Gabby Street
Gabby Street | |
---|---|
Catcher/Manager | |
Born: Huntsville, Alabama,U.S. | September 30, 1882|
Died:February 6, 1951 Joplin, Missouri,U.S. | (aged 68)|
Batted:Right Threw:Right | |
MLB debut | |
September 13, 1904, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
Last MLB appearance | |
September 20, 1931, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
MLB statistics | |
Batting average | .208 |
Home runs | 2 |
Runs batted in | 105 |
Managerial record | 365–332 |
Winning % | .524 |
Teams | |
As player
As manager
| |
Career highlights and awards | |
|
Charles Evard"Gabby"Street(September 30, 1882 – February 6, 1951), also nicknamed "the Old Sarge",was an Americancatcher,manager,coach,and radio broadcaster inMajor League Baseballduring the first half of the 20th century. As a catcher, he participated in one of the most publicized baseball stunts of the century's first decade. As a manager, he led theSt. Louis Cardinalsto twoNational Leaguechampionships (1930–31) and one world title (1931). As a broadcaster, he entertainedSt. Louisbaseball fans in the years followingWorld War II.
Biography
[edit]Born inHuntsville, Alabama,Street (who batted and threw right-handed) was a weak hitter. Hebattedonly.208 in a seven-year playing career (1904–05; 1908–12) in 502 games with theCincinnati Reds,Boston Beaneaters,Washington Senators,andNew York Highlanders.Apart from 1908 to 1909, when he was the Senators' first-string catcher, he was a part-time player. Street holds the record for the longest gap between Major League games – 19 years (1912–1931).[1]
On August 21, 1908, Street achieved a measure of immortality by catching a baseball dropped from the top of theWashington Monument—a distance of 555 feet (169 m). After muffing the first 12 balls thrown by journalist Preston Gibson, he made a clean reception of number 13. In addition, Street was fabled as an early catcher and mentor of theAmerican League's nonpareil right-handed pitcher,Walter Johnson.
After Street's playing career ended, he managed in theminor leaguesbefore joining the Cardinals' major league coaching staff in 1929. It was a year of turmoil for thedefending NL champs.They replaced 1928 skipperBill McKechniebefore the season withBilly Southworth;then, when Southworth couldn't get results, they brought back McKechnie on July 24. In between, Street served as acting manager for one game on July 23: an 8–2 triumph over thePhiladelphia Phillies.[2]At the close of the 1929 season, McKechnie left to manage the Boston Braves and Street became the Redbirds' full-fledged manager.
The Old Sarge promptly led the Cardinals to consecutive National League pennants. In 1930, they won 92 games and finished two games in front of theChicago Cubs.But in the1930 World Series,they faced the defending world championPhiladelphia Athleticsand lost in six games. In 1931, Street's Cardinals won 101 games and bested theNew York Giantsby 13 games. Then, in the1931 Seriesagainst those same A's, pitchersWild Bill HallahanandBurleigh Grimesdominated andPepper Martinhad 12hits,batted.500,drove infive runs andstolefive bases to lead the underdog Redbirds to a seven-game world championship against the lastConnie Mackdynasty.
The Cardinals faltered in 1932, winning only 72 games and finishing tied for sixth, 18 games out, and had improved only to fifth in July 1933. Street was dumped on July 23 and replaced by hissecond baseman,Frankie Frisch.The next two seasons, he managed theMission Reds,but in 1935 he was suspended from thePacific Coast Leagueindefinitely for assaulting anumpire.[3]After that, he managed theSt. Paul Saintsof theAmerican Associationin 1936 and 1937, before returning to the Mound City as skipper of the 1938St. Louis Browns.The habitually bottom-feeding Brownies finished seventh in an eight-team American League, winning only 53 games. The '38 season put a cap on Street's major league managerial career. In all or parts of six years, he won 365 and lost 332 (.524).[4]
Street would return to St. Louis and the major leagues, however, as acolor commentatorfor Cardinals and Browns radio broadcasts after the Second World War, working with young colleagueHarry Caray.After battling cancer successfully in 1949, Street fell victim to heart failure in his adopted hometown ofJoplin, Missouri,in February 1951. He died at 68 years of age.
Street's likeness made a brief cameo appearance ontheSimpsonsepisode: "Homer at the Bat"(1992) as one of the would-be ringers forMr. Burns' softball team. Mr. Burns has planned to have Street play catcher until his assistantSmithershas to point out that all of the players Mr. Burns had selected had long since retired and died.
In the bookCatching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dreamby Crystal Hubbard, Gabby Street runs a baseball camp. The main character is denied based on the fact she is a girl. When she proves herself, he allows her to attend with the caveat to bring a glove and cleats. When she is unable to afford cleats, he buys a pair for her. This is based on a true story aboutToni Stoneand how she got her first pair of cleats.
Managerial record
[edit]Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
STL | 1929 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | interim | – | – | – | – |
STL | 1930 | 154 | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1st in NL | 2 | 4 | .333 | LostWorld Series(PHA) |
STL | 1931 | 154 | 101 | 53 | .656 | 1st in NL | 4 | 3 | .462 | WonWorld Series(PHA) |
STL | 1932 | 154 | 72 | 82 | .468 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
STL | 1933 | 91 | 46 | 45 | .505 | fired | – | – | – | – |
STL total | 554 | 312 | 242 | .563 | 6 | 7 | .462 | |||
SLB | 1938 | 143 | 53 | 90 | .371 | fired | – | – | – | – |
SLB total | 143 | 53 | 90 | .371 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
Total[4] | 697 | 365 | 332 | .524 | 6 | 7 | .462 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Major League Comebacks".TheBaseballCube.com.RetrievedMay 6,2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^InformationatRetrosheet
- ^"Manager of Mission Reds Is Suspended".Madera Tribune.Madera, California. August 31, 1935. p. 1.RetrievedSeptember 10,2018.
- ^ab"Gabby Street".Baseball Reference.Sports Reference LLC.RetrievedAugust 8,2016.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information fromBaseball Reference,orBaseball Reference (Minors)
- Baseball-Reference.com– career managing record
- Gabby StreetatFind a Grave
- 1882 births
- 1951 deaths
- Baseball players from Huntsville, Alabama
- Sportspeople from Joplin, Missouri
- Major League Baseball broadcasters
- Baseball managers
- Major League Baseball player-managers
- St. Louis Cardinals managers
- Cincinnati Reds players
- Boston Beaneaters players
- Washington Senators (1901–1960) players
- New York Highlanders players
- St. Louis Cardinals announcers
- St. Louis Cardinals players
- St. Louis Browns announcers
- St. Louis Browns managers
- St. Paul Saints (AA) managers
- American vaudeville performers
- Minor league baseball managers
- Hopkinsville Browns players
- Terre Haute Hottentots players
- San Francisco Seals (baseball) players
- Williamsport Millionaires players
- Providence Grays (minor league) players
- Chattanooga Lookouts players
- Nashville Vols players
- Suffolk Nuts players
- Suffolk Wildcats players
- Joplin Miners players
- Muskogee Athletics players
- Augusta Tygers players
- Columbia Comers players
- Knoxville Smokies players
- World Series-winning managers