This Date in Washington Senators History – 1932 Senators improve to 18-5

May 13

1903 – A 3-0 win at St. Louis snaps a 7 game losing streak for the Sens. The 1903 Nats will finish in last place with a 43-94 record under manager Tom Loftus.

1926 – “Bullet” Joe Bush records his only victory as a Senator as the defending AL champs knock off the Browns 6-2 in Washington. The victory keeps the Nats in a 1st place tie with the Yanks, but this would be the Sens final day in first. Bush, acquired with OF Jack Tobin from the Browns for pitchers Tom Zachary and Win Ballou, would go 1-8 with a 6.69 ERA before being sold to Pittsburgh in July.

1932 – Alvin “General” Crowder shuts out Detroit 7-0 at Briggs Stadium as the Senators improve to 18-5 on the

Alvin Crowder

Alvin Crowder

season. For Crowder, this victory is one of his career high 26 victories that he will record for the season.

1948 –  The Senators trade OF Leon Culberson and $20,000 to the Yankees for OF Bud Stewart. Stewart would play 3 seasons with the Sens, with the 1948 season ranking as the best year of his career, when he hit .279 with 7 HR and 69 RBI. Stewart would be dealt to the White Sox in December, 1950 for OF Mike McCormick.

1953 – C Ed Fitz Gerald is purchased by Washington from Pittsburgh. Mostly a backup, Fitz Gerald played parts of 7 seasons with Washington before being dealt to Cleveland in 1959, where he would finish his career.

1961 The expansion Sens record their first ever shutout. Tom Sturdivant goes the distance as he silences the Red Sox bats 4-0 at Griffith Stadium. Sturdivant yields only 2 base runners in the complete game win.

Senators Birthdays

A trio of Senators birthdays to note today…

Carden Edison Gillenwater B May 13, 1918 D May 10, 2000

Carden Gillenwater began his major league career with the 1940 St. Louis Cardinals, appearing in 7 games as an outfielder. He returned to the majors for another short stint with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943, then played for the Boston Braves in 1945 and 1946. His most active season was 1945 when he appeared in 144 games, batting .288 with 7 home runs. His career ended with the Washington Senators in 1948 when he appeared in 77 games, hitting .244 with 3 home runs.

Carden Gillenwater career record

Frank Vernon Hemphill B May 13, 1878 D Nov. 16, 1950

Frank Hemphill‘s career was rather brief-13 games with the Chicago White Sox in 1906 and then a return to the majors in 1909 when he appeared in 1 game for the Senators, going 0-3 at the plate.

Frank Hemphill career record

John Junior (Johnny) Roseboro B May 13, 1933 D Aug. 16, 2002

Johnny Roseboro’s career began with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1957 when he appeared in 35 games. He went west with the Dodgers to Los Angeles in 1958 and was a mainstay of the Dodgers through 1967, appearing in over 100 games each season during that span. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins prior to the 1968 season, playing for the Twins in 1968 & 1969.
His last season in the majors was 1970 when he appeared in 46 games for the Senators after being picked up as a free agent during the off-season. He was released by the Senators on August 19th of that year, after appearing in 46 games, hitting .233 with 1 home run.

Johnny Roseboro career record