Babe ruth | The Baseball Zealot

Tilly Walker’s place in baseball history

On this day in 1887, Tilly Walker was born. Unless you’re a devoted baseball historian, Walker is pretty much an unknown as baseball players go.

Coming to the bigs in 1911, he was a journeyman outfielder playing for the Senators, Browns and Red Sox before finding a more permanent home with the Philadelphia Athletics where he played for six years between the years of 1918-1923. He was a solid hitter for his era, ranking up there among the leaders in extra-base hits, slugging and yes, even homeruns.

His homerun numbers during his career weren’t Ruthian by any means. He ranked 3rd in the American League in 1914 with a grand total of six. As time went by, his total grew getting up into the double-digits even reaching as high as 37 in 1922.

But Tilly Walker has one major distinction, perhaps fodder for a trivia question. In 1918 while playing for the Philadelphia Athletics, he tied Babe Ruth for the AL lead in homeruns with 11. He was the last person to lead the league in that category before the Babe Ruth era. Ruth then continued his dominance of baseball by leading the AL in homers 10 of the next 12 seasons (the exceptions? In 1922 when Ken Williams had his career year for the Browns and 1925 when Ruth had his famous “Bellyache Heard ‘Round the World” aka gonorrhea).

If you look over Walker’s stats, you’ll note that those 11 homeruns he hit in 1918 is only time he ever led his league in any category.

Walker ended his career with 118 career homeruns which probably doesn’t seem like a lot. But considering that the career leader at the time of his retirement had 238 and that was Babe Ruth, he probably ranked pretty high.

Tilly Walker has obviously passed on (in 1959) in his home state of Tennessee. But he does have a place in baseball history. Happy Birthday, Tilly Walker!

Who Was the HR King Before the Babe?

connor Kids of my era all grew up with the number 714 ingrained in us, it was written into our DNA. But I wonder if there’s anybody out there who would know without googling, what the Home Run Record was before Babe Ruth shattered it and who held that record. Yesterday’s White Sox tear-off calendar asks the question, “In 1921, Babe Ruth became the all-time career home run king. Whose record of 138 career home runs did he eclipse?”
A. Roger Connor

I had no idea, so I looked up Roger Connor, and this is what I found. The 6’3″ 220 pound Hall of Fame firstbaseman played from 1880-97, amassing 2,467 hits in 8,837 at bats, for a .317 lifetime batting average. He hit 441 doubles, 233 triples, & 138 home runs, swinging from the leftside.

Connor entered the National League in 1880 as a member of the Troy Trojans. He later played for the New York Gothams, and, due to his great stature, gave that team the enduring nickname “Giants”.

Roger is credited with being the first player to hit a grand slam in the major leagues and being the first to hit an over-the-wall home run at the Polo Grounds. His grand slam came with two outs and his team down three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Another notable fact from Connor’s career: in his first year in the Majors with the Troy Trojans, he teamed with future Hall-of-Famers Dan Brouthers, Buck Ewing, Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch, all of whom was just starting out their careers.

Book Review: What if the Babe had kept his Red Sox?

what if the babe

Bill Gutman has penned an interesting and thought provoking series of “What if?” questions related to all of the major sports in his new book: What if the Babe had kept his Red Sox? (And other Fascinating Alternate Histories from the World of Sports)

(Skyhorse Publishing– Paperback 2008).

Gutman includes all major sports and is sure to satisfy the Sports Historian in your family. He includes such eclectic and intriguing topics such as “What if Sonny Liston had knocked off Muhammad Ali (not as far-fetched as you would think given Liston’s punching ability) and What if Vince Lombardi had left Green Bay after two seasons to take the vacant New York Giants job- also within the line of logic and reason since St. Vincent had long roots to the east coast and specifically to the Giants and their owners . Don’t worry basketball golf and even hockey fans (and you two guys know who you are.) Gutman has something for you as well!

Since the Baseball Zealot is where we’re at, I want to hone in on some of the book’s baseball questions and possibilities. Gutman has plenty of these conundrums to satisfy all baseball fans. Do baseball fans discuss their sport’s history more than fans of any other sport? I think so.

Gutman discusses what the ramifications would be for the Yankees and the Red Sox if Babe Ruth stayed with the Red Sox,.hence the title of the book. (Coming from Chicago I refrain from using just “Sox” to describe New England’s version of hose since I reserve that for Chicago’s team but I digress.) The author thoughtfully and informatively includes nuggets like not only did Boston’s owner Frazee sell the prized “Babe” to the Yankees he also gave them such players like Herb Pennock (Hall of famer), Carl Mays and others.

Continuing on to other plausible national pastime scenarios, Gutman discusses what the potential impact would have been if the Phillies would have signed Negro league Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson (The so-called Black Babe Ruth) to major league contracts back in 1936!

I’ll let the reader discover the many other nuggets included in this book but a couple of other “What if’s” to further whet the appetite are what it would be like if Sandy Koufax and Dizzy Dean and even football great Gale Sayers did not have their careers cut short by injuries.

How about what if John Smoltz never made it to the Braves from the Tigers. (Who remembers that deal?)

All in all Gutman has put together an enjoyable read for the serious sports fan or dare I say the Sports historian. He ha buttressed his arguments with nice accompanying background information and stats and has made plausible summarie son what might have occurred and why. I was skeptical at first at the book’s premise of What If’s but was pleasantly surprised after I dug into the text. A nice nugget to put on anyone’s Christmas list. (At least those of us sports/baseball nuts who frequent the Zealot).

You can find this book on Amazon or at Skyhorse Publishing.

Rating:

Three bats.

-CLuke