Harry Clark and the 1923 Milwaukee Brewers
Harry "Pep" Clark and the 1923 Milwaukee Brewers
As the year 2023 comes to a close, it's a good time to look back on American Association teams who played 100 years ago...
Looking back at the 1923 Milwaukee Brewers gives fans a chance to
ponder aplenty. Did you ever stop to ask yourself who your grandparents
and great-grandparents may have been rooting for back in the day, or
what players were "household words" around town? There may not be much
in common between the old Brewers and today's Brew Crew, but baseball is
still baseball. Let's get to know the 1923 Milwaukee Brewers, a team the local citizens of the Cream City would have known well.
Harry at the Helm
The 1923 season was not kind to the American Association's Milwaukee Brewers. Under manager Harry "Pep" Clark
the Brewers finished in fifth place with a record of 75-91, 37 games in
back of the Kansas City Blues who steam-rolled their way to a 112-win
season under manager Wilbur Good. Milwaukee's season was not a complete
washout as the club claimed circuit superiority with 121 triples and
ranked second in club batting with a mark of .296. The 1923 league
champion Kansas City Blues, after batting .315 the year before, led the
league with a remarkable .316, establishing the all-time American
Association record.
Clark,
an early mainstay on the Milwaukee Brewers from 1904-1913, played the
hot corner for Milwaukee's first American Association championship team
ten years earlier. Born March 8, 1883 at Union City, OH, he took charge
of the team for the final time in 1923, marking an exceptional lengthy
career with the team that stretched back to 1904 when the young "Pep"
batted .255 in 137 games.
Clark's best year with the Brewers
came during the 1913 season. As a first-year skipper for the team, he
helped forge the way to the city's first American Association
championship that year with a club-best 222 total bases. The
third-sacker also led the team that year in game appearances (165; tied
with Lena Blackburne), hits (159), and triples (19). With the
1923 team, skipper Clark made five appearances with a pair of hits in 11
at-bats, including the last of 238 doubles collected during his 15-year
career with Milwaukee. Clark held the record for the longest tenure of
any American Association Brewer and was one of only a handful of
Association players with 10 or more active seasons in the circuit from
1902 to 1962.
Clark remained a Milwaukee resident and lived at this house on the north side.
Clark passed away June 8, 1965 at the age of 72. His grave is located at Valhalla Cemetery in Milwaukee.
Position Player Notables
First-baseman Ivy Griffin,
26, was born at Thomasville, AL on Nov. 16, 1896. Appearing in 166 of
168 games in 1923, Griffin batted a staggering .362 with a .499 slugging
percentage. His 329 total bases ranked second to George Stone's
349, Milwaukee's all-time record set in 1904. Griffin also led the team
with 239 hits and 33 doubles, as well as with his nine home runs that
year.
In
his second of several seasons as a Brewer, he was the star of the show.
Not only did he appear in every game for Milwaukee that year (the
official total was 168; two were left undecided), but his overall season
performance caliber was one of the strongest in Brewer history.
Wielding a hefty bat, Griffin had a career year with the Brewers in
1923, leading the team in a number of categories (among qualifiers):
appearances: 166
games at position: 166
batting average: .362
total bases: 329
slugging percentage; .499
at-bats: 660
hits: 239
doubles: 33
home runs: 9
runs batted in: 112
In addition, Griffin's 15 triples were second only to outfielder Ty Lober's club-leading 17.
A lefty-batting right-hand thrower, Griffin showed remarkable
discipline at the plate with 48 bases on balls to just 36 strikeouts. He
compiled 18 stolen bases, ranking third on the team, and scored 98
runs, tied with shortstop Jimmy "Scoops" Cooney, and second only to Lober's 118.
Harry Clark saw fit to bat Griffin fifth to start the season, behind left fielder Paul Johnson,
in the April 19 opener against the Minneapolis Millers at Borchert
Field. That contest, incidentally, set a record for opening day
attendance as nearly 11,000 fans crammed into Milwaukee's ramshackle
little ballpark. And while their Brewers fell, 10-2, that day, Kansas
City also went one-up in the loss column, proving what happened on
opening day stayed on opening day.
Just prior to the
mathematical mid-season point, Griffin was batting .327 through July 12.
His 102 hits ranked fifth in the league, tied with Kansas City
shortstop Glenn "Buckshot" Wright who carried a .364 average at the time.
It isn't often that a player's second half performance allows them to
boost their batting average by 35 points, but that's exactly what
Griffin did. By mid-August he was batting clean-up as his bat continued
to sizzle, his average gaining ten points in one month's time. With 142
safeties Griffin ranked sixth, tied with KC's Wilbur Good, the Blues' manager/outfielder.
In the month that followed, Griffin boosted his batting average to
.353, and he wasn't done yet. With 181 hits through Sept. 6, he ranked
sixth once again. He proceeded to add yet another nine points to his
average the rest of the way.
Griffin's season totals with league rankings (min. 380 at-bats):
Games: 166, 4th
At-bats: 660, 4th
Runs: 98, 21st (tied with teammate Jimmy Cooney and Indianapolis outfielder Wally Rehg)
Hits: 239, 2nd (two short of first baseman and future HOFer Earle Combs)
RBI: 112, 5th
Doubles: 33, 20th (tied with Indianapolis outfielder Lloyd Christenbury and Minneapolis first baseman Ted Jourdan)
Triples: 15, 4th (tied with five other players)
Home Runs: 9, 17th (tied with Kansas City first baseman Dud Branom)
Stolen Bases: 18, 15th (tied with Louisville outfielder Wilbur Good and St. Paul third baseman Charlie Dressen)
Total Bases: 329, 5th
Batting Avg.: .362, 6th
Slugging Avg.: .499, 13th
Griffin, as one of the league's premier players, had a career year in
1923. He was a nifty first sacker as well as a superlative batsman. In
his 166 games at first base he claimed a fielding percentage of .991
with only 15 errors; only Toledo's Bill "Smiling Bill" Terry,
later elected into the Hall of Fame for his long career with the New
York Giants, was better with a .993 mark in 107 games playing first
base. The "cracker first sacker" was killed in a motor wreck in August
of 1957, traveling across Georgia as a major league scout. His place of
death is listed as Gainesville, GA. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/54524510/ivy-moore-griffin)
Milwaukee outfielder Pat McNulty
ranked second in batting average among team qualifiers with his .313
batting average who appeared in 128 games. The 24-year-old was another
lefty-batting right-hand thrower, as was Ivy Griffin with whom he
bore a striking resemblance. McNulty hailed from Cleveland, OH and
attended The Ohio State University. With exactly 150 hits, McNulty's
brilliant batting helped the Brewers procure 163 runs, himself scoring
92 in addition to the 71 he batted in. He ranked third in doubles with
20, tied with catcher Ginger Shinault. McNulty slugged .413 with 198 total bases in which department he tied with fellow outfielder Paul Johnson
who appeared in just three fewer games. One key stat belied his
consistent hitting: he registered 68 bases on balls against just 37
strikeouts. Among the three regular outfielders, including Johnson and Ty Lober,
McNulty's .967 led the field. McNulty died May 4, 1963 at Hollywood, CA
and is buried at Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, CA. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51849289/patrick-howard-mcnulty#add-to-vc)
Another of the Brewers' most productive qualifying hitters was shortstop Jimmy Cooney,
28, from Cranston, Rhode Island. With cups of coffee hosted by the
Boston Red Sox and New York Giants during the deadball era, Cooney's
style reflected small-ball era strategy with his ability to steal bases.
As a Brewer in 1923 he led the league by amassing 60 swipes, 18 more
than the second-ranked players (of whom there were two). Cooney was in
his fourth straight season as a Brewer and as a player who saw action in
nearly every game during that four-season stretch he was likely a huge
fan favorite in Milwaukee. During the 1923 season, he registered exactly
600 at-bats, connecting for 185 hits and posting a .308 batting
average. Like Griffin and McNulty his keen eye enabled him to become a
constant threat, collecting 40 bases on balls with just 26 strikeouts.
Cooney ranked fourth on the team with 19 doubles but his overall power
numbers were weak as reflected by his .383 slugging percentage. Cooney
was 96 when he died at Cranston, RI and is buried there. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15771258/james-edward-cooney)
Other key Brewer batters included:
Ty (Elmer) Lober,
30, outfielder, whose 247 total bases ranked second on the team. His 17
triples led Clark's squad and he appeared in 162 games, second only to
Ivy Griffin's 166. Based on his total bases, Lober had a career year,
batting .279. His 76 walks led the team; the year before he drew 78 free
passes!
Ginger Shinault, 30, catcher, batted .297 with a fifth-ranked total of exactly 200 total bases.
Outfielder Paul Johnson, 26, batted .295 and with 198 total bases tied with fellow outer-gardener Pat McNulty while slugging an even .400.
Alex McCarthy,
34, third baseman, posted a .294 batting average while appearing in 161
games, third-most on the team. Milwaukee's oldest position player sure
didn't act his age, covering the hot corner in 150 games in his third of
five seasons as a Brewer in 1923. He drove in 72 runs, fourth best on
the team, with 216 total bases, also ranking fourth.
Destined for the Hall of Fame Al Simmons
("Bucketfoot Al"), was the pride of Milwaukee. Simmons began the season
with the Shreveport Gassers of the Texas League (Class A) before
advancing to Milwaukee (AA) for the second straight year. As a Brewer he
appeared in 24 games in the outfield, making 58 putouts with a pair of
assists and one error. He batted a mind-boggling .398 with a .480
slugging percentage.
Pitching Notables
The entirety of Milwaukee's pitching staff in 1923 consisted of eleven hurlers with two listed as left-handers, Dinty Gearin and Nelson (Nellie) Pott. Of the 11, only the record of Lyle Bigbee,
29, is not known as he split the season between Milwaukee and
Louisville; his combined record was 2-3 with 19 game appearances.
Pitchers Gill and Meek are not identified with a first name on
baseball-reference; Gill appeared in just one game. However Rex Hamann's Milwaukee Brewers Roster Book (2009) lists Harold Gill and Tom Meek. Three names are included in the roster book which fail to appear on baseball-reference: Cy Funke (one game) and Robert Stewart (one game), and Jim Robertson (two games). Described below were Milwaukee's standout moundsmen.
Eddie Schaack,
24. Milwaukee's winningest pitcher with a record of 17-15. Little is
known of the pitcher, but an internet search showed he was probably from
the Chicago area (his sister is buried there). In 1923 he was in his
third of fourth seasons with the Brewers, appearing in 37 games and
posting a 4.89 ERA in 278 innings. His 1.396 WHIP was tops on the team.
He walked 88, struck out 67, and gave up exactly 300 hits. He could
also hit some, collecting three triples, three home runs and batting
.256, all in the pitcher's role. Schaack died in 1978 at the age of 78
and is buried in Milwaukee at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, formerly
known as Wanderer's Rest. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/212600489/edward-joseph-schaack)
Dinty Gearin,
LHP, 25. Gearin was in his fourth of 12 seasons with the Brewers,
perhaps the longest tenured pitcher in Brewer history. In 1923 the Rhode
Island native, at 5'4", was the most successful pitcher on the Brewers'
staff, winning 12 games against just five defeats; whether he made any
starts is in question. Gearin took the mound in 20 games, combining for
153 innings with a staff-best 3.76 ERA. He weighted just under 150 lbs.,
but the boy could pitch, walking 66 while striking out 70, and giving
up just 8.7 hits per nine innings. His WHIP was just shy of the team
lead with a 1.399 mark. He could also hit, as evidenced by his .337
batting average in 44 games with 92 at-bats. It was likely his best
season in pro ball. Gearin passed away in 1959 at the age of 61 and is
buried in Rhode Island. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51276685/dennis-john-gearin#add-to-vc)
Nelson Pott,
LHP, 23. With a 13-17 record in 47 games, Pott did his part to share
the load for Clark's crew, and judging by his 88-59 strikeouts to walks
ratio his performances were a solid contribution. As Milwaukee's
workhorse, Pott more than merely "carried the load," he pulled the whole
wagon, with 265 innings and 47 appearances to his credit. His record
includes a pair of "exactlies": 350 hits allowed and 150 earned runs
given up. Pott died in 1963, aged 64 years and is buried in Cincinnati. (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52736354/nelson-adolph-pott)
With eight wins each were:
Jim Lindsey, 24
Ray "Brandy" Lingrel, 28
Dave Keefe, 26
Lindsey and Lingrel both had a record of 8-12, while Keefe struggled,
registering a team-high 20 losses, also with eight wins in 218 innings
of work.
A Season's Progress
After
dropping the 1923 season opener April 19, the Brewers finished the month
"even steven" with six wins against six losses in fifth place.
Milwaukee's record through:
May: 14-21 in sixth place, 13 games behind first-place Kansas City
June: 27-37 in sixth place, 16½ games behind first-place St. Paul
July: 45-52 in sixth place, 16 games behind first-place St. Paul
August: 56-67 in fifth place, 28 games behind first-place St. Paul
September: 68-88 in seventh place, 35½ games behind Kansas City
The 1923 season ended Oct. 7 as fifth-place Milwaukee swept a
doubleheader from the Columbus Senators, 9-0 and 3-1, to finish the
season 75-91 (.452), 37 games behind the Kansas City Blues.
The following look at the monthly performance of the team shows a fairly consistent effort throughout.
Through May, Milwaukee swatters ranked seventh in league batting with a .264 average. With 161 runs scored Harry Clark's
men ranked last, and with 322 hits they ranked last. In the field, the
Brewers were in a three-way tie for the second slot with a .962 fielding
average with 56 errors; St. Paul led at .963.
Through June, the
Brewers batted .278 but remained ranked seventh. With 306 runs they
ranked sixth, and with 606 hits the team ranked sixth. In the field they
ranked fourth, tied with Toledo, with a .959 fielding percentage. Their
106 errors ranked fourth. St. Paul led with a .966 mark.
Through
July, Milwaukee batted .288, ranking seventh and tied with St. Paul.
Their 997 runs ranked fourth, and their 521 hits ranked fourth. In the
field, the Brewers ranked third with a .961 fielding percentage, tied
with Columbus. They ranked fourth with 159 errors and third in assists
with 1,289.
Through August, the Brew Crew batted .296, ranking
fifth, between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Kansas City kept their edge
ranking first with a .317 average. The Brewers claimed 679 runs, ranking
third; with 1,277 hits they were fourth. In the field things took a
downturn as their fielding average fell to .958, tied with Indianapolis
for the sixth slot. Their 213 errors ranked sixth; St. Paul led with
just 167 errors for a .968 fielding percentage. Milwaukee's 1,639
assists ranked second.
Milwaukee never gave up, despite the
dominance of both Kansas City and St. Paul. Despite finishing in the
second division for the ninth straight season, there were things to be
optimistic about from the standpoint of a Brewers' fan. The most obvious
of those things was their persistent batting. The Brewers finished
second in team batting with a .296 average; Kansas City's .316 was
well-beyond what Milwaukee achieved.
With 902 runs, the Brewers
ranked third to the Blues' 1,083. With a scoring difference of that
magnitude the superiority of the Kansas City offense becomes evident.
The Brewers collected 1,741 hits, ranking second in that department.
Perhaps the key trait of Milwaukee's batting was, aside from its
competitiveness, it maintained a high level of production throughout the
season, even improving as the season went on, at least from the
standpoint of the averages looked at here.
Another attribute
worthy of notice was Brewer fielding. Milwaukee finished third in
fielding percentage, just a point under second-ranked Toledo's .963; St.
Paul led at .965. Milwaukee ranked third-best in errors with 263; in
assists they also placed third with 2,167.
Of course, in the
grand scheme of things it's the wins and losses that matter. But for the
student of baseball history wishing to go beyond the surface in the way
they view the game, careful attention statistical patterns such as
those presented here helps to form a solid basis upon which to advance
one's interests.
Brewers vs. Brewers
Milwaukee finished the 1923 season 37 games behind the juggernaut
Blues, a significant margin for any team, regardless of their position
in the standings. But just how did that margin compare with previous
Brewer teams in the American Association?
Using Marshall Wright's book The American Association, Year-by-year Statistics for the Baseball Minor League, 1902-1952 (1997), each team's number of games behind is presented.
At the close of the 1902 season, the Association's inaugural year, the
Brewers finished 30 games behind the front-running Indianapolis Indians
who claimed the circuit's first championship. The sixth-place Brewers
won 66 and lost 75 under Bill Clingman and Joe Cantillon
that year. Not until 1910 would the team equal or surpass that mark when
they again finished sixth, 30½ games in back of the Minneapolis Millers
who won 107 games. In 1912 the fifth-place Brewers approached this mark
by finishing 26 game behind the Millers once again. In 1916 under Harry Clark (through Aug. 14) and shortstop Jack Martin,
Milwaukee finished in last place, a whopping 45½ games behind
Louisville. Three years later Milwaukee (known as the Panthers that
year) was again cellar-bound, 34½ games behind league-leading St. Paul.
As the "Brewers" once again in 1920, the team finished sixth, a hefty 38
games behind St. Paul who won 115 games. And finally, in Clark's return
to the helm in 1922, the team finished 22½ games behind St. Paul as a
fifth-place entry.
Brewers vs. Blues
The
Milwaukee Brewers took on the 1923 Champion Kansas City Blues in 24
head-to-head matchups during the 1923 season. Included in the schedule
were doubleheaders in which the two teams battled on the Memorial Day
(then Decoration Day), July Fourth, and Labor Day holidays.
Here are the outcomes of the "David vs. Goliath" games.
**The shutout was the first dealt to KC in 238 games. Nelson Pott tossed the gem, scattering nine hits. The game was reeled off in one hour, 45 minutes.
The series was scheduled for 24 games but three straight postponements during the first set at Milwaukee threw a wrench into the works, hence, the two teams completed 22 tilts.
Kansas City won 16, Milwaukee won 6.
Kansas City outscored Milwaukee, 179-128
Brewer Birthday Boys
Thirteen members of the 1923 Brewers celebrated their birthday during the season, with some faring better than others on their big day.
Third baseman Alex McCarthy turned 33 May 12. Was 0-5 at the plate in a loss to Kansas City.
Al Simmons turned 21 May 22. He was with the Class A Shreveport Gassers at the time.
Pitcher Ray Lingrel turned 28 May 31. He did not pitch in the loss to Kansas City.
Pitcher Nelson Pott turned 24 July 16. He did not pitch in the win against Toledo.
Outfielder Oscar Melillo turned 24 Aug. 4. Played in both ends of a doubleheader against Columbus. In the opener, the second baseman was 2-5 at the plate with five assists in the field and one error in Milwaukee's 7-6 loss. In the nightcap he had one hit in five trips with two assists as the Brewers fell, 18-10.
Outfielder Ty Lober turned 31 Aug. 12. Facing Kansas City in a twin bill, Lober was 2-5 in tthe opener as the Blues won, 5-4; in game two he had one hit in five trips with three putouts in center field in a 6-4 loss.
Catcher Dick "Star" Gossett turned 32 Aug. 21. No game scheduled.
LHP Lyle Bigbee turned 30 Aug. 22. Did not play.
Shortstop Jimmy Cooney turned 29 Aug. 24. A bounty of three hits in three at-bats befell the shortstop in a 7-4 Brewer win at Milwaukee. He registered six assists with three putouts. A busy birthday boy!
Outfielder Paul Johnson turned 27 Sept. 2. Did not play.
Catcher Ginger Shinault turned 31 Sept. 7. In a twin bill at St. Paul he made the most of it with five hits on the day including a home run. In game one he posted three hits in five at-bats at the Saints won, 14-4. In the nightcap he brought good fortune with two hits in five trips, including a home run for the birthday boy!
Catcher Russ Young turned 21 Sept. 15. Did not play.
Team Demographics
According to ages posted on baseball-reference.com, Milwaukee's regulars averaged 27.8 years of age, third youngest among similar groups for each team in the American Association. The average was taken using the age of players with at least 100 game appearances. The Toledo Mud Hens were the youngest at 26.1, and the Columbus Senators (later Red Birds) were the eldest at 31.6. For a more accurate study of player ages each player's age in months would have to be determined for use in collective averaging.
The team's youngest regular position player was Oscar "Ski" Melillo, age 23, with 74 games at second base, and 15 in the outfield and a combined 102 appearances.
Their oldest was 33-year-old third baseman Alex McCarthy who covered the hot corner in 150 games and appeared in a total of 161 contests.
Chicago native Fred Baldy (aka Baldowsky), was the youngest player on the Brewer roster at 18. He appeared in 19 games, batting .167.
Milwaukee's Oldest Position Player (exc. manager Harry Clark, 40 who appeared in five games) was outfielder Sherry Magee, 38, who played 47 games in the outer garden.
That's quite a range!
Few players on the 1923 Brewers were from the region. Only two players on the 1923 roster, Art Bues (who may or may not have appeared in a single game) and Al Simmons, were from Milwaukee, although Pittsburgh native Ty Lober was a Milwaukee resident at the time.
Only two regular position players hailed from neighboring states, Oscar Melillo and Alex McCarthy, the youngest and oldest regulars on the team. Both players hailed from Chicago according to the team's listing on baseball-reference.
The remaining regulars were largely from the northeast. Two notable exceptions included Ivy Griffin from Alabama and Ginger Shinault from Arkansas.
Bearing in mind 15 players are listed on baseball-reference as "unknown" for birth data, making conclusions based on the available data is difficult. During the course of researching this article, three players listed as "unknowns" were uncovered using such sources as Familysearch.org and Findagrave.com. Pitcher Eddie Schaack was discovered to be from Chicago and was born Sept. 30, 1899 with a death date of Jan 2, 1978; he is buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Milwaukee (see more on Schaack above). Herb Herbstreith, who pitched in one game and appeared in 17, was born Lloyd Herbert Herbstreith Feb. 26, 1899 in Kansas with a death date of Sept. 11, 1966 at Los Angeles, CA. And Charles W. Palmer, Jr., credited with one win and one loss in 13 appearances, was found to be born Dec. 26, 1900 in Ohio with death occurring May 31, 1961 at Guilford, IN (Dearborn County). The likelihood is strong that these were in fact the players from the 1923 Brewers.
Career Years
While the 1923 Brewers fared poorly as the championship season progressed, a handful of players had a career year, in other words, they put up numbers collectively exceeding those from any other season of their career. There is no formula for determining a player's career year, for example, when two seasons appear close. In the examples found below, the number of total bases was referred to as the strongest indicator before other criteria were introduced in determining which season was a player's career best.
1. Ivy Griffin, 26. All-star numbers all around.
2. Pat McNulty, 24. His best season in Class AA or above.
3. Sherry Magee, 38. Combined career year between Milwaukee (AA) and St. Joseph (A); unique in the annals of American Association history.
4. Eddie Schaack, 24. Double career year, both as pitcher and batter, unique in the annals of American Association history.
5. Ray Lingrel, 28. Career year batting.
Almanac
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