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He is probably the only player other than Gehrig who can reasonably
be considered the greatest first baseman ever in terms of peak value.
The reason I say that is that the other top contenders, most notably
(Jimmie) Foxx and (Willie) McCovey, were the same type of players
that Gehrig was, and thus they can be directly compared to him,
a comparison that they clearly lose. But the man I'm referring to
was a different type of player, he didn't have the home run pop,
but he hit for a higher average, was faster and a better defensive
player than Gehrig, and the comparison between the two is not easy.
-Bill James, The Historical Baseball Abstract.
Who, you ask, was this great first baseman?
George Sisler was a star pitcher at Central High
School in Akron, Ohio, when he signed his first contract at the
age of 17, making him the property of Akron, a club in the Ohio-Pennsylvania
League and a farm team of Columbus. Akron then sold Sisler to Columbus,
which in turn sold the southpaw to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates demanded that Sisler join the team
after high school graduation but Sisler had other plans, enrolling
at the University of Michigan instead, where he played for the legendary
Branch Rickey. Pittsburgh appealed to the National Commission, the
forerunner of the commissioner. The Commission ruled that Sisler's
contract was null and void (because at 17 years old he was legally
too young to have signed a contract without his parents' consent)
and declared the young pitcher a free agent. The future first baseman
signed with the St. Louis Browns, who had hired Rickey to manage
the team, and joined them in June of 1915 after three successful
seasons with his college squad.
Sisler's first appearance came in Chicago against
the White Sox, where he threw three scoreless innings, allowing
only one hit in his major-league debut. Apparently Rickey had other
plans for him. He handed "Gorgeous George" a first baseman's mitt
the next day at practice and introduced him to the position. Despite
his early success on the mound, Sisler found himself bouncing back
and forth between first base and the outfield, earning a start on
the hill every now and then. The final numbers for 1915 show Sisler
playing 37 games at first base, 29 in the outfield and only 15 on
the pitcher's mound, effectively ending his pitching career before
it had a chance to get off the ground.
Sisler started three games in 1916 and allowed
only three runs in 27 innings for a 1.00 ERA, but his greatest achievement
would come at the plate, where he hit .305 with 34 stolen bases,
and in the field, where he led the league in total chances per game.
1917 through 1919 would see the Browns' first
sacker come into his own as a hitter, while maintaining his excellence
in the field. His .353 average in 1917 was second in the American
League only to the great Ty Cobb, who won his 10th batting
crown that season, outdistancing Sisler by 30 points. Sisler added
30 doubles, nine triples and 37 stolen bases to his résumé, while
striking out only 19 times in 539 at-bats. In the field he recorded
97 double plays, tying New York's Wally Pipp for league honors.
In 1918 Sisler finished third in the batting
race behind Cobb and Philadelphia's George Burns, while hitting
.341. He did win his first stolen-base crown, however, pilfering
45 and outdistancing Cleveland's Braggo Roth by 10. Boston's Stuffy
McInnis was the American League's top first baseman that year but
Sisler wasn't far behind, establishing a career low in errors with
only 13.
To this point, the Browns' star player wasn't
displaying much power, which wasn't uncommon before 1920 when many
rules changes took effect and a new, supposedly livelier ball was
introduced. Sisler didn't wait until 1920, though, to show what
he was capable of doing in the power department. 1919 saw him smack
10 homers to go with career highs in doubles and triples, as he
lashed out 31 and 15, respectively. He also posted career highs
in runs (96), RBIs (83) and slugging (.530), while falling only
one point short of his 1917 career-best .353 batting average. Again,
he finished third in the batting race, falling to a pair of Detroit
Tigers-Ty Cobb, who would win his 12th and final title, and Bobby
Veach, who edged Sisler .355 to .352 for second place. In the field,
Sisler led all American League first basemen in assists-one of seven
times he would accomplish the feat.
1920 would find Sisler standing alone atop the
baseball world, finally supplanting Cobb as The Game's finest batsman.
Sisler's league-leading batting average of .407 won him his first
batting crown. His 1920 campaign was one of the finest single-season
performances in baseball history. He played every inning of all
154 games, amassing a league-high 631 at-bats, in which he rapped
out 257 hits-still the
all-time record. He smashed 49 doubles, 18 triples and 19
homers-all career highs-and
established career marks with 137 runs scored, 122 RBIs, 46 walks
and a .632 slugging percentage. Unfortunately, it coincided with
Babe Ruth's historic 54-homer campaign, which attracted considerably
more attention than Sisler's .407 average. Like Ruth and several
others, Sisler took advantage of the spitball ban-enacted
in the winter of 1919-and
the new practice of keeping fresh balls in play to enhance his reputation
as a hitter. His masterful performance carried over onto the field
as he led all first basemen with 140 assists-the
fourth-highest single-season
total to that point. This, combined with the retirement of "Prince"
Hal Chase, earned Sisler the unofficial title of best glove man
around the first base bag.
The slick-fielding Sisler relinquished his batting
crown to Detroit's Harry Heilmann in 1921, despite posting a .371
average-good for fourth behind Heilmann, Cobb and Ruth. He topped 200
hits for the second year in a row. He won his second stolen-base
title, swiping 35, and scored and knocked in over 100 runs for the
second consecutive season. Sisler established career bests with
a .993 fielding percentage, while committing only 10 errors. But
Boston's Stuffy McInnis had perhaps the greatest season by any first
baseman in history, committing only one miscue all season and setting
an all-time record with a .999 fielding percentage.
Sisler rebounded in 1922 with a season that may
have been even better than his 1920 campaign. He led the league
with 246 hits-his third consecutive 200-hit season. He also had 18 triples, 134 runs scored, 51 stolen bases and
an amazing .420 batting average-all
while striking out a mere 14 times in 586 at-bats. Sisler also trounced
Cobb in the batting race despite Cobb's .401 mark. Only one other
time in history had a batter finished with an average over .400
and not won a batting crown: 1911, when Cobb's .420 mark bettered
"Shoeless Joe" Jackson's .408. This time the Tigers great was on
the short end. In American League history, only Nap Lajoie's .422
average in 1901 and Cobb's .420 in 1911 was equal to or better than
Sisler's .420 in 1922 (Sisler's .41979 was actually higher than
Cobb's .41962). And only Cobb, National League-great Rogers Hornsby
and Sisler hit .400 or better more than once. During the season,
Sisler fashioned an American League record 41-game hitting streak,
despite suffering from a severe shoulder injury. The record streak
stood until Joe DiMaggio shattered it in 1941. As if that wasn't
enough, the Browns' first sacker also led A.L. first basemen in
assists for the third time with 125.
1922 also saw the Browns compete for a pennant
for the first time since Sisler arrived in 1915. St. Louis finished
in second place, only one game behind the Yankees with a 93-61 record.
Outfielder Ken Williams paced the league with 39 circuit clouts,
while driving in a league-leading 155 runs. He wrested the homer
crown from Babe Ruth, whose troubled '22 season began with his missing
the first month of the season serving a suspension. Browns second
baseman Marty McManus chipped in a .312 average and 109 RBIs and
outfielder Baby Doll Jacobson contributed a .317 average and 102
RBIs, making the Browns the first team in history to have four 100-RBI
men. But it wasn't quite enough to earn them their first pennant.
Then, suddenly, for one long season it all came
to a crashing halt for Sisler and the Browns. In 1923, severe sinusitis
infected his optic nerves, causing him to see double and forcing
him to miss the entire season. The Browns slumped to a 74-78 record
and a fifth-place finish without their star batter. Despite only
falling below .300 once for the remainder of his career, Sisler
would never be the same hitter that he was before the illness.
1924 marked the return of George Sisler, not
just as first baseman/batter extraordinaire but as manager as well.
He accepted a $25,000 contract for the added responsibility of running
the team. He batted only .305-his lowest mark since 1916-and finished
29th in the American League, which was tough to swallow
for a man who was accustomed to finishing in the top five year after
year. Sisler also watched his power and speed numbers deteriorate
and saw his production slip as he scored and drove in fewer than
100 runs for the first time in four years. The team compiled a 74-78
record for the second straight year but improved to fourth place,
17 games behind the first place Senators. Sisler's performance in
the field began to slip as well. He committed a league-high 23 errors,
although he did manage to lead the league in assists for the fourth
time in his career.
A resurgence in Sisler's batting performance
ushered in high hopes for the 1925 season as the Browns improved
to 82-71 and a third-place finish with the veteran first baseman
still at the helm. Sisler began the season with a 34-game hitting
streak and watched his average climb back to respectability, finishing
at .345, good for a 10th-place tie with Philadelphia's
Sammy Hale. He also amassed the second-highest homer total of his
career by belting 12, scored 100 runs for the fourth time and drove
in 105 runs, also topping the century mark in RBIs for the fourth
time. His speed continued its rapid decline, however. He swiped
only 11 bases, his lowest total since his rookie season in 1915.
But he did manage to leg out 15 triples. His fielding continued
to suffer, despite his fifth assist crown. He committed 26 errors,
the second-highest total of his career.
1926 was perhaps the worst year of Sisler's career.
His average slipped below .300 for only the second time (and the
first time since 1915). He hit .290 with a paltry .398 slugging
percentage, led the Browns to a dismal 62-92 record and seventh-place
finish, a whopping 29 games behind the pennant-winning Yankees.
He was replaced as manager after the season. His fielding percentage
rebounded but was still a un-Sisler-like .987, but he led the league
with 141 double plays.
1927 would prove to be Sisler's last hurrah in
a Browns uniform. He batted .327, posted his fifth 200-hit season,
smacked 30 doubles for the first time since his illness and surprised
everybody by winning his fourth stolen-base crown at the age of
34, edging Yankees outfielder Bob Meusel 27 to 24. He led the league
in errors again with 24, but paced the Junior Circuit with 131 assists
and 138 double plays. That winter, however, St. Louis dealt outfielder
Harry Rice, pitcher Elam Vangilder and shortstop Chick Galloway
to Detroit for outfielder Heinie Manush and Sisler's successor at
first, Lu Blue. No longer in need of Sisler's services, the Browns
unceremoniously sold the future Hall of Famer to Washington for
$25,000; Washington in turn sold him to the Boston Braves for $7,500
in 1928 after only 20 games.
The move rejuvenated Sisler, who finished with
a .331 overall average on the strength of his .340 mark with Boston
(he hit only .245 with the Senators).
Coincidentally, one of his Braves teammates,
Rogers Hornsby, ended up in Boston for the 1928 season after spending
the first 12 years of his career playing in St. Louis for the National
League Cardinals. The two all-time greats arrived in St. Louis together
in 1915, shared the adoration of Missouri baseball fans for 12 years
and were now teammates after brief stints with other teams. Hornsby
won the last of his seven batting titles before being shipped to
Chicago, while Sisler led all National League first basemen in assists-the
seventh and final time he would pace the league. Despite boasting
two of the top five hitters in the N.L., the Braves finished in
seventh place with a record of 50-103.
The 36-year-old batsman tried to lead the Braves
to respectability in 1929, batting .326 with his sixth 200-hit season
(205) and first 40-double season since 1922, while playing in all
154 games. His efforts went for naught, however, as the Braves fell
to last place in the National League with a 56-98 record, 43 games
behind the first-place Cubs. Despite his continued success at the
plate, Sisler's defense continued to deteriorate. He committed a
career-high 28 errors at first base, leading the league in miscues
for the sixth time in his career. 1930 would bring the final curtain
down on Sisler's major-league career. Fittingly, he topped the .300
mark with a .309 average in 116 games.
After the 1930 season he drifted into the minors,
ran a printing company in St. Louis, then a sporting goods firm
before returning to the majors as a scout and special hitting instructor
with Brooklyn and Pittsburgh.
Sisler's lost 1923 season cost him a shot at
3,000 career hits. He finished with 2,812-good for 39th
on the all-time list. His .340 career average tied him for 15th
all-time with Lou Gehrig. But that doesn't tell the whole story.
Bill James, the baseball historian, ran a simulation that concluded
Sisler would have finished with about 3,800 hits and a career average
of .357 were it not for his eye infection. James suggests that even
those figures may be conservative-4,000 career hits and an average
of .362 seem more likely. Considering that only Cobb reached both
of those lofty heights, one could reasonably argue that Sisler would
have been one of the greatest hitters of all time if not for the
eye infection. Nonetheless, Sisler has gone down in history as one
of The Game's greatest hitters, fielders and baserunners and Ty
Cobb once called him "the nearest thing to a perfect ballplayer."
Despite his prowess at the plate and in the field,
Sisler insisted that his greatest achievement as a ballplayer came
on the mound, when he defeated the Washington Senators and his boyhood
idol Walter Johnson 2-1 on August 29, 1915. In fact, of Sisler's
five career victories, two were complete-game victories over Johnson.
The greatest St. Louis Brown of all was inducted
into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1939 with Eddie Collins, Willie
Keeler and, appropriately, Lou Gehrig, leading all three with 235
votes. His sons Dick and Dave fashioned major-league careers, albeit
not as successful as their father's, while George Jr. served as
president of the International League. George Sisler died two days
after his 80th birthday on March 26, 1973, in St. Louis,
Missouri.
Mike Lynch,
Ballpark Guy
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