June 17
1923 – The Pale Hose are assisted in their 5-3, 11 inning win in Washington by Nats starting P Skipper Friday and 3B Ossie Bluege. Friday walks 14 and Bluege ties a ML record by striking out 5 times.
1924 – Beginning the day 24-26 and in 6th place, the Nats come through with a 12-6 victory over the White Sox. Today’s win in Chicago commences a 10 game winning streak that will catapult Washington to the top of AL.
1925 – Manager and starting SS Bucky Harris extends his hit streak to 23 games. The Senators, behind P Tom Zachary, win in St. Louis, 2-1.
1953 – Recording the 3rd of his 10 shutouts for the season, Walt Masterson masters the White Sox, 1-0, at home.
1956 – In Chicago, the Sens are annihilated by the White Sox, 20-2, in the lid-lifter of a doubleheader. Senator reliever Connie Grob hurls the final 6 frames, allowing 11 runs. Future expansion Senator Dick Donavan fights off the boredom of watching his Sox teammates run laps around the basepaths to collect a complete game win. The Senators will bounce back in game two with a 10-4 drubbing of the Sox.
1957 – Hope College product Jim Kaat is signed to his first professional contract by Washington. The smooth fielding Kaat will go on to win 283 games over a 24 year career which spans 4 decades (1959-1983).
1963 – The dismal Nats find a new way to lose. This time, it is a balk. Washington starter Jim Duckworth and Cleveland starter Jerry Kralick lock horns in a pitching duel for 7 and a half innings With no score in the bottom of the 8th, Duckworth balks in Dick Howser for the go ahead run for the Tribe. Kralick gets the final 3 outs in the top of the 9th for a 1-0 Cleveland victory.
Senators Birthdays
Bennie Daniels, Jr. B Jun. 17, 1932 Still Living
Bennie Daniels got his first taste of the major leagues in the fall of 1957 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. From 1957 through 1960 he appeared in 53 games with the Pirates.
He joined the expansion Senators when he was traded, along with Harry Bright and R. C. Stevens for Bobby Schantz.
For the Senators he appeared in at least 32 games each season, from 1961 through 1965, with a career high of 44 games in 1962. His best year was the inaugural season with the “new” Senators when he went 12-11 for an expansion team that only won 61 games, accounting for 19.6% of the total wins. 1965 would be his last year in the major leagues.
Peter J. O’Brien B Jun. 17, 1877 D Jan. 31, 1917
Pete O’Brien first appeared in the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds in 1901, playing in 16 games at second base.
He wouldn’t return to the majors until 1906 when he played in 151 games for the St. Louis Browns. 1907 would find him starting the season on the roster of the Cleveland team, then known as the “Naps”.
After 43 games in Cleveland, he finished the 1907 season with the Senators playing in 39 games primarily at 3rd base. His major league playing days ended at the end of the year.
