Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Famer Tris Speaker. Playing twenty-two seasons nearly 100 years ago, Speaker is one of the few greatest players of the Dead Ball Era and one of the most excellent Center Fielders ever to play. While he had stints with the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, he is known for his years with the Boston Americans/Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians, where he won in both places, two in Boston and one in Cleveland.

Career Statistics/Accolades (1907-1928):

.345 BA 3,514 HITS 117 HR 1,531 RBI .428 OBP 1,882 RUNS

  • 1912 AL MVP
  • 3x World Series Champion (1912, 1915 & 1920)

As a Hitter

Looking back on the Dead Ball Era, Speaker was one of the most dangerous hitters of that era. As a Left Handed Hitter, striking Speaker out was relatively scarce, only striking out 393 times, while walking for a total of 1,381 times in twenty-two seasons. Speaker averaged 200 Hits at the plate in a season, which weren’t all base hits. Speaker led the league in Doubles eight times and double-digit Triples thirteen times. Indeed, he’s a guy you would want to be in the Batting leadoff, considering that he recorded an OBP of .400 or higher in 16 seasons. Also, having the ability to steal 30-plus bases a year and score 100-plus runs multiple times.

As a Defender

Before Willie Mays, Tris Speaker was regarded as the game’s greatest defensive Centerfielder. Over the span of twenty-two seasons, Speaker appeared in 2,691 Games/23,000-plus Innings in Centerfield. His career .969 Fielding Percentage was .06+ the league average at his position. His 6,757 career Putouts are 2nd all-time, and he is the all-time leader in Assists (448) & Double Plays (146) among Center Fielders.

Best Years

While Speaker won the MVP in 1912, it was not his greatest individual season. To me, it’s between 1916 and 1923. Below are Speaker’s best eight seasons, during which he led the league in quite a few categories.

1912: .383 BA 222 HITS 10 HR 90 RBI .464 OBP 136 RUNS (153 Games)

1913: .363 BA 189 HITS 3 HR 71 RBI .441 OBP 94 RUNS (141 Games)

1914: .338 BA 193 HITS  4 HR 90 RBI .423 OBP 101 RUNS (158 Games)

1916: .386 BA 211 HITS   2 HR 79 RBI .470 OBP 102 RUNS (151 Games)

1920: .388 BA 214 HITS 8 HR 107 RBI .483 OBP 137 RUNS (150 Games)

1921: .362 BA 183 HITS 3 HR 75 RBI .439 OBP 107 RUNS (132 Games)

1922: .378 BA 161 HITS 11 HR 71 RBI .474 OBP   85 RUNS (131 Games)

1923: .380 BA 218 HITS 17 HR 130 RBI .469 OBP 133 RUNS (150 Games)

Let’s be honest: the Dead Ball Era was more competitive than the people it was. Tris Speaker had nine seasons batting .350 or higher, yet he only led the league in Batting once, which is mind-blowing.

Legacy

Speaker played in the same time as Ty Cobb, the two played the same position, put up incredible offensive numbers, along with similar styles of playing the game. The two would be rivals, however, they end up as teammates in 1928 with the Athletics. Ultimately, Cobb was the better hitter, but Speaker was the better fielder, as Cobb was okay. Despite being a little overshadowed by Cobb, Speaker is one of the greatest all-around players to ever play. He is the all-time leader in Doubles (792), as well as being 5th all-time in career Hits and AVG, and is 6th all-time in Triples (222). He spent nine years in Boston and eleven years in Cleveland, if you were to make an all-time lineup for both franchises, Speaker is the starting Centerfielder for both teams. In 1937, he was inducted into the soon to be Baseball Hall of Fame, on the second ballot. In 1999, he was ranked #27 on The Sporting News list of 100 Greatest Ballplayers.

References:

  1. Tris Speaker via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tris_Speaker#
  2. Tris Speaker Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/speaktr01.shtml