Books and articles about Bob Shawkey

For eight years Bob Shawkey was about as good a pitcher as the Yankees had. He was another Connie Mack giveaway, a fine 16-8 sophomore season going for naught after the Braves' 4-0 sweep of the World Series. In mid-1915 he was sold to New York for $18,000. Next year he was the team's workhorse, winning 24 games and achieving a 2.21 ERA in 53 appearances. He had one more win than Boston's phenomenal young Babe Ruth, one less than league-leading Walter Johnson. Seven of his victories (and four losses) were in relief. As was often the case in those days, the staff strong man could be called on to mop up, if he was not pitching his own complete games. Shawkey was credited with eight saves, tops in both leagues.

Image provided by Matthew Fulling

SHOPPING » Look for Bob Shawkey books at BN.com » Look for Bob Shawkey books at Amazon.com Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!

RELATED LINKS » 1914: The Miracle in Boston » 1923: The Haunting Eviction Photos » Photo: Bob Shawkey, 1930 from Baseball Between the Wars Book Excerpts » "Shawkey was my manager in 1930. He was a mighty fine fellow": Eddie Wells » "Shawkey told me some lively stories about Ruth": Robert W. Creamer Greatest Teams » 1927 Yankees Submissions » Yankee Stadium's First Opening Day by Harvey Frommer » The 1927 Yankees Pitching Staff by Jeff Linkowski Around the Web » Bob Shawkey from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Most of 1918 was spent in the Navy as a yeoman petty officer aboard the battleship Arkansas, whence came his nautical nicknames. The Yankees he returned to were Miller Huggins 's team, shortly to begin its habitual winning ways. Shawkey contributed 20 victories each in 1919, 1920, and 1922, helped along by 10- and 11-game winning streaks the first two of those seasons. He struck out 15 Athletics in 1919, which was a Yankee record for 59 years, and among his 37 career shutouts were seven 1-0 games, also a Yankee mark.

In 1923 he pitched the first game played at Yankee Stadium, beating the Red Sox 3-1; appropriately, Ruth walloped the first Stadium homer, but Shawkey got the second.

The tall, slender Shawkey was a slow, deliberate worker on the mound. He was a gentle, unassuming fellow, yet with all the self-confidence essential to pitching. He constantly studied the great hitters of his era to analyze their success against him and vary his pitches accordingly. He showed Red Ruffing how to get less arm and more body into his motion, even as Chief Bender helped him as a rookie with the Athletics. His only touch of color was a red-sleeved undershirt; he was always a bit overshadowed by the Yanks' array of topnotch pitchers: Mays, Hoyt, Bush, Shocker, Pennock.

His last active season was 1927. He was a coach in 1929 when Huggins died, and Shawkey guided the team to a third-place finish as manager in 1930. Supplanted by Joe McCarthy in 1931, he began a long career of minor league managing, coaching in the Pittsburgh and Detroit farm systems, and instructing pitchers for several clubs. He was baseball coach at Dartmouth College in the 1950s, and, as an old man, threw out the first ball at refurbished Yankee Stadium in 1976. (ADS)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 9, 1914: With Bob Shawkey on the mound the A's top the Tigers, 7–1. Detroit's only score comes in the 4th when Ty Cobb steals home. » July 3, 1914: Chief Bender and Bob Shawkey whitewash the Yankees, 2–0 and 1–0, for an A's sweep. » October 13, 1914: The first World Series sweep in history belongs to the Braves—the only World Series the franchise will ever win. Bob Shawkey and Herb Pennock allow just six hits, but one is a 2-run single by Johnny Evers, as Dick Rudolph wins 3–1. » April 10, 1915: In the final of the city series in Philadelphia, the Phillies beat the A's, 5–3, when Gavvy Cravath belts a 3-run homer off Bob Shawkey in the 8th. The series, which began in Jacksonville, ends at three wins apiece, and a tie. » July 7, 1915: The A's continue to dismantle, shipping front line P Bob Shawkey to the Yankees for $18,000. » June 21, 1916: Rube Foster of the Red Sox no-hits the Yankees 2–0, for the first no-hitter in Fenway Park, beating Bob Shawkey 2–0. Harry Hooper leads the offense with three hits. Red Sox president Lannin hands Rube a $100 bonus and each of his Sox teammates receive a gold handled pocket knife engraved with the date. » August 13, 1921: In Philadelphia, 33,000 fans—the largest crowd to watch a game in Philadelphia since 1914—see Carl Mays win his 15th straight over the Mackmen as the Yankees prevail, 7–2, in game 1. Bob Shawkey coasts home to a 13–7 win in the nitecap. Meusel homers in each game. » October 7, 1921: The Giants bats wake up against Bob Shawkey (18-12) and three other pitchers. A 20-hit barrage and 8-run 8th sink the Yanks 13–5. Jesse Barnes (15-9) gets the win. Ross Youngs set a World Series record with a pair of long hits—2B and 3B—and five total bases in the 8th. » October 11, 1921: Miller Huggins gambles in Game six with lefty Harry Harper (4-3), and the Yankees drive Fred Toney (18-11) to cover with three in the first. But the Giants come back with three in the 2nd, and continue the attack against Bob Shawkey while Jess Barnes slams the door, striking out 10, including seven in a row sandwiched around four walks. Emil "Irish" Meusel and Frank Snyder homer for the Giants in an 8–5 win. It is Barnes' 2nd World Series win in relief. » September 16, 1922: Pennant fever rages in St. Louis, as the Yankees come to town with a half-game lead. Bob Shawkey outpitches Urban Shocker 2–1, as Sisler ties Ty Cobb's 1911 record by hitting in his 40th straight game. While chasing a fly ball in the 9th, New York OF Whitey Witt is hit in the head and knocked cold by a soda bottle thrown from the bleachers. Ban Johnson will initially offer a $1,000 reward for the name of the bottle-thrower. Then, to calm the crowds, the American League offers the theory that Witt stepped on the bottle and it flew up and hit him. The incident leads to a ban on the sale of bottled drinks in ballparks. » October 5, 1922: Bob Shawkey (20–12) goes the route, with the Giants scoring three in the first and the Yanks getting single tallies in the first, fourth, and eighth. A near-riot erupts among the 36,514 fans when umpire George Hildebrand, acting on umpire Bill Klem’s advice, calls the game, a 3–3 tie, due to darkness after 10 innings. The fans think there’s light enough to continue. It takes a police escort to get Judge Landis out of the park and away from the unruly mob. That night he bends over backwards to negate the public’s opinion that the game might have been called to provide an extra day’s gate by donating the $120,554 receipts to charities. Half will go to New York charities, and half to disabled soldiers. » April 18, 1923: The debut of Yankee Stadium is a huge success with an announced attendance of 74,217. Bob Shawkey, aided by Babe Ruth's 3-run HR, beats Howard Ehmke and the Red Sox 4-1. » October 13, 1923: The Yankees score six runs in the 2nd off three Giants hurlers to help a shaky Bob Shawkey (16-11) to an 8–4 win. Whitey Witt has three hits and two RBI; for the losers Frank Frisch has two hits for the 3rd time, and Ross Youngs has 4. » September 15, 1926: The Yankees beat the Indians, 6–4, as Bob Meusel drives home three runs with three sacrifice flies. This ties the major-league record set by Harry Steinfeldt in 1909. Bob Shawkey is the winning hurler. » October 9, 1926: Grover Alexander scatters eight hits in game six while the Cards tee off on Bob Shawkey (8-6), Urban Shocker, and Myles Thomas for 10 runs and 13 hits in a 10–2 romp. » November 28, 1927: The Yanks release P Bob Shawkey and P Dutch Ruether. » October 17, 1929: The Yankees sign former P Bob Shawkey as manager, replacing Higgins. » May 30, 1930: The Yankees trade two stars of the 1927 team, Waite Hoyt and Mark Koenig, to the Tigers for Ownie Carroll (0–5) and Harry Rice. Hoyt's departure follows an argument with manager Bob Shawkey. » April 15, 1976: Newly remodeled Yankee Stadium is jammed with 52,613 fans for Opening Day ceremonies. The 1923 Yankees are honored, and Bob Shawkey, winner of the 1923 Stadium opener, throws out the first ball. The Yankees beat the Twins 11–4 on 14 hits, but the only HR is hit by Minnesota’s Dan Ford.