| 1933 Washington Senators | |
|---|---|
| American League champions | |
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| League | American League |
| Ballpark | Griffith Stadium |
| City | Washington, D.C. |
| Record | 99–53 (.651) |
| League place | 1st |
| Owners | Clark Griffith and William Richardson |
| Managers | Joe Cronin |
The 1933 Washington Senators was a season in American baseball. They won 99 games, lost 53, and finished in first place in the American League. It was the third and final pennant of the franchise while based in Washington. The team was managed by Joe Cronin and played home games at Griffith Stadium. They lost the best-of-seven World Series in 5 games to the New York Giants.
It would be the last time a Major League Baseball postseason series would be held in Washington until the 2012 season. The Senators franchise, which moved to Minneapolis–St. Paul after the 1960 season, has since won three American League pennants (1965; 1987; 1991) and two World Series (1987 and 1991) as the Minnesota Twins. The Series also marked the last time the nation's capital hosted a World Series game until the Washington Nationals -- spiritual successors to the Senators -- played in and ultimately won the 2019 World Series over the Houston Astros in seven games.
Regular season
Player-manager Cronin was selected to the All-Star team as the starting shortstop and finished second in MVP voting. He also led the Senators with 118 runs batted in. 19-year-old infielder Cecil Travis had five hits in his major league debut.[1]
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Senators | 99 | 53 | .651 | — | 46–30 | 53–23 |
| New York Yankees | 91 | 59 | .607 | 7 | 51–23 | 40–36 |
| Philadelphia Athletics | 79 | 72 | .523 | 19½ | 46–29 | 33–43 |
| Cleveland Indians | 75 | 76 | .497 | 23½ | 45–32 | 30–44 |
| Detroit Tigers | 75 | 79 | .487 | 25 | 43–35 | 32–44 |
| Chicago White Sox | 67 | 83 | .447 | 31 | 35–41 | 32–42 |
| Boston Red Sox | 63 | 86 | .423 | 34½ | 32–40 | 31–46 |
| St. Louis Browns | 55 | 96 | .364 | 43½ | 30–46 | 25–50 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | NYY | PHA | SLB | WSH | |||||
| Boston | — | 11–7 | 6–16 | 11–11 | 8–14 | 14–8 | 9–13 | 4–17 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–11 | — | 9–13 | 10–12 | 7–15–1 | 12–10 | 15–7 | 7–15 | |||||
| Cleveland | 16–6 | 13–9 | — | 10–12 | 7–13 | 6–16 | 15–7 | 8–13 | |||||
| Detroit | 11–11 | 12–10 | 12–10 | — | 7–15 | 11–11 | 14–8–1 | 8–14 | |||||
| New York | 14–8 | 15–7–1 | 13–7 | 15–7 | — | 12–9 | 14–7–1 | 8–14 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 8–14 | 10–12 | 16–6 | 11–11 | 9–12 | — | 14–6 | 11–11–1 | |||||
| St. Louis | 13–9 | 7–15 | 7–15 | 8–14–1 | 7–14–1 | 6–14 | — | 7–15 | |||||
| Washington | 17–4 | 15–7 | 13–8 | 14–8 | 14–8 | 11–11–1 | 15–7 | — | |||||
Roster
| 1933 Washington Senators | |||||||||
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| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Luke Sewell | 141 | 474 | 125 | .264 | 2 | 61 |
| 1B | Joe Kuhel | 153 | 602 | 194 | .322 | 11 | 107 |
| 2B | Buddy Myer | 131 | 530 | 160 | .302 | 4 | 61 |
| 3B | Ossie Bluege | 140 | 501 | 131 | .261 | 6 | 71 |
| SS | Joe Cronin | 152 | 602 | 186 | .309 | 5 | 118 |
| LF | Heinie Manush | 153 | 658 | 221 | .336 | 5 | 95 |
| CF | Fred Schulte | 144 | 550 | 162 | .295 | 5 | 87 |
| RF | Goose Goslin | 132 | 549 | 163 | .297 | 10 | 64 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Harris | 82 | 177 | 46 | .260 | 5 | 38 |
| Bob Boken | 55 | 133 | 37 | .278 | 3 | 26 |
| Sam Rice | 73 | 85 | 25 | .294 | 1 | 12 |
| Moe Berg | 40 | 65 | 12 | .185 | 2 | 9 |
| Cecil Travis | 18 | 43 | 13 | .302 | 0 | 2 |
| John Kerr | 28 | 40 | 8 | .200 | 0 | 0 |
| Cliff Bolton | 33 | 39 | 16 | .410 | 0 | 6 |
| Nick Altrock | 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alvin Crowder | 52 | 299.1 | 24 | 15 | 3.97 | 110 |
| Earl Whitehill | 39 | 270.0 | 22 | 8 | 3.33 | 96 |
| Lefty Stewart | 34 | 230.2 | 15 | 6 | 3.82 | 69 |
| Monte Weaver | 23 | 152.1 | 10 | 5 | 3.25 | 45 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Burke | 25 | 64.0 | 4 | 3 | 3.23 | 28 |
| Alex McColl | 4 | 17.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.65 | 5 |
| Ed Linke | 3 | 16.0 | 1 | 0 | 5.06 | 6 |
| Ray Prim | 2 | 16.0 | 0 | 1 | 3.14 | 6 |
| Ed Chapman | 6 | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 8.00 | 4 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Russell | 50 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 2.69 | 28 |
| Tommy Thomas | 35 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4.80 | 35 |
| Bill McAfee | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6.62 | 14 |
| Bud Thomas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.75 | 1 |
| John Campbell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
All-Stars
Joe Cronin, starter, shortstop Alvin Crowder, reserve, pitcher
League top five finishers
- #4 in AL in RBI (118)
- MLB leader in wins (24)
- #4 in AL in stolen bases (17)
- #2 in AL in batting average (.336)
- #3 in AL in runs scored (115)
- #3 in AL in wins (22)
1933 World Series
Game 1
October 3, 1933, at the Polo Grounds in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| New York (N) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | x | 4 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Carl Hubbell (1–0) L: Lefty Stewart (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: NYG – Mel Ott (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 2
October 4, 1933, at the Polo Grounds in New York City
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington (A) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| New York (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | x | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Hal Schumacher (1–0) L: Alvin Crowder (0–1) | ||||||||||||
| HR: WAS – Goose Goslin (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 3
October 5, 1933, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Washington (A) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | x | 4 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Earl Whitehill (1–0) L: Freddie Fitzsimmons (0–1) S: Hi Bell (1) | ||||||||||||
Game 4
October 6, 1933, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (N) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| Washington (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Carl Hubbell (2–0) L: Monte Weaver (0–1) | ||||||||||||||
| HR: NYG – Bill Terry (1) | ||||||||||||||
Game 5
October 7, 1933, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York (N) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
| Washington (A) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Dolf Luque (2–0) L: Jack Russell (0–1) | |||||||||||||
| HR: NYG – Mel Ott (2) WAS – Fred Schulte (1) | |||||||||||||
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern Association | Bert Niehoff |
| C | Springfield Chicks | Middle Atlantic League | Jake Pitler |
Notes
- Sports Illustrated, Oct 27, 2008, p.24, Vol. 109, No. 16
References
- 1933 Washington Senators at Baseball-Reference
- 1933 Washington Senators team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.