Boston Braves - The Depression Era (1930-1939)  
   
 

Braves
Home
Click
on Logo		                                                    
        Yr P W L   Yr P W L   Yr P W L               1930  
        1930 6 70 84   1933 4 83 71   1937 5 79 73               Decade  
        1931 7 64 90   1934 4 78 73   1938 5 77 75               Click  
        1932 5 77 77   1935 8 38 115   1939 7 63 88               on Logo  
                  1936 6 71 83                            
                                                       
   
  Titles:  Top Boston Players of the Thirties  
  None  
    Pitchers:  
  BallPark: Ed Brandt (18.22) -   63  
  Braves Field   Danny MacFayden (12.36) -   49  
    Ben Cantwell (13.31) -   46  
  Team Name: Fred Frankhouse (7.9) -   43  
  Braves  (1930-1935) Lou Fette (8.76) -   36  
  Bees (1936-1939) Jim Turner (7.66) -   33  
    Huck Betts (8.6) -   32  
  Owner:  Tom Zachary (10.26) -   32  
  Judge Emil Fuchs (1930-1935) Socks Siebold (3.18) -   21  
  Charles Adams led syndicate (1936-1939) Bob Smith (8.49) -   20  
       
  Managers: Catchers:  
  Bill McKechnie (1930-1937) Al Lopez (3.06) -   21  
  Casey Stengel (1938-1939) Al Spohrer (0.01) -   20  
    Shanty Hogan (3.13) -  9  
  Hall of Famers:    
  Bill McKechnie   First Basemen:  
  Casey Stengel   Buck Jordan (9.45) -   21  
  Babe Ruth Elbie Fletcher (4.65) -   14  
  Burleigh Grimes    
  Rabbit Maranville Second Basemen:  
  Al Simmons Tony Cuccinello (15.84) -   18  
  George Sisler    
    ShortStop:  
    MVP:  Billy Urbanski (5.84) -   21  
  None    
    Third Base:  
  No Hitters:  Pinky Whitney (4.23) -   9  
  None Rabbit Warstler (2.61) -   8  
       
  Notable Events: Outfield:  
    Wally Berger (36.56) -   94  
  1930 - Another forgettable decade for the moribund Boston Braves  Gene Moore (10.11) -   20   
  franchise, altho' not quite as bad as the previous decade. Vince DiMaggio (4.55) -   20  
   Coming into the Thirties, Boston had twelve losing seasons out of Randy Moore (6.09) -   19  
   thirteen. The coming decade would only have five losing seasons,  Hal Lee (4.23) -   17  
  altho' in the others the best the Braves could do were a couple  Debs Garms (5.99) -   12  
   of non-contending fourth place finishes. Boston would also Max West (5.14) -  10  
  throw in the worst season of any team in Major League history    
   (still to this date) at 38-115 in 1935. Notable Events:  
       
  1930 - Slugging OF Wally Berger, 24, is picked up in a trade with 1935 - Among the disasters of this season, none is worse than  
  Los Angeles of the PCL. Berger will be the lone bright spot in the Braves bringing in Babe Ruth to try to raise attendance.  
  the Braves lineup for most of the decade. Judge Fuchs was not forthright with the Babe, promising him a  
    shot at running the club. It was not a nice ploy by Fuchs to get the  
  1931 - Lefthander Ed Brandt, 26, stages a remarkable career  Babe back in Boston.  
  turnaround. Ed was 21-45 with an ERA well over 5 in '28-'30.  
  He will 68-45 with an ERA just above 3 in '31-'34 1935 - Owner Judge Emil Fuchs goes bankrupt. He bought the  
   He had been purchased from Seattle of the PCL in '27. club in 1923 for $500K and was $300K in the hole when he  
    finally gave it up to the league in '35. He did the honorable thing  
  1931 - The strength of the club earlier in the decade is Berger, and not sell off his players to get some of it back. The league  
   Brandt, and righthander Ben Cantwell, who had been picked found a syndicate led by Charles Adams to buy the club in '36.  
   up from  the Giants in a trade in '29 Unfortunately, Boston's fortunes would not change under Adams.  
       
  1933 - Boston tops .500 for the first time since 1921 and 1936 - New owner Adams renames the club, the Bees.    
  only the sixth time in this century That will be the team's name thru 1940 when he sells the club.  
     
  1934 - The Braves again go over .500. Two years in a row.  1936 - The Bees recover 33 games in the standings, but   
  They hadn't done this since 1916.  still finish below .500  
     
  1934 - The strength of the club in the middle of the decade is the   1937 - The only time in big league history that two rookie pitchers,  
  pitching led by righthanders Danny MacFayden and Fred  both over thirty years old, win twenty games. This miracle puts the  
  Frankhouse. They helped keep the club hovering around .500.  Bees back over .500 where they stay the following season. The two  
     pitchers are Lou Fette and Jim Turner. To add a bit of perspective,  
  1935 - In an event reminiscent of the stock market crash six  rarely does a rookie pitcher of any age win twenty.  
  years earlier, the Braves drop 41 games in the standings  
  from 78-73 to 38-115. The same guys. The everyday players 1938 - Casey Stengel takes over as manager and has his  
  performed comparably the two seasons. It’s the pitching that  only winning season in Boston. Casey, a great manager with  
  totally fell apart. The Braves pitchers had been pitching well for the Yankees in the fifties, wasn't much with the Bees.  
  three seasons, finishing at .500 or above all three. However,   
  the pitchers reverted to the old Braves we know and love. 1939 - All in all, not a horrendous decade by Braves standards as   
  This was the worst team in the sorry history of the franchise.   they top.500 five times  
  That's saying a lot. It was the worst team of the twentieth century.    
  The interesting thing is that 1934 should have been a precursor    
  to the collapse. The Braves played seven games better than     
  their stats indicated that year. In '35, the Braves stats said they  
  should have won fifty. They had a lot of bad luck to only win 38.