Game 134: Kansas City Royals (71-62) @ Minnesota Twins (74-59)

Friday September 2, 1988

It’s common knowledge by now that Gladden is what hockey folks would call chippy. If his team was 40 games out with four to play, he’d still slash at your wrists and twist his stick between your skates. That’s why he wanted no part of the “oh well” cloud that seems to be settling in in at least some corners of the Twin Cities’ sports scene. The people - modest, not greedy and certainly used to far worse than the Twins have given them this season - reflect on the World Series their team won last year, peer first at the 8 1/2-game lead held by Oakland in the AL West and then at the calendar, and say something like “Oh, well . . .” “I hope they aren’t (accepting it),” said Gladden. “I hope they would be just as frustrated as we are.” Sure, Gladden can read. More important, he can count. “We need something close to a miracle,” he admitted. “But I heard that the (New York) Giants were 13 back with 14 left to play, something like that. So we’ve got that going for us. We’re not giving up.”

-Steve Aschburner, Star Tribune 9/3/1988

The “chippy” Gladden carried the Twins to a 6-3 victory over the Royals. Gladden had three hits, a stolen base, and two runs scored in the game.

Jeff Reardon came on with one out in the eighth to close the game down and earned his 34th save of the season. That ties Ron Perranoski’s club record for single-season saves. Perranoski had 34 saves in 1970.

Box

Player of the Game
Dan Gladden

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              135   84   51    0  .622     -   656  521
Minnesota Twins                134   75   59    0  .560   8.5   647  570
Kansas City Royals             134   71   63    0  .530  12.5   600  532
California Angels              135   69   66    0  .511  15.0   625  641
Texas Rangers                  133   60   73    0  .451  23.0   526  608
Chicago White Sox              134   58   76    0  .433  25.5   538  664
Seattle Mariners               135   54   81    0  .400  30.0   565  654

Game 133: Kansas City Royals (70-62) @ Minnesota Twins (74-58)

Thursday September 1, 1988

Just days after his 14-strikeout performance against the Twins, Mark Gubicza won again. This time he only struck out eight Twins, but he benefited from three double plays and what Tom Powers referred to as “repeated easy outs.”

The scoring started in the third inning when Willie Wilson singled home the Royals’ first run off of Bert Blyleven. An inning later, five singles led to a three-run inning and a 4-0 lead for the visitors. The Twins scored a pair of runs in the later innings, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Royals by a final score of 5-2. It was the Twins’ fourth straight loss against the Royals.

Bert Blyleven allowed all five runs and dropped to 9-13 on the season with the loss.

Box

Player of the Game
Mark Gubicza

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              134   84   50    0  .627     -   655  517
Minnesota Twins                133   74   59    0  .556   9.5   641  567
Kansas City Royals             133   71   62    0  .534  12.5   597  526
California Angels              134   68   66    0  .507  16.0   622  639
Texas Rangers                  132   60   72    0  .455  23.0   520  601
Chicago White Sox              133   58   75    0  .436  25.5   535  660
Seattle Mariners               134   54   80    0  .403  30.0   562  650

The Franchise 1956

1956 Washington Senators

Manager: Chuck Dressen 9th Season (2nd with Washington 112-196-1)
59 W 95 L 1 T 652 RS 924 RA 7th AL 38 GB (New York 97-57)
4.21 RPG (AL = 4.66) 5.33 ERA (AL = 4.16)
.683 DER (8th AL)

All Stars (1) Roy Sievers

Franchise (1901-1956) 3962-4500-102; 8-11 WS

Jack Walsh reported what looked like good news for Washington baseball fans in the August 15, 1956 issue of The Sporting News:

The pessimistic baseball fan in the nation’s capital can’t be blamed for wondering how long the major league franchise will continue to remain here. At the same time, the optimistic sort can visualize a new stadium in the foreseeable future that would revitalize the entire picture.

…

Just before adjourning, the Senate voted a $10,000 appropriation to a nine-man National Stadium Commission for its study of a site.

No less a figure than the city’s No. 1 citizen, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is heartily endorsing the project.

Interestingly, Clark Griffith had actually opposed the idea of moving the team to a new stadium. His nephew Calvin, however, was all for the plan, and said that his late uncle had changed his mind on the issue before he passed away as well.

Calvin continued to explore all of his options. While continuing to deny rumors that he was looking to move the team, Griffith was looking to move the team. In October he alerted the American League realignment committee that he was looking to move the team to a more profitable city. Griffith named Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Louisville as possible relocation cities. On October 19, the team’s board of directors voted to rejected what Griffith referred to as “attractive offers” from four different cities, the three mentioned with the addition of Minneapolis.

The public story was that the board did not want to go against the wishes of the late Clark Griffith, but the truth was that the vote probably had more to do with the fear of legal action had the team announced a move - particularly a threat from team treasurer and 40 percent stockholder H. Gabriel Murphy to sue if the decision was made to move.

The Senators would stay in Washington for now, but Griffith left the possibility of a move open, saying that there would need to be a new stadium built in order for the team to stay. Murphy resigned from his position in the spring of 1957 and took some parting shots at the majority ownership, calling Calvin Griffith “loose and incompetent” in a letter to the stockholders. Still, Griffith continued to say all of the right things, claiming that he hoped the team would stay in Washington forever.

For the 1956 season, Griffith Stadium got a bit of a face lift, the main change being a shorter home run distance in left field. The fence, which had sat 380 feet from home plate, was moved to 360 feet, further indicating change from the way things were done when the elder Griffith ran the team. Washington had a couple of players who could reach the new fence, and did so. In 1956, the two top single-season home run totals in franchise history added up to the highest team home run total in the history of the franchise, and quadruple the home run output that the team had totaled 12 years before.

Year, HR total
1945 27
1946 60
1947 42
1948 31
1949 81
1950 76
1951 54
1952 50
1953 69
1954 81
1955 80
1956 112

The power surge did little to help the team win, however, and the Nats put together their third consecutive losing season.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to Washington in 1956

C Clint Courtney .300/.362/.445 5 HR -0.4 BFW 9 WS 4 FRAR 1.9 WARP3
Courtney had his best season at the plate in 1956. He was best known as the first regular catcher to wear glasses, and was often referred to in news reports as the “bespectacled catcher.”

1B/2B Pete Runnels .310/.372/.433 8 HR 1.3 BFW 18 WS 7 FRAR 4.2 WARP3
In the spring, Dressen tried to play Runnels in the outfield, hoping the Herb Plews would be the answer at second base. Runnels didn’t care for the move, and the experiment was abandoned before the season started, partially due to Plews’ struggles. In the early part of the summer, Dressen made another move with regards to Runnels. Pete was moved to first base while Roy Sievers moved from first to the outfield.

2B Herb Plews .270/.337/.375 1 HR -0.3 BFW 5 WS 2 FRAR 0.7 WARP3
Plews came from the Yankee organization in February and got his first shot at the majors right away with Washington. After struggling in the spring, Plews got another chance with the move of Runnels to first base. He took advantage and had a decent rookie season at the age of 28.

SS Jose Valdivielso .236/.318/.333 4 HR 0.5 BFW 4 WS 13 FRAR 1.5 WARP3
The 22-year-old Cuban was in the lineup due to his defense, but Dressen made it his mission to improve Valdivielso’s hitting. “This kid could be all-everything in the American League if he could hit as much as .270″ said Dressen, who tried everything including taping the handle of the bat to show Valdivielso where to hold it. He even threatened to find the young player if his hands dropped below the tape line. All of the work didn’t pay off in the batting department, as Valdivielso once again struggled to hit major league pitching. Valdivielso will spend the next couple of years in the minors working on hitting.

3B Eddie Yost .231/.412/.336 11 HR 1.7 BFW 19 WS 30 FRAR 6.8 WARP3
Despite the fact that, at age 29, Yost’s batting average was way down, the frequent walker bested his own mark by working out 151 bases on balls in 1956 - once again leading the AL in that category. Yost was the subject of trade rumors at the end of the season, but nothing materialized.

LF/1B Roy Sievers .253/.370/.467 29 HR 0.9 BFW 20 WS -2 FRAR 4.0 WARP3
For the second consecutive season, Sievers bested his own franchise record for home runs in a single season. He hit 29 in 1956 despite a terrible slump after the All Star Game. He benefited, of course, from a slightly shorter left field fence than in the past at Griffith Stadium, but Shirley Povich was quick to point out that Jim Lemon hit more home runs over the newly shortened fence than did Sievers. He spent the first part of the season as Mickey Vernon’s replacement at first base, but was later moved to the outfield.

CF Karl Olson .246/.305/.329 4 HR -2.3 BFW 3 WS 0 FRAR -0.3 WARP3
CF Whitey Herzog .245/.302/.337 4 HR -3.0 BFW 5 WS -1 FRAR -0.1 WARP3
Olson and Herzog both came to Washington in off season trades and served as a platoon in center field. Neither was terribly impressive, and both were gone from the team within two years. Olson did impress right away. He became the first Nat ever to hit two home runs on opening day. Herzog, of course, went on to be a big part of the history of the franchise, but he did so from the opposing bench in the World Series.

RF Jim Lemon .271/.349/.502 27 HR 1.3 BFW 19 WS 28 FRAR 7.1 WARP3
Lemon originally came to the majors with Cleveland, but played very little from 1950-1954. He was purchased by the Nats in 1954, and finally got a chance as a regular in 1956. Lemon’s season was a mixed bag. On the one hand, he has the second-best single season home run total in franchise history, but on the other hand he set a major league record for strikeouts in a season with 138. On August 31, Lemon hit three home runs in a game against the Yankees to the delight of President Eisenhower who was on hand.

IF Harmon Killebrew .222/.291/.394 5 HR -0.4 BFW 2 FRAR 0.3 WARP3
While Killebrew showed flashes of brilliance, particularly in the power department, 1956 was another season in which he watched much of it from the bench. In June, his bonus-baby status finally allowed him the be sent to the minors, where he was able to play on a regular basis.

SP Chuck Stobbs 15-15 3.60 ERA 1.33 WHIP 1.7 PW 19 WS 8.0 WARP3
During the off season, Chuck Stobbs made some extra money by working as a season ticket salesman for the Washington Senators. Part of his pitch for the 1956 season was that he personally guaranteed a better season. While the team results weren’t great in 1956, Stobbs certainly did his part, having a career season. Stobbs posted personal highs in wins, innings pitched (240), and strikeouts (97).

SP Camilo Pascual 6-18 5.87 ERA 1.50 WHIP -3.1 PW 4 WS 2.8 WARP3
While Pascual’s early-career struggles continued, he seemed to be doing Mickey Mantle a favor. Mantle went deep twice off of Pascual on opening day in Washington, and hit a shot that nearly cleared Yankee stadium and traveled an estimated 600 feet on May 30. Mantle hit at least five of his 52 home runs in 1956 off of Pascual.

SP Dean Stone 5-7 6.27 ERA 1.83 WHIP -2.5 PW 1 WS 0.1 WARP3
Stone was traded to the Red Sox in April of 1957. He bounced around in the majors until he retired after the 1963 season.

SP Bob Wiesler 3-12 6.44 ERA 2.05 WHIP -3.0 PW 0 WS 0.1 WARP3
Wiesler came from the Yankees with very little major league experience. Between 1951 and 1955, Wiesler appeared in 26 games for the Yankees. He exceeded that mark in his first year with the Senators, though he only pitched in seven more major league games after 1956.

SP/RP Pedro Ramos 12-10 5.27 ERA 1.67 WHIP -1.6 PW 7 WS 3.3 WARP3
Ramos’ ERA faltered from his rookie season, but somehow the starter/reliever managed to win 12 games against 10 losses. Though is was probably the worst season of his career with the franchise, it will be the only season in which Ramos wins more games than he loses. He’ll have another winning season with Cleveland in 1963 (9-8), but 1956 and 1963 will be the only winning seasons in Ramos’ 15-year career.

RP Bob Chakales 4-4 4.03 ERA 1.57 WHIP 0.1 PW 7 WS 2.5 WARP3
RP Connie Grob 4-5 7.83 ERA 1.85 WHIP -2.7 PW 0 WS -0.9 WARP3
RP Bud Byerly 2-4 2.96 ERA 1.14 WHIP 0.8 PW 6 WS 2.7 WARP3
RP Bunky Stewart 5-7 5.57 ERA 1.84 WHIP -1.5 PW 3 WS 0.9 WARP3
Of the four main players out of the Senators’ bullpen, only Byerly will be with the team by the spring of 1957.

1956 World Series
The Yankees, behing Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5, restore order to the baseball universe by defeating the Dodgers in seven games. Game 7 will be the last World Series game played at Ebbets Field.

Game 132: Minnesota Twins (73-58) @ Texas Rangers (60-70)

Wednesday August 31, 1988

The Twins closed out the month of August on a familiar note, a Frank Viola win. This time, however, the win took on more significance. Viola had finally reached the magic number of 20 wins for the seasons, the first pitcher in the majors to do so this season. The win also marked Viola’s career victory number 100.

There was very little suspense in this game, and that was to the Twins’ liking. A five-run second inning by the Twins basically put the game away. Kirby Puckett added a pair of home runs, and by the time German Gonzalez took the mound to relieve Viola, the Twins had a 10-1 lead.

Viola pitched seven innings and allowed just a single earned run. Puckett’s pair of solo home runs came in addition to his two-RBI single in the second inning.

The Twins will return to the Dome tomorrow to start a seven-game home stand against AL West opponents Kansas City and Seattle.

Box

Player of the Game
Kirby Puckett

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              134   84   50    0  .627     -   655  517
Minnesota Twins                132   74   58    0  .561   9.0   639  562
Kansas City Royals             132   70   62    0  .530  13.0   592  524
California Angels              133   68   65    0  .511  15.5   620  635
Texas Rangers                  131   60   71    0  .458  22.5   519  596
Chicago White Sox              133   58   75    0  .436  25.5   535  660
Seattle Mariners               134   54   80    0  .403  30.0   562  650

Game 131: Minnesota Twins (73-57) @ Texas Rangers (59-70)

Tuesday August 30, 1988

There are going to be tough losses along the way. There are going to be times when some opposition hitter buries the Twins with a ninth-inning home run.

That’s what happened Tuesday night in Texas. But, geez, Cecil Espy? Espy, of all people, hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Juan Berenguer to give the Rangers an 8-6 win over the Twins.

“I’m not a home run hitter,” Espy said.

No kidding. It brought Espy’s career home run total to a whopping two and short-circuited a game in which the Twins had rallied from a 5-0 deficit. In fact, the switch-hitting Espy hadn’t been much of any kind of a hitter from the left side, hitting .230. But he got one out against Berenguer.

“He threw me a forkball after throwing me fastballs the first time up,” Espy said. “I got real good wood on the ball.”

“It was a pretty good pitch,” catcher Tim Laudner said. “He just knocked it out of there.”

The Twins can ill-afford any more games of this ilk, or the race in the AL West officially will be declared a moot point. Oakland beat Boston 1-0 on Tuesday, giving the Athletics a nine-game lead over the Twins.

“What else can you do?” Kirby Puckett shrugged. “You have to forget about it.”

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 8/31/1988

The Twins briefly held a 6-5 lead after Kent Hrbek’s two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning. The Twins had scored six straight to take the lead. Texas came back to tie the game at six in the bottom of the sixth inning, and that is how the score remained until Espy’s unlikely home run.

Box

Player of the Game
Cecil Espy

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              133   83   50    0  .624     -   648  515
Minnesota Twins                131   73   58    0  .557   9.0   629  561
Kansas City Royals             131   69   62    0  .527  13.0   591  524
California Angels              132   67   65    0  .508  15.5   613  630
Texas Rangers                  130   60   70    0  .462  21.5   518  586
Chicago White Sox              132   58   74    0  .439  24.5   532  651
Seattle Mariners               133   54   79    0  .406  29.0   561  646

Game 130: Minnesota Twins (72-57) @ Texas Rangers (59-69)

Monday August 29, 1988

The Twins scored three runs in the top of the second when they put together five consecutive two-out singles against Texas pitcher Jeff Russell. The inning might have continued had Al Newman not made the third out trying to advance to third base. Newman’s mistake, however, was par for the course in a game that will be remembered for base running mistakes and missed opportunities.

With the score 3-2 Twins after two innings, it looked as though the game might turn into a track meet. That the game ended with the same score was not a testament to great pitching. Mark Vancil summed up the Rangers’ mistakes:

Texas, which had scored one run in the first, jumped on Toliver again in the second. Steve Buechele’s single, the third hit of the inning, drove in Geno Petralli, but Pete Incaviglia was called out when he ran into Rangers coach Dave Oliver while rounding third.

Instead of having runners at first and third with one out, the Rangers ended up with two outs and no one in scoring position. Incaviglia was called out for interfering with Oliver and the Rangers were on their way.

In the fourth, Texas had a runner at second and one out when another gamble failed miserably. Cecil Espy broke for third, and Harper gunned him down easily. The final version of the same act came in the sixth when Petralli tried to go from first to third on a single to left, but didn’t come close. That out ended the inning and allowed the Twins to open the seventh with Atherton.

The Twins made mistakes of their own, but once the game was turned over to the bullpen, the result was somewhat academic. Atherton and Reardon combined to shut the Rangers down for the final three innings, and the Twins had their victory.

Box

Player(s) of the Game
Keith Atherton & Jeff Reardon

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              132   82   50    0  .621     -   647  515
Minnesota Twins                130   73   57    0  .562   8.0   623  553
Kansas City Royals             130   69   61    0  .531  12.0   590  520
California Angels              131   67   64    0  .511  14.5   611  625
Texas Rangers                  129   59   70    0  .457  21.5   510  580
Chicago White Sox              131   57   74    0  .435  24.5   528  650
Seattle Mariners               132   53   79    0  .402  29.0   554  645

Game 129: Minnesota Twins (72-56) @ Kansas City Royals (67-61)

Sunday August 28, 1988

The Twins looked to salvage the last game of the three-game series in Kansas City, and seemed to be in good shape to do so with a 3-0 lead in the middle of the sixth inning and Allan Anderson on the mound.

The it all fell apart.

The first three Royals to bat in the bottom of the sixth all reached on singles. With the bases loaded, the first Kansas City run scored when Anderson issued a walk to Kevin Seitzer. A George Brett ground out added another run, but Pat Tabler’s triple scored two more and ended Anderson’s day. The Royals added one more run in the inning, then piled seven more on the bullpen in the seventh to cruise to a 12-3 victory and a series sweep over the Twins.

The Twins have been looking to make a trade for a bat that would help down the stretch. They finally did so by adding Jim Dwyer from the Orioles in exchange for PTBNL. Dwyer is 38-years-old and is batting .226/.363/.226 for the Orioles in 35 games. Dwyer is expected to serve primarily as a pinch-hitter for the Twins.

Box

Player of the Game
George Brett

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              131   81   50    0  .618     -   644  514
Minnesota Twins                129   72   57    0  .558   8.0   620  551
Kansas City Royals             129   68   61    0  .527  12.0   584  517
California Angels              130   66   64    0  .508  14.5   607  623
Texas Rangers                  128   59   69    0  .461  20.5   508  577
Chicago White Sox              130   56   74    0  .431  24.5   525  648
Seattle Mariners               131   52   79    0  .397  29.0   545  639

Game 128: Minnesota Twins (72-55) @ Kansas City Royals (66-61)

Saturday August 27, 1988

  “I’ve never struck out 14 batters before,” said Royals starter Mark Gubicza, who set a club strikeout record with 14. “Not in the big leagues, not in the minors. Maybe Little League.”

-quoted by Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 8/28/1988

The Royals took the lead for good in the fourth.

And there was little room for error after Bert Blyleven (9-12) slid a fastball over the outside corner to Danny Tartabull. With two out in the Royals fourth and a runner at first, Blyleven fell behind the streaking Tartabull and came across with a strike.

Even with first base occupied, it appeared to be poor gamble with Frank White on deck. White was in an 0-for-22 slump and a 1-for-33 drought with runners in scoring position. Tartabull on the other hand, is in the midst of a nine-game tear that has included .560 batting average and 14 RBI.

“We didn’t give it any thought to walking him,” said Kelly, who later thought the idea was absurd considering first base was occupied.

Mistake or no mistake it cost Blyleven and sent the Twins to their second straight loss. Tartabull drilled a 3-1 pitch over the right-field wall for a two-run homer and a 3-1 Royals lead that was never in jeopardy.

“I knew he didn’t want to give me anything to hit,” said Tartabull, who is 4-for-9 against Blyleven this season with three homers. “I knew if he threw me a strike it would be away. I just went with it.

“Right now I feel like every time I come up to the plate I can get a hit. I feel that confident.”

The Twins are now eight games behind first place Oakland, and have dropped two full games in the standings in little more than 24 hours.

Box

Player of the Game
Mark Gubicza

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              130   81   49    0  .623     -   643  512
Minnesota Twins                128   72   56    0  .563   8.0   617  539
Kansas City Royals             128   67   61    0  .523  13.0   572  514
California Angels              129   65   64    0  .504  15.5   594  621
Texas Rangers                  127   59   68    0  .465  20.5   503  571
Chicago White Sox              129   56   73    0  .434  24.5   521  643
Seattle Mariners               130   52   78    0  .400  29.0   543  632

Game 127: Minnesota Twins (72-54) @ Kansas City Royals (65-61)

Friday August 26, 1988

For the second consecutive start, Frank Viola failed to reach victory number 20 for the year. This time, Charlie Leibrandt and the Royals defeated the Twins 4-3.

“I think tonight I put a little undue pressure on myself,” said Viola (19-6). “But I’m not going to dwell on the situation. In a couple of days I’m going to do my work on the side and get myself mechanically sound to go after Texas on Wednesday.”

-quoted by Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 8/27/1988

The Royals scored all of their runs in a four-run fourth inning. Danny Tartabull’s line drive single to center plated the first run, the other three came on a Bo Jackson three-run home run.

“Just a fastball right in there,” Viola said. “I threw him all fastballs all night. The two times I struck him out were on fastballs, but in a better location. This one came to the plate saying `Hit me, hit me.’”

Jackson did.

“He was behind in the count so I was looking for a fastball and got one right down the plate,” said Jackson, whose last four hits, spread over a one-week period, have been home runs. “I know what he’s got to throw, so I just dug in and took a hack.”

The Twins managed three runs off of Leibrandt, the first on a balk in the top of the fourth. They added two more on Al Newman’s two-run single in the fifth, but that would mark the end of the scoring for both teams.

Box

Player of the Game
Charlie Leibrandt

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics              129   80   49    0  .620     -   638  511
Minnesota Twins                127   72   55    0  .567   7.0   616  535
Kansas City Royals             127   66   61    0  .520  13.0   568  513
California Angels              128   64   64    0  .500  15.5   582  621
Texas Rangers                  126   58   68    0  .460  20.5   498  568
Chicago White Sox              128   55   73    0  .430  24.5   517  642
Seattle Mariners               129   51   78    0  .395  29.0   535  626

The Franchise 1955

1955 Washington Senators

Manager: Chuck Dressen 8th Season (1st with Washington 53-101)
53 W 101 L 598 RS 789 RA 8th AL 43 GB (New York 96-58)
3.88 RPG (AL = 4.44) 4.62 ERA (AL = 3.96)
.689 DER (8th AL)

All Stars (1) Mickey Vernon

Franchise (1901-1955) 3903-4405-101; 8-11 WS

1955 was a year of big change for a franchise that had remained relatively the same for almost 50 years. It started when longtime manager Bucky Harris was replaced following the 1954 season. Not only was the man who had managed more games in Washington than any other gone, but his replacement did not fit the typical mold of a Griffith manager. Since Clark himself lead the club from 1912-1920, every single manager had, at one time, been a player for the franchise. Chuck Dressen was a player, but had never made his way to Washington during his playing career.

Dressen didn’t fit the mold of the typical Washington manager in two other ways. First, he was described as “brash and cocky” by the media, a far cry from the usually calm Harris. Secondly, he was well paid, reportedly earning over $40,000 from the stingy Griffiths, no doubt due to the fact that he was just a year removed from leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to an NL pennant.

The hiring of Dressen signaled a top-down change in the way the club was operated. Calvin Griffith took over a lot more control of the team from his uncle, and it was clear to fans that decisions were being made in a different way. One of the changes Calvin made was more symbolic than anything, but the official nickname of the team, at long last, became “Senators” after years of being called that by just about everybody.

The new-look Senators limped their way to one of the worst seasons in franchise history. While change was happening, it wasn’t for the better on the field. Established players like Vernon and Porterfield were traded away in an off season effort to rebuild the team with younger prospects.

Perhaps the biggest signal of change, however, occurred on October 7. That is the day that Clark Griffith, a Washington institution, passed away just short of his 87th birthday. Griffith had been involved with Washington baseball in one way or another since 1912.

Meanwhile, halfway across the country, construction began on what was formerly farm land in Bloomington, Minnesota. The hopes of the Twin Cities area was that if they built a ballpark that was ready for a major league team, their chances of landing an existing franchise would be greater.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to Washington in 1955

C Ed Fitz Gerald .237/.317/.309 4 HR -1.3 BFW 4 WS 2 FRAR 0.2 WARP3
C Clint Courtney .298/.349/.391 2 HR -0.5 BFW 7 WS 3 FRAR 1.5 WARP3
Washington acquired Courtney in June in a trade that sent Jim Busby back to the White Sox. From then on Courtney served as a platoon partner for Fitz Gerald and a late-inning lefty off the bench for the Nats.

1B Mickey Vernon .301/.384/.452 14 HR 1.0 BFW 21 WS -9 FRAR 4.0 WARP3
At the age of 37, Vernon turned in another All Star season and was credited with keeping Washington afloat in the summer months. Unfortunately for Vernon, he became a victim of his own success when Clark Griffith, and later Calvin, decided it was time to rebuild. Vernon was one of the few pieces that was of value on the trade market, and the Griffiths took advantage by building a nine-player trade with the Boston Red Sox. Though the deal was consummated after the death of the elder Griffith, it was widely reported that he was the mastermind behind it. Though the four players that Washington sent to Boston didn’t pan out particularly well, neither did the young players that were added. For better or worse, Vernon’s time with Washington came to an end. After a pretty successful season with the Sox in 1956, Vernon began to show his age. He played into his 40’s, but was clearly well past his prime. He finally retired as a player in at the age of 42 in 1960. In 14 seasons with Washington, Vernon hit .288/.358/.428 with 121 home runs and 63.4 WARP3. Vernon went on to become the first manager of the expansion Washington franchise in 1961, and lasted in that role until the beginning of the 1963 season, when he was let go after two losing seasons and a poor start in a third.

2B Pete Runnels .284/.353/.344 2 HR 0.7 BFW 14 WS 28 FRAR 4.7 WARP3
Runnels made the move from short stop to second base in 1955, and put up the numbers that Washington fans had come to expect.

SS Jose Valdivielso .221/.277/.316 2 HR 0.1 BFW 6 WS 28 FRAR 2.6 WARP3
The young Cuban short stop was not expected to be a part of the Washington club for a few years, but his play in Charlotte combined with the team’s need meant an early call to the 21-year-old. Dressen’s glowing endorsement: “at last we have a shortstop who can make all the plays.”

3B Eddie Yost .243/.407/.371 7 HR 1.1 BFW 16 WS 0 FRAR 3.6 WARP3
In early May, Yost contracted tonsillitis and was running a fever of about 102. He came in for one play on May 11 to extend his consecutive games streak, but took a pass on doing the same for the May 12 game, ending his streak at 838 consecutive games played. It was a wise decision. Yost battled illness and injury for the better part of two months, and was labeled as “virtually useless” by The Sporting News in May and June, but still managed to have a decent season. Though Yost was the subject of more than a few trade rumors at the end of the season, Dressen stood by his word, that Yost was the one untouchable player on the team.

LF Roy Sievers .271/.364/.489 25 HR 1.3 BFW 20 WS -3 FRAR 4.6 WARP3
Dressen put Sievers in the clean up role early in the season thanks to his 24 HR 102 RBI season in 1954. Benched early due to a hitting slump, Sievers eventually emerged and broke his own franchise record for home runs in a season.

CF Tom Umphlett .217/.271/.266 2 HR -2.5 BFW 1 WS 8 FRAR 0.4 WARP3
Another poor showing for Umphlett meant that he was thrown in to the deal that sent Vernon to the Red Sox. He didn’t play another game in the majors after the trade.

RF Carlos Paula .299/.332/.447 6 HR -0.2 BFW 10 WS -3 FRAR 1.6 WARP3
The Jim Busby deal cleared the way for the first black player in franchise history to finally become a regular in 1955. Carlos had a good season, but struggled mightily in 1956 and never saw the majors after that.

OF Ernie Oravetz .270/.336/.297 0 HR -1.6 BFW 4 WS 0 FRAR 0.2 WARP3
The rookie switch-hitter from Pennsylvania was a solid option off the bench in 1955, but it was really his only season of note in the majors.

IF Harmon Killebrew .200/.281/.363 4 HR -0.1 BFW 1 WS -2 FRAR -0.2 WARP3
The rules required that Killebrew, a “bonus baby” signing from 1954, remain with the major league team for at least two years. That meant a lot of watching and very little playing time for the kid from Idaho, who was very open about the fact that he would rather have been playing in the minors. Still, the youngster managed to hit his first major league home run, and wowed the fans with the mammoth shot at Griffith Stadium.

SP Bob Porterfield 10-17 4.45 ERA 1.41 WHIP -1.8 PW 5 WS 3.0 WARP3
The 31-year-old Porterfield had his worst season in a Washington uniform, and was among the veterans traded to Boston in the Mickey Vernon deal. After pitching very well in his first two seasons with the Nats, Porterfield had struggled in his last two. He played four more years in the majors before retiring, and 1952-1953 remained far and away his best seasons.

SP Dean Stone 6-13 4.15 ERA 1.63 WHIP -1.2 PW 6 WS 2.9 WARP3
After a very good performance in his rookie season, Stone came back to earth in his sophomore season, and his performance would continue to go downhill from there.

SP Johnny Schmidtz 7-10 3.71 ERA 1.46 WHIP 0.4 PW 8 WS 4.9 WARP3
Schmidtz didn’t pitch as well as he had a year before, but was still one of the few reliable pitchers on the staff.

SP Mickey McDermott 10-10 3.75 ERA 1.54 WHIP 1.0 PW 10 WS 5.5 WARP3
McDermott somehow managed to post a .500 record with a horrible team, and was promptly shipped away for prospects. Among the players that came from the Yankees in the deal was Whitey Herzog.

RP Pedro Ramos 5-11 3.88 ERA 1.23 WHIP -0.3 PW 6 WS 3.4 WARP3
The Cuban had a very good rookie season, primarily coming out of the bullpen. A speedy runner, Ramos was often used as a pinch-runner late in games during his career.

RP Bob Chakales 2-3 5.27 ERA 1.46 WHIP -0.9 PW 1 WS 0.3 WARP3
Chakales came from the White Sox in June as a part of the Busby trade.

RP Camilo Pascual 2-12 6.14 ERA 1.77 WHIP -3.0 PW 0 WS 0.8 WARP3
RP Ted Abernathy 5-9 5.96 ERA 1.70 WHIP -2.9 PW 0 WS 0.5 WARP3
RP Chuck Stobbs 4-14 5.00 ERA 1.61 WHIP -2.0 PW 3 WS 2.2 WARP3
All three of these relievers were tried at one time or another as a starter in the rotation, but none of them stuck. Pascual had a rough year, and is still a few years away from breaking out. Abernathy was used sparingly over the next four years before he was released. He went on to have a pretty good major league career as a reliever, pitching 14 seasons for seven different teams. Stobbs had a good season as a starter in 1956.

1955 World Series
At long last Brooklyn had a championship. After five unsuccessful attempts, the “Bums” finally beat the Yankees in the World Series. Interestingly, the ‘55 team is considered one of the weaker of the Boys of Summer teams.