August 23
1906 – The “Hitless Wonders”, the White Sox, earn their 19th straight victory, defeating Washington, 4-1, in D.C. Chicago’s 19 game win streak will be an AL record until it is duplicated by the Yankees in 1947.
1912 – The Big Train reels off his 16th consecutive victory, rolling past the Tigers
in Washington, 8-1. Johnson is now 29-7 on the season. The 16 straight victories is still an AL record, shared by Johnson, “Smokey” Joe Wood and Lefty Grove.
1953 – The Senators are nipped by visiting Boston, 5-4. Batting in the 6th spot, Red Sox starting pitcher Mel Parnell collects 2 hits before departing. Ted Williams‘ homer in the top of the 7th ties the game and future Nat, Karl Olson, wins it for Boston with a 9th inning double.
1963 – Firmly embedded in 10th place, the Nats return home from a 9 game road trip and are flattened by the Angels, 17-0. Two ML records are tied in the contest. The first is Los Angeles 1B Lee Thomas taking part in a ML tying 6 double plays. The second is Angels 3B Felix Torres starting 4 of those DP’s, a ML tying mark for 3B. The Angels place 19 hits, with only 5 of those hits being for extra bases. The Sens meager offense can only dig up 3 harmless hits of Halos’ starter Ken McBride.
Senators Birthdays
Don Gilberto Torres B Aug. 23, 1915 D Jan. 10, 1983
Here’s an interesting career: Gil Torres first appeared with the Washington Senators as a pitcher for 2 games in 1940. He wouldn’t return to the Senators until 1944, playing 3 seasons as an infielder.
Another member of the oft referred to Cuban Connection, Gil Torres is the son of Ricardo Torres, who played 22 games as a catcher/1st baseman for the Senators from 1920-1922.
Gil Torres would make his major league debut in late April of 1940, pitching in 2 games, giving up 3 hits and 1 run (unearned) with 1 strikeout and leaving with an ERA of 0.00.
Torres would reappear in 1944, playing primarily at 3rd base. He made appearances in 134 games and hit 140 for 524, good for a .267 BA with 20 doubles and 6 triples.
In 1945, Torres would find a home at shortstop, play in 147 games and hit .237 with 12 doubles and 5 triples.
Torres would return for 1 last season in 1946. His playing time would be reduced to 63 games but he’d raise his BA to .254. He’d also pitch in 3 games, pitching in 7 innings but his ERA would swell to 7.71. Torres would play in his last game for the Senators, and in the majors, in mid-September of 1946.
