September 6
1904 – The Nationals lose for the 16th consecutive time this season to Boston, 4-1. Dating back to last season, Washington has lost 22 straight times to the Americans. In the PM game, the visiting Nats finally break the streak, doubling the Americans, 6-3.
1912 – An overflow crowd jams Fenway for the heavily anticipated matchup of Walter Johnson versus Joe Wood. After winning 16 straight, the Big Train has lost his last 2 decisions. Wood is in pursuit of his 14th consecutive win and 30th win overall. The matchup lives up to the hype, with Wood and the Red Sox scraping by Johnson and the Nats, 1-0. Boston’s Duffy Lewis drives home Tris Speaker for the Sox’s only run in the 6th.
1954 – In his ML debut, Carlos Paula‘s 2-for-4, 2 RBI performance sparks the Senators to an 8-1 victory over Philly in the first of two in Griffith. Mickey Vernon supplies 5 RBI with a 2-run homer and 3-run triple. Vernon is benched f
or the finale and Paula cannot duplicate his game one performance, going hitless, as the A’s take game two, 3-2.
1963 – The 100,000th game in ML history is played tonight at D.C. Stadium between the Senators and Indians. The game belongs to the Senators by a 7-2 score. Bennie Daniels wins his 5th of the year, defeating former expansion Nat, Dick Donavan.
Senators Birthdays
William Allenwood Murray B Sep. 6, 1893 D Sep. 14, 1943
Single Season Senator Bill Murray played in 8 games for the 1917 team. Playing 2nd base and shortstop, Murray would go 3 for 21 with 1 triple.
Michael Wayne Thompson B Sep. 6, 1949 Still Living
Mike Thompson pitched for 4 seasons with 3 major league teams, making his debut in mid-May of 1971 with the Senators during their last season in Washington. Pitching in 16 games, Thompson would finish the year with a 1-6 record and an ERA of 4.86.
Thompson would remain with the franchise as they headed southwest but would not appear in the majors in 1972.
Prior to the start of the 1973 season, Thompson was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He’d pitch for St. Louis in 1973 and a goodly portion of the 1974 season before being purchased by the Atlanta Braves in September.
Thompson would only appear in 1 game for the Braves in 1974 but would return for 16 games in 1975, appearing in his last game on September 5th, 1 day before his 26th birthday.
Thompson’s final record: 54 games, 164.2 IP, 1 win, 15 losses and a career ERA identical to that of his first season-4.86.
Paul Vernon Zahniser B Sep. 6, 1896 D Sep. 26, 1964
Paul Zahniser debuted with the Washington Senators as a 26 year old rookie in 1923. Appearing in 33 games, Zahniser would post a 9-10 record with an ERA of 3.86.
For the 1924 Senators, Zahniser would go 5-7 in 24 games with a 4.40 ERA. He would not appear in the post season for the World Champion Senators.
At the start of the 1925 season, Zahniser would be traded, along with Roy Carlyle to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Joe Harris.
Zahniser would pitch in Boston for the 1925 & 1926 seasons, posting records of 5-12 and 6-18.
Appearing in one last game with the Cincinnati Reds in 1929, Zahniser would mark the end of his major league career with that outing.
