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Which team was the "greatest team in history?" Folks have their favorites. The 1927 Yankees are often considered to be the best. To read Kashatus' book may lead one to reevaluate this judgment.
Connie Mack's 1929 Philadelphia Athletics was a powerhouse filled with four Hall-of-Famers who led the attack of this ferocious, colorful team. Their competitive spirit was sparked by catcher Mickey Cochrane, "Black Mike," who hit .331 and who was "known to respond to a loss by weeping, pulling his hair, and butting his head against the dugout wall." His equal in intensity was Robert Moses "Lefty" Grove, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Grove was 20-6 (.769) in 1929, posting 170 strikeouts with a 2.81 ERA. When Grove lost, - rare as that was - he often destroyed the locker room.
The two great sluggers on this World Championship squad were outfielder Al "Bucketfoot" Simmons, one of baseball most intense batters who in 1929 outslugged Ruth and Gehrig for the RBI title with 157 and hit .365 with 34 home runs and 41 doubles. His power partner was infielder Jimmie "Double X" (and "The Beast") Foxx. Foxx's home runs equaled and surpassed Ruth's for distance and in 1929 he hit .354 with 33 home runs and 117 RBI's. Other team members were pitchers George Earnshaw, Rube Walberg, and Ed Rommel with infielders Joe Boley, Max Bishop, and Jimmy Dykes. With Simmons in the outfield were Bing Miller and Mule Haas.
Kashatus sets the stage with an initial chapter on "Philadelphia in the Roaring Twenties" at which time baseball bounded to a new popularity. He tells us about the construction of Shibe Park at 21st and Lehigh which opened on April 12, 1909. It brought a special intimacy to the game and fit into its neighborhood in which many of the ballplayers lived.
From 1920 - 1926, Connie Mack, A's manager and part-owner, was in the process of rebuilding his ballclub. After World Series wins in 1910, 1911, and 1913, Mack's A's finished last for seven straight seasons. After Mack had disbanded his famed "$100,000 infield" it took him some years to assemble his "second dynasty." But he did. His wisdom emerged and when Al Simmons was concerned that Mack might change his bucketfoot batting style, Mack asked him: "Have you always hit like that?" "It's the only way I know," replied Simmons. "Then keep doing it son," said Mack. In building his team when his cash flow was low, Mack did take a bye on Babe Ruth from Jack Dunn's minor league club, saying, "Sell him where you can get some money. You can use it as well as I." Can one imagine what a team would have emerged had the Bambino come to Philadelphia?!
In 1927, Mack picked up the aging Ty Cobb, who had been hated in Philadelphia as a longtime player for the Detroit Tigers. In that year, Mack also reacquired Eddie Collins, a member of the famed infield, and the veteran Zach Wheat. But 1927 was the year of Yankee greatness and the A's finished in second place, 19 games behind the Bronx bombers.
The next year, the A's challenged the Yankees more closely. Cobb, whose legs could no longer carry him, stayed on, though he played for 2/3 of his salary for the last year. Mack also signed the aging Tris Speaker, who with Cobb had been accused of game fixing. These two, along with Collins and Kid Gleason gave Mack four ex-managers on his team. Though the Mackmen came close, they lost to the Yankees again, this time by 2½ games.
But 1929 was different. In '29, '30, and '31, Mack's A's won the American League pennant with World Series victories in 1929 and 1930. The 1929 Athletics were "one of the most cantankerous teams in the history of the game. They absolutely hated to lose, scratching and clawing their way to the top of the American League." This coupled with their sensational talents led to this string of victories and a 1929 - 1931 record of 313 wins and 143 losses (.686). This compares to the Yankees 1926 - 28 record of 302 wins and 160 losses (.654).
Kashatus' chapter on "Revenge of the White Elephant, 1929" chronicles the A's remarkable season. They ended up with a record of 104 - 46, eighteen games ahead of the second place Yankees. Athletics hitters sported a .296 batting average. Their pitching was brilliant. They led the league in strikeouts with 573, saves with 24, and an ERA of 3.44. In addition to Grove, Earnshaw led the league with victories and performed brilliantly with a 24 - 8 mark. He was second to Grove in winning percentage (.750) and strikeouts (149), while posting a 3.29 ERA. Walberg and Rommel also had fine years, Shores was fairly effective in relief, and the veterans Howard Ehmke and Jack Quinn had respectable numbers as well.
The 1929 World Series featured the A's against the Chicago Cubs who had won their first pennant since 1918. The Cubs batted .303 as a team and featured an outfield of Kiki Cuyler, Riggs Stephenson, and Hack Wilson, a trio that was "considered the most fearsome righthanded hitting attack in baseball history." In 1929 they combined for 71 homers, 337 runs, and 271 RBIs. The infield was led by National League MVP, Rogers Hornsby (.380, 39 HR, 149 Runs). But the A's defeated the Cubs, 4 games to 1 and won their first world championship since 1913.
1930 marked a repeat performance by the Mackmen who defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 2. Their pennant win in 1931 helped establish their "dynasty." That year, Grove posted a 31 - 4 mark with 175 strikeouts and a 2.05 ERA. That year also, Cochrane hit .349 with 17 HR and 89 RBIs while Simmons hit .390 with 22 HR and 128 RBIs and Foxx had 30 HR and 120 RBIs and hit .291. However, the 1931 Cardinals beat the A's in the World Series 4 games to 3.
In the midst of the depression, Connie Mack for the second time, began to sell his stars. Attendance at Shibe Park declined so revenues lessened and Mack returned to his conservative spending habits. Foxx was the last major player to depart, following the sale of Cochrane to Detroit, Grove, Bishop and Walberg to Boston, Earnshaw to Chicago, while Simmons, Haas and Dykes went to the White Sox. On December 10, 1935, Jimmie Foxx was traded to Boston. Connie was "Mack the Knife."
Kashatus next tells us what happened to the '29 A's. Some extended their careers quite well; and others had difficult days off the field. Foxx, for example, fought a losing battle with alcoholism for the last ten years of his life and died at age 59.
An "Afterword" from Ted Taylor, President of the Philadelphia A's Historical Society and two Appendices of statistics are included here as well as a final Appendix which presents a statistical comparison of the 1929 - 1931 Athletics with the 1926 - 1928 Yankees. While the Yankees may be considered a better hitting team, Kashatus concludes that Philadelphia had stronger pitching and defense.
This book shows one of the two kinds of teams that Connie Mack managed - the unbeatable, not the lousy. It is attractively produced, very well-written, and will be a volume that every fan of baseball history will greatly enjoy.
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