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 41 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 October.
October 2
1942 With mostly the combination of shortstop Eddie Joost, Pete Suder and first baseman Ferris Fain, the A’s established a major-league record for turning 217 double plays. The trio were the subject of a poem written by the Athletics’ publicity director titled “Joost to Suder to Fain” which remains popular in the folklore of the franchise.
Edwin David Joost was born June 5, 1916, in San Francisco, California.
In a 17-year big league career, Joost was a two-time All-Star and a member of the 1940 world champion Cincinnati Reds despite being told at age 20 that he would never be a Major League player.
An outstanding defensive player, the righthanded-hitting Joost hit for power but had trouble making contact. In a 17-year major league playing career Joost smashed 134 home runs, but his batting average was a poor .239.
Despite his low lifetime batting average, Joost had excellent patience at the plate, resulting in six straight seasons of 100 walks or more, and a career on-base percentage of .361. He did, however, hit over 20 home runs twice, and batted .289 in 1951.
After starting out with the Reds as a utility infielder, Joost got his chance to start when second baseman Lonny Frey broke his foot in a dugout mishap involving a water cooler. Joost had five hits in the 1940 Fall Classic and solidified his standing as a big league player.
Joost became the Reds’ regular shortstop in 1941 and committed 45 errors. After his 45 errors in 1942 led the league, he was traded to the Boston Braves and played under manager Casey Stengel. There, Joost suffered further embarrassment in 1943, setting a record by hitting just .185, the lowest batting average ever for a player with 400 or more at-bats.
Joost and Stengel didn’t get along well, and during one game, Stengel got back at Joost for not paying attention during pregame talks.
Joost was at the plate with two outs and his team down by two runs. When he looked down to the third-base coach for the sign, he was told to bunt. After a second run-through of signs, Joost was sure it was a bunt sign. He bunted the ball and was thrown out easily at first.
After returning to the dugout, Joost asked his third-base coach why he had been told to bunt, and the coach told Joost he didn’t give him the bunt sign.
“He told me Stengel had changed the signs yesterday and said not to tell me,” said Joost.
Joost retired voluntarily in 1846 but gained a second life with the Philadelphia Athletics beginning in 1947. Though his hitting improved, he found a better way to reach base: walking.
In 1949, he had one the least-known great seasons by a shortstop, having an On Base Percentage of .429, hitting 23 home runs, scoring 128 runs and walking 149 times.
His poor contact hitting notwithstanding, Joost was a central figure in the brief revival of the Athletics in the late 1940s. For three seasons the A’s, after over a decade of futility, played over .500 baseball and even sniffed pennant contention. Joost was their regular shortstop and one of the team’s leaders.
One factor contributing to Joost’s performance with the A’s was his decision to wear eyeglasses on the field, which he had avoided earlier in his career because of the negative stereotype of athletes with eyewear at the time.
In 1948, when Eddie Joost took a groundball at shortstop and saw two balls coming at him, he decided it was time to get glasses.
“Wearing glasses improved my vision and helped me to play better baseball,” said Joost.
The following year, Joost had one of the greatest seasons ever for a shortstop with 128 runs scored, 23 home runs, 81 Runs Batted In and 149 walks. That same season, the Philadelphia Athletics infield set a record by turning 217 double plays in 154 games.
From 1947 through 1952, he walked more than 100 times a season, twice gaining more walks than hits. He was an All-Star in 1949 by reaching highs of 23 Home Runs and 81 Runs Batted In.
He became an All Star again in 1952, after having led American League shortstops in putouts four times to tie the league record.
In 1954, Joost became the third and last manager in the 54-year history of the Philadelphia Athletics. As a player/manager, he batted .362 in 47 at bats, but the team won only 51 of 154 games. After the season ended, Joost was fired and the Athletics relocated to Kansas City.
Joost continued his playing career as a utility infielder for the Red Sox in 1955, and in 1956 briefly managed the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals in his hometown before leaving the game.
When asked recently when he knew he was good enough to play in the big leagues, Joost responded, “Never did know and I still don’t know.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: A
all star
A player selected at almost any level of baseball to a team comprising the best players from a league or geographic area.
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.
