June 23, 1917

The Babe Gets Ejected After Walking Senators' Morgan

In the top of the first inning of the first game of a scheduled double-header between the Senators and the Red Sox, Babe Ruth gave up a four pitch walk to the Senators’ Ray Morgan. The 24 year old Ruth was so outraged that umpire Brick Owens called four straight balls that Ruth threatened to punch the umpire. Brick Owens did not waste any time throwing out the Red Sox hurler. To cap it off Owens tossed out Pinch Thomas the Red Sox starting catcher.

With the Senators’ Ray Morgan on first base, Ernie Shore took the mound for the Red Sox, and Sam Agnew took over as the Red Sox catcher. Before the crowd stopped booing at Fenway Park, Agnew went on to throw out Morgan as he attempted to steal 2^nd base.

At the time no one knew it, but Ray Morgan would be the last Senator to get on base. Ernie Shore went on to retire the next twenty six Senators to pick up the very first combined no-hitter in the Major League. In fact the record shows that Shore pitched a perfect game as the Red Sox recorded 27 consecutive outs while Shore was in the game. The Red Sox won the first game 4-0 and followed that up with a 5-0 victory in game two.

June 23, 1933

Cronin's 5th Consecutive Multi Hit Game

Player and Manager Joe Cronin lead the Senators to their 3rd straight victory, 7 to 3, over the White Sox, with his 5th consecutive multi-hit game. The victory puts the Senators a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees.

At the time Cronin set a Major League Record with 13 hits in a three game span and 15 hits in four game span.

Quick Facts:

• Washington Senators end the season in 1st place (99-53) in the American League, seven games ahead of the New York Yankees (91-59).
• Washington Senators lose the World Series in five games to the New York Giants.
• The 1933 Washington Senators team had a total of four future Hall of Fame players.

Joe Cronin
Goose Goslin
Heinie Manush
Sam Rice

• In 1933 Washington Senators pitcher Alvin Crowder joined shortstop Joe Cronin on the first ever American League All Star Team.

      

Washington Nationals rookie pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 Chicago White Sox on his way to a seven-inning no-decision outing on Friday evening at Nationals Park.  Tied 1-1 at the end of seven innings, the game would ultimately be decided in favor of the visitors on an Alex Rios RBI in the top of the eleventh that plated the White Sox' Mark Kotsay for Chicago's second and deciding run.

Over his first three MLB starts, Strasburg has struck out 32 opposing batters, breaking the previous record of 29 set in 1971 by the Houston Astros' J. R. Richard.

Strasburg was pleased with the performance of his changeup on Friday evening, particularly as compared to the results he achieved with the pitch in his previous start at Cleveland on Sunday, in which he walked five batters over 5 1/3 innings.

"I was just able to throw [the changeup] over the plate a little bit more," Strasburg said.  "I was having a little better feel with it than the previous outing. . . . [when] I was trying to do too much with it."

Might Strasburg have been under a little extra pressure with President Obama in attendance at the game?

"I didn't know if [Mr. Obama] was coming," Strasburg said.  "I heard some rumors, but I'm assuming that all the people taking pictures of the box [from which Mr. Obama's party viewed the game], that was him."

With the Nats only scoring one run in eleven innings, the game's outcome could have been said to hinge on its very first play, in which Chicago leadoff hitter Juan Pierre beat Strasburg to first base on a grounder that first baseman Adam Dunn tossed to Strasburg from the second-base side of first.  Pierre later came around to score the White Sox' first run.

"I didn't get over there in time," Strasburg said.  "Probably should've been an out there."

But Strasburg was willing to give Pierre his due.  "With a guy [like Pierre] with that kind of speed, it's got to be an instant reaction to get over [to first base]."

"I kind of took just a split second to read where the ball was going," Strasburg said.  "In that split second, [Pierre] had an extra step.  That's how much he beat me by."

      

The Washington Nationals should post some pretty good attendance numbers this coming weekend, even though it's just the middling Chicago White Sox coming to town.

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg (2-0 win-loss record, 2.19 ERA) will be making just his second home start for the Nats on Friday night, so that should pack the house.  And Saturday afternoon's 4:10 contest (note the revised start time) features a Ryan Zimmerman bobblehead giveaway to the first 15,000 fans through the gates.

Another attraction for fans of pitching might be a White Sox start by 2007 Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy (5-5, 5.62).  That's a possibility this weekend since Peavy has been pulled back from his scheduled Thursday evening start in Pittsburgh with a sore shoulder.

An MRI examination revealed no damage to Peavy's shoulder, so Peavy might get to start on Saturday if the soreness goes away between now and then.  MASN's Ben Goessling reports that right-hander Gavin Floyd (2-7, 5.64) will be Friday's starter, while the White Sox website indicates at this writing that right-hander Freddy Garcia (7-3, 4.94) is apt to get the call on Sunday.

After Strasburg's Friday evening start, it'll most likely be right-hander JD Martin (0-2, 4.19) who'll go out for the Nats on Saturday afternoon.  Sunday's starter is yet to be determined but there are no indications that left-hander John Lannan (2-4, 5.45), despite his struggles of late, won't take his regular turn that day.

If there's one thing to be thankful for amid all the uncertainty, it's that Strasburg shouldn't have to battle mound problems at Nats Park on Friday like those he faced in Cleveland on Sunday. He's not been alone, by the way: the Mets' Jonathon Niese also had to ask for mound repairs during his Wednesday night start in Cleveland. (HT: Dennis Yedwab)

UPDATE Thu 17-Jun-2010 6:50 pm: Adam Kilgore at the Post reports that Peavy is indeed scheduled to be the Saturday night starter…

      

The bad news is that tickets for the much-anticipated major league debut of Stephen Strasburg on June 4 at Nationals Park seem to be all but sold out. As of Wednesday morning, only seven sections of the park had any unsold seats for that night's game -- and apparently only single seats at that, at least when attempting to purchase on nationals.com.

The other bad news is that it might not matter anyhow.

Jon Heyman at Sports Illustrated tweets that if Strasburg's 2010 work load is to be capped at 100 big-league innings, it would make better sense to bring him up in the middle of June rather than at the beginning. (Heyman doesn't indicate whether this is his own idea or somebody else's.)

Would it make sense to hold off on Strasburg's debut?

Service-time considerations shouldn't be a factor. The date may already have passed when Strasburg's arbitration eligibility has been pushed out from the end of 2012 to the end of 2013.

Still, waiting a couple extra weeks might seem a good idea when considering options to minimize risk to Strasburg's arm. And timing Strasburg's debut for mid-June would probably give a bump to ticket sales when the underperforming White Sox and Royals come to town.

But it's not as if Strasburg would be temporarily shut down to conserve his arm. He'll have to pitch someplace the first weekend of June.

And considering how many in Washington are looking forward to seeing Strasburg on June 4, Nats executives would be wise not to risk further alienating a fan base that's already had to suffer through the humiliating Philly invasion on Opening Day.

Having met their objective of boosting ticket sales, Nationals management needs to deliver what their customers are expecting.

      

On April 10, 1961 - Before the Washington Senators and the Chicago White Sox opening day game the crowd of 26,725 watched President John F. Kennedy throw out ceremonial first pitch at Griffith Stadium.

The Senators' starting pitcher Dick Donovan did his job in the top of the 1st inning by getting Minnie Minoso to line into a double play to end the inning. The young Senators did not waste anytime to please the hometown fans as lead off hitter Coot Veal got a single off of Early Wynn. Coot Veal's single was the first hit by a member of the Senators team. Two batters later Marty Keough singled to left field and Veal went to 2nd base. After Dale Long struck-out Gene Woodling hit a triple into the gap between center field and right field, Veal came in to score the first run for the new Senators and Keough scored the second run as the Washington Senators took a 2-0 lead. The first inning would end with the Senators leading 2-0 in front of the large cheerful crowd.

In the top of the 2nd inning long time Senator star Roy Sievers now playing for the White Sox blasted a solo home run to make the score 2-1 Senators. In the bottom of the 2nd inning the Senators answered back when Pete Daley scored on a sac fly by Billy Klaus. The White Sox remove Early Wynn after giving up (3) runs and (5) hits in only two innings. The White Sox will follow up with another run in the top of the 3rd inning to pull within one run of the Senators.

After three scoreless innings the White Sox scored the tying run in the top of the 7th inning after Jim Landis scored on a Senators error. The White Sox scored their fourth run in the top of 8th inning when Roy Sievers sac fly knocked in Minoso for the winning run. Dick Donovan pitched all nine innings and got the loss for the Washington Senators and White Sox relief pitcher Frank Baumann recorded the win.

      

If you're a fan of the Washington Capitals you're probably feeling pretty smug right now.  And even if you're not a puck fan, it's hard to miss what's been going on at Verizon Center.

The Caps, who have rocketed to NHL dominance with the aid of their young players and the even but firm guidance of coach Bruce Boudreau, have just won their 11th game in a row.  Having just set a franchise record for consecutive wins, the team now leads the entire NHL with 82 points and holds a commanding 25-point lead over the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and Atlanta Thrashers in the NHL's Southeast Division.

The Caps, of course, would be thrilled to bring home a Stanley Cup in June.  In the meantime, is there another record within shouting distance at which the Caps can aim?

Here's one to try for:  In 1933, the Washington Senators won 13 games in a row from Tuesday, August 8, through Sunday, August 20.  The streak included ten wins against then-anemic Chicago, Boston and St. Louis, but also three against the mighty Yankees.

That streak, as Dan Steinberg of the Post's D.C. Sports Bog points out, was one of the highlights of a year that worked out pretty well for Joe Cronin's Nats, who went to the World Series that October (just as eleven-game winning streaks would punctuate Super Bowl seasons for the Redskins years later).

For what it's worth, 1933 was the fourth and last in a series of campaigns in which the that Senators franchise -- which departed Washington for Minnesota after the 1960 season -- would log at least 90 wins, no mean feat over a 154-game season.  Except for the war years of 1943 and 1945 in which the Nats won 84 and 87 games respectively, the team would only once (in 1936, when they went 82-71) again record as many as 80 victories in a Washington uniform.  (See the comments for notes on the expansion Senators.)

      

How much will the Nationals' lineup have changed from last season to the one ahead?  Plenty -- and the changes may not be done yet.

If Opening Day were tomorrow, the only familiar face you could count on seeing in the same place on the field that it occupied last Opening Day would be that of third baseman Ryan Zimmerman.  It would be reasonable, now as then, for Zimmerman and Adam Dunn to hit in the third and fourth slots respectively -- but only after Dunn had manned first base in the top of the inning, instead of left field where he started last season.

That assumes that Josh Willingham will be patrolling left this coming April, which is not necessarily a safe assumption.  As has been the case off and on for most of the offseason, we've been hearing this week of rumors that Willingham is being shopped by the Nationals.

There was talk a while back of Atlanta being interested in Willingham, and there's talk now of the Braves wanting to free themselves of 37-year-old starter Derek Lowe and the $45 million left on his contract.  A trade of Willingham for Lowe, even if Atlanta could be persuaded to pick up most of Lowe's remaining salary, would not be a step forward for the Nats except perhaps in the unlikely event that a couple of the Braves' top prospects were thrown in.

No matter where Willingham were to go or whom he'd be traded for, his production at the plate would be missed at Nats Park.  That could account for Washington GM Mike Rizzo's admitted interest in free agent Mike Jacobs, an up-and-down hitter who accrued a mediocre stat line in 2009 (somewhat like that of 2007) but who, if due for an up year in 2010, might produce something on the order of the 32 home runs and 93 RBI that he logged for Florida in 2008.

A Jacobs acquisition would also potentially benefit the Nats' defense.  Were Jacobs to come on board, he could take over first base and possibly save a few runs there, while -- as ESPN's Buster Olney reminds us -- Dunn and his big bat could move back to left field, in which the neighboring presence of Nyjer Morgan would somewhat mitigate Dunn's leaden glove.

And none of the above speculation takes into account the possibility that the Nats might get an offer they can't refuse for Dunn himself (perhaps, for example, from the White Sox who could use some muscle at DH), which could give Roger Bernadina and Justin Maxwell an opportunity to shine.

Might either Willingham or Dunn start the season in another team's uniform?  Or will both begin (and end) the season under the curly W?

What do you think?

      

One of the treats that Nats minor-league fans could enjoy in 2009 has been the sudden progress of 24-year-old reliever Yunior Novoa through the Nats' farm system.

A White Sox signee out of the Dominican Republic in late 2002 who was picked up by the Nats in 2006 after having been let go by Chicago, the tall, slim left-hander has issued 40 strikeouts, 19 bases on balls and 51 hits on the way to accruing a 3.99 ERA in 47 1/3 innings at three levels thus far in 2009.  Now in the bullpen of triple-A Syracuse, Novoa had shown impressive breaking stuff at double-A Harrisburg, so intriguingly so that this Hutch has been musing silently as to whether the knuckleball is a part of Novoa's repertoire.

In an internet writers' question-and-answer session at Nats Park this past Sunday, Washington assistant director of player development Mark Scialabba praised Novoa's offspeed ability (without alluding to the knuckleball), but also made a comment that now has us wondering whether, rather than Novoa, it's 2007 late-round draftee Aaron Seuss -- now a 24-year-old blah-hitting outfielder with high-A Potomac -- who just might be the knuckleballer of the future.

Scialabba notes that Seuss -- who, in addition to his outfield duty, has pitched five and two-thirds innings of garbage time in six games for the P-Nats -- has been throwing the floater in some side sessions.  (Brian at NFA also notes that Seuss has been racking up some strikeouts with it.)  The Nats, says Scialabba, might see if they "can entice some former major leaguers to work with [Seuss]."

Is Seuss the next Tim Wakefield?  Maybe, maybe not -- but stay tuned.

      

Gabby's Monumental Catch: August 21, 1908

To settle a bet between two gentlemen, Washington Senators catcher Charles "Gabby" Street agreed to try to catch a baseball dropped from the Washington Monument, attempting to replicate the feat achieved by Chicago Colts catcher Pops Schriver on August 24, 1894.

On the morning of August 21, 1908 Gabby set up a platform under the monument and got ready for the first ball to be dropped. I do not know how many chances they agreed to give Gabby, but I do know he was not able to catch the first 12 balls that were dropped from 550 feet above his head. He caught it on the 13th try.

Overall it was a very productive day for Gabby, who received $500 for the catch and went on to catch that afternoon as Walter "Big Train" Johnson and the Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1.

On August 24, 1910, Billy Sullivan of the Chicago White Sox duplicated the Monument catch. Later that day, the Senators beat the White Sox, 3-2.

      

Ron Hansen's Unassisted Triple Play

July 30, 1968

On a hot evening at Cleveland Stadium the 5,937 fans in attendance witnessed a baseball rarity. In the bottom of the 1st inning the Cleveland Indians had runners on 1st and 2nd base when Joe Azcue lined a ball to the Washington Senators shortstop Ron Hansen. Before anyone knew what had happened Hansen recorded an unassisted triple play.

Ron Hansen’s unassisted triple play was the first one in the Major Leagues in 61 years, at the time it was the 8th in Major League History. Ron and the Senators did not get to celebrate too much as the Indians went onto punish the Senators by a score of 10–1. In fact Ron Hansen may not have celebrated at all after he struck-out all fours times he batted and committed his 17th error of the season in the 7th inning.

The next day Hansen’s batting average dropped to a season low of .182 after he went zero for two at the plate with two more strikeouts. On August 1st Hansen’s luck would change when he hit a 4th inning Grand Slam off of the Tigers’ pitcher Pat Dobson.

Once again Hansen’s celebration was short lived as the Washington Senators informed him the next morning that they traded him to the Chicago White Sox for Tim Cullen. What made this trade so interesting is that these two players were traded for each other earlier in the year.

On February 13, 1968 the Washington Senators traded Tim Cullen, Buster Narum, and Bob Priddy to the White Sox for Dennis Higgins, Steve Jones, and Ron Hansen. When Cullen and Hansen were swapped for each other on August 2, 1968 it was the first time in Major League Baseball history two players were traded for each other twice in the same year.