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Clark Griffith: The Old Fox of Washington Baseball
Famed Washington sportswriter Shirley Povich once said that Clark Griffith’s life was a true Horatio Alger story. Born in a frontier log cabin in Missouri in 1869, Griffith enjoyed a successful 64-year career in baseball that ended with his death in 1955. He spent 20 seasons as a major league pitcher, another 20 seasons as a manager—including five as the first manager of the New York Yankees—and 35 years as owner of the Washington Senators, where he won three American League pennants and the 1924 World Series. One of the game’s greatest ambassadors, Griffith made his lasting mark as a labor leader and as one of the founders of the American League in 1901. This biography chronicles the Old Fox’s long life in baseball, revealing in the process a vast trove of sporting history and illuminating the changing landscape of both baseball and American culture.
- GenresBaseball
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 27, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 7, 2018
My interest in Clark Griffith extends from reading Bill Veeck's first set of memoirs, Veeck As In Wreck.
In it Veeck describes the long time owner of the Washington Senators described him as a hidebound
old fossil who was standing in the way of progress for the game of baseball. Griffith thought of him
as a young smart aleck who was just interested in publicity for its own sake.
Maybe had Veeck met Griffith in his younger days he might have had a different opinion of him. He
was a star pitcher at the turn of the last century who was one of the original people to jump to form
the new American League. As player manager he won the American League's first pennant in 1901
with the Chicago White Sox. He nearly won one in 1904 with the New York Highlanders soon to be
named Yankees and lost on the last day of the season.
He was hired in 1912 to manage the rather pitiful Washington Senators, a team with only one real
asset, just the greatest pitcher in the game Walter Johnson. Gradually he built up the Senators until they became a contending team. But he was ambitious for more. Griffith got some money
people together and bought some stock in the Senators and took over the ownership. His Senators
won pennants in 1924 and 1925 and a World Series in 1924 the only one in franchise history.
The Depression hit Griffith bad, his Senators were described in the book as a 'mom and pop operation' and it surely was. He never had the resources to compete with teams like Detroit or
Boston let alone the mighty New York Yankees. One more pennant in 1933 came to the nation's
capital.
But being there Griffith developed a great bunch of political contacts in both parties. In 1942 when
there was a move to cancel professional baseball, Griffith was the one who brought FDR and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis together and baseball was played during the war years.
He also scouted the Carribean in a big way opening up Latin America. Of course in keeping with
the color line those he brought in had to be pale enough to play.
Given Washington, DC's makeup today he should have been one of the first to move to integrate
baseball. That was left to Bill Veeck in the American League. Griffith was now a grumpy old man
trying to keep his franchise afloat. He did until 1955 when he passed away.
Six years later the Senators played their last game in Washington. They moved to Minneapolis-St.Paul and became the Minnesota Twins. It was Griffith's nephew and adopted son Calvin who
made the move.
Still Griffith has a deservedly honored place as a pioneer of baseball and this book will spell out the
reasons why.
In it Veeck describes the long time owner of the Washington Senators described him as a hidebound
old fossil who was standing in the way of progress for the game of baseball. Griffith thought of him
as a young smart aleck who was just interested in publicity for its own sake.
Maybe had Veeck met Griffith in his younger days he might have had a different opinion of him. He
was a star pitcher at the turn of the last century who was one of the original people to jump to form
the new American League. As player manager he won the American League's first pennant in 1901
with the Chicago White Sox. He nearly won one in 1904 with the New York Highlanders soon to be
named Yankees and lost on the last day of the season.
He was hired in 1912 to manage the rather pitiful Washington Senators, a team with only one real
asset, just the greatest pitcher in the game Walter Johnson. Gradually he built up the Senators until they became a contending team. But he was ambitious for more. Griffith got some money
people together and bought some stock in the Senators and took over the ownership. His Senators
won pennants in 1924 and 1925 and a World Series in 1924 the only one in franchise history.
The Depression hit Griffith bad, his Senators were described in the book as a 'mom and pop operation' and it surely was. He never had the resources to compete with teams like Detroit or
Boston let alone the mighty New York Yankees. One more pennant in 1933 came to the nation's
capital.
But being there Griffith developed a great bunch of political contacts in both parties. In 1942 when
there was a move to cancel professional baseball, Griffith was the one who brought FDR and Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis together and baseball was played during the war years.
He also scouted the Carribean in a big way opening up Latin America. Of course in keeping with
the color line those he brought in had to be pale enough to play.
Given Washington, DC's makeup today he should have been one of the first to move to integrate
baseball. That was left to Bill Veeck in the American League. Griffith was now a grumpy old man
trying to keep his franchise afloat. He did until 1955 when he passed away.
Six years later the Senators played their last game in Washington. They moved to Minneapolis-St.Paul and became the Minnesota Twins. It was Griffith's nephew and adopted son Calvin who
made the move.
Still Griffith has a deservedly honored place as a pioneer of baseball and this book will spell out the
reasons why.
December 17, 2011
Good biography of a forgotten baseball pioneer. Longer review here: http://eyesandearsblog.blogspot.com/2...
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews