1935 World Series Preview
Cubs versus Tigers. Let's start with the Cubbies.
This was a team, according to Time, which was picked to finish fourth in the NL. However, by dint of a twenty-one game winning streak, they snatched the pennant from the Cardinals. The Cubs went into the lead on September 14th and never looked back - eventually winning the NL flag by four games. According to Time, they were led by their catcher:
Catcher Gabby Hartnett, their heaviest hitter is a huge, red-faced Irishman who has been with the Cubs since 1922. Lon Warneke a lanky, hay-pitching, coon-hunting 26-year-old from Arkansas, is the right-handed ace of the pitching staff (Warneke, French, Root, Lee), which rotated with rhythmic brilliance through their winning streak.
But another catcher, Mickey Cochrane, graced the Time cover of October 7, 1935. Cochrane was the Tigers' player-manager. In fact, this series featured a matchup between two of the greatest catchers of all time. Bill James in his Historical Baseball Abstract ranks Cochrane as the fourth greatest catcher of all time and Hartnett as the ninth. James calculates that Hartnett would have won the Gold Glove as catcher in 1935 and eight overall in his career.
In 1935, Cochrane batted .319 but with just five home runs and 47 RBIs in over 400 at bats. He was an All-Star with the third best on-base percentage in the AL. Hartnett hit .344 with 13 home runs and 91 RBIs. Hartnett would win the NL MVP and was among the top five in the NL in batting average, slugging average and on-base percentage.
The Tigers had fallen to fifth place in the AL after a loss to the Yankees on May 27th. A ten game winning streak brought them to second place on July 7th. On July 24th they defeated the Yankees, 4-0 and moved into first place. They never relinquished the lead and finished the season with 93 wins.
The Tigers had never won a World Series crown. They lost in 1934 to the Cardinals after taking a 3 games to 2 lead. In 1907 and 1908, the Tigers had lost the Series to the Cubs. Time speculated about "a long-standing Chicago jinx."
Nonetheless, excitement was high in Detroit. As Time reported:
The Tigers have a super-star Hank Greenberg, on first base. Their pitching ace, Schoolboy Rowe a lanky Arkansan like Lon Warneke last year won 16 games in a row. Until Aug 3 this year he won only half his games then took nine out of his next eleven. Furthermore, in Mickey Cochrane the Tigers possess not only the best catcher in either league but one who is apparently on his way to proving himself the ablest major-league manager since the late John McGraw. In keeping with his disbelief in the baseball taboo against mentioning a pennant before winning it, Cochrane made his speech in August: "Last year we had the jitters because only two of us—Goose Goslin and I ... had ever played in a World Series before. This year it will be a different story. ..."
This was a team, according to Time, which was picked to finish fourth in the NL. However, by dint of a twenty-one game winning streak, they snatched the pennant from the Cardinals. The Cubs went into the lead on September 14th and never looked back - eventually winning the NL flag by four games. According to Time, they were led by their catcher:
Catcher Gabby Hartnett, their heaviest hitter is a huge, red-faced Irishman who has been with the Cubs since 1922. Lon Warneke a lanky, hay-pitching, coon-hunting 26-year-old from Arkansas, is the right-handed ace of the pitching staff (Warneke, French, Root, Lee), which rotated with rhythmic brilliance through their winning streak.
But another catcher, Mickey Cochrane, graced the Time cover of October 7, 1935. Cochrane was the Tigers' player-manager. In fact, this series featured a matchup between two of the greatest catchers of all time. Bill James in his Historical Baseball Abstract ranks Cochrane as the fourth greatest catcher of all time and Hartnett as the ninth. James calculates that Hartnett would have won the Gold Glove as catcher in 1935 and eight overall in his career.
In 1935, Cochrane batted .319 but with just five home runs and 47 RBIs in over 400 at bats. He was an All-Star with the third best on-base percentage in the AL. Hartnett hit .344 with 13 home runs and 91 RBIs. Hartnett would win the NL MVP and was among the top five in the NL in batting average, slugging average and on-base percentage.
The Tigers had fallen to fifth place in the AL after a loss to the Yankees on May 27th. A ten game winning streak brought them to second place on July 7th. On July 24th they defeated the Yankees, 4-0 and moved into first place. They never relinquished the lead and finished the season with 93 wins.
The Tigers had never won a World Series crown. They lost in 1934 to the Cardinals after taking a 3 games to 2 lead. In 1907 and 1908, the Tigers had lost the Series to the Cubs. Time speculated about "a long-standing Chicago jinx."
Nonetheless, excitement was high in Detroit. As Time reported:
The Tigers have a super-star Hank Greenberg, on first base. Their pitching ace, Schoolboy Rowe a lanky Arkansan like Lon Warneke last year won 16 games in a row. Until Aug 3 this year he won only half his games then took nine out of his next eleven. Furthermore, in Mickey Cochrane the Tigers possess not only the best catcher in either league but one who is apparently on his way to proving himself the ablest major-league manager since the late John McGraw. In keeping with his disbelief in the baseball taboo against mentioning a pennant before winning it, Cochrane made his speech in August: "Last year we had the jitters because only two of us—Goose Goslin and I ... had ever played in a World Series before. This year it will be a different story. ..."
posted by Whistling Dixie at 5:17 PM
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