Tris Speaker

From SoSH

Tristram E. Speaker (April 4, 1888 in Hubbard, Texas - December 8, 1958 in Lake Whitney, Texas), nicknamed “Spoke” (a play on his last name) and “Grey Eagle” (for his prematurely graying hair), was an American baseball player known as an excellent defensive center fielder. Speaker was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame during the second year of voting, 1937.

Contents 1 Overall Career 2 Awards 3 Achievements 4 Trivia 5 Transactions 6 External Links

Overall Career

Doak Roberts, then owner of the Cleburne Railroaders, a Houston club of the Texas League, in the town of Cleburne signed Speaker in 1906. Speaker ended up batting .318 for the Railroaders.

Speaker played in 7 games for the Red Sox in 1907 getting 3 hits in 19 at bats for a .158 average. The following year, the Red Sox traded Speaker to the Little Rock Travelers of the Southern League in exchange for use of their facilities for spring training in 1908. Speaker ended up batting .350 for the Travelers and his contract was repurchased by the Red Sox. Speaker ended up making it into 31 games and got 26 hits in 116 at bats for a .224 average.

Speaker finally won the regular starting centerfielders job in 1909 from the light hitting Denny Sullivan who ended up getting sold to the Cleveland Naps. The gamble paid off for the Red Sox when Speaker hit .309 in 143 games and the team finished third in the pennant race.

Speaker’s best season came in 1912. Speaker played in every one of the Red Sox’ 153 games, leading the American League in doubles with 53, and home runs with 10. He set a career high with 222 hits, 136 runs, 580 at-bats, and 52 steals. He was at the top of his game. He batted .383, a mark he would surpass three times in his career, but his .567 slugging percentage was the highest of his dead ball days. Speaker set a major league record when he had three batting streaks of 20 (30, 23, 22) or more games during the season. In center field he helped the Red Sox pitching staff by stabbing line drives and throwing out greedy base runners. Speaker batted .338 in 1914 and .322 in 1915.

After the World Series victory, Speaker had a falling out with Red Sox president Joe Lannin, who wanted Speaker to take a pay cut from about $15,000 to about $9,000 since his average had fallen to a mere .322. Speaker refused and would not sign such a contract. On April 12, 1916 Lannin dealt Speaker to the Cleveland Indians for Sam Jones, Fred Thomas and $50,000.

The angry Speaker held out for $10,000 of that cash that Boston had received and eventually, with the aid of AL President Ban Johnson, got it. Speaker’s contract with Cleveland for $40,000 was the highest in baseball at the time. He averaged over .350 for ten of the next 11 years and retired in 1928.

Awards

• Elected to Hall of Fame by Baseball Writers in 1937 (82.09%)

• 1912 American League MVP
• Inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, 2000.

Achievements

• Member of the 3,000 Hit Club (3,514 Hits)

• AL Batting Average Leader (1916)
• 4-time AL On-Base Percentage Leader (1912, 1916, 1922 & 1925)
• AL Slugging Percentage Leader (1916)
• AL OPS Leader (1916)
• 2-time AL Hits Leader (1914 & 1916)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1914)
• AL Singles Leader (1916)
• 8-time AL Doubles Leader (1912, 1914, 1916, 1918 & 1920-1923)
• AL Home Runs Leader (1912)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1920 & 1923)
• 100 Runs Scored Seasons: 7 (1912, 1914-1916, 1920, 1921 & 1923)
• 200 Hits Seasons: 4 (1912, 1916, 1920 & 1923)
• 50 Stolen Bases Seasons: 1 (1912)

Trivia

• On September 1, 1917 in a game against the Tigers in Cleveland, Speaker was hit with the ball as he tried to steal home in the bottom of the first inning. Batter Joe Evans swung away and lined the ball of Speaker's face. Detroit manager Hughie Jennings, as a courtesy, allowed Speaker to sit out the second inning while his face was sewn up. Elmer Smith played center field until Tris returned in the third.

• Twice in 1914, on April 21 at Fenway and August 8 in Detroit, he executed an unassisted double play at second base, snaring low line drives on the run and then beating base runners to the bag. He repeated this feat in 1918 with the Indians, on April 18 and April 29, and turned six of them during his career.

• At least once in his career he was credited as the pivot man in a routine double play.
• Won three World Series with the Boston Red Sox (1912 & 1915) and the Cleveland Indians (1920).
• Led the Cleveland Indians to a World Series win as player/manager in 1920.

Transactions

• April 12, 1916: Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Cleveland Indians for Sam Jones, Fred Thomas, and $55,000.
• January 31, 1927: Released by the Cleveland Indians.
• January 31, 1927: Signed as a Free Agent with the Washington Senators.
• February 1, 1928: Released by the Washington Senators.
• February 5, 1928: Signed as a Free Agent with the Philadelphia Athletics.

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis
• Tris Speaker Hall of Fame Page
• Tris Speaker - Player Page Courtesy of The Baseball Library
• Tris Speaker - Player Page Courtesy of The Baseball Page
• Tris Speaker - Movie Profile Courtesy of IMDB
• 1937 Hall of Fame Class