Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars: “Arky” Vaughan

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Another Edition of Baseball’s Forgotten Stars:

“Arky” Vaughan

“For going from home plate to second base I don’t think there was anybody who could match him.” -Lloyd Waner, speaking of teammate Arky Vaughan’s speed

It’s hard to sugest that a Hall-of-Famer falls into the category of “Forgotten Stars,” but in this case I think it’s appropriate.

Playing shortstop for the Pirates under the long shadow cast by the legendary Honus Wagner, Joseph “Arky” Vaughan is probably one of the least known Hall-of-Famers. So I thought I’d take a look at his career and see what I could find about the overlooked star from the 1930’s.

In the featured photo above, we see, left to right: Pirates Arky Vaughan, Gus Suhr, Pie Traynor, and Honus Wagner.

The Clifty, Arkansas native played in the major leagues for 14 seasons between 1932 and 1948 for the Pirates and Dodgers. Surprisingly, his family left Arkansas before his first birthday, but the nickname “Arky” stuck with him his entire life.

Over his career, the speedy shortstop compiled a .318 career batting average, with 96 home runs, 926 RBIs, 1,173 runs scored, 118 steals, and a remarkable career .406 on-base percentage (44^th all-time). He was a nine-time All-Star, and was the National League batting champion in 1935. He led the league three times each in runs, triples, on-base percentage, and walks; and once in slugging average. He hit for the cycle twice. In 14 seasons, he hit .300 or better 12 times.

In 1935 Arky Vaughan had a season for the record books. He led all of baseball with a .385 average, .491 on-base percentage, .607 slugging percentage, and 97 walks. His 190 OPS+ ranks as one of the top 100 single-season scores of all time (100 being the major league average). Defensively, he finished second in both putouts and assists. The .385 batting average is a 20^th century record for National League shortstops. The season has been called the best ever by a shortstop other than Honus Wagner.

Over the next six seasons, Vaughan continued to be one of the best hitting shortstops in the game, batting over .300 in every season, and regularly being at or near the top of the league in most offensive categories. He also continued to improve defensively, as he led the league in total chances in 1938–39 while finishing in the top three in fielding percentage four times. He hit two home runs in the 1941 All-Star game for the National League, but was upstaged by a ninth-inning, three-run homer by Ted Williams, which Williams once described as the highlight of his career.

On December 12, 1941, after a decade as the Pirates’ starting shortstop, Vaughan was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Pirate fans outraged by at his trade and his mysterious death years later (see below) helped coin the phrase “The Ghost of Arky” when times got tough.

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Arky’s 1943 season was marred by an incident that nearly ended his career. Not surprising, it involved a clash of personalities with Brooklyn’s irascible manager Leo Durocher. After Durocher got into a confrontation with pitcher Bobo Newsom resulting in a three-day suspension for Newsom, Vaughan came to Bobo’s defense and threatened to leave the team, handing his uniform to Durocher. Vaughan’s stance in support of his teammate spread to the rest of the team and only two players were willing to play for Durocher the next day. But upper management laid down the hammer and the game was played. Upset over the incident, he left the team at season’s end and sat out the next three years before making a comeback in 1947.

After his career was over, Vaughan bought a ranch in Eagleville, California. On August 30, 1952, Vaughan was fishing in nearby Lost Lake, with a friend.  According to a witness, the friend stood up in the boat causing it to capsize and both men drowned. Arky Vaughan was 40.

Vaughan was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. In 2001, author Bill James made the case that Vaughan is the second-best shortstop in major league history, behind fellow Pirate, the great Honus Wagner. Vaughan also ranks as the 26th greatest non-pitcher in major league history, according to the SABR metric, Win Shares.

Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from Arky Vaughan Wikipedia page; Statistics from Baseball-Reference.com

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