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BaseballLibrary.com
Copyright © 2002
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Doc Cramer
Given Name: Roger Maxwell
Nickname(s): Flit
1905-1990

OF 1929-48 Athletics, Red Sox, Senators, Tigers
  • All-Star in 1935, 37-40

GamesAverageHRRBI
Career 2239.29637842
World Series 9.38706

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» 1936: Pains and Streaks and Tears

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» June 18, 2003 (#242)

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An agile, swift centerfielder, Cramer led the AL in putouts in 1936 and 1938. He was considered to be one of the best judges of fly balls in the ML, and also owned an excellent arm. Offensively, he was a leadoff hitter who specialized in singles, topping the AL five times and tying for the lead in total hits (200) in 1940. Twice, he collected six hits in a game. In his career, he had 2,705 hits. He led the league in at-bats in seven different seasons, the ML record. At age 40, he was a hitting star for the Tigers in the 1945 WS, batting .379, scoring seven runs, and batting in four. Later, as a White Sox coach, he was credited with developing Nellie Fox as a hitter.

Cramer was a semi-pro pitcher when discovered by Cy Perkins and signed by the Athletics. Sent to Martinsburg of the Blue Ridge League in 1929, he was locked in a close race with Joe Vosmik for the league batting title. On the final day of the season, he pitched against Vosmik's team and walked his rival four times. Cramer's .404 won the title.

Cramer tied a ML record by going 6-for-6 in a nine-inning game, and is the only American Leaguer to do it twice (6/20/32 and 7/13/35). Towards the end of his career, he was frequently used as a pinch-hitter, and led the AL with nine pinch hits in 1947. Sent up six times for Birdie Tebbetts, Cramer came through four times, and when the Tigers traded Tebbetts to Boston, Cramer complained, "It's like tearing up my meal ticket. A game is not official until the announcement goes out 'Cramer for Tebbetts'."

Cramer gained medical knowledge before playing pro ball by observing a local doctor, and was therefore dubbed "Doc." Philadelphia sportswriter Jimmy Isaminger began calling him "Flit", after the insecticide, because the outfielder was death to fly balls. (NLM/JK)


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FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
» June 20, 1932: Doc Cramer of the A's has six hits in consecutive times at bat in a nine-inning game. Cramer will do this again in 1935, the only AL player to repeat the feat.

» June 10, 1934: Doc Cramer hits for the cycle, but the Yankees still beat the A's 7–3 on Gehrig's 2nd grand slam of the year.

» July 13, 1935: The A's Doc Cramer has a 6-for-6 game, tying the AL mark for the second time. He had also done it in 1932.

» January 4, 1936: As the 2nd part of the December 10th deal for Jimmie Foxx, the Boston Red Sox get outfielder Doc Cramer (.332) and SS Eric "Boob" McNair from the A's for Henry Johnson, Al Niemiec, and $75,000. Even with the free spending, and the presence of 20-game winners Ferrell and Grove, Boston will finish 6th in 1936.

» 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.

» June 23, 1940: In Cleveland, 56,659 watch the Indians split with Boston. Cleveland wins the opener 4–1 for their 8th win in a row, then Boston wins the nitecap 2–0 on two Jim Tabor home runs. In game 1, Ted Williams and Doc Cramer collide chasing a fly ball. Williams is knocked unconscious and the ball goes for an inside-the-park home run.

» July 30, 1940: Veteran Lou Finney hits so well for the Red Sox early in the season that manager Joe Cronin must make a place for him in the lineup. With rookie Dom DiMaggio joining Ted Williams and Doc Cramer in the OF, Cronin puts Finney at 1B when Jimmie Foxx volunteers to catch. The experiment lasts but a few games.

» August 2, 1940: In Detroit, the Red Sox pound 14 hits in beating the Tigers, 12–9. Shortstop Joe Cronin is 4-for-5 and hits for the cycle, the 5th cycle in Sox history. Cronin cycled in 1929, not the first player to cycle twice, but the first to do it a decade apart. His 8th inning homer, off Archie McKain, follows a Doc Cramer triple and ices it for the Sox. Boston also gets homers from Dom DiMaggio and catcher Jimmie Foxx, his 23rd. Ted Williams, pinch hitting in the 4th, draws a walk. Jack Wilson beats Tom Seats, with both pitching in relief.

» December 12, 1940: Washington sends Gee Walker to the Red Sox for Doc Cramer. Walker is then packed off to Cleveland with P Jim Bagby, OF and C Gene Desautels for C Frank Pytlak, Odell Hale and P Joe Dobson. At the end of the War, on December 12, 1945, Bagby will return to the Red Sox. Boston also buys Pete Fox from Detroit.

» 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.

» August 20, 1945: Detroit's Hal Newhouser shuts out the A's 4–0 for his 20th win of the year. Greenberg has his 15 game hitting streak stopped, but Roy Cullenbine and Doc Cramer add home runs.