July 13
1909 – For the third day in a row, the Nationals fail to score. The Nats are whitewashed at Detroit, 3-0.
1916 – Detroit’s Bill James strikes out 7 straight batters in the Tigers 3-1 win at Washington.
1918 – In D.C., Harry Heilmann’s 1st inning, RBI bloop single is the contest’s lone run in Detroit’s 1-0 clipping of the Nats. The loss breaks Nats P Harry Harper’s personal 7 game win streak.
1927 – Detroit brooms the visiting Nats, 7-3 and 13-9. The Sens fail to take advantage of the 12 walks issued by Tiger’s starter Sam Gibson in the opener. In the second match, Heilmann is the star, going 5-for-5, with 3 doubles, in the 13-9 Nats defeat.
1940 – Washington is once again swept by the Tigers in a twin-bill, this time at Griffith. The Bengals slip by in game one, 4-3. In the night-cap, Bobo Newsom wins his 13th straight for Detroit, as he 2-hits his former and future mates, 4-0.
1952 – It is now the Tribe’s turn to broom a pair. Before 26‚770 fans at Griffith‚ Cleveland, behind the 2-hit pitching of Mike Garcia, shuts out Washington, 1-0, in the first game. The Nats score a run in the finale, but the Indians score 1 more, a 2-1 Sens loss.
1956 – The Tigers and Senators demonstrate how not to play baseball. In sloppily played affair, the Nats score 5
Connie Grob
runs in the bottom of the the 8th to pull out a 12-11 victory. Washington’s Connie Grob gets the win despite not officially facing a batter. Grob gets credit for the victory when the Tiger’s Bill Tuttle is caught attempting to steal home in the 8th. Both teams combine to use 12 pitchers, issue 13 walks, commit 4 errors and leave 20 men on base in the 3 hour, 35 minute contest.
1967 – The Nats kick off the second half of the season with a doubleheader sweep of the Tigers in D.C. Stadium. The Tigers race to an early 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning of game one, but the Sens storm back for 2 runs in their half of the 2nd and 3 more in the 3rd for a 5-3 advantage. Mike Epstein’s homer with 2 aboard in the 3rd is the pivotal blow. The Nats will tack on an additional 3 runs for the 8-3 victory. Epstein homers twice and SS Tim Cullen hits his first ML homer, with Camilo Pascual getting the victory. The Senators complete the sweep with an easy 6-1 win in the nite-cap behind the pitching of Joe Coleman. Epstein drives in a pair with a key, 2-run double off Detroit’s Denny McLain in the bottom of the 1st, giving Epstein 4 RBI overall in this twi-nighter.
Senators Birthdays
Stanley Anthony Coveleski (born Stanislaus Kowalewski) B Jul. 13, 1889 D Mar. 20, 1984
Hall Of Fame pitcher Stan Covelski first appeared in the majors with the Philadelphia Athletics for 5 games in 1912. He’d return to the majors in 1916 in Cleveland. Playing in Cleveland from 1916 through 1924 he’d put up some pretty impressive numbers, including 4 consecutive seasons (1918-1922) where he would win 22 games or more.
After 9 years in Cleveland, Coveleski was traded by the Indians to the Senators in exchange for By Speece and Carr Smith.
Coveleski would turn in another impressive year in 1925, going 20-5 with a 2.84 ERA, helping Washington to their second World Series appearance.
Released by Washington in June of 1927, Coveleski would return to the majors in 1928, appearing in 12 final games for the New York Yankees, where he’d finish with a 5-1 record for the season.
Coveleski would finish his career with a 215-142 record and only have 2 seasons where he had more losses than wins. (1923 & 1924, where he was 1 game below .500 each season.)
He would also record 3 World Series wins with the 1920 Cleveland Indians, but unfortunately go 0-2 for the 1925 Senators against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
John Augustus (Jiggs) Donahue B Jul. 13, 1879 D Jul. 19, 1913
Jiggs Donahue began his major league career at the turn of the last century with the 1900 Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher/outfielder. After 2 games with Pittsburgh Pirates in 1901, he joined the original Milwaukee Brewers in the first season of American League play. Moving with the Brewers to St. Louis in 1902, where they resumed play as the St. Louis Browns, he’d not appear on a major league roster in 1903.
In 1904, he’d return with the Chicago White Sox. By this time, Donahue had found his niche at 1st base. He’d remain with the White Sox through May of 1909 when he was traded to the Washington Senators, along with Nick Altrock and Gavvy Cravath for Bill Burns.
Donahue’s career would come to an end after 84 games with the 1909 Senators where he hit .237.
Donahue also saw World Series play with the 1906 White Sox where he went 5 for 18 in 6 games.
Kenneth Lawrence Hunt B Jul. 13, 1934 D Jun. 8, 1997
Outfielder Ken Hunt first got a taste of major league play with the 1959 New York Yankees, appearing in 6 games. Returning to New York for another 25 games in 1960, he’d be selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the expansion draft.
Hunt would appear in 149 games with the fledgling Angels in 1961 (his only season with over 100 games played), batting .255.
Purchased by the Senators in mid-September of 1963, he’d play in 7 games for Washington. In 1964, he’d appear in 51 more games, hitting .135.
Traded to the Chicago Cubs in April of 1966 for Bob Humphreys, he’d not return to the majors.
