Herb Pennock

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Both  •  Throws: Left
6-0, 160lb (183cm, 72kg)
Born: February 10, 1894 in Kennett Square, PA
Died: January 30, 1948  in New York, NY
Buried: Union Hill Cemetery, Kennett Square, PA
High School: Cedarcroft Boarding School (Kennett Square, PA)
Debut: May 14, 1912 (3,680th in major league history)
vs. CHW 4.0 IP, 1 H, 1 SO, 2 BB, 0 ER
Last Game: August 27, 1934
vs. CLE 4.0 IP, 6 H, 2 SO, 1 BB, 4 ER
Hall of Fame: Inducted as Player in 1948. (Voted by BBWAA on 94/121 ballots)

Full Name: Herbert Jefferis Pennock
Nicknames: The Squire/Knight Of Kennett Square

Nine Players Who Debuted in 1912

Rabbit Maranville
Cy Williams
Del Pratt
Bobby Veach
Ray Schalk
Casey Stengel
Buck Weaver
Ray Chapman
Herb Pennock

All-Time Teammate Team

Coming Soon

Notable Events and Chronology

SearchSearch Events, Dates and More Date (Newest)Title (A - Z)

February 10, 1894

Pitcher Herb Pennock is born in Kennett Square

August 25, 1914

The A’s score nine runs to back Rube Bressler’s shutout of the Browns in the first of two games. Teammate Herb Pennock then follows with a 1 – 0 shutout.

April 14, 1915

Shibe Park opens and the Philadelphia Athletics shut out the Boston Red Sox, 5 – 0

September 4, 1922

At the start of the day, both New York teams are on top, and both Boston teams are on the bottom. But today, the Red Sox take two and knock the leaders off their perch as they sweep the Yankees, 4 – 3 and 6 – 5. Babe Ruth hits his last regular-season home run in the Polo Grounds. He gets it off Herb Pennock, who also gave up Ruth’s first Yankee homer, also at the Polo Grounds.

January 3, 1923

New York Yankees steal another standout player from the Boston Red Sox, acquiring pitcher Herb Pennock

January 30, 1923

The Boston Red Sox continue to work on improving the New York Yankees, sending future Hall of Fame pitcher Herb Pennock to them

May 22, 1923

Babe Ruth breaks a 1 – 1 tie between the Yanks and White Sox by clouting a two-run homer in the 15th inning. The blow breaks up a tense pitching duel between little Mike Cvengros and Herb Pennock, who goes all the way giving up just four hits. The Yanks have now won 12 of 13 contests in their western swing.

July 4, 1925

Herb Pennock locks up with Lefty Grove in 15 inning duel

July 9, 1925

7/9/1925: St. Louis Brown player-manager George Sisler homered into the right field bleachers at home off the Yankees’ Herb Pennock. The blow came in the first inning with one man on base. The game was rained out in the fourth inning.

May 10, 1926

1926 – At Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth hit back-to-back homers off Tiger starter Sam Gibson, and the Yankees outscore the Tigers, 13 – 9. Herb Pennock is the winner.

September 25, 1926

The Yankees take two from the Browns to nail down the American League flag, winning the opener, 10 – 2, behind Herb Pennock. Babe Ruth’s grand slam is the big blow. In the nitecap, Lou Gehrig homers in the 3rd inning, off Milt Gaston, while Ruth matches him with a two-run home run in the 6th off Win Ballou. Ruth adds a solo shot in the 9th, his 46th, off Joe Giard to seal Waite Hoyt’s 10 – 4 victory. Despite the score, the game is played in a new AL record 55 minutes. The National League record is 51 minutes, on September 28, 1919.

October 7, 1926

Tony Lazzeri drives in winning run in 10th to give NY a 3-2 game lead in Series

August 16, 1927

Babe Ruth, teeing off on a Tommy Thomas pitch, becomes the first player to homer over the roof of Comiskey Park

October 7, 1927

1927 – Pitcher Herb Pennock is handed an 8 – 0 lead and takes a perfect game into the 8th inning. The New York Yankees lefthander retires Glenn Wright, but Pie Traynor breaks the spell with a single and Clyde Barnhart doubles him home. Pennock settles for a three-hit, 8 – 1, victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates to give the Yankees a commanding 3-0 edge in the World Series.

May 24, 1928

In the first game of a doubleheader in Philadelphia, a record 12 future Hall of Famers play in the Yankees’ 9 – 7 victory over the Athletics. This number does not include non-playing Hall of Famers Herb Pennock and Stan Coveleski, managers Miller Huggins and Connie Mack, nor umpire Tom Connolly.

August 25, 1931

1931 – At Chicago, the Yankees record their first shutout of the season when Herb Pennock blanks the White Sox, 6 – 0. Ben Chapman has a good day with a triple, single, two runs scored and his 50th and 51st stolen bases of the year. In addition, he beats the Sox’s Carl Reynolds in a pre-game 100-yard dash.

May 21, 1932

Before 60,000 at Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Bombers roll over Washington, 14 – 2 and 8 – 0. Washington collects just 11 hits off Herb Pennock and Johnny Allen. In the opener, Babe Ruth homers in the 5th off Lloyd Brown and he and Lou Gehrig connect in the 6th off Frank Ragland. Tony Lazzeri is 6 for 7 on the afternoon, including a home run, two doubles and a triple.

September 23, 1933

The Yankees make seven errors, three by Frank Crosetti, but have enough firepower to outslug the Red Sox, 16 – 12. Including in New York’s 23 hits are homers by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, number 31 for each; Lou adds two doubles and a single. Sammy Byrd, Ben Chapman and Crosetti have three hits apiece, and reliever Wilcy Moore drives in the last run with his first hit of the year. The Red Sox chase winning pitcher Herb Pennock in the 6th and make the score 13 – 9, but fall short at the end.

June 25, 1947

Curt Simmons 18 years old signs contract with Philadelphia Phillies

January 30, 1948

Pitcher Herb Pennock collapses and dies from a heart attack

February 27, 1948

Pie Traynor and Herb Pennock win election to the Hall of Fame

March 20, 1948

Babe Ruth all time, All Star Team

July 12, 1948

Pittsburgh Pirates’ third baseman Pie Traynor is in Cooperstown to be inducted into the Hall of Fame

Biography

Pennock pitched with grace, economy, and style. Nothing he did was overpowering; everything he did was tantalizingly effective. A typical Pennock game had few strikeouts, but even fewer walks – 2.3 on average. He was hittable. Over 22 years, he allowed more than a hit an inning, yet those hits somehow produced only 3.61 earned runs a game. He seemed to give up many lazy flies to the outfield. Even-tempered, Pennock never got rattled under pressure. He threw with an effortless, unvarying motion, and it was said that a peek inside his head would reveal the weakness of every batter in the league. He pitched 35 shutouts.
Pennock came from historic Kennett Square, PA, amid comfortable country acres whose owners were horsemen and fox hunters. Pennock himself was an expert rider and a master of hounds. As a profitable hobby, he raised silver foxes for their pelts. Hence, the cumbersome but appropriate nickname: the Squire (or Knight) of Kennett Square.

Originally an unpromising first baseman, Pennock found his true talent on the mound, pitching a no-hitter in 1911, which his catcher, Earle Mack, brought to the attention of his father, Connie Mack. Only 18 when he joined the Athletics, Pennock steadily improved, even earning a brief World Series appearance in the 1914 loss to the Braves. Early in 1915, Mack waived Pennock to the Red Sox.

After two mediocre seasons and a year in the WWI Navy, Pennock hit his stride and, in 1923, became one of the many prizes the Yankees stripped from Boston. The price: three nondescript players and $50,000. In that first year with New York, he led the league in winning percentage (.760), going 19-6, the first of four over-.700 seasons. He then won two games in the 1923 Series triumph over the Giants. He followed with a 21-9 record in 1924, and was a combined 59-25 in 1926-28. He added two more WS victories in 1926, and one in 1927 – a jewel in which he retired the first 22 Pirates he faced and ended with a three-hitter.

The Squire retired in 1934 after one year as a Red Sox reliever. He was a Boston coach, 1936-40, then became the supervisor of their farm system. In 1944 Bob Carpenter made him general manager of the Phillies, a post he held until his death in 1948, the year of his induction into the Hall of Fame.

Factoids, Quotes, Milestones and Odd Facts

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