Hall of Fame outfielder Tris Speaker earns induction to the COG as an easy first ballot winner in the 102nd round of COG balloting. The all-time doubles king, Speaker compiled a remarkable 133.7 WAR over 22 seasons, including 15 straight campaigns (1909-23) above 5 WAR. Speaker’s career milestones exceeding 3000 hits, 1500 runs, 1500 RBI and 400 stolen bases have been matched by only one other player – his exact contemporary Ty Cobb.
More on Speaker after the jump.
While Speaker’s accomplishments as a center-fielder would be matched in his career only by Cobb, one first for Speaker that Cobb didn’t match was becoming the youngest center-fielder to record two 6 WAR seasons, doing so at age 22 (Cobb played mostly right field before moving to center at age 23). Mickey Mantle, Vada Pinson, Cesar Cedeno and Andruw Jones all matched Speaker’s feat but only Mike Trout has bettered it with three such seasons so young.
After that impressive start to his career, Speaker turned it up a notch with three 8 WAR seasons consecutively aged 24-26, each with 35 doubles and 275 total bases, something no other center-fielder has done at any age. The first of those seasons, in 1914, saw Speaker compile 53 doubles and 52 stolen bases, a 50/50 campaign that has since been matched only by Craig Biggio in 1998. After an age 27 off-season (by Speaker’s standards) of *only* 7.1 WAR, Speaker was dealt to the Indians where, in his Tribe debut, he turned in a season leading the majors in WAR, Hits, BA, OBP, SLG, OPS and OPS+. That would be the first of twelve straight years with 30 doubles, 70 runs and 60 RBI, running Speaker’s total of such seasons to the still record total of 16 (only Stan Musial‘s 15 straight seasons has bettered Speaker’s streak of 12 such campaigns).
In 1918, Speaker passed the 350 career milestone in both doubles and stolen bases, following Sherry Magee and Ty Cobb as players doing so by their age 30 season, an elite club of three that is still waiting for its next member. The next season, Speaker took over the manager’s seat for Cleveland, but didn’t skip a beat on the field, starting a streak that year of 9 straight 35 double seasons, the most after age 30, consecutively or otherwise. Speaker’s 8.5 WAR season in 1920 with a .388/.483/.562 slash led the Indians to their first pennant and victory in the World Series over Brooklyn. That would be the first of four straight 40 double seasons (including three seasons with 50), the longest such streak of seasons after age 30, concluding with a 9.1 WAR 1923 campaign with 59 doubles and 130 RBI, the latter marks both career highs and the only such 50/100 season by a player aged 35 or older.
Speaker slowed down after that 1923 campaign, but only slightly. His 188 doubles aged 36+ edged out Cobb by two and came in only 608 games (the next highest doubles total in fewer games after age 35 is Zack Wheat‘s 126 doubles in 490 games). Included in those final years was his career best .389 BA at age 37 and a final 50 double season at age 38. At his retirement, Speaker’s 792 doubles was the highest total for a career and remains so today. Speaker’s 3514 hits then (1928) ranked second only to Cobb and his 1381 walks second only to Collins, while his 1882 runs and .345 BA (min. 6000 PA) were both third best all-time.
Quiz: Speaker and Cobb finished their careers as teammates on the 1928 Athletics, playing together with Eddie Collins (the next COG inductee) to make those A’s the only team with 3 players who had already passed the 3000 hit plateau. Which is the only other team with 3 players who are now in the 3000 hit club?
