Washington Senators - The Depression Era (1930-1939)  
   
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    Yr P W L       Yr P W L           Yr P W L       Decade  
    1930 2 94 60       1933 1 99 53           1937 6 73 80       Click  
    1931 3 92 62       1934 7 66 86           1938 5 75 76       On Logo  
    1932 3 93 61       1935 6 67 86           1939 6 65 87          
                  1936 4 82 71                            
                                                       
   
  Titles: Top Senators Players of the Thirties  
  1933 A.L. Champs  (Lost to Giants)  
    Pitchers:  
  BallPark:  General Crowder (15.54) -    54  
  Griffith Stadium Earl Whitehill (12.5) -    37  
    Monty Weaver (8.28) -    34  
  Team Name: Lloyd Brown (9.41) -    27  
  Senators  Firpo Marberry (9.14) -    25  
    Dutch Leonard (8.11) -    24  
  Owner:  Bump Hadley (9.32) -    23  
  Clark Griffith Jimmy DeShong (0.23) -    23  
    Pete Appleton (6.1) -    17  
  General Managers: Wes Ferrell (1.21) -    16  
  None Bobo Newsom (4.81) -    16  
    Sam Jones (3.58) -    11  
  Managers: Lefty Stewart (4.6) -    10  
  Walter Johnson (1930-1932) Joe Krakauskas (4.36) -    8  
  Joe Cronin (1933-1934) Bobby Burke (5.44) -    7  
  Bucky Harris (1935-1939)    
    Catchers:  
  No Hitters: Cliff Bolton (4.63) -    15  
  Bob Burke (1931) Rick Ferrell (4.17) -    10  
    Roy Spencer (0.01) -    10  
  Hall of Famers: Moe Berg (- 0.48) -    1  
  Clark Griffith      
  Bucky Harris First Basemen:  
  Walter Johnson   Joe Kuhel (10.18) -    42  
  Joe Cronin Joe Judge (4.63) -    10  
  Early Wynn Zeke Bonura (2.17) -    7  
  Rick Ferrell    
  Goose Goslin Second Basemen:  
  Heinie Manush Buddy Myer (35.07) -    55  
  Sam Rice    
  Al Simmons ShortStop:  
    Joe Cronin (32.46) -    83  
  MVP: Cecil Travis (20.2) -    49  
  None    
    Third Base:  
  Notable Events Buddy Lewis (12.64) -    35  
    Ossie Bleuge (12.04) -    23  
  1930 - Coming into the decade, Clark Griffith has built a contending ball club.    
   Here are the stars: Outfield:  
   □  IB - Joe Judge 36 - after a stellar career is almost thru Sam West (14.04) -    52  
   □  2B - Buddy Myer 26 - lifetime .303 hitter is a starter for club thru  Heinie Manush (19.76) -    46  
   the end of the decade John Stone (14.39) -    40  
   □  SS - Joe Cronin 23 - destined for the Hall of Fame George Case (3.78) -    22  
   □  3B - Ossie Bluege 29 - remains starter thru first half of the decade Fred Schulte (5.14) -    22  
    □  OF - Heinie Manush 28 - slugging Hall of Fame outfielder will remain  Sam Rice (7.45) -    20  
  with Washington thru the middle of the decade. Ben Chapman (4.23) -    15  
        Acquired from the Browns mid season. Al Simmons (3.79) -    13  
  □  OF - Sam West 25 - lifetime .299 hitter will be dealt to the Browns   Goose Goslin (3.5) -    12  
   during the Thirties and then re-acquired back again Dave Harris (5.93) -   7  
   □  OF - Sam Rice 40 - Hall of Famer still has a few nice years left in the tank    
       □  OF - Goose Goslin 29 - Another Hall of Famer, great hitter, Notable Events  
    but has a dead arm making him a defensive liability.    
       Dealt to the Browns during the season. 1935 - In an absolutely bizarre turn of events, Clark Griffith fires his son in law,   
    Would have been kept were there a DH.  Joe Cronin, as manager and then sells him to the Red Sox in an awful trade   
        □  2B - Jackie Hayes 23 - No room for him with Myer around.  for Lynford Lary and $250K, an astronomical sum in those days.  
  Subsequently dealt to the White Sox where he had a nice career.   The official story of the deal was that Tom Yawkey came out of the blue to  
       □  1B - Joe Kuhel 24 - Great fielder, good hitter who would be dealt to   make an offer for Cronin that Griffith could not refuse, which may be true.  
   the White Sox later in  the decade. Took over for Joe Judge in 1931   A more believable story, however, is that Griffith shopped Cronin.  
   □  Righthander Bump Hadley 25 - solid starter dealt to White Sox in 1931 One factor in the deal was that it was the depression and Griffith needed money.  
       □  Righthander General Crowder 31 - Obtained during the season  Another factor in the deal was that the Senators had had their run and that   
    from the Browns. Would be the Senators ace over the next four years.  Griffith saw that  retaining Cronin wasn't going to make much of a difference  
  He had started his career with Washington and had been dealt to the  in the short term as far as contending was concerned.    
  Browns in the Twenties. Now he was back with Washington in the Thirties.  Most likely, by far the biggest factor in the deal, in my opinion,   
     □  Lefthander Lloyd Brown 25 - Solid starter for Washington for first       had to be family dynamics.  
  three seasons of the 30's Here was Cronin, the classy Derek Jeter of his day managing the club at   
   only twenty seven years of age and married to the owner's daughter.   
  1930 - The Senators win ninety games, starting a streak of four consecutive Meanwhile, Griffith's son Calvin is sitting in the corner watching his future  
   seasons of ninety or more wins.  inheritance slipping thru his fingers to this Adonis who had to be the apple of  
     Clark Griffith's eye. It doesn't take much imagination to figure that Calvin was   
  1932 - Legend  Walter Johnson is fired as Washington manager despite three   making it clear that it was either him or Cronin.   
  consecutive ninety win seasons. Griffith promotes his son in law Joe Cronin,  Washington wasn't big enough for both of them.  
  the team's future Hall of Fame shortstop, to manager  Therefore, as soon as the team's competitive bubble burst, Clark now had the  
    perfect opportunity to solve this family problem, by trading Cronin.   
  1933 - Joe Cronin & Calvin Griffith make three significant deals in the    Joe would end up OK no matter where he was.  
  offseason which help put the club over the top. They pick up pitcher  Meanwhile, order would be restored in the Griffith househould as Calvin  
  Lefty Stewart and outfielders Goose Goslin and Fred Schulte from the was now back to being the crown prince in Washington.   
  Browns. They also get catcher Luke Sewell and pitcher Black Jack Russell   However, the aftermath to the deal was devastating to Senators fans.  
   from Cleveland. And they get pitcher Earl Whitehill from the Tigers  The deal now put Clark Griffith in full family mode, eschewing competitiveness  
     for family values.  He started pouring his money into improving his ballpark,  
      1933 - Washington wins the pennant, winning 99 games,      a legacy he would leave to his family,  rather than frivilously throwing his   
  behind manager Cronin money away on competing, which he no longer had the heart to do.  
      This strategy was a classic mistake that other owners such as Connie Mack and,  
  1934 - The Senators crash and burn, dropping thirty three games in  in a slightly different circumstance, the Steinbrenners would also make.  
  the standings from a pennant and 99 wins to seventh place and 66 wins.   If you don't win, it doesn't matter what Taj Mahal of a ballpark you are playing in.  
  All phases of the game went down the chute. They scored 122 less runs,  Fans will stop coming. And, stadiums, even the most beautiful ones,  
  851 to 729. They gave up 141 more runs, 665 to 806. The starting   get old and lose their allure. Winning never does.  
  lineup began gettting old with Luke Sewell and Ossie Bluege aging out    
  In addition, Joe Kuhel almost single handedly accounted for the runs 1935 - Buddy Lewis, 18, takes over at third base.    
  loss going from 107 ribbies to 25. On the bright side, nineteen year old That gives the Senators a left side of the infield, along with Cecil Travis,  
  Cecil Travis took over at third base and batted .319. Meanwhile the  averaging 19 years old.  
  starting pitching turned from a strength to a disaster.  In '33. The starting    
  rotation went 83-40. In '34, it went 41-56. General Crowder went from 1936 - Ossie Bluege sets a record for second basemen of thirty seven games   
  tweny four wins to four wins and Earl Whitehill went from 22-8 to 14-11.  without an error. Doesn't seem like much now, but you need to take a look at  
         Age was also a factor with them as being 35 years old was no help   those tiny little pancake mitts the players used in those days to appreciate   
  to either pitcher.  how impressive the streak actually was..  
            
   1934 - This season marks the beginning of the end of the Senators      1937 - Speedy centerfielder George Case comes up as a 21 year old.  
   in Washington.    
   The franchise has only three winning seasons in the next twenty seven until 1938 - Righthander Dutch Leonard, 29, is picked up off of the scrap heap.   
   it is mercifully moved to Minnesota in 1961. As  has been proven time and again,  A knuckleballer, he would enjoy a long career into his dotage. Leonard had  
  you have a chronic loser, you have a franchise that will be on the move.  had a good season earlier with the Dodgers in 1935  
       
  1934 - Goose Goslin is traded for outfielder John Stone, 28, of the Tigers. 1939 - Hard throwing right hander Early Wynn is a nineteen year old rookie.  
    He would end up winning 300 games and make the Hall of Fame.  
           
        1939 - First baseman Mickey Vernon, 21, is brought up from Springfield.  
        He would play in four decades in the majors