TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

August 30, 1952, Floyd Ellis “Arky” Vaughan, One of the greatest Shortstops of all time, Arky Vaughan played 14 years in the majors with a slash stat line of .318/.406/.453/136. The only shortstop with a higher Batting Average and at least 5000 At Bats is Honus Wagner, drowns with a friend when their boat capsized while fishing in a volcanic lake near Eagleville, CA.

Arky Vaughan was a perennial All-Star named to the National League team nine successive years. In 1941 he hit two All-Star home runs. His best years were spent in Pittsburgh, where his mentor, Honus Wagner, roomed with Vaughan while a Pirate coach. Vaughan's 1935 marks, a .385 batting average and .607 slugging average, remain team records. In addition to those league-leading numbers, his performance that year included 19 HR, 99 RBI, 108 runs, and only 18 strikeouts in 499 at-bats plus a league-high 97 walks. Unsurprisingly, he also led in on-base average (.491); from 1934 to 1936 he led in both walks and on-base average. His 1935 season earned him third place in the MVP voting, and he won TSN NL Player of the Year honors, at the time as prestigious as the more recently-introduced MVP award.

Vaughan led NL shortstops in errors in his first two seasons (46 each year) but exhibited good range. He settled down to become one of the league's better-fielding shortstops and led in putouts in 1936. By 1938 he may have been the best; from 1938 through 1940 he led three times in assists, twice in putouts, and once each in total chances per game, double plays, and errors.

Playing in spacious Forbes Field, Vaughan was in double figures in triples in all but one of his first nine seasons, and he led the league three times; he reached the 40-double plateau twice. He led in runs three times and topped 100 runs five times. First-place Brooklyn traded four players after the 1941 season to acquire Vaughan. After an off-year (.277, 82 runs) in 1942 while playing third base, he rebounded in 1943 to lead the NL with a career-high 20 stolen bases (at the age of thirty-one) and with 112 runs. He also had the best of his many excellent strikeout ratios, fanning just 13 times in 610 at-bats plus 60 walks, and hit .305.

Named for his home state of Arkansas, Arky Vaughan was a quiet, gentlemanly ballplayer whose demeanor was only twice disturbed; once by Dick Bartell and then by Leo Durocher. After Bartell had been hit in the head by a throw on a double-play attempt by Vaughan, he was quoted in the press as seeking revenge when the two teams played again. He backed down when a steely-eyed Vaughan walked up to him before the game and proposed they settle their differences under the stands.

Durocher pushed the reserved Vaughan too far. An argument between the Dodger manager and Bobo Newsome raged through the Dodger club house. Finally, Vaughan presented his rolled-up uniform to his manager with a suggestion he dispose of it in an impossible manner. Vaughan stalked out and the rest of the team was ready to follow. Relations were strained the rest of the 1943 season and, in 1944, Vaughan stayed on his California ranch, refusing to give as the reason his obvious loathing for Durocher or his wish to support the war effort by farming.

He remained away from baseball until 1947, the year of Durocher's suspension. Then, after three years of idleness, he hit .325 as a part-time outfielder, third baseman, and pinch hitter (10-for-26). Vaughan drowned in 1952, just forty years old, when a boat from which he was fishing capsized. The Veterans Committee selected him for the Hall of Fame in 1985.

Todays Podcast

August 30, 1918, future Hall of Famer Ted Williams is born in San Diego, California. “The Splendid Splinter” will make his major league debut in 1939, marking the start of a 19-year career with the Boston Red Sox. Williams will win election to Cooperstown in 1966.

August 30, 1965, one of the game’s most legendary figures, New York Mets manager Casey Stengel, announces his retirement. Doctors had advised Stengel to step down after suffering a broken hip in a bathroom fall on July 25. Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame the next year. Stengel made his big league debut as an outfielder with John McGraw’s New York Giants in 1912. His greatest moment as a player came in the 1923 World Series with the Giants. With two outs in the ninth inning, Stengel won Game 1 with an inside-the-park home run. After his playing career he managed the Dodgers, Braves and in 1949 took over the Yankees, His record of 1149 wins versus 696 losses with the Yankees over the next 12 seasons was among the greatest in managerial history, and included 10 American League pennants and seven World Series victories. He finished his career with Mets and in 1962 posted the single worst record in baseball history as the amazing mets went 40 – 120. The year following his retirement, Stengel will gain induction to the Hall of Fame.

August 30, 1966 — Sandy Koufax, in his final decision facing the Mets, lasts only two innings, losing to Bob Friend at Shea Stadium, 10-4. The Dodgers Hall of Fame southpaw has compiled a 17-2 record against the lowly expansion team since their inception in 1962.

August 30, 1972- In Pittsburgh, announcer Bob Prince turns the mic over to Harold Arlin. On August 5, 1921, Arlin was the first announcer to broadcast a live play-by-play game, on KDKA. Today he calls a few innings while his grandson, Steve, is on the mound for San Diego against the Pirates.

August 30, 1973 — Billy Martin orders his pitchers to throw spitballs, in an effort to show the umpiring crew that they don’t consistently enforce the rules when Indians right-hander Gaylord Perry is on the mound. The Tiger manager, suspended for three days by American League president Joe Cronin, doesn’t understand being punished for telling the truth about asking his pitchers to throw illegal pitches.

August 30, 1978, Sadaharu Oh of the Tokyo Giants hits the 800th home run of his career. Oh, the world’s all-time home run king, had previously broken Hank Aaron’s record of 755 home runs. He went on to hit 868 for his career. Aaron, six years Oh’s senior, out-homered him in home run hitting contests held in 1974 and 1984.

August 30, 1986 — Roger Clemens becomes the major leagues’ first 20-game winner this season, striking out 11 Indians in a 7 – 3 victory to raise his record to 20-4.

August 30, 1990 — Boston’s Roger Clemens reaches 20 wins for the third time in five years by beating Cleveland, 9 – 2. Rocket strikes out nine and walks none.

August 30, 2006, Boston right-hander Curt Schilling fans Oakland slugger Nick Swisher with his trademark splitter to record the 3,000th strikeout of his career. Schilling becomes the 14th pitcher to reach the milestone. Schilling ranks 2nd all time with 4.38 strikeouts for every walk allowed. Third on the all time list is 2004 team mate Pedro Martinez with a 4.15 ratio. After recording the strikeout Schilling said, “Earlier in my career, the two guys I wanted to emulate were Clemens and Maddux. I wanted Clemens’ power with Maddux’s control. I never quite got to either one of them, but I felt like I was kind of a mishmash of the two in some cases.”

 ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA

TRIVIA ANSWER:   ARKY VAUGHN

- Wore #21 1932-39

- 2 AS HR 08-Jul-1941, 7^th & 8^th innings off Sid Hudson & Eddie Smith. Vaughn has since been joined by Ted Williams (1946), Al Rosen (1954), Willie McCovey (1969), Gary Carter (1981).

- Fullerton Union High School, class of 1930

- Glenn “Sparky” Vaughn played with HOU in 1963.

Thank you Horsehide Trivia

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