1924 World Series Game 6

Thursday October 9, 1924
Griffith Stadium

Roger Peckinpaugh returned to the Washington lineup for the first time since he left Game 3 with what was originally reported as a “charley-horse,” but turned out to be a tendon problem. The return would be short-lived, however, as the veteran short stop re-injured himself in the ninth inning of Game 6.

He stuck around long enough, however, to get two hits and score a run in a game in which runs were particularly valuable. Game 6 was a duel of lefties; Tom Zachary of the Nats against Art Nehf of the Giants. Both pitchers had won their previous series start in impressive fashion, allowing just five earned runs between them in 20 1/3 innings pitched.

The Giants got to Zachary early with the help of a first inning RBI single by George Kelly. It was not a trend, however, as Zachary allowed just five more New York hits over the next nine innings, including a stretch in which he retired 14 out of 15 Giants.

The only Washington runs came on a single by Bucky Harris that scored both Peckinpaugh and Earl McNeely in the bottom of the fifth. The 2-1 lead held up thanks to Zachary’s pitching, and the Nats forced a seventh game.

Boxscore

1969 Twins vs 1924 Nationals

This is the third series in a Diamond Mind tournament involving eight of the best teams in franchise history.

Round 1
1965 Twins 4
1987 Twins 2

1933 Nationals 3
2006 Twins 4

1969 Twins
1924 Nationals

1991 Twins
2002 Twins

Game 1 @ Met Stadium
Walter Johnson allowed three runs and 11 hits over nine innings, but it was enough for his team to earn a 4-3 victory. Muddy Ruel hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning; and Roger Peckinpaugh singled home the game-winner in the top of the eighth. Graig Nettles homered of of Johnson for the ‘69 Twins. Jim Perry went eight innings and allowed all of the Washington runs in the losing effort. 1924 Nationals lead 1-0.

Game 2 @ Met Stadium
The ‘69 bats exploded for nine runs in the first four innings, mostly off of starter George Mogridge. After a Goose Goslin first inning home run spotted the Nats a 2-0 lead, the Twins went to work. Tovar, Cardenas, and Allison each had three RBI in the game (including home runs for Tovar and Allision), and Dave Boswell went eight innings to get credit for a win in the ‘69 Twins’ 11-4 victory. Series tied 1-1.

Game 3 @ Griffith Stadium
Jim Kaat out dueled fellow lefty Tom Zachary in a 3-2 Twins’ victory. Bob Allison went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and a run scored. Kaat struck out six in his complete game, two run nine hit performance. 1969 Twins lead 2-1.

Game 4 @ Griffith Stadium
The Nats scored three runs in the sixth, and it turned out to be more than enough. Walter Johnson allowed just three hits in a complete game shut out of the Twins. Ossie Bluege knocked in two runs for Washington. Johnson needed only 97 pitches to retire the Twins. Series tied 2-2.

Game 5 @ Griffith Stadium
Fresh off of being shut out, the 1969 Twins once again got to George Mogridge early, scoring four off of the lefty in the first inning. No Twins homered, but seven different batters had at least one RBI, including the pitcher Dave Boswell, in the 9-1 Twins victory. Johnny Roseboro went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. 1969 Twins lead 3-2.

Game 6 @ Met Stadium
Manager Bucky Harris turned to Walter Johnson on short rest, but a tired ace wasn’t enough for the Nats to win the game and force a seventh game. Jim Kaat allowed just two hits in six innings pitched, and was pulled by Billy Martin when the team had a 6-0 lead. Tony Oliva went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, and Rich Reese added two RBI of his own in the 6-0 victory. 1969 Twins win 4-2.

Series MVP: Bob Allison .636/.618/1.182 1 HR 5 RBI

Raw Data

The 1969 Twins won 54 out of the 100 series simulated. A six game win for the Twins was the most common outcome. When the 1924 Nationals won, it was usually in seven games.

1969 Twins in 4: 5 1924 Nationals in 4: 7
1969 Twins in 5: 12 1924 Nationals in 5: 12
1969 Twins in 6: 23 1924 Nationals in 6: 6
1969 Twins in 7: 14 1924 Nationals in 7: 21

In terms of overall record, the ‘69 Twins had a 274-248 advantage.

1924 World Series Game 5

Wednesday October 8, 1924
Polo Grounds

49,271 fans packed the Polo Grounds on what was the coldest day of the series. It was thought that Walter Johnson would bounce back from his game one defeat with a victory in Game 5, but it was not to be. Johnson’s second World Series start turned out worse than his first, and it looked like the book might be closed on the post season career of the best pitcher the game had ever seen.

The game, like the first three, was close most of the way, but the Giants used an eighth inning rally to put some distance between themselves and the Nats.

The Giants broke the scoreless tie in the third, when three straight off of Johnson netted a run, the last of which was an RBI hit by Freddie Lindstrom. Washington evened the score in the fifth, when Ralph Miller, still in the lineup due to Roger Peckinpaugh’s injury, singled home Joe Judge.

For the second time in the series, a Giants’ pitcher hit a home run. This time it was starter Jack Bentley, who, with a man on, took a Johnson pitch into the right-field stands to give New York a 3-1 lead. Unlike Rosy Ryan, Bentley’s power was not particularly surprising, considering that he had hit 11 during the season.

Johnson held the opposition scoreless in the sixth and seventh, while his offense pulled within one thanks to Goose Goslin’s third round-tripper of the series that came in the eighth inning with the bases empty. The home run chased Bentley from the game, who had allowed only two runs on nine Senator hits. Hugh McQuillan came on to retire the Nats in the eighth.

The home half of the eighth was a nightmare for Johnson and his team. The Giants managed to load the bases with no outs, thanks in part to a Johnson error on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Travis Jackson hit a sacrifice fly to left, and one out later McQuillan and Lindstrom hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the home team a 6-2 lead.

McQuillan, despite a one-out walk, retired the Senators pretty easily in the ninth to clinch the victory. The Giants headed back to the nation’s capital needing just one victory to clinch the franchise’s fourth World Series win since the turn of the century.

Boxscore

How Washington Won in 1924

Bucky Harris led the Washington Nationals to a World Series in his very first season as manager. In 1923, the same team went 75-78. The rosters were essentially the same, so what changed?

1. Starting Pitching

Pitcher: 1923 ERA+; 1924 ERA+
Walter Johnson 109; 148
George Mogridge 121; 107
Tom Zachary 84; 146
Zahniser (23)/Ogden (24) 98; 146

While Johnson had a somewhat unexpected return to form at the age of 36, there were several other reasons for the improvement of the team. While Mogridge fell off a bit, he still pitched over 200 innings. Tom Zachary and Curly Ogden each had career seasons, making the 1924 staff the deepest in the league. Bucky Harris could throw four starters who had ERA+ of 100 or more; three of them were near 150 (if he started Marberry with his 130 ERA+, which he did 15 times, that makes five). Zachary would show flashes of the same brilliance in 1929, but neither he nor Ogden would ever have a season as fine as 1924.

2. Firpo Marberry

By 1924, Washington had a long history of innovative bullpen use. Clark Griffith was the godfather, and his influence seemed to rub off on the men that succeeded him as manager. This is certainly true of Bucky Harris.

To start with, Marberry was one of the few “bullpen aces” of the time. Most managers had a tendency to throw their best starters out in relief situations in close games. It was common for a player to have 30+ starts at 10-12 relief appearances in a season (notably, 1924 is the first year in Walter Johnson’s career that he did not make any relief appearances - in the regular season- a possible factor in his success).

While Marberry filled in as a spot-starter at times, his primary role was in relief. He appeared in 50 games, 15 of which were starts. Of his 35 relief appearances, Marberry finished 24 games (30 GF minus 6 CG).

It appears, based on a small sample, that Marberry was used whenever Harris needed him. In some cases it was to finish games, in others it was to eat innings. Though his record was 11-12, the fact that he was involved in 23 decisions in 50 games indicates that he was often pitched in high-leverage situations.

Marberry’s value could probably have been maximized more, but, as it was, he provided Bucky Harris a nice safety net in case a starter struggled, and a closer to finish games out (he had 15 saves to lead the league).

3. Improved Defense

Player 1923 FRAR, 1924 FRAR
C Muddy Ruel 43, 50
1B Joe Judge 2, 27
2B Bucky Harris 24, 22
SS Roger Peckinpaugh 51, 63
3B Ossie Bleuge 15, 11
LF Goose Goslin 5, 17
CF Nemo Leibold 4, 10
RF Sam Rice 18, 18

Almost every regular improved defensively in 1924. As a team, the Nats had DER of .674 and a fielding percentage of .967 in 1923; a year later they had improved to .710 and .972.

4. Enough Offense

The 1924 Washington lineup was certainly not one that struck fear in the hearts of opposing pitchers. I mentioned in the Franchise 1923 post that Griffith’s team didn’t seem to know that it wasn’t the dead ball era anymore. Washington actually had fewer home runs (22) in 1924 than they did in 1923 (26). Griffith Stadium played as a pitcher’s park, so that was part of the reason; but Griffith simply didn’t load up on sluggers.

Still, there was some slugging improvement between 1923 and 1924:

Team AVG/OBP/SLG (AL AVG)
1923 .274/.341/.367 (.283/.351/.388)
1924 .294/.356/.387 (.290/.358/.397)

Make no mistake about it, the star of this team was pitching and defense; but the offense improved enough to help make the team competitive.

1924 World Series Game 4

Tuesday October 7, 1924
Polo Grounds

For the first time in the series, a team jumped to a comfortable lead and kept it. In the process, Washington was able to even the series with the Giants, and make the series a best-of-three.

The Giants actually took the early lead, however, when an error by Ossie Bluege at third allowed yet another unearned run. George Mogridge was able to get out of the first with no further damage, though it would not be the last Washington error of the game.

The Nats’ offense started taking over in the third inning. With two out and two on, Goose Goslin launched his second home run of the series, this time off of Virgil Barnes, to give Washington a 3-1 lead.

The Griffs added two more in the fifth when a Barnes wild pitch scored Earl McNeely from third, and Goslin’s bat struck again, this time with an RBI single to score manager Bucky Harris from second base.

Washington added two more runs in the eighth, helped in part by another Goslin hit. For the game, Goslin went 4-for-4 with two runs and four RBI. The Giants were able to add a few runs to make it somewhat interesting, including another unearned run in the ninth thanks to a Sam Rice mishap; but the game was in hand for Washington, who won by the final score of 7-4.

Boxscore

Top Five Games of 1924

First, honorable mention:

HM. 4/15/24; Washington 4, Philadelphia 0
Opening day shutout for Walter Johnson, though it came against a very bad team. Still, it was important for Johnson coming off of two sub-par seasons.

HM. 6/26/24; Washington 12, Chicago 6
Coming into the game, the Nats were 24-26. This win was the first in a 10-game winning streak that vaulted the team into contention.

HM. 8/25/24; Washington 2, St. Louis 0
A one hour, 25 minute shutout performance for Walter Johnson. The win was the team’s eighth in a row, and moved the Senators just one game out of first place.

HM. 9/17/24; Washington 3, Cleveland 2
Walter Johnson’s 22nd win of the season helped the Nats keep pace with the Yankees, who swept a double-header on the same day.

HM. 9/24/24; Washington 6, Chicago 3
The win put Washington two games ahead of the Yankees with just four left to play. Sam Rice hit safely in his 31st straight game, a streak that would end the very next game.

And now the top five…

5. 6/25/24; Washington 3, New York 2
Though it was just late June, the win clinched a four-game series sweep over the defending AL Champions in New York. In 1923, Washington only won two games at Yankee Stadium, following the four-game sweep on June 25th, they had taken seven out of eight in the Bronx. Firpo Marberry earned the win despite the fact that he gave up a first inning home run to Babe Ruth, his 18th of the season. The Yankees scored another run in the first by stringing together three singles. After the first, however, Marberry allowed just one more Yankee hit. Two of the Washington runs came on a first inning single by Goslin that scored two. Bucky Harris started the third inning rally that would score the eventual game-winner with a single and a stolen base. He moved to third on a Goslin groundout, and scored on a Joe Judge sacrifice fly. The game was delayed several times due to rain, and finally called off in the seventh inning due to darkness. The New York Times noted that this year, it seemed the Yankees were making the mistakes and that Washington was taking advantage of them.

4. 8/31/24; Washington 4, New York 2
The Nats had taken two of the first three from the Yankees in an important late August series. Coming into the final game, Washington held just a 1/2 game lead in the American League standings. The New York Times described it better than I could:

After ten innings of sensational baseball, featured by many dramatic situations, fiery oratory, player expulsions and other incidents that combine to distinguish a very good ball game from one of the every-day variety, the pace-setting Senators took the final game of the series from the Yankees at the Stadium yesterday afternoon before a gathering of 45,000 persons. With the bases filled and two out, it remained for Sam Rice to deliver a double to left field, that Bob Meusel made a daring effort to catch, which drove home two waiting Senators…

Joe Judge homered in the game, and Firpo Marberry pitched all ten innings and allowed just two runs on seven hits.

3. 9/27/24; Washington 7, Boston 5
22,000 Boston fans rooted for Washington in hopes that the Nats would hold off the hated Yankees in a close pennant race that was starting to wind down. George Mogride ran into some early trouble after being spotted a 2-0 lead, allowing the Red Sox four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Mogridge was pinch hit for in the second, and Firpo Marberry came in to try and get the game going on the right track. He did so, pitching three innings without allowing a run. In the top of the fifth, Wade Lefler pinch hit for Marberry with the bases loaded, and cleared them with a hard-hit double off of Sox pitcher Howard Ehmke. Boston came back and tied the game in the bottom of the frame against Allen Russell, but the Nats went ahead for good in the sixth, thanks in part to a throwing error by Ehmke that scored Nemo Leibold and moved Bucky Harris to third. A Goose Goslin single plated the manager, and the pitching combination of Russell and Tom Zachary held the Sox scoreless for the rest of the game. The win, combined with a Yankee loss, clinched Washington at least a tie for its first pennant.

2. 8/28/24; Washington 11, New York 6
Coming into this first game of a four game series, New York held a half game lead over Washington in the AL pennant race. The Senators entered the eighth inning down 6-3 on the strength of three Yankee home runs, two by Babe Ruth, who “smote” his 41st and 42nd of the year. Bucky Harris’ starting pitcher, Tom Zachary, lasted only into the fourth, Russell pitched the team into the seventh. In the top of the eighth, however, the Washington bats came alive against the defending AL Champs.

Eighth inning play-by-play
Bluege singled off of Pennock
Ruel doubled, Bluege to third (Gaston replaced Pennock)
Peckinpaugh grounded out to short, Bluege scored (4-6)
Leibold walked
McNeely singled, Ruel to third, Leibold to second
Harris reached on a fielding error by Dugan, Ruel scored (5-6), Leibold to third, McNeely to second (Jones replaced Gaston)
Rice forced Leibold at home on a groundball to second, McNeely to third, Harris to second, Rice to first
Goslin tripled, McNeely scored, Harris scored, Rice scored (8-6)
Judge singled, Goslin Scored (9-6)
Bluege singled, Judge to second
Ruel reached on a fielding error by Dugan, Judge to third, Bluege to second
Peckinpaugh singled, Judge scored, Bluege scored (11-6), Ruel to second (Mamaux replaced Jones)
Leibold lined out

Eight runs on seven hits put the game away. Firpo Marberry pitched two scoreless innings to close the game out. Tucked at the very bottom of the game story in the Times was the fact that Goose Goslin had singled, doubled, tripled, and homered in the game. He was the second to do so in franchise history.

1. 9/29/24; Washington 4, Boston 2
With New York’s game rained out, the Washington ball club needed to beat Boston to secure its first AL Pennant in 24 years of existence. Sam Rice put his team ahead when he manufactured a run in the first by singling, stealing, and scoring on an errant throw. Boston evened the score in the bottom of the frame off of Washington starter Tom Zachary, but the Nationals used four consecutive singles by Peckinpaugh, Ruel, Zachary, and Leibold in the second to plate two runs. Zachary allowed another run in the third, and would be replaced by Firpo Marberry on the mound in the fourth. Marberry held the Sox in check the rest of the game, and the Senators didn’t need the run they scored in the eighth to win the game. As the last outs were made, the Boston crowd cheered Washington as if they were the home team. One of the headlines in the Times simply read: The White House is Pleased.

1924 World Series Game 3

Monday October 6, 1924
Polo Grounds

The Giants took advantage of some costly Washington errors to take the first game at the Polo Grounds, and claim a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The scoring started in the home half of the second inning, when a Bucky Harris error caused a chain reaction that led to two unearned runs scoring in the inning. With one out and a man on first, Travis Jackson hit a ground ball to Ossie Bluege at third, who threw a perfect strike to the manager. Harris, a sure-handed fielder if there was one, dropped the ball allowing both runners to be safe on a potential double-play ball.

The Giants added a run in the third inning, when, for the second time this series, a double-play ball scored George Kelly. The Giants had a 3-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Senators to strike back. They managed to load the bases with just one out in the fourth. Ralph Miller, who subbed for Roger Peckinpaugh when he left with a “charley-horse” in the second inning, hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Sam Rice with the first Washington run of the game. After Muddy Ruel drew a walk to once again load the bases, McGraw yanked starter Hugh McQuillan in favor of Rosy Ryan. Ryan walked the pinch-hitter, Bennie Tate to score the second run of the inning before he coaxed Nemo Leibold to fly out to get out of the inning with a lead.

The Giants extended their lead, however, when Ryan, the pitcher, hit a home run into the upper right-field stands in the home half of the fourth. It was the first home run Ryan had hit in his career, and one of only two that he would retire with. New York went ahead 5-2 when another Washington error, this time charged to Peckinpaugh’s replacement at short stop, led to another unearned run.

A Mule Shirley single in the bottom of the eighth knocked in the third run for Washington, but McGraw’s team quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. The game entered the ninth with New York ahead 6-3.

Things looked good for Harris’ team when his own single to lead off the inning helped Washington load the bases with just one out. McGraw called on Claude Jonnard to get out of the situation, and like Ryan before him, Jonnard walked the first man he faced to force in a Washington run. Unlike Ryan, that ended Jonnard’s day (and his series). McGraw went to Mule Watson to close out the potential rally, and he did so by getting Miller to pop out, and coaxing a ground ball to third off the bat of Ruel to secure the 6-4 win.

Boxscore

The Franchise 1924

1924 Washington Nationals

Manager: Bucky Harris 1st Season (1st with Washington 92-62-2; 4-3 WS)
92 W 62 L 2 T 755 RS 613 RA 1st AL 2.0 GA (New York 89-63-1)
4.84 RPG (AL = 4.98) 3.34 ERA (AL = 4.23)
.710 DER (1st AL)

Franchise (1901-1924) 1619-1952-65, 4-3 WS

“Washington first in war, first in peace, last in the American League.”

The unofficial team motto fit perfectly for the first 23 years of Washington Nationals baseball, but 1924 was the year that it all changed.

Since Clark Griffith had retired as active manager of the Washington American League club in 1920, he had a difficult time filling his old job. Three different managers in three years, for one reason or another, didn’t fit the bill. In 1924, Griffith finally found his manager.

Griffith looked to the team’s captain from the previous season to fill the managerial vacancy in February of 1924. It was a surprise move in baseball circles. Player/manager Bucky Harris was only 27-years-old. The media was quick to refer to his age, calling him the “boy-wonder” and worse.

Harris was well liked by the team, however, and quickly won over the media. Though the Nats had added very few new parts in the off season, things seemed to all come together in 1924. Walter Johnson, off of two sub-par years, turned in another MVP performance. Fellow starting pitchers Tom Zachary, George Mogridge, and later Curly Ogden all turned in good performances that provided pitching depth, something the franchise had lacked in its earlier years. If, for some reason, a starter had a rough outing, Harris turned to rookie Firpo Marberry for some very reliable relief. The pitching staff, helped by the league’s best defense, allowed a full run less per game than the league average.

Offensively, Washington was below league average in run production, but they scored enough to allow their pitching staff to win 92 games. Goose Goslin had his best season so far, and guys like Muddy Ruel, Joe Judge, and Sam Rice were very consistent performers.

Harris seemed to be a natural for the manager’s post. He handled his pitching staff, particularly Marberry, very well; and on his watch one of the worst defenses in the league became the best. He was not afraid to make the unpopular move, and did so with the full backing of Griffith.

The new manager and his team had a 24-26 record heading into play on June 17. Though they were only 4.5 games out of first, there were four teams between them and the league-leading Yankees. On Tuesday June 17, Washington defeated Chicago 12-6. The win seemed ordinary at the time, but it started a winning streak for the Nats. After winning five in a row, Harris and the Senators traveled to New York for a four-game series with the defending World Series champions. Three days and four wins later, the Nats found themselves in an unfamiliar place: first in the AL.

From June 17 on, Washington went 68-36 to finish the season with 92 wins, including a huge late-August series in New York in which they won three out of four. Washington held a two-game lead over New York with four left to play. The Nats had four games left in Boston, while New York had four scheduled in Philadelphia.

Washington dropped the first game to Boston 2-1. The loss broke Walter Johnson’s 13-game winning streak and Sam Rice’s 31-game hit streak, and the Nats lost a game in the standings thanks to New York’s 7-1 victory over Philadelphia.

The next day, Washington came from behind early to defeat Boston 7-5, while New York dropped a close game to Philadelphia. The two game lead with two to play meant that, at worst, Washington had clinched a tie for the pennant.

The Nation’s Capitol celebrated the very next day. With a rain-out in Philadelphia, the Nats needed a win in Boston to clinch, and got just that. After 24 years, Washington was finally going to see a World Series.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to Washington in 1924

C Muddy Ruel .283/.370/.331 0 HR 1.9 BFW 17 WS 50 FRAR 6.8 WARP3
Ruel played in 149 games in 1924, 147 of which he caught; a remarkable number for a catcher. Only three members of the ‘24 team appeared in more games (Goslin, Rice, and Peckinpaugh). A lot of catchers had good offensive seasons in 1924, but Ruel remained among the best thanks to his excellent work behind the plate.

1B Joe Judge .324/.393/.450 3 HR 0.5 BFW 19 WS 27 FRAR 6.9 WARP3
Here is Joe Judge’s defensive chart that I posted in the Franchise 1923, with the next few years of his career added:

Joe Judge FRAR vs Fielding PCT
1916 6 .986
1917 8 .988
1918 9 .985
1919 2 .988
1920 6 .992
1921 5 .996
1922 3 .996
1923 2 .993
1924 27 .994
1925 15 .993
1926 21 .994

Joe Judge had a reputation as a very good defender for the years leading up to 1924, but this is the first year, according to the numbers, that he lived up to the billing. As a team, the Nats went from seventh in AL defensive efficiency in 1923 to first in 1924 with the same starting players, and Judge’s improvement likely played a big part in that.

2B Bucky Harris .268/.344/.358 1 HR -1.9 BFW 13 WS 22 FRAR 3.8 WARP3
Harris’ first year as a major league manager was probably one of his worst as a regular player.

SS Roger Peckinpaugh .272/.360/.340 2 HR 1.5 BFW 22 WS 63 FRAR 8.3 WARP3
At the age of 33 Peckinpaugh had the second highest WARP3 total of his career, only bested by his 1919 effort with New York (9.2). Statistically, this was he best defensive season, and he was easily the most valuable defensive shortstop in the league.

3B Ossie Bluege .281/.358/.353 2 HR -1.4 BFW 9 WS 11 FRAR 2.3 WARP3
Bluege’s offensive numbers in 1924 were pretty spot on with his career averages. These would be the numbers that Washington would expect out of the third baseman for many years to come. His defense, on the other hand, would improve quite a bit starting in 1925.

LF Goose Goslin .344/.421/.516 12 HR 2.8 BFW 29 WS 17 FRAR 8.2 WARP3
This was Goslin’s breakout season. On August 28 against the Yankees, Goslin became the second player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. He did it in an 11-6 victory over the defending AL champs, part of a late-season series in which the Nats took three out of four from New York to gain first place for what turned out to be the rest of the season. Goslin’s 12 home runs in 1924 represent the most in a single season in franchise history. The 23-year-old will play at a very high level for years to come.

CF Nemo Leibold .293/.398/.350 0 HR -0.1 BFW 8 WS 10 FRAR 2.3 WARP3
CF Earl McNeely .330/.355/.425 0 HR -0.2 BFW 6 WS 6 FRAR 1.4 WARP3
Leibold held down center field for the bulk of the season. McNeely was with Sacramento of the PCL until August, when Griffith sent three players and cash to get him. Washington fans weren’t happy with the deal, in part because fan favorite Wid Matthews was sent to Sacramento. McNeely played most of the rest of the season, and would win the fans over in the World Series.

RF Sam Rice .334/.382/.443 1 HR 0.4 BFW 24 WS 18 FRAR 6.2 WARP3
Rice had a 31-game hitting streak that occurred mostly in September. His play down the stretch was a key reason that the Nats were able to hold off the Yankees.

SP Walter Johnson 23-7 2.72 ERA 1.12 WHIP 4.9 PW 29 WS 9.5 WARP3
After several seasons that were below the legend’s standards, Walter Johnson returned to form in 1924. He led the league in almost every pitching category including wins (23), ERA (2.72), WHIP (1.12), K/9 (5.12), Shutouts (6), and K/W (2.05). About the same time that Sam Rice was in the midst of his 31-game hitting streak, Johnson had a streak of his own: 13 straight wins. The streak came late in the season and, like Rice, Johnson’s play was a key factor in the eventual pennant victory for the Nats. Johnson won the 1924 MVP award, the second of his career. While is 1924 numbers don’t approach the numbers he put up in 1913, they are almost as impressive considering the hitter-friendly era and the fact that Johnson, at age 36, was the 8th oldest player in the American League.

SP Tom Zachary 15-9 2.75 ERA 1.24 WHIP 3.7 PW 21 WS 6.6 WARP3
One of the major differences between 1924 and the many other years in which Walter Johnson had spectacular numbers was the presence of a dependable starting staff aside from Johnson. Tom Zachary is an example of a teammate that Johnson didn’t have in most of his previous seasons. Zachary had a career year in 1924, and capped it off with a great World Series performance.

SP George Mogridge 16-11 3.76 ERA 1.31 WHIP 1.0 PW 14 WS 3.7 WARP3
1924 was probably Mogridge’s worst season in Washington, but he was still above league average. The 35-year-old was second in team innings pitched to Walter Johnson. In June of 1925, Mogridge will be traded to the St. Louis Browns with Pinky Hargrave in exchange for Hank Severeid. He will finish his career in 1926 and 1927 by pitching with Boston in the National League.

SP Curly Ogden 9-5 2.75 ERA 1.24 WHIP 2.4 PW 12 WS 3.6 WARP3
Ogden came to Washington in May when he was purchased from the Philadelphia A’s. He had passable numbers in Philly, but came mostly out of the bullpen and had very few innings pitched in his two plus seasons under Connie Mack. Harris immediately used him as a starter and he added even more depth to the pitching staff. Curly would never match his career year, and spent the bulk of the next two seasons coming out of the bullpen for the Nats.

RP Firpo Marberry 11-12 3.09 ERA 1.33 WHIP 1.7 PW 17 WS 4.3 WARP3
Marberry joined the team in August 1923 and pitched in a handful of games towards the end of the season, but 1924 was his first full season in the majors. He appeared in 50 games, most in the AL and though the save was years away from becoming an official stat, Marberry led the league in that category with 15 (teammate Allen Russell was 2nd with 8). Frederick Marberry earned the nickname “Firpo” because he looked like the famous boxer Luis Firpo.

Marberry’s role on the 1924 team is often overlooked, but the fact is that the reliever was one of the more valuable members of the team. Far from the “one-inning closer” of today, Marberry averaged four innings per appearance (including the 15 games he started, six of which were complete games). Because bullpen roles were not created yet, Bucky Harris was free to be innovative and use Marberry when the team needed him most. With play-by-play data currently not available for the 1924 season, it is difficult to really judge how well he was used, but a small sample of the most important games of the year, including the post season, indicate that Marberry was used in all kinds of situations, and, more often than not, the outcome for Washington was a good one.

RP Allen Russell 5-1 4.37 ERA 1.56 WHIP -0.2 PW 6 WS 0.7 WARP3
Russell’s production fell off from the previous year, and so did his innings. The emergence of Firpo Marberry as the best reliever in baseball made innings difficult to come by.

1924 World Series Game 2

Sunday October 5, 1924
Griffith Stadium

Washington came out on top in the second straight nail-biter of the 1924 World Series. This time, the Griffs jumped to an early lead when Goose Goslin launched a home run into right field off of Jack Bentley, scoring Sam Rice to make the score 2-0.

Though Bentley pitched well for the rest of the game, he did give up another long ball; a fifth inning shot to left by player-manager Bucky Harris, a man who had only one home run during the regular season, and only six in his career.

Lefty Tom Zachary took the early lead and ran with it, scattering just three New York hits over the first six innings. In the seventh, the Giants scored when George Kelly came home on a 5-4-3 double play. The Sporting News hailed the play as an example of the great strategy used by Harris, allowing the run to score in order to “clear the bases”.

Zachary entered the top of the ninth with a 3-1 lead. He started the inning by walking Frankie Frisch. After getting a pop out from Ross Youngs, Kelly lashed what was described as a long single to right. Frisch was off with the pitch on the hit-and-run, and never stopped on his way to cutting the lead to a single run. After Kelly reached second on a ground-out by Bob Meusel, Hack Wilson hit a single to right that scored Kelly and tied the game. Firpo Marberry came on to get the final out, but the damage had been done, and it looked as though Game 2 may be headed to extra innings.

Instead, the Nationals used their last at-bat to quickly squash the idea of extras. Joe Judge drew a walk, and was sacrificed to second by Ossie Bluege. In hindsight, the New York Times suggested that McGraw “stubbornly” refused to issue Roger Peckinpaugh an intentional walk. Whether the free pass was on his mind or not, McGraw let Bentley pitch to the veteran, who promptly took a curve-ball into deep left field for a game-winning RBI double.

Boxscore

1924 World Series Game 1

Saturday October 4, 1924
Griffith Stadium

U.S. Presidents had routinely been a part of baseball in Washington, but Calvin Coolidge was the first President to see a World Series game in Washington. He was present to throw out the first pitch, but there was controversy surrounding the game before it even started.

On October 2, two days before the series was to start, Judge Landis announced that two members of the Giants, Jimmy O’Connell and coach Cozy Dolan, were banned from the World Series for attempting to bribe a Philadelphia player to go easy on the Giants in an important late-season game. O’Connell, a backup outfielder and frequent pinch-hitter, was not a huge loss for the Giants, but up to the start of the series it was thought that other, more important parts of the team would be implicated as well.

Though the other players were cleared by Landis, Ban Johnson still felt that the series should not be played. When he was ignored by the owners, Johnson staged his own protest by not attending any games.

Managers Bucky Harris and John McGraw

The series went on, however, and Washington saw its first World Series. The lineups for game one:

   New York Giants               Washington Senators
1. Lindstrom           3b        McNeely             cf
2. Frisch              2b        Harris              2b
3. Youngs              rf        Rice                rf
4. Kelly               cf        Goslin              lf
5. Terry               1b        Judge               1b
6. Wilson              lf        Bluege              3b
7. Jackson             ss        Peckinpaugh         ss
8. Gowdy               c         Ruel                c
9. Nehf                p         Johnson             p

Walter Johnson looked strong initially in his first World Series game, retiring the Giants in order in the first. Art Nehf responded in kind to take the game into the second inning.

George Kelly led off the second inning with a home run into the temporary bleachers in left field off of Johnson. The Washington ace had allowed just 10 round trippers all season, but Kelly’s shot gave the Giants a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Bill Terry hit one to the same bleachers to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Nehf, on the other hand, was cruising along, allowing just one hit in the first five innings. The Nats didn’t get to him until the top of the sixth. Earl McNeely led the inning off with a double, and reached third on a Bucky Harris ground out. Sam Rice hit a roller to second to put Washington on the board for the first time.

The two pitchers exchanged scoreless innings until the bottom of the ninth, when Washington came to bat down by a run. With one out, Ossie Bluege singled. Bluege scored from first when Roger Peckinpaugh launched a double to left field. The Nats had tied the game and forced extra innings.

Nehf and Johnson both stayed in the game, and the score remained tied into the 12th inning. The Nationals put a threat together in the 10th with two straight one-out singles, but Nehf closed the door by retiring the last two men in the inning.

The Giants’ half of the 12th started when Johnson issued a walk to Hank Gowdy, the fifth walk that Johnson had issued in the game. The pitcher Nehf followed with a single, and both runners advanced on an error charged to Washington center fielder McNeely. Jack Bentley drew his team’s sixth walk off Johnson to load the bases with no outs.

It looked like Johnson may get out of the mess when Frankie Frisch hit a hard grounder to second to force the runner at home. The next batter, Ross Youngs, singled to center to put the Giants ahead 3-2. Kelly then hit a sacrifice fly to score an important insurance run before Johnson got out of the inning.

The Nats made it interesting in the bottom of the 12th, scoring an unearned run to cut the lead to one. With one out, Sam Rice was caught trying to stretch a single into a double on a throw by Billy Southworth. Had Rice been safe, the Nats would have second and third with just one out. As it stood, the tying run was at third with two outs, and Art Nehf ended the game by getting Goose Goslin to hit a slow roller to Kelly at second, who made a bare-handed play to clinch game one for the Giants.

Boxscore