Boston Braves - The World War I Era (1910-1919)

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1910

100

Decade

107

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101

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Titles:

Top Boston Players of the Teens

1914 - World Champs (Beat A's)

Pitchers:

BallPark:

Dick Rudolph (23.91) - 83

South End Grounds III (1900-1914)

Lefty Tyler (12.07) - 54

Braves Field (1915-1919)

Art Nehf (10.09) - 35

Pat Ragan (7.01) - 24

Team Name:

Tom Hughes (9.05) - 23

Doves (1910)

Bill James (8.6) - 19

Rustlers (1911)

Jesse Barnes (2.45) - 12

Braves (1912-1919)

Hub Perdue (2.33) - 16

Owner:

Catchers:

George and John Dovey (1910)

Hank Gowdy (9.68) - 34

William H. Russell (1911)

Butch Schmidt (2.78) - 16

James Gaffney (1912-1916)

Percy Haughton (1916-1918)

First Basemen:

George Washington Grant (1919)

Ed Konetchy (5.87) - 22

Managers:

Second Basemen:

Fred Lake (1910)

Bill Sweeney (9.49) - 35

Fred Tenney (1911)

Buck Herzog (4.41) - 12

Johnny Kling (1912)

Johnny Evers (7.1) - 10

George Stallings (1913-1919)

ShortStop:

Hall of Famers:

Rabbit Maranville (24.42) - 72

Johnny Evers

Rabbit Maranville

Third Base:

Ed Walsh

Red Smith (17.95) - 35

Cy Young

Outfield:

MVP:

Joe Connolly (8.29) - 30

Johnny Evers (1914)

Sherry Magee (6.66) - 24

Les Mann (1.92) - 20

No Hitters:

Doc Miller (2.42) - 19

George Davis (1914)

Ray Powell (2.04) - 17

Long Tom Hughes (1916)

Fred Snodgrass (2.31) - 11

Jim Thorpe (0.58) - 2

Notable Events:

1910 - George Dovey dies unexpectedly at the age of forty eight.

His brother John sells the club to William H. Russell.

1914 - The Braves acquire second baseman Johnny Evers from

the Cubs in exchange for third baseman Bill Sweeney .

1910 - Future ace Lefty Tyler is purchased from nearby Lowell. He's

Johnny is a winner and ends up as league MVP

twenty years old at the time and may have been overlooked by bigger clubs.

1914 - 3B Red Smith is purchased from Brooklyn for the stretch run.

1910 - Buster Brown loses fourteen in a row. Not to be outdone,

Clifton Curtis loses his last eighteen in a row. Curtis goes on to

1914 - After a horrendous 4-18 start, not a surprising circumstance

lose his first five the following season, a record until Anthony

in the bleak landscape that was Braves baseball, the Braves go

Young of the Mets lost 27 straight in '92-'93

90-41 to win the pennant and then sweep the powerful A's in the

World Series. Dick Rudolph, 27-10, and Bill James, 26-7, are the

1911 - The team's name becomes the Rustlers after their new

driving forces behind the Miracle Braves title. It would be James' only

owner, changed from the Doves, after their old owners

big season in the majors as he hurts his arm the next year and is

finsihed after that. Lefty Tyler also contributed to the Braves run with

1911 - Catcher Hank Gowdy, 21, is purchased from the Giants where

sixteen wins. The up the middle defense was solid with Hank Gowdy

he was blocked by Chief Meyers.

behind the plate, Hall of Famers Johnny Evers and Rabbit Maranville

at second and short respectively and twenty one year old Les Mann in

1911 - Second baseman Bill Sweeney hits safely in thirty one

center. Mann, who was picked up in a trade in '13, would jump to the

straight games. This stands as a National League record until

Federal League in '15. The team's best hitter was Joe Connolly,

1945 when Braves outfielder Tommy Holmes hits in 37 straight

a late bloomer, who had made it to the big leagues only a year

earlier at the age of twenty nine.

1912 - James Gaffney, a Tammany Hall politician from New York

buys the club for $185K. Gaffney is the first owner since the

1915 - Fueled by the World Series victory, Gaffney builds

previous century that is aggressive about winning. The team's

Braves Field, the largest big league ballpark at the time. The Braves

name becomes the Braves after the political organization that

had been forced to use Fenway in the World Series.

Gaffney belongs to back in New York.

1916 - Gaffney sells to a syndicate led by Harvard football

1912 - The Braves lose over one hundred games once again. This makes

coach Percy Haughton for $500K, a huge profit. Not only that,

it seven out of the last eight years with over a hundred losses.

Gaffney still owns the ballpark. There was a method to Gaffney's

madness all along, turn the club into a winner and then sell high.

1912 - Twenty year old shortstop Rabbit Maranville joins the club as a

rookie. He will go on to be a Hall of Famer. He was acquired from New

1918 - Haughton executes a couple of the dumbest deals in

Bedford, a minor league club. This acquisition would not have happened

franchise history, essentially dealing Lefty Tyler (to the Cubs)

had new owner Gaffney not been in charge - the Braves had ponied up one

and Jesse Barnes (to the Giants) for Buck Herzog. The team

thousand dollars plus a player to complete the deal

had a disappointing 1917 season with these deals sealing

their fate. Barnes had been purchased from Davenport in '15.

1913 - Veteran manager George Stallings is hired by Gaffney to run the club.

Stallings had previously managed the Highlanders in New York

1919 - The Haughton syndicate sells to George Washington

Grant who, in mid-season, starts cashing out the franchise

1913 - Future ace righthander Dick Rudolph is acquired in a trade

by dealing ace lefty Art Nehf to the Giants for $55K and four

with Toronto for a player and $4000. Rudolph had earlier been with

players. Nehf had been purchased from Terre Haute in '15.

the Giants, but couldn't stick with them. This was another acquisition

The deal solidifies the Braves hold on contention for being the

that would not have been made if Gaffney did not own the club.

fleague's worst team while solidifying the Giants status as a

Rudolph is twenty five years old.

title contender. Ironically, across town, Harry Frasee, owner of

the Red Sox, is simultaneously dismantiling his team. Boston

1913 - Twenty one year old righthander Bill James is purchased from

will not be a fun place to watch baseball in the Twenties.

Seattle as Gaffney and Stallings continue to acquire top young talent