1896
Born February 20, 1896
St. Louis, MO, USA
Muddy Ruel Marquee
b. February 20, 1896 · St. Louis Browns 1915, 1933, New York Yankees 1917–1920, Boston Red Sox 1921–1922, 1931, Washington Senators 1923–1930, Detroit Tigers 1931–1932, Chicago White Sox 1934
Muddy Ruel was catching for the New York Yankees on August 16, 1920 when Carl Mays's pitch struck Ray Chapman in the head; Ruel was the man who caught Chapman as he collapsed. Four years later he scored the winning run in the twelfth inning of the deciding game of the World Series for Washington.
He caught nineteen seasons for seven clubs and was among the most respected receivers of the 1920s, working with Walter Johnson through the Senators' best years. Power was never part of it: four home runs in 1,468 games.
Born in St. Louis in 1896, Ruel qualified as a lawyer during his playing career, later managed the Browns and served as an assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball. He was sixty-seven at his death in November 1963.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball Magazine All-Star | 3 | 1925, 1926, 1927 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1915 | SLB | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1917 | NYY | 6 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .118 |
| 1918 | NYY | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .333 |
| 1919 | NYY | 79 | 233 | 18 | 56 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 34 | 26 | 4 | .240 |
| 1920 | NYY | 82 | 261 | 30 | 70 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 15 | 18 | 4 | .268 |
| 1921 | BOS | 113 | 358 | 41 | 99 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 41 | 15 | 2 | .277 |
| 1922 | BOS | 116 | 361 | 34 | 92 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 41 | 26 | 4 | .255 |
| 1923 | WSH | 136 | 449 | 63 | 142 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 54 | 55 | 21 | 4 | .316 |
| 1924 | WSH | 149 | 501 | 50 | 142 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 57 | 62 | 20 | 7 | .283 |
| 1925 | WSH | 127 | 393 | 55 | 122 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 54 | 63 | 16 | 4 | .310 |
| 1926 | WSH | 117 | 368 | 42 | 110 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 53 | 61 | 14 | 7 | .299 |
| 1927 | WSH | 131 | 428 | 61 | 132 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 52 | 63 | 18 | 9 | .308 |
| 1928 | WSH | 108 | 350 | 31 | 90 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 55 | 44 | 14 | 12 | .257 |
| 1929 | WSH | 69 | 188 | 16 | 46 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 31 | 7 | 0 | .245 |
| 1930 | WSH | 66 | 198 | 18 | 50 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 24 | 13 | 1 | .253 |
| 1931 | BOS/DET | 47 | 133 | 7 | 31 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 14 | 7 | 0 | .233 |
| 1932 | DET | 51 | 136 | 10 | 32 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 6 | 1 | .235 |
| 1933 | SLB | 36 | 63 | 13 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 4 | 0 | .190 |
| 1934 | CHW | 22 | 57 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 0 | .211 |
| Career | — | 1468 | 4514 | 494 | 1242 | 187 | 29 | 4 | 534 | 606 | 238 | 61 | .275 |
On this day & linked events
1963
Died November 13, 1963
1915
Major-league debut: Muddy Ruel
Muddy Ruel made a major-league debut on May 29, 1915.
1934
Final major-league game: Muddy Ruel
Muddy Ruel played a final major-league game on August 25, 1934.
Image: Goudey, public domain