Tris Speaker
From BR Bullpen
Tristram E Speaker (The Grey Eagle or Spoke)
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Weight 193 lb.
- School Texas Wesleyan University
- Debut September 14, 1907
- Final Game August 30, 1928
- Born April 4, 1888 in Hubbard, TX USA
- Died December 8, 1958 in Lake Whitney, TX USA
Inducted into Hall of Fame in 1937
Contents |
[edit] Biographical Information
"You couldn't ask for a better all-around player." — Joe Wood
In the days before Babe Ruth, Tris Speaker and Ty Cobb were quite possibly the most famous major league baseball players. People used to argue about which one of them was better, much in the way that people later would argue about whether Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays was better. Speaker's Hall of Fame plaque, while not settling the issue, calls him the "greatest center fielder of his day". Speaker was almost always among the league leaders in offensive categories - he ranks # 6 all-time with 346 points on the Gray Ink Hall of Fame appraisal test, (ahead of Babe Ruth but behind Ty Cobb).
He is the all-time leader in doubles with 792, leading the league in doubles eight times and finishing second three other times. He is # 5 all-time in hits with 3514, # 6 all-time in batting average, # 6 all-time in triples, # 9 all-time in Runs Created, # 11 all-time in Runs Scored (in spite of playing during a dead-ball era when runs were scarce), and # 12 all-time in on-base percentage.
He is one of only two players to ever hit 50 doubles and steal 50 bases in the same season.
Observers thought him an excellent center fielder. He was fast enough that he would play shallow and if a ball was hit over his head, he could usually run back fast enough to corral it. His lifetime range factor is much better than that of Ty Cobb.
"When I was a rookie, Cy Young used to hit me flies to sharpen my abilities to judge in advance the direction and distance of an outfield-hit ball." - Tris Speaker
He played in 1907 in Houston and in 1908 in Little Rock. He then made his name with the Boston Red Sox before moving to the Cleveland Indians after a contract dispute. He was a player/manager for 8 years, posting a won/loss record of 617-520. A player on three World Series winners, in 1912, 1915, and 1920, he was also the manager in 1920. He hit .306 in Series play.
Unfortunately, the 1910s were a time when owners were not free with money, and the Red Sox's owner proposed to cut Speaker's salary after the 1915 World Series because Speaker had hit only .322 during the regular season (it was still the fourth-best batting average in the league, but Speaker's 151 Adjusted OPS+ was a bit lower than usual for him). Speaker refused to sign and was traded to the Indians. He had played with the pitcher Babe Ruth in Ruth's first full season in 1915, and because of the trade Speaker would miss Ruth's best years as a pitcher as Ruth helped bring two more World Series victories to the Red Sox in 1916 and 1918. Speaker would, however, be joined on the 1920 World Series champion Indians by former Boston teammates Smoky Joe Wood, who had converted at that point from pitcher to outfielder, and Larry Gardner.
Late in their careers both Speaker and Cobb were alleged to have been involved in a thrown game. They were both induced to "resign" as managers, but the charges were weak and they were absolved. As a result, Speaker played his last two seasons with the Washington Senators in 1927 and the Philadelphia Athletics in 1928. In his last season, he has an AL-record streak of 14 consecutive games with an RBI, ending in the first game of a doubleheader on May 30. Ironically, he would only drive in two runs in the rest of the season.
Speaker is the uncle of Tex Jeanes.
He managed for parts of three seasons in the minor leagues: as a player-manager with the Newark Bears in 1929-30 and with the Kansas City Blues in 1933.
He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on January 19, 1937 by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He continued to be active around baseball after his retirement: for example, when Larry Doby became the first black player in the American League, Speaker worked with him to assure that his skills were up to par for the majors. He made his first Baseball Card appearance in the 1909 T206 Tobacco set.
[edit] Notable Achievements
- AL MVP (1912)
- AL Batting Average Leader (1916)
- 4-time AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1912, 1916, 1922 & 1925)
- AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1916)
- AL OPS Leader (1916)
- 2-time AL Hits Leader (1914 & 1916)
- AL Total Bases Leader (1914)
- AL Singles Leader (1916)
- 8-time AL Doubles Leader (1912, 1914, 1916, 1918 & 1920-1923)
- AL Home Runs Leader (1912)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1920 & 1923)
- 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 7 (1912, 1914-1916, 1920, 1921 & 1923)
- 200 Hits Seasons: 4 (1912, 1916, 1920 & 1923)
- 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1912)
- Won three World Series with the Boston Red Sox (1912 & 1915) and the Cleveland Indians (1920)
- AL Pennants: 1 (1920)
- Managed one World Series Champion with the Cleveland Indians in 1920
- Baseball Hall of Fame: Class of 1937
| Preceded by Lee Fohl | Cleveland Indians Manager 1919-1926 | Succeeded by Jack McCallister |
[edit] Records Held
- Doubles, career, 792
- Doubles, left handed hitter, career, 792
- Most seasons leading the league in doubles, 8 (tied)
- Most seasons with 50 or more doubles, 5
- Assists, outfielder, career, 449
- Double plays, outfielder, career, 139
[edit] Further Reading
- Charles C. Alexander: Spoke: A Biography of Tris Speaker, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas, TX, 2007.
- Tim Gay: Tris Speaker: the Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2005.
- Don Jensen: "Tristram E. Speaker", in David Jones, ed.: Deadball Stars of the American League, SABR, Potomac Books, Inc., Dulles, VA, 2006, pp. 434-437.
[edit] Related Sites
Baseball Almanac Graphic on HOFers who Served in the U.S. Armed Forces
