Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive

Free Bonus for Subscribing:

Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide

Get new posts by email

Lets Recall the 1939 Hall of Fame Class!

There have been some questionable Hall of Fames inductees over the years, but you

certainly can’t quibble with the Class of ’39. Eighty-seven years ago yesterday, January 24, 1939, the Hall enshrined Eddie Collins, George Sisler, and Wee Willie Keeler (posthumously). In the famous photo above, we see Sisler (top, second from right) and Collins (front, far left), along with the other Hall of Fame members in attendance. Wee Willie Keeler had passed away in 1923.

Here’s a few words about the career of these three baseball greats:

Eddie Collins (May 2, 1887-March 28, 1951)

Eddie Collins is considered one of the greatest second basemen of all time. In 1908, Eddie took over as the Athletics’ regular second baseman and became part of the A’s famous $100,000 infield from 1910 to 1914. Over his 25-year career (1906-1930), he averaged .333, with 3,315 hits, 1300 RBIs, .434 on-base percentage, and 745 stolen bases. He led the American League in runs three times, and stolen bases four times.

Eddie also finished in the top-ten in the American League in batting average, on-base percentage, hits, and stolen bases  every year from 1910 through 1914. He was a member of six World Series championships, and won the Most Valuable Player award in 1914 when he averaged .344, with 122 runs, 181 hits, and 58 stolen bases. After his playing days ended, he was a coach for the A’s and later became the General Manager of the Red Sox, which included the pennant-winning year of 1946.

George Sisler (March 24, 1893-March 26, 1973)

George Sisler had a .340 lifetime batting average over his 15-year career (1915–1922, 1924–1930), with 2,812 hits, 425 doubles, 164 triples, 102 home runs, and .379 on-base percentage. He stole 375 bases, including a league-leading 51 in 1922.

Sisler’s breakout year came in 1920 when he hit .407, leading the league with 257 hits – a single-season record that stood until Ichiro Suzuki surpassed it with 262 in 2004. In 1922 he won the American League MVP award, as he batted .420, with 246 hits, 134 runs, and 18 triples, leading the league in all these categories. He led the American League twice in batting average and four times in stolen bases.

Wee Willie Keeler (March 3, 1872 – January 1, 1923)

In pre-World Series baseball, Willie Keeler was a part of five teams that won the National League pennants (1894–1896, 1899, 1900). One of the greatest contact hitters of all time and notoriously hard to strike out, Keeler has the highest career at bats-per-strikeout ratio in major league history, averaging 63.17 at bats between each strikeout.

Over his 19-year career (1892-1910), he averaged .341, with 2932 hits, 495 stolen bases, and .388 on-base percentage, while hitting over .300 sixteen times. His best year was 1897 when he averaged .424 with 239 hits. Willie was a two-time National League batting champion, and led the league in hits three times. Keeler’s famous advice to hitters was “Keep your eye clear, and hit ’em where they ain’t” which became one of the best known phrases in baseball lore. He was one of the smallest players to play the game, standing 5 feet 4½ inches and weighing 140 pounds, resulting in his nickname, “Wee Willie.”

Gary Livacari 

Subscribe to Baseball History Comes Alive. FREE BONUS for subscribing: Gary’s Handy Dandy World Series Reference Guide.  https://wp.me/P7a04E-2he

Information: Excerpts edited from Wikipedia 

Visit the Baseball History Comes Alive Home Page