1909 American League Retirements

The baseball torch is passed from season to season and in some cases, from game to game. In 1911, Cy Young pitched his final Major League game, lost 1-0, and ended the final season of his career with a losing record of 7-9 and an ERA of 3.77. Young's opponent that particular day was a first-year pitcher named Grover Alexander who received the win, added to his league leading shutout total, and went on to begin his career with a winning record of 28-13 and an ERA of 2.57.

Bob Gibson, who was easily one of the most intense competitors of all time, gave up a grand slam to the last Major League hitter he faced, Pete LaCock of the Chicago Cubs. Fifteen years passed and when the two faced off during an old-timer's game, Gibson hit LaCock on his back with a fastball.

Babe Ruth summed it up when he responded to a question about retirement by saying, "A ballplayer should quit when it starts to feel as if all the baselines run uphill." Baseball Almanac is pleased to present a comprehensive list of American League League players who hung up their spikes in 1909.

"You are George Brett and all the cheering has stopped. The music is muted, the hour is late, and they will be taking the banners down and emptying your locker any minute now. As the late Jimmy Cannon would say it, 'All your bats are broken.'" - Broadcaster Jim Murray
 

American League Retirements

1909

n/a Fred Burchell Boston Red Sox P 30
n/a Charlie Chech Boston Red Sox P 32
n/a Jack Chesbro Boston Red Sox P 35
n/a Babe Danzig Boston Red Sox 1B 23
n/a Paul Howard Boston Red Sox OF 26
n/a William Matthews Boston Red Sox P 32
n/a Chet Nourse Boston Red Sox P 22
n/a Jake Atz Chicago White Sox 2B 30
n/a George Davis Chicago White Sox 1B 39
n/a Jiggs Donahue Chicago White Sox 1B 30
n/a Lou Fiene Chicago White Sox P 25
n/a Frank Isbell Chicago White Sox 1B 34
n/a Frank Owen Chicago White Sox P 30
n/a Ham Patterson Chicago White Sox 1B 32
n/a Barney Reilly Chicago White Sox 2B 25
n/a Harry Suter Chicago White Sox P 22
n/a Mike Welday Chicago White Sox OF 31
n/a Red Booles Cleveland Naps P 29
n/a Glenn Liebhardt Cleveland Naps P 27
n/a Milo Netzel Cleveland Naps 3B 24
n/a Harry Otis Cleveland Naps P 23
n/a Tom Raftery Cleveland Naps OF 28
n/a Duke Reilley Cleveland Naps OF 25
n/a Bob Rhoads Cleveland Naps P 30
n/a Carl Sitton Cleveland Naps P 28
n/a Denny Sullivan Cleveland Naps OF 27
n/a Jerry Upp Cleveland Naps P 26
n/a Fred Winchell Cleveland Naps P 28
n/a Lucky Wright Cleveland Naps P 30
n/a Elijah Jones Detroit Tigers P 28
n/a Claude Rossman Detroit Tigers 1B 28
n/a Kid Speer Detroit Tigers P 23
n/a Dick Carroll New York Highlanders P 25
n/a Jack Chesbro New York Highlanders P 35
n/a Irish McIlveen New York Highlanders PH 29
n/a Doc Newton New York Highlanders P 32
n/a Al Orth New York Highlanders 2B 37
n/a Eddie Tiemeyer New York Highlanders 1B 25
n/a Jack Wanner New York Highlanders SS 24
n/a Pete Wilson New York Highlanders P 24
n/a Scotty Barr Philadelphia Athletics OF 23
n/a Bob Ganley Philadelphia Athletics OF 35
n/a John Kull Philadelphia Athletics P 27
n/a Ed Larkin Philadelphia Athletics C 24
n/a Doc Powers Philadelphia Athletics C 39
n/a Rube Vickers Philadelphia Athletics P 32
n/a Walt DeVoy St. Louis Browns OF 24
n/a Bill Dinneen St. Louis Browns P 34
n/a Hobe Ferris St. Louis Browns 3B 35
n/a Ed Kusel St. Louis Browns P 24
n/a Jack McAleese St. Louis Browns OF uk
n/a Bill McCorry St. Louis Browns P 22
n/a Ham Patterson St. Louis Browns 1B 32
n/a Chuck Rose St. Louis Browns P 24
n/a Claude Rossman St. Louis Browns OF 28
n/a Wib Smith St. Louis Browns C 23
n/a Jimmy Williams St. Louis Browns 2B 33
n/a Cliff Blankenship Washington Senators C 30
n/a Orth Collins Washington Senators OF 30
n/a Jiggs Donahue Washington Senators 1B 30
n/a Jerry Freeman Washington Senators 1B 30
n/a Bob Ganley Washington Senators OF 35
n/a Frank Hemphill Washington Senators OF 32
n/a Mike Kahoe Washington Senators C 36
n/a Burt Keeley Washington Senators P 30
n/a Speed Kelly Washington Senators 3B 25
n/a Joe Ohl Washington Senators P 22
n/a Jimmy Sebring Washington Senators OF 28
n/a Bill Shipke Washington Senators 3B 27
n/a Jack Slattery Washington Senators 1B 32
n/a Roy Witherup Washington Senators P 23
n/a Bill Yohe Washington Senators 3B 31
1909 American League Retirements



Find out which players made their Major League debut in the American League during the 1909 season as this group of players bid farewell to their field's of dreams.

Did you know that future hall of fame pitcher Walter Johnson ended his Major League career in 1927 with a pinch-hit appearance? During the final game of the season pitcher Tom Zachary, who had just given up Babe Ruth's sixtieth home run of the season, was lifted and Johnson replaced him at the plate.

Stan Musial ended his Major League career on September 29, 1963. His final hit was a single during the sixth inning off Jim Maloney which drove in his last RBI (which was Curt Flood).