A steady fielder and outstanding hitter for the Washington Senators before World War II, the modest Travis was called up to the majors in 1933 when Ossie Bluege, the regular Senators third baseman, got injured. He broke in with five hits in his first major league game (May 16, 1933) and stayed in the bigs.
Early in his career, the lefthanded batter slapped most of his hits to left field. Later he learned to pull the ball and cracked 19 triples in 1941. In that season, his last before entering the service, he led the American League in hits with 218, had 101 RBI, and batted .359, his eighth time over .300 in nine years. Travis was named the best all-around shortstop before World War II by The Sporting News.
Travis left baseball before the 1942 season for the army, and spent most of Battle of the Bulge crouched in a frozen foxhole. There he contracted a critical case of frostbite, and army doctors had to operate to save his feet. When he returned from military service in September 1945, the consequence of wear and age was clear. After his average sunk to .252 and .216 in successive seasons, he retired. (JK)
Contribute your recollections of Cecil Travis by clicking here.
FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY
»May 16, 1933: Washington and Cleveland break a major-league record by using 11 pitchers in a 12-inning game won by the Senators 11–10. General Crowder is the eventual winner over Mel Harder. Washington's Cecil Travis plays his first ML game and gets five hits.
»May 31, 1942:
Before 22,000 at Griffith Stadium, Satchel Paige pitches five innings to defeat the Dizzy Dean All-Stars, 8–1. Dean pitches just the first inning, giving up three hits and two runs. Private Cecil Travis plays 3B. The game a week earlier, in which Paige won 3–1 at Wrigley Field, drew 29,000. Judge Landis will prohibit a scheduled July 4th matchup because the first two games outdrew ML games.
»May 6, 1946:
In Washington's 7–4 win, Cecil Travis gets his 6th straight hit over two games before being stopped by Cleveland's Steve Gromek. A prewar hitting star, Travis has few other starring moments as a player after suffering frozen feet in combat in Europe.
BALLPLAYERS | TEAMS | CHRONOLOGY | TODAY | BOOKS | NEWSLETTER | ERRATA | FAQ
