Wally Pipp spent 11 steady seasons as the Yankees' first baseman before Lou Gehrig replaced him on June 2, 1925, to start a consecutive game streak that lasted through May 2, 1939. Wally's tenure in New York started in 1915 and included World Series appearances in 1921, 1922, and 1923. After the 1925 season he was sold to Cincinnati, where he played in the National League until 1928 before funishing with two-and-a-half seasons (1929-31) with the Newark Bears of the International League.
Preparation for a SABR discussion group featuring Wally's son Tom prompted a review of the Pipp record in the "Baseball Encyclopedia" and raised a curious gap: Wally played ten games as a Detroit Tiger in 1913 before his first New York season in 1915. Although Tom Pipp had a voluminous scrapbook covering his father's accomplishments, he drew a blank on how Wally spent 1914.
The Federal League operated in 1914 and was a possibility. Wally was only 21 and, with ten major league games to his credit, not the type of established major leaguer the Federal League was recruiting. Not suprisingly, Wally didn't appear on any of the Federal League rosters for 1914.
Since the "Baseball Encylopedia" covers only major league experience, the inference was that Wally was either out of baseball, perhaps continuing his edutation at Catholic University, which he left for the Tigers in 1913, or playing in the minors in 1914. Research at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library confirmed Wally's presence in the minors that season, provided substantial detail for 1914, and shed light on why the New York American League franchise, then stil a few years away from the prominence it would begin to enjoy in the 20's, acquired the young prospect.
Wally's ten-game sojourn with Detroit in 1913 ended with a farm-out to Providence in the International League where he hit .444 in ten games before being moved to Scranton of the N. Y. State League on July 20. Wally played first base for Scranton through the rest of the 1913 season, hitting .220 in 173 at-bats.
Wally went to spring training with Detroit in 1914 but was optioned to the Rochester Hustlers (which subsequently became and still play as the Red Wings) of the International League on April 21. There he posted what contemporary newspaper accounts described as " . . . in many ways the most remarkable record ever made in a first class minor league." Wally led the International League with 290 total bases on 173 hits including 28 doubles, 27 triples, and a league-leading 15 home runs. Playing in 154 games at first base, he batted .312 in 551 at-bats and also stole 26 bases. One of the International League pitchers Wally would have faced that season was Babe Ruth, his later Yankee teammate, who pitched with both Providence and Baltimore in 1914.
This breakthrough season earned Wally a recall to Detroit on August 20, but since the "Baseball Encyclopedia" shows him with no major league record in 1914, the Tigers inexplicably never put him in a game. Those Tigers weren't particularly distinguished, finishing in fourth place, 19 1/2 games behind pennant-winning Philadelphia. George Burns, at 21, the same age as Wally, was the regular first baseman, hitting .291 in 137 games. Harry Heilmann, 19, also played in 16 games at first, and George Moriarty, the regular third baseman, played in three games at first. Wally rode the bench.
The Tigers continued this disinterest in 1915. On January 7, Wally was " . . . sold to New York for the waiver price ($7,500) to assist the New York team in playing strength." The New York franchise, newly named the Yankees after playing through 1912 as the Highlanders, was beginning to rebuild under the ownership of Col. Jacob Ruppert and T. L. Houston. The New Yankee owners welcomed Wally, who led the American League with 12 home runs in 1916, followed by another A. L. home run crown (9) in 1917 and was a fixture at first base for the Yankees until the Gehrig era began.
» Jack Zerby lives in Naples, Florida, where he is Co-Chair of the SABR Harold Seymour (Southwest Florida) Regional chapter. He is a charter member of the SABR BioProject Committee.
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Copyright © 2004 by Jack Zerby. Posted January 26, 2004.
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