Let’s Recall the 1940 “Cry-Babies Incident” and the Principal Player Involved, Hal Trosky!

Let’s Recall the 1940 “Cry-Babies Incident” and the Principal Player Involved, Hal Trosky!



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Let’s Recall the 1940 “Cry-Babies Incident” and the Principal Player Involved, Hal Trosky!

“I don’t want any lazy players on my club. If the boys won’t hustle, out they go.” -Cleveland manager, Ossie Vitt.
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This week marked the 82nd anniversary of the “Cry-Babies Incident,” when Indians’ owner Alva Bradley finally fired unpopular manager, Ossie Vitt, who had referred to his players as “cry-babies” during the season. Before I go into the details, I’ll first delve into the career of team captain, Hal Trosky, a central figure in the incident.

Hal Trosky: “The Best Player Who Was Never An All-Star”

Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time! I think we can all feel for Hal Trosky. If your All-Star competition at first base was Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg, I’d say your chances of making the All-Star team would probably not be very good!
Signed off the sandlots of his native Norway, Iowa, Hal Trosky was once hailed as “the next Babe Ruth.” We can all agree that’s pretty strong hype, but Hal was a sensation, a “phe-nom” to use baseball parlance. At the start of his career, it looked like he would actually live up to the promise.
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He was a September 1933 call-up and made his major league debut with the Indians on September 11 at age 21. It soon became apparent to all that Hal Trosky was the “real deal.” During his first three seasons, he amassed more RBIs than either Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, or Hank Greenberg during their first three years.

Hal Trosky’s Fine Career

Trosky played 11 seasons in the “Big Show” for the Indians (1933-’41), and White Sox (1944, 1946). Over his career, the 6’2” 207-pound slugger batted .302, with 1561 hits, 228 home runs, 1012 RBIs, a .371 on-base percentage, a .522 slugging average, and a well-above-average OPS+ of 130. Over his career, Trosky finished in the top ten in both home runs and slugging average six times. From 1934-’39, he drove in over 100 RBIs each year. His 216 home runs with the Indians rank him fifth on their all-time list. 

What Does It Take To Be An All-Star?

Check out his performance in 1936, his best season. Hal must have been asking himself, “What else does a guy have to do to make the All-Star team?” That year all he did is hit .343, with 42 home runs (setting a new Indians’ team record), 216 hits, 45 doubles, a .382 on-base percentage, and a “Ruthian” .644 slugging average. Plus he led the league in RBIs (162), setting a team record that stood for 62 years. His 405 total bases remain a franchise best. Throw in a 28-game hitting streak, and I’d say Hal had himself a pretty impressive year! But no…not even those numbers could land him a spot on the 1936 All-Star team, the honor that year going to the Iron Horse, Lou Gehrig.

The Start of Migraines, 1936

 Starting in 1936, at what should have been the peak of his career, Hal began experiencing debilitating migraines. The headaches affected his vision, making it difficult to pick up major league fastballs. Often taking himself out of the lineup, by 1939, he had only 448 plate appearances in 122 games, marking the first season he failed to play in at least 150 games.

The “Cry-Babies Incident”




Indians manager Ossie Vitt and Bob Feller, 1939

 In 1940, Trosky was named the team captain. He probably regretted accepting the honorary position and the $500 stipend that came with it. He became embroiled in the infamous “Cry-Babies Incident,” as Indian players staged what was later called an “insurrection” against their acerbic, unpopular manager, Ossie Vitt. This paragraph from Wikipedia best describes the incident:

     On June 11, 1940, matters came to a head when Vitt went to the mound to remove Mel Harder. “When are you going to start earning your salary?” asked Vitt of Harder, who had won at least 15 games for eight consecutive seasons, including two 20-win seasons. After the incident with Harder, a dozen veteran players signed a petition to have Vitt removed. They requested a meeting with owner Alva Bradley to state their grievances against Vitt, whom they described as a “wild man.” In the closed-door meeting between Indians players and owner, Harder told Bradley: “We think we have a good chance to win the pennant, but we’ll never win it with Vitt as manager. If we can get rid of him, we can win. We feel sure about that.” (1)

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Trosky was unable to attend the meeting due to the death of his mother, but phoned Bradley, wanting to show support for his teammates. Sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick of the Cleveland Plain Dealer found out about the meeting and ran with it. The “insurrection” was big news in Cleveland the next morning. According to Trosky’s SABR biography by Bill Johnson:
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“The headline for the story was physically larger on the printed page than that afforded to Hitler’s invasion of Paris. Trosky, as team captain, became the face of the “Cry-Baby Incident” and saw his reputation in baseball circles sullied because of it.” (2)

A Career Cut Short

 By 1941 the migraines were increasing and often leaving him in agony. He was playing less and less. After nearly being hit by a pitch, he announced in July,
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A fellow can’t go on like this forever. If I can’t find some relief, I’ll simply have to give up and spend the rest of my days on my farm in Iowa. (3)
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He finished the year with only 310 at-bats and his career in Cleveland was over. He was out of baseball for the 1942 and ’43 seasons, back at his Iowa farm. He returned for the 1944 and 1946 seasons with the White Sox, but he knew it was now time to hang up the spikes. After his playing career ended, he served as a scout for the White Sox and later managed in semi-pro leagues in Iowa. In 1950, he left baseball for good to tend to his Iowa farm. He later sold agricultural real estate in Cedar Rapids.
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Never a major league all-star, Hal Trosky has been enshrined in the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame. Let’s take a moment to salute a fine ballplayer, Hal Trosky, whose career at first base was overshadowed by some pretty good names: Gehrig, Foxx, and Greenberg. Hal Trosky passed away in 1979 at his Cedar Rapids apartment after suffering a massive heart attack. He was 66 years old.
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Gary Livacari
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Photo Credits: All from Google search
Background sources: Excerpts and quotes edited from the Hal Trosky Wikipedia page (1, 3), the Hal Trosky SABR biography by Bill Johnson (2). 

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I'm a baseball historian who also enjoys writing. My forte is identifying ballplayers in old photos, and my special interest is the Dead Ball Era.

15 Comments

  1. Mark Kolier · November 16, 2022 Reply

    Good stuff here Gary. Hal Trosky had a short career much like that of Hack Wilson. Wilson is a HOFer for his extraordinary 5 year run from 1926-31. But overall their careers are not vastly different statistically at least.

    Thanks as always for your fine writing.

    Mark

    • Gary Livacari · November 16, 2022 Reply

      Thanks a lot Mark, I wasn’t aware of his stats being similar to Hack Wilson. Reminds me of my post the other day in which I discovered Billy Pierce’s stats are remarkedly similar to Don Drysdale. In both cases, one guy is in the Hall, and the other isn’t. Hard to figure…

  2. Cary Seidman · November 16, 2022 Reply

    Thanks for the thoughtful piece on Hal Trosky. Those Indians teams of the mid- to late ’30s had some excellent players (Trosky, Joe Vosmik, Earl Averill, Odell Hale, Mel Harder, a young Bob Feller) but weren’t in the same class as the Yankees. From what I have read and heard about Mel Harder, he was an honorable and much beloved player and even better pitching coach. I am inclined to believe that if he supported the removal of Vitt in 1940, he was probably on the right side. I had the pleasure of meeting Harder’s granddaughter last summer, and she told me that for Mel’s 80th birthday, just about all the pitchers he had developed or helped (Bob Lemon, Sam McDowell, et al) showed up for the celebration.

    • Gary Livacari · November 16, 2022 Reply

      Very interesting Cary, thanks for sharing. I agree with what you said about Mel Harder…he was an honorable guy and great pitching coach. For him to come out against Vitt, there must have been a good reason. How did you meet his granddaughter? I’d love to contact her for an interview about her granddad.

      • Cary Seidman · November 16, 2022 Reply

        Gary, I’m sorry to say that I don’t even remember her (married) name. My neighbor invited me to Progressive Field in their company suite, and I met her there. I can ask and will get back to you if I find out anything.

  3. Andy Polizzi · November 16, 2022 Reply

    I remember reading that Vitt was spoiled by being the manager of the 1937 Newark Bears, maybe the greatest minor league team of all time. He would sit in the dugout and say things like, “My Bears would’ve made that play.” He wasn’t going to win the players over to his side with that attitude.

  4. Tom Hine · November 16, 2022 Reply

    When I was about eight years old Santa brought me a copy of ‘Strikeout Story’ purportedly written by Bob Feller (still have it, autographed). That’s where I first learned of the Crybaby Indians, although it was unclear to me what it was all about.

    Fast forward through my life and have really never known the details of the turmoil’s causes. Until today. Thanks, Gary, for a cogent yet complete account of that infamous drama in Tribe history.

  5. michael keedy · November 16, 2022 Reply

    This is a great eye-opener, Gary! Thank you for it.

    Among many other good points, you note that Trosky was frozen out of the ’36 All-Star game, and perhaps others for which he was eminently qualified as well, by the likes of Lou Gehrig, or Jimmie Foxx, or Hank Greenberg. No doubt. The same sort of fate has probably betrayed other worthy candidates for this or that honor down through the years.

    As an example, if he didn’t know better, somebody poring through Juan Marichal’s stats might think the voters were nutty to deny “The Dominican Dandy” even a single Cy Young Award in his entire career. A kewpie doll to the first guy who can explain that one away.

    There you have it, Maestro! One great essay leads to another: Spectacular achievements by guys who had the crummy fortune to be outdone by once-in-a-lifetime competitors. (Story of our lives.)

  6. George Curcio · November 16, 2022 Reply

    Vitt said he was undermined by the Cleveland front office, which, Vitt claimed, did not stand by his decisions to discipline his players. It seems a verbal attack on Mel Harder was perhaps misplaced, considering Harder’s reputation.

    Vitt’s overall character and personality through his very long baseball career would seem to be of utmost interest. Was he a Billy Martin type who wore out his welcome wherever he went, or was his Cleveland experience an aberration?

    He appeared to always carry great affection for the 1937 Newark Bears, who lost the first three games of the Little World Series but came back to win the next four and the title. It didn’t hurt that it was a Yankees farm team that included pitchers Spud Chandler, Atley Donald, and Marius Russo, outfielders Tomy Henrich ad Charley Keller, and infielders Joe Gordon and Babe Dahlgren.

    In fact, it was supposedly the Yankees who had recommended Vitt to the Indians as manager, based on his minor-league success.

    It appears Vitt would not be remembered at all if not for the “cry babies” of the 1940 Cleveland Indians. The only question is whether that is a justified opinion. The answer seems honestly unknown.

  7. Bill Schaefer · November 16, 2022 Reply

    Gary, my wife popped into the computer room and said, “Who’s a crybaby?” I had to explain but it broke my concentration. Soon I must decide: my marriage or Baseball History. (Hey, Keedy, no Kewpie doll here. Looked at Juan’s record and he should have won the Cy, sometime somehow).

    1936 was such a prolific year for hitters, especially the AL. No less than 60, count ’em, .300 hitters in the majors. 32 over .320, 15 over .340, 11 over .350. Luke Appling (White Sox) lead everybody at .388. “Old aches and pains” was a good lifetime .310, but c’mon now. Gene Walker (Tigers) hit .350, lifetime .299.

    After the offensive explosion in 1930, they wondered what was going on. John McGraw exclaimed, “It has taken the confidence out of the pitchers. The ball is so lively the fielders cannot handle it.” Spaulding stoutly maintained there were no changes. “No change in the wrapping, cover, rubber or cork center.” Liar, liar, pants on fire!

    The NL did add a slightly thicker cover and raised the seams. But not the junior circuit. In 1936, the American League averaged 5.67 runs per game, only fractionally under the 5.68 for both leagues in 1930.

    Best, Bill

    Anyhow, I felt sorry for Trosky, particularly with those migraines.

  8. Cliff Blau · December 27, 2022 Reply

    After his playing days, Trosky found out his migraines were caused by dairy products.

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