{"id":1980,"date":"2014-12-02T18:14:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T23:14:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/appelpr.com\/?page_id=1980"},"modified":"2021-09-27T21:37:14","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T01:37:14","slug":"national-pastime-museum-roger-peckinpaugh","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=1980","title":{"rendered":"National Pastime Museum: Roger Peckinpaugh"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Marty Appel<\/p>\n

In 1974 I was writing my first book, Baseball\u2019s Best, with biographies of all the Hall of Famers, and I decided to interview Roger Peckinpaugh, who in 1914 became, and remains, the youngest manager in Major League history. He was 23.<\/p>\n

I was the Yankees PR director at the time, and we were training in Fort Lauderdale. Peckinpaugh was spending the winter just north, in Deerfield Beach, and he said, \u201cSure, c\u2019mon over.\u201d He was 83, sharp of mind, but bothered by a nagging cough.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay hello to ol\u2019 Lantern Jaw for me,\u201d said my mentor Bob Fishel, who had grown up in Cleveland. After Peckinpaugh\u2019s stint as player-manager with the Yankees in 1914, and the rest of his New York playing days from 1915 to 1921, he became famous for his play with Washington and Cleveland, and then for managing Cleveland before becoming the Tribe\u2019s general manager.<\/p>\n

On March 21, I arrived with my cassette recorder, with the agenda being my list of all the Hall of Famers I thought he might be able to comment on. It wasn\u2019t long before I realized my list was just pissing him off. These guys were in, and he wasn\u2019t? He couldn\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

\u201cManush? Kelly? Cuyler? Hafey? Appling? Boudreau? Medwick? For crissakes!\u201d Trying to ease the evening\u2019s mood, I agreed with him, telling him he certainly did belong. At that point he said, \u201cWhaddya mean?! I am in!\u201d
\nHe rose from the sofa and went to the bedroom, returning with a folded and yellowed newspaper from his bureau drawer.<\/p>\n

\u201cOUR MAN PECK; A HALL OF FAMER FOR SURE,\u201d it said. This was published long before there was a Hall of Fame, but it was good enough for him. Besides, he told me, his 1925 MVP Award also said \u201cHall of Fame\u201d on it. So there.<\/p>\n

When we got to Waite Hoyt, he sort of laughed and said, \u201cHoyt would never vote for me cause I blew a World Series game for him.\u201d (Hoyt was on the Veterans Committee.) In 1921, the Yankees\u2019 first World Series, Peckinpaugh made a first-inning error in the final game that allowed Dave Bancroft to score, and that was the only run of the game. Hoyt lost 1\u20130, and the Yankees lost the Series.<\/p>\n

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The 1921 World Series featured the New York Giants and the New York Yankees in a best-of-nine series with, for the first time, all games played at one site \u2014 the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. With the Giants leading the series four games to three, George Kelly hit a grounder past Yankee shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh in the first inning of Game 8, allowing Dave Bancroft to score the only run needed for the Giants to clinch the championship.<\/p><\/div>\n

The 1921 World Series featured the New York Giants and the New York Yankees in a best-of-nine series with, for the first time, all games played at one site \u2014 the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. With the Giants leading the series four games to three, George Kelly hit a grounder past Yankee shortstop Roger Peckinpaugh in the first inning of Game 8, allowing Dave Bancroft to score the only run needed for the Giants to clinch the championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cAwww, they said I didn\u2019t run the ball down to keep him from scoring,\u201d said Peck. He was traded to Washington soon after.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t the reason I was traded,\u201d he recalled. \u201cBabe Ruth hated (Miller) Huggins and wanted me to manage. Once we were leaving Boston after a tough loss, and Babe was drunk, and he said he was gonna throw Huggins off the train! He was heading for his drawing room. On the way he stopped in the men\u2019s room and punched this huge mirror. It fell into a million pieces. Me and Ernie Shore and Truck Hannah pulled him down to the ground and sat on him until he passed out. Truck\u2014a big guy\u2014puts him over his shoulder and moves him to the next car. I got traded soon after to get me out of the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Washington, Peckinpaugh won the 1925 MVP Award but made eight errors in the World Series, including a costly bad throw in Game 7 with the game tied that blew the game for Walter Johnson and let the Pirates win the Series. Peckinpaugh just wasn\u2019t meant to be the original Mr. October.<\/p>\n

When we got to Frank Chance, ah, here was a little gold. Chance was the man Peckinpaugh succeeded as Yankees manager in 1914.<\/p>\n

\"7627_a\"<\/a>\u201cWell, he liked me, and he made me captain when I was traded to the Yankees from Cleveland the year before. But in September he came to me and said he\u2019d had a run-in with the owners and he was going to quit and go home. The owners (Frank Farrell and Bill Devery), what did they know, they took the gate receipts and put them in a safe. They didn\u2019t know baseball. Anyway, Chance says he was going to recommend me to run the club for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Maybe you can get a little extra dough out of it,\u2019 he told me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day, Farrell says, \u2018We want you to take charge of the team for the rest of the season.\u2019 So I say, \u2018Yeah? What\u2019s in it for me?\u2019 So they offered me a little extra dough. And that\u2019s how I became the youngest manager in the big leagues at 23.\u201d<\/p>\n

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As a player with Washington, Peckinpaugh helped the Senators to their only World Series championship in 1924, and in 1925 he became the first shortstop to be honored with the AL Most Valuable Player award. Following the 1926 season, Peckinpaugh was traded to the Chicago White Sox where he was hampered by leg injuries and would retire following the 1927 season. In 1928, Peckinpaugh was hired by the Cleveland Indians where he served as manager through 1933 and again in 1941.<\/p><\/div>\n

As a player with Washington, Peckinpaugh helped the Senators to their only World Series championship in 1924, and in 1925 he became the first shortstop to be honored with the AL Most Valuable Player award. Following the 1926 season, Peckinpaugh was traded to the Chicago White Sox where he was hampered by leg injuries and would retire following the 1927 season. In 1928, Peckinpaugh was hired by the Cleveland Indians where he served as manager through 1933 and again in 1941.<\/p>\n

The interview had its moments. Peckinpaugh wasn\u2019t a big fan of Negro League players getting into the Hall of Fame. \u201cSo they go to him and say, \u2018Hey Satch, how many would you have won in the big leagues?\u2019 And Paige says, \u2018Oh, 30.\u2019 \u2018Great! You\u2019re in!\u2019\u201d
\nHis take on Jackie Robinson\u2019s signing was that it was a grand scheme by Branch Rickey and his Montreal manager Clay Hopper to pick the best player available\u2014Robinson\u2014change his position, and have him fail. That way they could say, \u201cWell, we tried, but even the best one couldn\u2019t make it.\u201d (to hear Roger Peckinpaugh tell this story click here)<\/p>\n