Books and articles about Tommy Bridges

Bridges's victory totals fell tantalizingly short of satisfying the demanding writers who elect players to baseball's Hall of Fame. He had won 192 when, in 1943, at 37, he was called to military service. He missed the soft pickings of wartime baseball in 1944 and rejoined the Tigers in 1945 to record a lone win. The next year, when baseball resumed with its younger stars, there was no room for the veteran who had helped the Tigers win four pennants. There were victories remaining in him, but they were gained in the Pacific Coast League where, at age 40, Bridges led the league with a 1.64 ERA.

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RELATED LINKS » 1957: Red Smith on Spitballers Photos » Photo: Detroit Tigers' pitching corps, 1935 Book Excerpts » "Once [Bridges] could smell the end of his playing career on the horizon, the scent of liquor was the only thing that could kill that frightening odor": Elden Auker » "He was as good as Hal Newhouser ... I've seen [Bridges] throw that curveball at a guy's head, and the batter would fall flat on his rear end thinking it was going to hit him, and then the ball would go over the plate for a strike": Charlie Gehringer » Breaking the Slump: Baseball in the Depression Era by Charles C. Alexander Around the Web » This Date in Baseball - July 13 from dfw.com » Tommy Bridges from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

The son of a country doctor, Bridges graduated from the University of Tennessee and was expected to follow in his father's footsteps. He chose baseball instead, and the only doctoring he did was intended to induce sharp, breaking curves. Bridges's frail appearance was deceptive. Though he had a blazing fastball, his curve was the wonder of the AL for over a decade. He once fanned 20 in a minor league game, and led the AL in strikeouts in 1935 and 1936.

In 1932 Bridges lost a bid for a perfect game in dramatic fashion that either proved the integrity of the game, or was just poor sportsmanship. Walter Johnson was the Washington manager, and his Senators trailed Detroit, 13-0, with two out in the ninth. Young Bridges was doing something Johnson had never done: pitch a perfect game. The Washington pitcher, Bobby Burke, was due up. Instead, Johnson sent gifted pinch hitter Dave Harris to bat. Harris led the AL that season with 14 pinch hits. A notoriously good curveball hitter, Harris out-dueled Bridges, stroking a clean single to left to break up the perfect game. The next batter was a routine out, and Washington still lost by 13 runs.

Bridges won over 20 games for three straight seasons (1934-36) and led the AL with 23 victories in '36. Among his memorable feats was his clutch performance in Game Six of the 1935 World Series. With the score tied 3-3, Stan Hack opened the top of the ninth with a triple. He remained there as Bridges retired the next three batters. The Tigers scored in the bottom of the inning, winning the Series, and Bridges had his second victory.

During the 1930s, Bridges was named to the AL All-Star staff six times, and gained a victory in 1939. With 194 regular season victories, four in the WS, and one in an All-Star game, Bridges had 199 career wins. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » August 25, 1930: Tommy Bridges walks 12 Brownies, but Detroit still beats St. Louis, 7–5. » May 16, 1931: At Detroit, Tommy Bridges gives up three hits in stopping the Yankees, 3–1, and dropping the Bombers to 2nd place. » August 5, 1932: Detroit P Tommy Bridges has a brush with baseball immortality when he retires the first 26 Washington Senators to face him, before surrendering a hit to pinch hitter Dave Harris. The Tigers win the game 13-0. » May 24, 1933: Detroit's Tommy Bridges tosses a one-hitter in topping the Senators, 3–1. Joe Kuhel's homer is the only Washington safety. It is the first time in the American League that a pitcher has allowed a home run in a one-hitter. » June 14, 1933: At Boston, Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game streak survives, even though he and manager Joe McCarthy are thrown out of a game in the 7th inning for protesting that Boston's Rick Ferrell ran out of the baseline between 1B and 2B. Joe McCarthy is suspended three games but Gehrig's streak, now at 1,249, continues. Gehrig is 1-for-3 with a triple in the 13–5 loss to Tommy Bridges. » September 24, 1933: Detroit's Tommy Bridges reaches the 9th inning with a no-hitter for the 3rd time this season and the 4th time in two years. He yields a pair of hits, as Detroit beats the Browns 7–0. Despite the win, Bucky Harris resigns as manager of the Tigers. » October 7, 1934: Tommy Bridges beats Dizzy Dean 3-1 to put the Tigers within a game of the World Championship. The Series heads back to Detroit. » September 21, 1935: The Detroit Tigers clinch the pennant with a double win over the St. Louis Browns, winning 6–2 and 2–0. Eldon Auker wins the nitecap with a complete game shutout, while Tommy Bridges takes the opener. The Tigers will coast the rest of the way, going 1–6, while the Yankees go 6–1. » October 3, 1935: The Tigers even the Series behind Tommy Bridges 8-3, but lose Hank Greenberg who injures his wrist trying to score from first on a single. » July 21, 1936: Mickey Cochrane has a relapse, and Del Baker again takes charge of the Tigers. Detroit takes a pair from the visiting A's, winning 8–0 behind Tommy Bridges, and 9–8, as Schoolboy Rowe wins in relief. The Tigers score a pair in the 8th inning when, with the bases loaded, Mickey Owen hits into a double play. Goslin scores the tying run and Walker, who reaches 3rd on the play, scores when 1B Chubby Dean is caught napping. » July 25, 1936: The Red Sox tally 20 hits to crush the Tigers, 18–3, scoring all their runs in two big innings. The Sox score six in the 2nd to drive Tommy Bridges from the mound, then tally 12 more in the 5th: it is the 2nd time this month that the Red Sox have score more than 10 runs in an inning. Doc Cramer has four Boston hits, while three others have three hits. Lefty Grove gives up nine hits in the easy win. » July 28, 1936: In the 6th inning of a 16–6 Yankee win in Detroit, the Tiger's Goose Goslin drives a ball in the gap in right center. Right fielder DiMaggio and CF Myril Hoag, in for a slumping Powell, sprint for the ball and collide, the ball bounding by for an inside-the -park homer. Both players are knocked unconscious but appear unhurt: Dimag stays in though Hoag is replaced. He'll play tomorrow and collect a single, then collapse in his hotel room on the 30th with a brain clot. Hoag will be operated on successfully at Harper Hospital and will be out the rest of the season, but he'll return to play six more years. New York wins the game on 20 hits, scoring four runs in each of the first two innings, and three apiece in the 4th and 5th. Lou Gehrig's two doubles, single and number 31 with two aboard pace the visitors. Tommy Bridges is the loser while Johnny Murphy, who relieves Monte Pearson in the 4th, is credited with the win. Selkirk adds a homer for the Yankees, who have now hit 122. » August 24, 1940: At Fenway, LF Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox pitches the last two innings in a 12–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers and Tommy Bridges. Williams allows three hits and one run scores when 3B Charlie Gelbert juggles a DP grounder. On three pitches Williams strikes out Tiger slugger Rudy York, who had driven in five Detroit runs. Joe Glenn, who caught Babe Ruth's last pitching appearance in 1933, is Williams' catcher. Pitcher Jim Bagby plays the OF for the Sox. » September 27, 1940: Besides Bobo Newsom (21-5), Schoolboy Rowe (16-3), and Tommy Bridges (12-9), the Tigers pitching staff combines for a losing record. Needing one victory to gain the title, manager Del Baker decides to withhold Newsom and Rowe and picks Floyd Giebell, an obscure rookie just called in from Buffalo. Giebell shuts out the Indians 2-0 to beat Bob Feller, who gives up just 3 hits. Not eligible for the WS, Giebell never wins another game in the ML. During the game, unruly Cleveland fans shower the field with fruit and vegetables. At one point, a basket of green tomatoes is dropped onto Tigers C Birdie Tebbetts' head while he sits in the bullpen. » October 4, 1940: Detroit bombs nine hits for 19 bases in the 7th and 8th innings off Jim Turner and successors to win 7–4 in the first game at Briggs Stadium. Tommy Bridges gives up 10 hits but goes the distance. » August 11, 1942: At Cleveland, in the first game of a twi-nighter, Indian P Al Milnar has a no-hitter until Doc Cramer singles with two out in the 9th. But the duel with Detroit's Tommy Bridges ends in a 14-inning scoreless tie because the rules state the game cannot be continued under the lights. Milnar allows just two hits and his catcher Gene Desautels catches the entire game without a putout (no strikeouts) or assist. » April 20, 1947: Pitching for Portland (PCL), former Tiger ace Tommy Bridges pitches a no-hitter against SF, winning 2–0.