April 4, 1924 – Infielder, manager and All-Star Gil Hodges was born in Princeton, Indiana. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers. He was the major leagues’ outstanding first baseman in the 1950s, with teammate Duke Snider being…
Major League Baseball Season Recap 1924 World Series – Washington Senators AL over New York Giants NL 4 games to 3 MVP Awards – NL Dazzy Vance AL Walter Johnson
The Yankees get four-time 20-game winner Urban Shocker from the Browns for pitchers Milt Gaston, Joe Giard, and Joe Bush. Shocker led the Browns in wins in each of the past five seasons and will be a mainstay on two pennant-winning staffs for New York. Bush had beaten the Browns 17 straight times after losing to them on June 12, 1922.
The Senators add another veteran pitcher to their staff by purchasing Dutch Ruether from Brooklyn. Ruether will go 30-13 for his year and a half in Washington.
1924 – The Senators pick up 35-year-old Stanley Coveleski from Cleveland in exchange for Byron Speece and Carr Smith. Coveleski, a future Hall of Famer, will go 20-5 and lead the American League in ERA.
1924 – Eddie Collins signs as player-manager of the White Sox.
1924 – The two leagues agree on a permanent rotation for World Series play proposed by Charles Ebbets: the first two games at one league’s park, the next three at the other league’s park, and the last two if needed back at the first league’s park, with openers to alternate between leagues. Next year’s World Series will commence at the National League city.
1924 – Oakland Oaks owner Cal Ewing announces that he has sold the team to Washington Senators star Walter Johnson, represented by George Weiss, who deposited a check for $5,000 towards the purchase. Last month, Ewing announced that the sale price was an enthusiastic $450,000 (the St. Louis Cardinals’s recent sale was for $275,000). Nothing will come of all the talk, and Johnson will return to the Washington team.
1924 – The Chicago Cubs trade pitcher Vic Aldridge and first basemen George Grantham and Al Niehaus to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 1B Charlie Grimm, SS Rabbit Maranville and P Wilbur Cooper. Grantham will hit .300 in six seasons for Pittsburgh, while Grimm will play 11 seasons with Chicago, eventually becoming player-manager. In 1925, Maranville will be named a player-manager as well. Cooper, who has averaged 20 wins a year over the past six seasons, will drop to 12-14 with the Cubs.
1924 – Kansas City Monarchs manager Jose Mendez takes the mound to spin a three-hit, 5 – 0 shutout over Hilldale to win the tenth and final game of the first Negro League World Series. Loser Nip Winters had pitched the first three Hilldale wins.