July 11
1918 – Detroit proves that Walter Johnson is mortal by plating 8 runs in the final 3 innings for an 8-6, come from behind, victory in Washington. Ty Cobb knocks in a run and scores twice, as the Big Train fumbles a 6-0 cushion.
1925 – New Nat reliever Spencer Pumpelly becomes a card carrying member of the “One Game Wonder” club. The Yale product mops up for 1 inning and allows a home run to the first ML hitter he faces. Pumpelly’s line: 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 0 SO for a 9.00 ERA.
While Pumpelly gets his name in the baseball encyclopedia, the story of this tilt in St. Louis is George Sisler. Sisler, with a bases loaded triple in the 3rd and a slam in the 4th, drives home 7 RBI in 2 innings of the 10-5 Browns victory. The 7 RBI sets a new AL record for RBI’s in consecutive innings by a batsman.
1927 – Washington and Cleveland need overtime to settle today’s contest. With the game knotted at 2 in the top of the 10th with 2 away, player/manager Bucky Harris, on a double steal, steals home for the Sens, 3-2, win. With the victory, the Senators complete an impressive 6 game, road sweep of the Tribe.
1935 – Former Nat, but still a fan favorite, Goose Goslin contributes 3 hits for Detroit in the Tigers 7-6, 10 inning win in D.C. Goslin and Charlie Gehringer deposit a homer each for the Bengals. The Nats can take some solace in the fact that their pitching was able to halt Detroit’s Pete Fox‘s 29 game hitting streak.
1944 – At Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field, starting RF Stan Spence ropes 2 hits for the losing American League All Stars. OF George Case, C Rick Ferrell and P Dutch Leonard also represent Washington, but do not see game action, in the AL’s 7-1 loss.
1948 – In Washington, the Senators avoid a 3 game sweep to Bucky Harris‘ Yankees. The Sens swat the Yanks, 9-4, with Forrest Thompson getting the win in relief.
1962 – The Senators send along 1B Dale Long to the Yankees for the ever popular player to be named later. Four days later, that player to be named is Don Lock. In five seasons in Washington, Lock would belt 99 homers, 2nd on the all time expansion Senator list, and 286 RBI, 4th among expansion Sens. After the 1966 season, the Senators would peddle Lock to the Phillies in another good trade for reliever Darold Knowles.
1968 – The Birds stop the Senators at Memorial Stadium, 3-2. Del Unser‘s single in the 7th had temporarily put the Sens in the lead, but the O’s Andy Etchebarren‘s solo homer retied the game in the same inning. In the Orioles 8th, Frank Robinson scores courtesy of a Brooks Robinson sacrifice fly to give Baltimore the victory.
Senators Birthdays
William Robert Allison B Jul. 11, 1934 D Apr. 9, 1995
Another one of the few bright spots in the later years of the original Senators franchise, Bob Allison needs very little introduction.
First brought up in September of 1958, Bob Allison‘s rookie year of 1959 had Washington fans talking. Appearing in 150 games, Allison hit .261 with 30 home runs, 85 RBI and led the American League with 9 triples. This led to Allison being named 1959’s “Rookie of the Year”.
In 1960 his output dropped somewhat, but he still managed to hit .251 with 30 doubles and 15 home runs in 144 games.
Moving to Minnesota when the Senators bade farewell to Washington for the Twin Cities, Allison was a mainstay of the Twins lineup through the 1970 season.
He had 3 years when he hit over 30 home runs and an additional 5 seasons when he hit over 20. Allison was named to the All-Star team in 1959, 1963 & 1964 and appeared in 1 World Series with the Twins in 1965.
Allison would retire after 13 seasons with a career BA of .255, 216 doubles, 53 triples and 256 home runs.
George Alvin (Bingo) Binks B Jul. 11, 1914 D Nov. 13, 2010
Bingo Binks is another of the 14 players who played for the Philadelphia Athletics, St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators. In fact, those were the only teams he played for in a 5 season career that went from 1944 through 1948.
First playing in 5 games for the Senators in 1944, Binks would remain on the Washington roster in 1945 & 1946. Appearing in 145 games in 1945, he hit .278 with 32 doubles, 6 triples, 6 homers and 81 RBI.
Binks’ batting average dropped markedly in 1946. Prior to the 1947 season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Athletics for Lou Knerr. After one season in Philadelphia he’d be traded again, this time to the St. Louis Browns where his career would end in July of 1948.
An outfielder and occasional first baseman, Binks fielding prowess reportedly amazed Casey Stengel, long before the Mets were ever dreamed of.
As of this writing, Binks is one of the oldest surviving former major leaguers.
