erik lundegaard

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Tuesday January 03, 2023

Boxscores: May 30, 1935

Not a bad game. Phillies took an early 3-0 lead, Braves came back to tie it 4-4, then went ahead 5-4 in the 6th and 6-4 in the 7th. But the Phillies ended any suspense by scoring 7 runs in the botom of the 8th to put it away.

That said, it wasn't exactly important in the standings. It's the first game of a late May 1935 doubleheader between two historically bad teams who were even worse this particular year. The Phillies would finish the season 64-89, .418, the second-worst team in the National League. But they were miles ahead of the Braves, who finished 38-115, .248, and are contenders for the worst team in baseball history.

So why am I writing about it? It's the last game ever played by Babe Ruth. He started in left field, went 0-1, and was removed, or more likely took himself out, for Hal Lee, who went 3-4 in a losing effort. Here's Lee's Baseball Reference page. He played seven seasons (1930-36) for perennial losers: the Braves, Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers/Robins. His career slash line was .275/.326/.392. He led the league in nothing except, in his final season, grounding into double plays. He wound up playing in the Texas League after all that, and became a manager. He died in 1989.

So what did Ruth do with his at-bat? How did he make an out? All I know is he didn't strike out but I'm having trouble finding more info. This is from the Philadelphia Inquirer's story on the game:

Babe Ruth's failure to play more than one inning was the only disappointment that the crowd was forced to bear. The big Bambino limped out into left field to start the first game, batted once and played one inning and then retired to the clubhouse to pet his creaking joints.

Could you do a SABR trivia week on this? Players who replaced legends in their final games? I know there's also Michael Saunders for Ken Griffey Jr., for example. And I just looked up Jim Gantner pinch-running for Henry Aaron. Don't know if it's a quiz, though. 

Posted at 11:49 AM on Tuesday January 03, 2023 in category Baseball