Luke Appling – old Aches and Pains The Best I Ever Saw
Luke Appling – ol Aches and Pains The best I ever saw
The righthand-hitting Appling batted .310 in twenty seasons (1930-43 – 45-50) with the White Sox. A leadoff hitter with the ability to foul off pitch after pitch, he won two batting titles, with averages of .388 in 1936 and .328 in 1943 – the former the highest compiled by a twenty-century shortstop.
During the 1936 season, Red Sox hurler Wes Ferrell halted his 27-game hitting streak on September 3rd. The streak remained a ChiSox record until broken by Albert Belle in 1997. He was also the first American League shortstop to win a batting title, and during the season, he set career-highs in hits (204), runs (111), RBI (128), slugging (.508), and OBP (.474).
He batted over .300 in every season between 1933 and 1949, his last season as a regular (when he was 42).
Appling often complained of aching ankles, pink eye, the flu, and a perpetual sore back. He suffered a broken finger and a broken leg during his long career. Nevertheless, Appling usually led the White Sox in games played and, at age 42, still batted .301. He held the American League record for total games played at shortstop for many years. Even military service failed to hurt Appling’s game. He missed every game in 1944 and all but 17 contests in 1945, yet still hit .362. Because he was a hypochondriac, he earned the nickname “Ol’ Aches and Pains.
He was naturally lefthanded, “My Daddy was lefthanded, and I was lefthanded when I was little. In fact, I was lefthanded all the way to high school. Then I switched over to righthanded ’cause I wanted to play shortstop.”
His most popular occurrence happened after his playing days when he hit a home run off Warren Spahn at age 75 in an old-timers game. He had only hit 45 in his entire career. Check out the video here!
The only non-contemporary Appling selected to his lineup was Mickey Mantle, who came along a year after the shortstops’ retirement, and his only thought for a possible substitution of Bill Dickey for Mickey Cochrane behind the plate.
He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964 on a rare run-off vote.
The seven-time All-Star selection was also selected as the White Sox’s greatest player by the Chicago fans twice. He twice came in second in MVP voting in 36 & 43.
Appling is one of three shortstops in White Sox history to play 1,500 games. The other two are Ozzie Guillen and Luis Aparicio. Who’s team we highlighted last week.
According to Appling, “A team like this requires no comment. There is a reason why they are all in the Hall of Fame. The thing about playing against players of their caliber was that they eventually made you better. With great pitchers, for instance, some days you can hit them, some days you can’t, but if you’re awake up there, you can learn something even when you’re not successful in a given game. I ended up having some hits off lefty grove, but when I first came up, he just blew the ball by me. If you have any ability at all, it’s all a learning process.”
The ultimate lineup, according to Luke Appling:
Outfield: Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, and Mantle
Around the horn – Brooks Robinson 3b, Joe Cronin ss, Charlie Gehringer 2b, and Jimmie Foxx 1b
Battery, Bob Feller, Lefty Grove, and Cochrane c
Some audio treats:
For Appling, you can listen to any of the seven All-Star games he played here
Appling also gave a long interview and discussed all the players he discussed on this team. It is time-stamped so you can fast forward to key parts . . . Appling Interview. Listen to it here on youtube or on Voices of the Game
1936 Chicago White Sox Broadcast
Players he selected:
Ted Williams (1941 All-Star Game he played with Appling) and Ted on hitting 400
Joe DiMaggio on his 56 Game Hitting Streak
Bob Feller – The Bob Feller show there are a dozen episodes here
Mickey Cochrane – 1934 & 35 World Series Game recordings
Last week we listed Luis Aparicio, the week before Hank Aaron
s team and the previous week Babe Ruth’s team.
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