World Series: Did You Know?

Jimmie Wilson needed four cracks at the Fall Classic before he could become a hero. He got in three World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals in the late 20s and early 30s, but didn't have a breakthrough. It was a while later when an unusual set of circumstances pressed the 40-year old catcher into services in the Fall Classic. And Jimmie took full advantage of it.

"In his day," his biography on Society for American Baseball Research reads, "Jimmie Wilson was that baseball rarity: a dependable, hard-nosed catcher who could hit." Hit over .300, Wilson did!.284 for his career

Wilson missed out on St. Louis beating New York in 1926. That was the famous Fall Classic where Grover Cleveland Alexander fanned Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded in game seven. Jimmie caught 79 games for the Philadelphia Phillies and appeared in 11 more as a pinch hitter. But did he ever hit! In marked the second straight season topping .300 (.305).

Alas, by the time he made it to St. Louis, their adversaries from '26 were waiting for them in the World Series. The New York Yankees more than recovered from their setback in the October Finale that year. They faced Pittsburgh in 1927, and swept them for the World Championship.

Back again in 1928, poor Jimmie Wilson and company had no chance. Waite Hoyt beat them 4-1 in the first game, and that was as close as it got for St. Louis. A 9-3 win in the second contest sent the Cardinals heading home in a hopeless situation.

Though game three was tied after five frames, it was New York that scored the games' last four runs, winning 7-3. That was the score in the next contest, too. The Yankees had a second straight sweep.

Jimmie Wilson didn't get to do much, hitting just .091 in three Fall Classic games. St. Louis made it back to the World Series in 1930, only to be turned back by the Philadelphia Athletics in six games. Our boy got into four games, while the Cardinals' out backstopper Gus Mancuso played in two. Wilson hit .267 and had two RBIs. Not bat.

St. Louis won the rematch next season, but their catcher hit just .217 the World Series that year. It appeared, as the years went by, that this was Jimmie Wilson's last chance for glory at baseball ultimate stage.

But then, a change of scenery made things better. Wilson became a coach for the Cincinnati Reds in 1939, and even caught two innings of a game. During his time in Philadelphia, where the old catcher became a player-manager, Jimmie made a crucial suggestion to one of his infielders. Bucky Walters, originally a third basemen, converted to a pitcher after sustaining a torn cartilage and thumb injury.

And what a move that was! Wilson the catcher new a good arm when he saw one. Walters started pitching full time at age 26, and still managed to win 198 games and two ERA crowns! And better still, guess where Bucky was in 1939? Cincinnati.

The team won the pennant that season, but Jimmie Wilson had seen what happened to his team in the World Series before. Opponent, Yankees. Result? Sweep. Wilson was just a coach, remember. Even if he could still play, he'd have had tough competition for the catching job. The was Ernie Lombardi and Willard Hershberger on Cincinnati. Lombardi hit .287 with 20 home runs. Hershberger was just plain awesome as the backup backstopper for Cincinnati. In only 63 games in 1939, Willard hit .345 with 32 runs batted in.

Herhsberger, though, was haunted by memories of his father, who'd committed suicide twelve years earlier. Writing for Cincinnati Magazine in 2022, Chad Dotson says this about Willard:

"One day in November [in 1928], he went hunting and, when he returned, left his shotgun in the hallway of his family’s Orange County home. In the middle of the night, he heard a blast and Willard discovered his father’s lifeless body.

"Hershberger’s father was deeply in debt and having troubles at work, but the young man blamed himself for leaving his shotgun in the hallway."

There'd been some games that season that Willard had caught, in which the Reds lost, that he blamed himself for. The emotional stress proved more than he could cope with. So in August, with Cincinnati on their way to another World Series appearance, Hershberger committed suicide.

The Reds players were saddened, and vowed to win the World Series for him. But, in September, Lombardi injured his ankle. What would Cincinnati do?

Rather than go with a pair of available rookies, manager Bill McKechnie decided to activate Jimmie Wilson. The decision had been made about a week and a half after Hershberger's death (August 12th).

Wilson got into three August games, but really went to town in September, appearing in thirteen more. Jimmie started out hot with the bat, getting the batting average up to as high as .316 in-between games of a double-header (In which Lombardi suffered his injury). Alas, a season-ending slump knocked it down to just .243. Could he raise it come October?

The Detroit Tigers were sure to be some stiff opposition. Game one proved it. Wilson was behind the dish, but the Tigers won easily, 7-2. First time up, Jimmie flied out. It was 5-1 at the time of the old catcher's second plate appearance in the bottom of the fourth. But all he did was hit into an inning-ending double play. Lew Riggs would pinch hit for Wilson in the seventh.

It wasn't all for not. Two Detroit baserunners were erased attempting to steal second, with Wilson catching one, and Bill Baker nabbing the other. If the Tigers thought they could run on the Reds with Ernie Lombardi not behind the dish, they were wrong.
The next game saw Wilson and the Reds rebound. Cincinnati trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the second and then they grabbed some serious lumber! Frank McCormick opened the Cincinnati half of the second with a single. With one out, our boy was at the dish. Potentially, he could end the inning by hitting into another double play. But no, Jimmie singled! So did the next two batters! The score was tied by the time the frame ended, momentum all on the home team's side.

Jimmy Ripple batted in front of Wilson the next inning, belting a two-run home run, first pitch swinging. Though Jimmy was retired, his team was out in front for good. And Wilson added a single in the eighth, the ball hitting third basemen Pinky Higgins glove. The Reds won, 5-3. The batter of Cincinnati had done the trick. Who was the pitcher? Why Bucky Walters!

A surprising return from Lombardi was the big story going into game three in Detroit. The Cincinnati bats were sizzling (Ernie went 1-3, replaced by Bill Baker, who scored the last run of the ballgame), but their pitching was not. The Reds wasted four runs and ten hits. The Tigers used seven runs on thirteen hits to win, 7-4, and take a 2-1 lead in the 1940 Fall Classic.

So, it was back to Wilson back behind the dish in a crucial game four. Did he help?

Well, Jimmie only got one hit. But must have called a great game. Paul Derringer tossed a fine five-hitter, limited Detroit to just two runs. I think Derringer's batterymate would have wanted to contribute more.

Cincinnati grabbed a quick 2-0 lead in the first, but Jimmie Wilson was the last out. In the third, Jimmie Ripple doubled home Ival Goodman, and advanced Frank McCormick to third. Wilson was next, but could only ground out to Pinky Higgins at third. Eventually, Cincinnati got another man on, but did not touch home again that frame.

Goodman's sacrifice fly cashed in a fourth Red run in the fourth, making it 4-1. But again, Wilson could have added more, but didn't. He came up with runners on the corners and two away. He fanned.

Eventually, Wilson added a single, but it was meaningless. The good news was that the Reds won, 5-2. Wilson had to settle for a 1-5 day.

And the Bengals came right back to win the fifth contest. It was no contest, more accurately. Riding the wave of pitcher Bobo Newsom's masterful three-hit shutout, Detroit won the game 8-0. Jimmie Wilson only batted once, replaced by Bill Baker (Who pinch hit and stayed in the game) in the fifth.

So it was back to Crosley Field, where the 1940 World Series would conclude one way or another.

It was the home team that returned the shutout favour. Jimmie Wilson took position behind the plate for the Reds. On the mound, his converted buddy Bucky Walters.

In the bottom of the first, Billy Werber doubled to start it. A bunt and three consecutive singles scored two runs, and Cincinnati had the makings of a big inning. Was Wilson holding them back? He fanned for the second out, with men on the corners. Eddie Joost ended the inning by grounding out.

Still, it was 2-0, Cincinnati. It was also time for their catcher to contribute in the sixth. The score was had not changed. After Jimmy Ripple opened the Reds' half with a single, Wilson followed suit. Eddie Joost walked.

It was the makings of another big inning, one that could have put this game away. The home team settled for just that one run. And it was Jimmie Wilson that was plated on a force play. 

The Reds looked for more insurance the next inning. Mike McCormick singled. Ival Goodman bunted him into scoring position. Frank McCormick grounded out, with McCormick holding at second. The Tigers put Jimmy Ripple, who was hitting .333 in the World Series, on. That brought Wilson back to the plate. Jimmie Wilson came up, and this time, he drew a bases on balls. Bases loaded, two out. Alas,  Eddie Joost grounded out to end that.

Detroit was still in the game, but Bucky Walters' eighth inning home run spelled the end. Walters made Wilson proud, finishing with a five-hit shutout. What an amazing pair they were! The Tigers had gotten just eight hits, total, of Walters in eighteen innings of work. But I guess the pitcher had to show the catcher that he hadn't forgotten how to hit. As for Wilson's hitting, it was up to .267, tying what he'd done ten years earlier against Philadelphia.

All this, but game seven still had to be played. So Wilson was back behind the dish. Not that beating Detroit would be an easy thing. The Sporting News reported on the situation. 

"The veteran Jimmie Wilson was bothered with a Charlie horse and there were rumors (sic) he would not be able to stay in the game. Lombardi said he could go in if [Cincinnati Reds manager] McKechnie wished it, though he still limped slightly.  However, the Reds, superstitious like most ball players, had come to look on Wilson as an omen of good luck..."

For the most part, though, their was little luck involved in the Reds' catcher's game seven performance. And Jimmie would do something in this contest that the Tigers could not do to him.

In the bottom of the second, with the game scoreless, up came the Cincinnati catcher. With two outs, he singled. Then, he stole second base. This was the only base that either team pilfered the whole 1940 World Series. Detroit had learned not to run on Wilson, who nabbed the only two Tigers to attempt so on him. Alas, here in the second, the Reds catcher was on second, where the inning ended as Eddie Joost grounded out to second basemen Charlie Gehringer. Still, Jimmie Wilson put the catcher's mask back on, with his batting average up to .313 (5-16)

Gehringer, though, was on his way to the Hall of Fame. And he broke the ice in this contest with a third inning single off Paul Derringer. There were runners on the corners for the dangerous Hank Greenberg, himself a Hall of Famer. Both Wilson and Derringer worked out a plan...And Greenberg struck out! So Detroit was held to that one run. For that inning. And for the entire game.

Jimmie Wilson led off the fifth inning with a single. Nothing came of it, and his team was still losing. But it was not the Cincinnati catcher's fault. The hit made him 2-2 in this big game, boasting his batting average up to an amazing .353!

But if the catcher couldn't beat Detroit with his glove or his hits, then there were other ways to win games. 

The Reds, though, were running out of time in this game. Then in the seventh, they made their move. And it was fitting that both Ernie Lombardi and Jimmie Wilson helped.

Frank McCormick hit the ball off the wall in left for two bases. A good start! Jimmy Ripple then went to right, the ball hitting the screen, and the game was tied. Go-ahead run in scoring position, too.

Jimmie Wilson knew the Reds were having problems getting hits off Bobo Newsom. Newsome had picked up where he left off in the fourth game. Newsom had allowed just eleven hits in his first two starts in the 1940 World Series, winning both. Here, Bobo had been working on a four-hitter through six innings, so maybe Cincinnati had better focus on getting at least one run.

So Wilson bunted, and now Ripple was ninety feet away from scoring, with less than two out. Ernie Lombardi batted for Eddie Joost. The Reds' regular catcher was put on first, to set up a double play.  Lonny Frey was sent in to run for Lombardi, who was one of the slowest runners in baseball history.

Billy Myers then sent a Newsom offering to deep centre. Barney McCosky made the catch for the second out, and tagging at third was Jimmy Ripple! The Ripple Affect gave the Reds a 2-1 lead. Frey held at first. Unlike in today's day and age, pitcher Paul Derringer batted for himself this late in the contest. He forced hit into a force, and the inning ended.

Bobo Newsom and Derringer continued to pitch well after that, each giving up just one more hit. But no one scored. Earl Averill hit for Newsom in the ninth, and manager Bill McKechnie had both Joe Beggs and Whitey Moore loosing up in the Reds bullpen, but wasn't about to replace the man catching Paul Derringer.

Wilson called for a curveball from Derringer. It was taken knee-high for strike one. Averill, still another Hall of Famer, connected on the next pitch, but only grounded it to Lonny Frey, who'd stayed in the game at second. Frey flipped it to Frank McCormick at first, and the Reds had the 1940 World Series!

It was a great Fall Classic, with both teams battling back an forth. Yet, it had been Cincinnati overcoming so much. They overcame a 3-2 deficit, needing to win the last two contests. They overcame a great Detroit Tigers' team that had four Hall of Famers. But the real thing they overcame was the loss of two catchers, one under very tragic circumstances. Jimmie Wilson had big shoes to fill. His .353 batting average and steady catching provided Cincinnati with the lift they needed in a classic World Series. Wrote Gary Livacari, " 'Old man' Jimmie Wilson had answered the call of his manager brilliantly and was hailed as the hero of the Series."


References

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