WHY I THINK GAVY CRAVATH SHOULD BE IN COOPERSTOWN
By- Damien
Gavy Cravath was the dominant slugger of the dead-ball era.The powerful rightfielder was a six time NL leader in homers and a two time MLB RBI champion. Compared with the other two famous sluggers of the dead-ball era, Hall of Famers Sam Crawford and Frank “Home Run” Baker, Cravath beats them both out decisively in home runs despite playing many, many fewer games than either of them. He was also a good high average hitter and an on base machine. Gavy Cravath started his career with the Red Sox in 1908, with ten triples in 94 games. He played in 23 games between the White Sox and the Washington Senators in 1909, going a dismal 9-for-56, and stayed in the minor leagues until 1912. That season, with the Phillies, Cravath hit a stunning eleven homers, and brought the storm in 1913. The MVP runner-up batted .341 and led the NL in six different offensive categories. He led the MLB in home runs and drove in at least 100 runs in each season from 1913 through 1915. Cravath’s 1916 season was strangely similar with his 1912 year, as he batted .283/11/70 that year after hitting .284/11/70 in 1912. He led the NL in home runs three more times after 1917, including in 1919 when, at 38, he batted .341 and smashed a league leading 12 home runs in only 83 games. Cravath batted .289 in 46 games in 1920 before retiring. Gavy Cravath was a great hitter and a legendary slugger whose dominance as a slugger is in the realm of comparable with that of Babe Ruth. The Babe had an enormous impact on baseball during his prime, and Cravath, despite missing out on his age 29 and 30 seasons, also enjoyed sheer dominance throughout his career.
LIFETIME STATISTICS
Games career: 1,220 season high: 150 in 1915
At Bats career: 3,951 season high: 525 in 1913
Hits career: 1,134 season high: 179 in 1913 led NL: 179 in 1913
Doubles career: 232 season high: 34 in 1913
Triples career: 83 season high: 16 in 1917
Home Runs career: 119 season high: 24 in 1915 led NL: 19 in 1913 and 1914, 24 in 1915, 12 in 1917, 8 in 1918, 12 in 1919
Runs career: 575 season high: 89 in 1915 led NL: 89 in 1915
Runs Batted In career: 719 season high: 128 in 1913 led NL: 128 in 1913, 115 in 1915
Stolen Bases career: 89 season high: 15 in 1912
Walks career: 561 season high: 86 in 1915 led NL: 86 in 1915
Strikeouts career: 578 season high: 89 in 1916 led NL: 89 in 1916
Batting Average career: .287 season high: .341 in 1913
On Base Percentage career: .380 season high: .407 in 1913 led NL: .393 in 1915, .379 in 1916
Slugging Percentage career: .478 season high: .568 in 1913 led NL: .568 in 1913, .510 in 1915
Total Bases career: 1,889 season high: 298 in 1913 led NL: 298 in 1913, 266 in 1915
Sacrifice Hits career: 105 season high: 16 in 1912 and 1917
Fielding Percentage career: .944 season high: .966 in 1912 and 1916
Double Plays career: 28 season high: 8 in 1914
Putouts career: 1,681 season high: 233 in 1915
Assists career: 176 season high: 34 in 1914 led NL RF: 26 in 1912, 34 in 1914, 28 in 1915
DID YOU KNOW?
-nicknamed “Cactus” and “Gavvy” (like “savvy”)
-finished second in the 1913 NL batting race to league MVP Jake Daubert (.350), who was featured in an earlier article
-also finished 22nd in the 1914 NL MVP Award voting
-hit a double and a triple in the 1915 World Series
-led the NL in homer percentage every year from 1912 through 1918 except for 1916, when he finished second
-was the oldest player in the NL in 1919 and 1920 (he didn’t make his debut until age 27)
-led the NL in extra-base hits in 1913 (67), 1915 (62), 1917 (57), and 1918 (40)
-led the NL in times on base in 1913 (237) and 1915 (241)
-led the NL in OPS in 1913 (.974), 1914 (.901), and 1915 (.902)
-hit three home runs each off of Rube Marquard and Hippo Vaughn, two each off of Mordecai Brown, Christy Mathewson, Ed Reulbach, and Wilbur Cooper, and one each off of Jack Coombs, Dolf Luque, and Art Nehf
-among MLB rightfielders, ranks 46th in career double plays and 14th in assists
-also played three games at third base, 109 in leftfield, 38 in centerfield, and 134 as a pinch hitter
Gavvy was a very good player, but I think your overestimating his dominance. A big reason why he hit so many homers is just his home park. For his career, he hit 93 homers at home and a mere 26 on the road. Still, his career OPS+ was 151, and he had a very successful minor league career.
ReplyDeleteA question: Why did you say Cravath was out of baseball from 1909 to 1911? He was playing for the Minneapolis Millers in the American Association. And doing very well, I might add. In 1909 he hit .291 with 4 homers, in 1910 he hit .327 with 14 homers, and in 1911 he hit .363 with 29 homers.
Merry Christmas, by the way!
Merry Christmas to you, too! I did want to explain a few things: firstly, I knew that you would like his career OPS+; he was also just a good all-around hitter - he led the NL in hits once and in OBP twice, clearly proving that he was not simply a dead-ball era Dave Kingman. He did have fairly good power on the road, but he packed so much into such a short period, that I believe that I should become one of his many advocates. Secondly, when I said that he was out of baseball from 1909 through 1911, I meant that he was out of the MLB. I have made that mistake before, and I will probably make it again. I first wrote this article a few months ago, as I did many others.
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