Tris Speaker Marquee Hall of Fame 1937

b. April 4, 1888 · Boston Americans 1907, Boston Red Sox 1908–1915, Cleveland Indians 1916–1926, Washington Senators 1927, Philadelphia Athletics 1928

He stood closer to the infield than outfielders are taught to stand, close enough to take throws at second base, and caught line drives from there that should have been singles. It cost his bat nothing. He led the American League in doubles eight times and finished with 792, more than any other player has hit.

Boston sent him to Cleveland after the 1915 season. He took over as Cleveland's player-manager in 1919 and won the World Series with the club the following year, still managing and still playing center field. On May 18, 1925, at thirty-seven, he singled in a 9-6 win over Washington for his 3,000th hit.

He was the league's Most Valuable Player in 1912, the year Boston won the World Series. He finished with 3,514 hits, fifth-most in this archive, and 1,882 runs over twenty-two seasons and five clubs, batting .345 for his career and .350 or better in nine separate seasons. The Hall of Fame elected him in 1937.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
Baseball Magazine All-Star	13	1909, 1910, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923
Most Valuable Player	1	1912

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1907	BOS	7	19	0	3	0	0	0	1	1	4	0	.158
1908	BOS	31	116	12	26	2	2	0	9	4	8	3	.224
1909	BOS	143	544	73	168	26	13	7	77	38	53	35	.309
1910	BOS	141	538	92	183	20	14	7	65	52	38	35	.340
1911	BOS	141	500	88	167	34	13	8	70	59	34	25	.334
1912	BOS	153	580	136	222	53	12	10	90	82	36	52	.383
1913	BOS	141	520	94	189	35	22	3	71	65	22	46	.363
1914	BOS	158	571	101	193	46	18	4	90	77	25	42	.338
1915	BOS	150	547	108	176	25	12	0	69	81	14	29	.322
1916	CLE	151	546	102	211	41	8	2	79	82	20	35	.386
1917	CLE	142	523	90	184	42	11	2	60	67	14	30	.352
1918	CLE	127	471	73	150	33	11	0	61	64	9	27	.318
1919	CLE	134	494	83	146	38	12	2	63	73	12	15	.296
1920	CLE	150	552	137	214	50	11	8	107	97	13	10	.388
1921	CLE	132	506	107	183	52	14	3	75	68	12	2	.362
1922	CLE	131	426	85	161	48	8	11	71	77	11	8	.378
1923	CLE	150	574	133	218	59	11	17	130	93	15	8	.380
1924	CLE	135	486	94	167	36	9	9	65	72	13	5	.344
1925	CLE	117	429	79	167	35	5	12	87	70	12	5	.389
1926	CLE	150	539	96	164	52	8	7	86	94	15	6	.304
1927	WSH	141	523	71	171	43	6	2	73	55	8	9	.327
1928	PHA	64	191	28	51	22	2	3	30	10	5	5	.267
Career	—	2789	10195	1882	3514	792	222	117	1529	1381	393	432	.345

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1914	BOS	0	0	1	0	0	1.0	2	1	0	0	9.00
Career	—	0	0	1	0	0	1.0	2	1	0	0	9.00

On this day & linked events

1888

Born April 4, 1888

Hubbard, TX, USA

1958

Died December 8, 1958

1907

Major-league debut: Tris Speaker

Tris Speaker made a major-league debut on September 12, 1907.

1912

Tris Speaker Hits for the Cycle, 1912

Tris Speaker hit for the cycle for the Boston Red Sox against the St. Louis Browns on June 9, 1912.

1925

Tris Speaker's 3,000th Hit

Tris Speaker singles in a 9–6 Cleveland win over Washington for his 3,000th hit, on his way to a career record 792 doubles.

1928

Final major-league game: Tris Speaker

Tris Speaker played a final major-league game on August 30, 1928.

Image: Bain News Service, public domain