franchise records for hits, doubles, triples and total bases.
Wheat turned to farming full-time after leaving baseball, but the Great Depression lowered prices so dramatically that in 1932 he was forced to sell his 160 acres for just $23,000. He moved his family to Kansas City, Missouri, where he operated a bowling alley for a time before becoming a patrolman with the Kansas City Police Department.
He nearly died on Easter Sunday 1936 when he crashed his patrol car while chasing a fugitive, suffering a fractured skull, dislocated shoulder, broken wrist, and 15 broken ribs. After five months in the hospital, Wheat moved with his family to Sunrise Beach, Missouri, a resort town on the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks, to recuperate. As it turned out, Wheat spent the rest of his life in Sunrise Beach. Always an avid hunter, he opened a 46-acre hunting and fishing resort, which became a popular destination for ex-ballplayers.
Zack Wheat was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame In 1959.
He died on March 11, 1972, at a hospital in Sedalia, Missouri.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: B
bare-handed Said of the act of fielding a batted or thrown ball without the use of a glove. Such plays are usually made on slowly hit balls and often result in quick, off-balance throws. A bunt will often take a third baseman by surprise and his only hope of making the play at first in time is to field the ball bare-handed and whip it across the infield in the same motion.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
This segment comes to you compliments of listener:
John Howard
Kansas City Municipal Stadium
Home to four different baseball teams, Kansas City Municipal Stadium existed for
over five decades. The stadium was originally built for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League and the Kansas City Blues a minor league team.
The stadium was originally named Muehlebach Field, after the owner of the Blues, George Muehlebach. The Stadium was opened on July 3, 1923. In 1924, the Monarchs won the first ever Negro League World Series by defeating the Hillside Club of the Eastern Colored League, five games to four.
In 1939 Satchel Paige began his nine year stint with the Monarchs. He led the Monarchs to four consecutive Negro American League pennants and a Negro World Series championship in 1942 defeating the powerhouse Homestead Grays.
In 1938, the Blues and the stadium were sold to Jacob Rupert, owner of the New York Yankees. This stadium would eventually be renamed Blues stadium. In 1954, a deal was made between the Mack family and Arnold Johnson to move the Philadelphia Athletics from Philadelphia to Kansas City.
Several changes were made to the stadium to make it into a major league ball park. A second level was added as well as bleachers in outfield to increase capacity to just over thirty thousand people.
On April 12, 1955 Kansas City Municipal Stadium was opened and the Kansas City Athletics took the field. With former President Harry Truman throwing out the first pitch, The Athletics defeated the Tigers 5 to 2.
Municipal Stadium hosted the 1960 All-Star Game in which the National League defeated the American League 5 to 3. During the 1960 season, Arnold Johnson passed away. When his heirs determined they could not afford to keep the team, local ownership groups were attempted to be put together to buy the team, but without any success. The team was eventually sold to Indiana Insurance man, Charlie Finley.
Finley, with his flare for theatrics, had many ideas on how to improve attendance for this struggling franchise. He brought new colorful uniforms to baseball by changing his teams colors to green and gold. He tried to make the stadium more hitter friendly by putting in an area of bleachers known as “Pennants Porch” so the ballpark could have the same home run distance in right field as Yankee Stadium. However, the commissioner made the club remove the
seats only days later.
That didn’t stop Finley. In an effort to create a “farmer’s market” type atmosphere, a small zoo and picnic area was put in behind the rightfield fence that housed the team mascot, a mule named “Charlie O”. Behind home plate, a mechanical rabbit, named “Harvey” rose out of the ground with new baseballs for the umpire and a compressed-air device blew dirt off home plate.
Unfortunately, none of his efforts really helped with attendance or in the win column.
In a game on September 8, 1965, Bert Campaneris became the first and only player in baseball history to play in all nine positions in one game. After the 1967 season, Finley decided to move the Athletics to Oakland. Major League Baseball quickly moved to put an expansion team in Kansas City.
The Royals, named after the American Royal Livestock Show, began playing at Municipal
Stadium on April 8, 1969. They defeated the Twins 4-3 in a 12 inning game. Over the next four years, Kansas City would watch young players like Lou Pinella, Amos Otis and Hal McRae help pave the way to a bright future.
On October 4, 1972 the final game was played at Municipal Stadium. In 1973, the Royals moved into the new Kauffman Stadium. In 1976, the stadium was demolished, marking the end to this historic ballpark.
Thank you John, and as promised “You get the credit.”
For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an
Extra Inning
Red sox 100 years old on December 17th 2007
Bob keep up the great work, was great to hear my segment about the final 4 in England make it. Any chance of getting a mention in of my beloved red sox’s birthday? I’m currently reading the red sox journal by John Snyder and came across this snippet. Although they were known by other names before they were officially the red sox on this date.
Hope you can oblige.
Graham Bagshaw
If you would like to a part of Baseball History Podcast, submit your written contribution for the tour segment. I will only be doing the tour when one is sent in by a listener. You can do the segment on any stadium or team; past or present; Minor League, Major League, Negro League or any league outside of the US. Write about 1 page in a conversational tone, send it to me, I will record it, and you will get the credit.
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. You can leave a voice mail at: 206-888-6506. If you need more baseball, I invite you to check out Just Baseball at justbaseballpodcast.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Zack
Wheat
Dictionary- Bare
Handed
Tour-
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