George Harold Sisler (March 24, 1893 – March 26, 1973), nicknamed "Gorgeous George", was an American professional baseball first baseman and player-manager. From 1915 through 1930, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, and Boston Braves. He managed the Browns from 1924 through 1926.
Sisler played college baseball for the University of Michigan and was signed by the St. Louis Browns in 1915. He won the American League (AL) batting title in 1920 and 1922. In 1920, he batted .407 and recorded 257 hits, the record until Ichiro Suzuki had 262 in 2004. Sisler won the AL Most Valuable Player Award in 1922, finishing with a batting average of .420, the third-highest batting average by AL or NL players after 1900. An attack of sinusitis caused vision troubles that jeopardized Sisler's career, but he returned to playing in 1924, remaining in the major leagues through the 1930 season. After Sisler retired as a player, he worked as a major league scout and aide.
A career .340 hitter, Sisler had a batting average of over .300 a total of 13 times. He led the league in hits twice, triples twice, and stolen bases four times. He collected 200 or more hits six times.
In 1939, Sisler received 85.8% of the Baseball Writers' Association of America votes and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his fourth year of eligibility.
Early life Sisler was born on March 24, 1893, in the unincorporated hamlet of Manchester (now part of the city of New Franklin, a suburb of Akron), Ohio.DeLorme. Ohio Atlas & Gazetteer. 7th ed. Yarmouth: DeLorme, 2004, p. 51. . His parents, Cassius Clay and Mary (née Whipple) Sisler, were married after meeting at Hiram College, which they both graduated from. Both worked as schoolteachers at one point, though by the time George was born, Cassius was supervising a nearby coal mine.Huhn, Rick, p. 6 Manchester did not have a high school; thus, when George turned 14, he moved to Akron to live with his older brother Efbert so that he could attend school there.Huhn, Rick, pp. 8 Sisler played baseball, basketball, and football in high school, but baseball was his main focus.Huhn, Rick, pp. 9 Because of his good looks, the local newspapers began referring to him as "Gorgeous George". During George's senior year, Efbert died of tuberculosis, but George was able to move in with a local family and finish school.Huhn, Rick, pp. 11Lowenfish, Lee, pp. 53–55
College career
In 1910, Sisler signed a professional contract with the Akron Champs of the Ohio–Pennsylvania League, but he never played in the league or earned any money.Warburton, Paul, pp. 68–79Huhn, Rick, pp. 21-23 Instead, he followed his parents' wishes and attended the University of Michigan, where he majored in mechanical engineering and played college baseball.Huhn, Rick, p. 16 Freshmen were not allowed to play on Michigan's varsity teams, so Sisler pitched for an intra-campus team representing the school's engineering students in 1912, striking out 20 batters in seven innings during one game.Huhn, Rick, pp. 19-20Cook, William, pp. 190 After the season, he pitched for an industrial team in Akron. Barney Dreyfuss, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was impressed when he observed Sisler in a game. He purchased Sisler's contract and tried to force the player to join his ballclub in 1912.Huhn, Rick, p. 23 Refusing to report, Sisler was placed on the Pirates' suspended list, which threatened his professional eligibility.Huhn, Rick, p. 24
Recognizing he was in trouble, Sisler consulted Branch Rickey, Michigan's baseball coach. A former lawyer, Rickey determined that the contract should not bind Sisler, since the ballplayer signed it as a minor without the consent of his parents. Rickey and Detroit judge George P. Codd contacted the National Commission, baseball's governing body, asking for the contract to be declared illegal.Huhn, Rick, pp. 24-25 The commission failed to come to a decision in 1912 because one of its members, August Herrmann, thought Sisler should give the Pirates the first right to sign him, while Codd wanted the contract declared completely void.Huhn, Rick, p. 26 After Sisler's junior year, with the time when he would play professional ball nearing, Codd pressed Herrmann for a decision, threatening to sue for triple damages. Herrmann obtained a legal opinion that agreed with Sisler's position, and the Commission finally ruled the contract void in 1914.Huhn, Rick, pp. 40-41
Meanwhile, Sisler joined Michigan's varsity team as a sophomore in 1913.Huhn, Rick, pp. 27-28 He excelled on the mound for the Wolverines until a sore arm limited him late in the season. Offensively, he led the team with a .445 batting average, playing the outfield on days he was not pitching so his bat could remain in the lineup.Huhn, Rick, pp. 30-33 Sporting Life proclaimed him "the greatest college pitcher",Huhn, Rick, p. 30 and Vanity Fair named him an All-American for the first of three consecutive years.Huhn, Rick, pp. 33, 44
Over the summer of 1913, Sisler consulted Youngstown physician John D. "Bonesetter" Reese about his sore arm.Huhn, Rick, p. 35 The Wolverines were then coached by Carl Lundgren, hired as Rickey's successor after the former coach took a job with the St. Louis Browns.Huhn, Rick, pp. 31, 36-37 Sisler felt back in form by the time the season started, and his teammates voted him captain of the Wolverines.Huhn, Rick, pp. 36-37 He helped Michigan hold opponents scoreless for 44 straight innings, personally striking out 10 batters in a row before reinjuring his arm in a game against Syracuse.Huhn, Rick, p. 38 At the end of the season, he had two hits, three runs scored, and two stolen bases in the first of two victories over the Penn Quakers that gave the Wolverines the 1914 college baseball national championship.Huhn, Rick, pp. 38-39
Sisler did not remain the captain in 1915, as Edmon McQueen was selected.Huhn, Rick, p. 41 Lundgren planned to use Sisler less as a pitcher early on in hopes that his arm would not be sore by the end of the year. The plan worked.Huhn, Rick, p. 43 Though pitching statistics for the year were not kept, Sisler had one game where he limited the Cornell Big Red to one hit, and in another game he struck out 14 Notre Dame batters. He recorded five stolen bases in his final game for Michigan, stealing home once. Sisler batted .451 and committed no errors.Huhn, Rick, p. 44 He graduated in the summer of 1915 with his degree in mechanical engineering.
Professional career St. Louis Browns Early years (1915–1919)
Both Pittsburgh and the Browns were interested in signing Sisler to play professional baseball for them following his graduation. The Pirates offered $700 a month with a $1,000 bonus, but the Browns offered a $5,000 bonus with a $200-per-month salary. Sisler chose St. Louis because he was comfortable playing for Rickey, now the Browns' manager.Huhn, Rick, p. 46
On June 28, 1915, Sisler made his major league debut, entering as a pitcher in relief against the Chicago White Sox.Huhn, Rick, pp. 49 He pitched three scoreless innings and struck out two batters, while at the plate he collected his first major league hit, which came against Jim Scott. Five days later, he pitched a complete game victory in his first major league start, in which he struck out nine batters but also walked nine.
Rickey, however, thought Sisler was too good at baseball to confine himself to pitching every few days. First baseman John Leary was struggling at the position, and Rickey decided to try Sisler there.Huhn, Rick, pp. 50 Initially, the stress of learning a new position sent Sisler into a batting slump, but after Rickey let him pitch another game, his confidence began to grow. Sisler still pitched and played the outfield as well in 1915; on August 29, he defeated Walter Johnson in a complete game, 2–1 victory.Huhn, Rick, pp. 51-54 Offensively, he batted .285 with three home runs, while as a pitcher, he had a 4–4 record, posting a 2.83 earned run average (ERA),Huhn, Rick, pp. 56 slightly better than the American League (AL) average of 2.93.
In 1916, Sisler became the Browns' full-time first baseman, playing the position for 141 of the team's 158 games.Huhn, Rick, p. 58 His .305 batting average led the team, as did his hits (177) and slugging percentage (.400). Though Sisler's 24 errors that year led AL first basemen, Huhn wrote that he demonstrated "significant improvement and frequent brilliance" at the position.Huhn, Rick, pp. 58-59 He made only three appearances on the mound that year, but in his most notable, on September 17, he threw a shutout, defeating Johnson and the Senators 1–0.Huhn, Rick, p. 59
On August 11, 1917, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, Sisler recorded three hits in four at bats. The performance began a 26-game hitting streak, during which Sisler batted .422.Huhn, Rick, p. 65 For the season, he led the team in most offensive categories, and his .353 batting average was second in the AL, behind Ty Cobb's .383.Huhn, Rick, p. 66
Following the American entry into World War I, the draft was enacted in the 1917–18 offseason. Browns Urban Shocker and Ken Williams were both drafted during the 1918 season, but Sisler's Class 4 status kept him playing baseball for the whole year.Huhn, Rick, pp. 68-70, 73 Due to the war, the season ended on September 1, making it a month shorter than usual.Huhn, Rick, p. 71 Playing 114 games, Sisler led the AL with 45 stolen bases and placed third in the AL with a .341 batting average. A government-issued "work or fight" order required baseball players to assume essential wartime employment or become more eligible for the draft after the season.Huhn, Rick, pp. 69-70 Sisler enlisted in the army, joining several major league players as a second lieutenant in a Chemical Warfare Service unit commanded by Rickey.Huhn, Rick, p. 73 Undergoing training at Camp Humphreys in Virginia, Sisler was preparing to go overseas until the war ended that November, relieving him from his military obligation.Huhn, Rick, pp. 73–74
Returning to the Browns in 1919, Sisler struggled offensively at the beginning of the year, batting .207 through May 11.Huhn, Rick, pp. 78-79 His hitting improved thereafter, and Sisler led the AL in batting average and stolen bases by mid-August, while the Browns, at 47–40, were still in the race for the AL pennant.Huhn, Rick, pp. 79, 81 On August 22, the normally quiet-natured Sisler nearly exchanged blows with Carl Mays. Thinking that the Yankee pitcher was throwing at him and suspecting Mays of using an illegal substance, Sisler convinced umpire George Moriarty to search Mays, which Moriarty took 10 minutes to do. Nothing was found, and Mays and Sisler yelled at each other, squaring off to fight before Moriarty stepped between them and separated them.Steinberg, Steve, p. 65 The Browns struggled late in the season, finishing fifth in the AL with a 62–72–1 record, but Sisler finished the year leading the team in all offensive categories except games played.Huhn, Rick, p. 83 His .352 average ranked third in the AL, and his 10 home runs were topped in the league only by Babe Ruth's 29. Defensively, he had a .991 fielding percentage and led AL first basemen with 120 assists.
.400 hitter and MVP (1920–1922)
In 1920, baseballs began to be manufactured with a tighter-wound yarn, and a greater emphasis was placed on keeping the balls clean, which made them easier for the hitters to spot. These changes ushered in the live-ball era, in which many batters began to hit more home runs. Prizing sharp contact over power, Sisler did not try for home runs, and his numbers rose in other offensive categories.Huhn, Rick, pp. 85-87