October 2
1908 Washington OF Otis Clymer leads the batting barrage with a cycle, as the Nationals stomp New York, 12-2.
1909 Applying the finishing touches to a 110 loss season, the Nationals drop two in Philly, 6-5 and 7-2. The 1909 team still holds the team records for fewest runs scored (380) and most shutout losses (29). Game one loser Walter Johnson suffers 10 shutout defeats, including 5 in the month of July alone. The 42-110 debacle costs manager “Pongo” Joe Cantillion his job. At the behest of AL president Ban Johnson, Nationals club president Frank Noyes names former Browns pilot Jimmy McAleer as the new manager.
1917 Pitching like it is the 7th game of the World Series, Washington’s Doc Ayers and Boston’s Carl Mays lock horns in an inconsequential game at Fenway. With bonus money at stake for the two hurlers, Ayers and Mays battle for 8 innings before darkness sets in. Mays collects the greenbacks in winning over Ayers, 2-1.
1927 Probably in their haste to quickly finish the season, the A’s make 5 errors in giving the Senators a 9-5 victory. Philadelphia 3B Jimmy Dykes makes a pitching appearance in the bottom of the 8th, allowing an unearned tally. September call up Babe Ganzel of Washington ropes a double and triple for 4 hits. Ganzel finishes his brief season with a .438 batting average in 13 games.
1960 No fans storming the field. No angry chants or “Griffith stinks!” banners. No forfeit. While rumors have been swirling of an impending franchise move for 4 years, the original version of the Senators quietly exit with a 2-1 loss to Baltimore in front of 4,768 at Griffith. Some lasts: Bob Allison‘s has the last Senator hit, a 7th inning single. Hal Naragon scores the final run. Billy Consolo‘s RBI triple is the final Senator RBI. Allison makes the final out. The last losing pitcher of record is Pedro Ramos. On October 26, the announcement comes from the AL meetings that Calvin Griffith is moving the franchise to Minnesota. The team is renamed the Twins, while Washington is granted an expansion team.
Senators Birthdays
John Richard (Gabe) Gabler B Oct. 2, 1930 D Feb. 7, 2009
Signed by the New York Yankees in 1949, it would take pitcher Gabe Gabler 10 years to reach the major leagues. First appearing for the Yankees in mid-September of 1959, Gabler would go 1-1 with a 2.79 ERA. Returning with the Yankees in 1960, Gabler would post a 3-3 record with a 4.15 ERA.
Drafted by the expansion Senators after the 1960 season, Gabler would appear in 29 games during the inaugural season of the “new” Senators, posting a 3-8 record with a 4.86 ERA. He’d be optioned to Syracuse (AAA, International League) prior to the start of the 1962 season and would not play in the major leagues again.
James Edward Heise B Oct. 2, 1932 D April 21, 2011
Single Season Senator Jim Heise pitched in 8 games for the 1957 team, posting an 0-3 record with an 8.05 ERA.
Francis Joseph (Spec) Shea B Oct. 2, 1920 D Jul. 19, 2002
Spec Shea arrived on the major league scene with the 1947 New York Yankees. Pitching in 27 games, Shea would post a record of 14-5 with a 3.07 ERA, leading the league in win/loss percentage at .737%. He’d appear in the 1947 All Star Game, pitching in 3 innings and collecting the win and would make it into 3 games of the 1947 World Series against Brooklyn, posting a 2-0 record.
Shea was never able to repeat the magic of that rookie season. In 1948 he’d go 9-10 for the Yankees and in 1949 he only appeared in 20 games, going 1-1 as his ERA rose to 5.33.
Shea would not appear in a major league uniform in 1950 but would return to the Yankees in 1951, going 5-5 with a 4.33 ERA.
Early in the 1952 season, Shea was traded by the Yankees, along with Jackie Jensen, Jerry Snyder and Archie Wilson to the Washington Senators for Irv Noren and Tom Upton.
Shea posted an 11-7 record in 1952 with a 2.93 ERA and in 1953 would go 12-7 although his ERA would increase to 3.94. Shea’s innings pitched were drastically reduced in 1954 as he’d end the season with a 2-9 record, his ERA swelling to 6.18. 1955 would prove to be his final season when he’d post a 2-2 record, being released by the Senators prior to the start of the 1956 campaign.
Ralph Richard Weigel B Oct. 2, 1921 D Apr. 15, 1992
Catcher Ralph Weigel played in 3 seasons with 3 different teams. Beginning his stint in the major leagues with the 1946 Cleveland Indians, Weigel would appear in just 6 games, going 2 for 12 at bat and stealing 1 base.
Weigel would not make it back to the majors in 1947 and would be traded to the White Sox before the start of the 1948 season. Weigel would have his most active season as a player in 1948, appearing in 66 games and hitting .233 with 7 doubles and 3 triples.
Purchased by the Senators at the start of the 1949 season, Weigel would play in just 34 games, posting an identical .233 BA and would leave the major leagues in early July of 1949.
