They say the third time’s a charm. And so it was with Lefty Grove’s 300th victory, which occurred on July 25, 1941, against the Cleveland Indians. “Here the hundreds of fans who had been waiting for this moment ever since it became possible for Grove to reach his goal here in Boston refused to be denied,” wrote Gerry Moore in the Boston Globe. “They rushed onto the field and undoubtedly would have mobbed the veteran they have come to idolize except for half a dozen policemen who finally managed to escort Lefty into the runway leading to the clubhouse.”
Grove’s landmark achievement—which was also his last victory in a 17-year major league career—reflected output that defined excellence.
- Led the major leagues in ERA five times (four time consecutively)
- Led the American League in ERA nine times
- Led the major leagues in victories three times
- Led the American League in victories four times
- Led the major leagues in Win-Loss percentage five times
- Led the American League in strikeouts in his first seven seasons
- Led the major leagues in strikeouts four times
- .680 career Win-Loss percentage.
The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Grove in 1947. His plaque highlights being an integral part of the Athletics’ squad that won three consecutive American League pennants—1929, 1930, 1931.
While Grove inched towards the pitcher’s plateau of 300 wins with a 7-7 record in 1941, Red Sox teammate Ted Williams slugged towards a hitter’s benchmark—.400 batting average. It was a lock on the last day of the season—with a .39995 batting average, Williams would have benefited from the simple mathematics of rounding up if he sat out the season-ending Athletics-Red Sox doubleheader. Instead, despite an endorsement from Red Sox player-manager Joe Cronin to lay low, Williams grabbed his bat, went six for eight, and marked .406 for the year. Nobody to date has hit .400 in the major leagues.
In a 1986 Sports Illustrated interview with Williams, Wade Boggs, and Don Mattingly about hitting, Williams explained his strategy at the plate. “Now, if I could give you any advice, it would be that the tougher the pitcher, the tougher the situation, the tougher the count, the worse the light, the worse the umpires, the tougher the delivery, the single most important thing to think about is hitting the ball hard through the middle. You’ll never go wrong with that idea in your mind. As long as you hit, and especially as you get older, hang in there and be quick.”
1941 was a solid year for the Boston Red Sox:
- Joe Cronin (Shortstop): .311 batting average, 95 RBI
- Jimmie Foxx (First Base): .300 batting average, 105 RBI
- Bobby Doerr (Second Base): .282 batting average, 93 RBI
- Jim Tabor (Third Base): .279 batting average, 101 RBI
Championship glory was not to be, however. With an 84-70 record, the Red Sox trailed the New York Yankees by 17 games. Joe DiMaggio—the Yankee Clipper—scored a 56-game hitting streak in ’41, another achievement that has not been matched since. The Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in five games to win the 1941 World Series.
A version of this article appeared on www.thesportspost.com on January 22, 2017.