May 22
1938 – At Griffith Stadium, Ted Lyons of Chicago collects his 200th career victory as the Sox down the Nats 9-2.
1953 – Sparked by OF Clyde Vollmer‘s 3 run double and 2 run homer, the Senators pound Yankee pitching for 18
Clyde Vollmer
hits in a 12-4 Senators rout. In the top of the 9th, Yanks OF Irv Noren lines into a game ending triple play. Former Yankee farmhand Bob Porterfield pitches the CG.
1963 – Eddie Yost‘s managerial career record will go into the record books at 0-1. Yost, in place of disposed skipper Mickey Vernon, pilots the Sens to a 9-3 drubbing at the hands of the White Sox in RFK.
Senators Birthdays
Franklin (Frank) Coggins B May 22, 1944 D Oct. 30, 1994
Frank Coggins played for parts of 2 seasons for the expansion Senators, starting as a late season call up in 1967. A second baseman, Coggins managed a .307 average with 1 home run in 19 games. Unfortunately, that would be the best performance of his career. With the 1968 Senators, he played in 62 games, managing a .175 average before being demoted to AAA.
Coggins would appear in 6 games, with 1 AB for the 1972 Chicago Cubs.
Foster Pirie (Babe) Ganzel B May 22, 1901 D Feb. 6, 1978
Outfielder Babe Ganzel is another player who started out with some pretty impressive numbers but quickly fizzled. Playing his first major league games with the Senators in late September 1927, Ganzel managed to hit .438, going 21 for 48 while appearing in 13 games. Returning in 1928, he only appeared in 10 games, hitting just 2 for 26, a paltry .077 BA. Ganzel would never appear in the majors again.
Decatur Poindexter (Dick) Jones B May 22, 1902 D Aug. 2, 1994
Dick Jones appeared in 4 games with the Senators in 1926, going 2-1 with a 4.29 ERA. In 1927 he was limited to 2 appearances, pitching 3.1 innings and giving up 8 runs. Mr. Jones would also disappear from major league rosters after April of 1927.
Aloysius Harry Szymanski AKA “Bucketfoot” Al Simmons B May 22, 1902 D May 26, 1956
Hall of Famer Al Simmons should need no introduction, however, in keeping with the format of this thread, outfielder Al Simmons spent 20 years in the major leagues, primarily with the Philadelphia Athletics. He actually spent 3 separate stints with the A’s: 1924-1932, 1940-1941 & 1944.
He also appeared with the Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox.
He appeared in 3 consecutive World Series (1929-1931) while in Philadelphia with both the 1929 and 1930 teams becoming World Champions. He also appeared in the 1939 World Series while with the Reds.
Simmons was the starting center fielder in the All Star games of 1933, 1934 & 1935. Among his impressive statistics are 157 RBI in 1929, and batting averages of .381 in 1930 and .390 in 1931, all league-leading feats.
With the Senators in 1937 and 1938, his better year was 1938 when he batted .302 with 21 home runs.
“Bucketfoot” Al Simmons career record
Jose Martinez de Valdivielso (Lopez) B May 22, 1934 Still living
Another member of the frequently mentioned “Cuban connection”, Jose Valdivielso was a utility infielder with the Senators. First appearing in 1955, he was on the Senators roster again in 1956. He would not return to the majors until 1959, having his most active year in 1960 when he appeared in 117 games. He would move west with the original Senators to become a Minnesota Twin where his major league career would end in 1961.
