Books and articles about Vic Aldridge

Aldridge was a steady hurler for the Cubs, going 47-36 from 1922 through 1924, and the Pirates, for whom he won 15 games in each of their 1925 and 1927 pennant-winning seasons. He had complete game wins over Coveleski and the Senators in Games Two and Five of the 1925 World Series, winning 3-2 and 6-3. In the seventh and deciding game, he couldn't get out of the first inning, but though the score was 4-0 after one, the Pirates came back to win 9-7.

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In February 1928, the disgruntled Aldridge was traded to the Giants for 34-year-old Burleigh Grimes, who had clashed with New York manager John McGraw. Aldridge held out, joined the Giants late, and was waived after a dismal showing. Grimes, meanwhile, led the NL with 25 wins. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 11, 1917: At Wrigley Field, Military Day is celebrated by a double victory for Chicago over the Reds, with Jimbo Vaughn credited with both wins. Vaughn starts the opener and retires after an inning with his team ahead by three runs. The Cubs win, 6–5, with Vic Aldridge allowing two runs in five innings, with Carter finishing. Aldridge will eventually get credit for the win and not Vaughn. Vaughn then goes nine innings in the nitecap, striking out nine to win, 5–1. » January 18, 1922: The Cubs buy OF Jigger Statz and P Vic Aldridge from Los Angeles for eight players and cash. » May 6, 1922: Cubs' pitcher Vic Aldridge collects five hits and picks up the victory as visiting Chicago tops the Pirates 11–7. » May 30, 1922: Between games of the Memorial Day A.M.-P.M. doubleheader, the Cubs swap OF Max Flack to the Cards for OF Cliff Heathcote. Flack, who lives just three blocks from Cubs Park, went home for lunch between games, and arrived back in the Cubs clubhouse to find that he'd been traded. The players, who both played in the morning game, trade uniforms and play for their new teams in the afternoon. Heathcote is 0-for-3 as a Card, 2-for-4 as a Cub. Flack is hitless in the first game, 1–for-4 in the 2nd, as the Cubs win both, 4–1 and 3–1. George Stueland wins the opener and Vic Aldridge is the winner in the afternoon. In the nitecap, Cubs SS Charlie Hollocher strikes out for the first time this year, on a Bill Doak spitter. A .304 career hitter, he will whiff five times in 1922. In three years he will fan 33 times in 372 games. » September 17, 1923: The Giants' George Kelly sets a major-league record by homering in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th against the Cubs Vic Aldridge as New York rolls to a 13–6 win. Kelly adds a single and double to run his total bases to 15 for the game. Kelly has now hit a record six homers off cousin Aldridge this year, a mark off one pitcher that will be tied by Ted Williams (in 1941, off Johnny Rigney) and Ted Kluszewski (in 1954, off Max Surkont). Kelly is the first player to homer in three successive innings. » April 15, 1924: The Cards' Rogers Hornsby is the only batter who ever goes 2-for-5 (against Vic Aldridge of the Cubs) on Opening Day and improves on his BA for the rest of the year. His .424 will be the highest ML BA in the 20th century. The Cardinals open the season with the players wearing small numbers on their sleeves. The experiment will continue in 1925, then be dropped. » October 27, 1924: The Cubs trade P Vic Aldridge, 1B George Grantham, and 1B Al Niehaus to Pittsburgh for 1B Charlie Grimm, SS Rabbit Maranville, and P Wilbur Cooper. Grantham will hit .300 for six seasons with the Bucs, while Grimm will play 11 seasons with Chicago, eventually becoming player-manager. In 1925, Maranville will be named a player-manager as well. Cooper, who has averaged 20 wins a year over the past six seasona, will drop to 12–14 with the Cubs. This past season he picked off seven runners at 3B. » May 12, 1925: A record to date 20 home runs are hit in the ML this day. Phils pitcher Jimmy Ring collects one of them, a grand slam off Pittsburgh's Vic Aldridge in an 8–5 win before the Pirates win, 13–8. Al Simmons of the A's has a grand slam as well to account for the scoring in a 4–3 win over Detroit. » September 26, 1925: With the pennant clinched, the Pirates get shut out for the 2nd time in three days, losing twice to the visiting Giants. Fred Fitzsimmons stops the Bucs 3–0 in the nitecap, beating Johnny Morrison. Zeke Barnes outpitches Vic Aldridge, 4–3, in the opener. To the dismay of the 25,000 on hand, the Bucs leading batter Kiki Cuyler is hitless. » October 8, 1925: Kiki Cuyler's 2-run home run in the 8th breaks a 1–1 tie and gives the Pirates' Vic Aldridge (15-7) a 3–2 win over Stan Coveleski (20-5). » October 15, 1925: A steady downpour yesterday and today has left the field a muddy mess as the 7th game is played in the rainiest conditions ever. It's a short day for Vic Aldridge: three walks and two hits, and he's out of there with one out in the first. Walter Johnson takes a 4–0 lead to the mound. The Bucs clobber him for 15 hits, good for 24 total bases. Max Carey's 4-for-5 gives him a Series-high .458. The Senators make the most of seven hits, scoring seven runs, including Roger Peckinpaugh's home run, the 12th of the Series, a World Series record. Johnson would have fared better but for two more errors by SS Peckinpaugh, the MVP's 7th and 8th, still the World Series record for any position. The Senators made only one other error. Ray Kremer picks up his 2nd win with a 4-inning relief effort, as the Senators lose 9–7. The Series breaks all financial records, grossing almost $1.2 million. Winning shares are $5,332.72; losers' $3,734.60. » June 3, 1927: Paul Waner of Pittsburgh homers off Claude Willoughby of the Phils in a 11–1 rout at Forbes Field. Wright and Grantham also homer as Vic Aldridge allows the visitors just one hit till the 9th inning. For Waner, his homer is the start of a National League record 14 straight games in which he'll have at least one long hit (12 doubles, five triples, three home run). » October 6, 1927: Two 3-run outbursts by the Yankees off Vic Aldridge (15-10) and a steady 7-hitter by surprise New York starter George Pipgras (10-3) give the Yankees a 6-2 win. Mark Koenig has 3 hits. » February 11, 1928: The Giants and Pirates swap pitchers: Burleigh Grimes for Vic Aldridge. Grimes, 19–8 with the Giants, will lead the National League in wins in 1928 with 25 after his return to Pittsburgh. Aldridge holds out till May 3, and then will win just four games for New York. » October 3, 1929: At St. Louis, the Browns General Crowder tops the Indians, 3–2, in 10 innings. Accounting for the Indians scoring is Earl Averill's 2-run home run, his 18th of the year and his 5th off the general. Only George Kelly's six off Vic Aldridge in 1923 (and later on, Williams in 1941, off Rigney, and Kluszewski in 1954, off Surkont) will top Earl's 5, according to homer historian Dave Vincent.