2017-69

36.  Jacques Fournier (1923-1925)

              After Sisler the best first baseman in baseball was Jacques Fournier.   Fournier was a Lou Gehrig type, a big, strong left-handed power hitter:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Jack	Fournier	1923	1	22	102	.351	.999	27.24
George	Kelly	1923	2	16	103	.307	.814	22.06
Jim	Bottomley	1923	3	8	94	.371	.960	21.31
Joe	Hauser	1923	4	17	94	.307	.873	20.10
Earl	Sheely	1923	5	4	88	.296	.759	19.49
Jack	Fournier	1924	1	27	116	.334	.965	29.44
George	Kelly	1924	2	21	136	.324	.902	23.84
Earl	Sheely	1924	3	3	103	.320	.837	21.11
Joe	Hauser	1924	4	27	115	.288	.874	20.78
Jim	Bottomley	1924	5	14	111	.316	.862	20.47
Jack	Fournier	1925	1	22	130	.350	1.015	26.70
Jim	Bottomley	1925	2	21	128	.367	.992	24.59
George	Kelly	1925	3	20	99	.309	.821	21.57
George	Grantham	1925	4	8	52	.326	.906	20.60
Earl	Sheely	1925	5	9	111	.315	.831	20.21

 

              Fournier was a good-looking, self-confident guy who had been raised in a family of some means.   In those years the Dodger players stayed during spring training two to a room in a not-very-good hotel in Clearwater, Florida, but according to Ira Smith (Baseball’s Famous First Basemen) Fournier stayed by himself in a much better hotel.   He was usually seen around town with some smokescreen, an actress or a model, and he talked to reporters about running for the Senate after he was out of baseball, although I don’t think he ever did.  

              The other thing I always think about in re Fournier is that the White Sox may have pitched their team history into a 40-year funk by a bad decision on Fournier.   Fournier was the White Sox first baseman from 1914 to 1916, and he was good for two years.  In 1914, just 24 years old, Fournier hit .311 and had the highest OPS of any major league first baseman.   In 1915 he hit .322, upped his OPS by almost 100 points with the aid of 18 triples, and had an OPS 87 points higher than any other major league first baseman.   I have him rated as the #2 first baseman of 1915. 

              In 1916 he had an off season; I don’t know if he was injured or what, but he had a bad year.  The White Sox sold Fournier to a Pacific Coast League team and purchased Chick Gandil from Washington to play first base for them.   Gandil wasn’t the hitter than Fournier had been in 1914-1915 or would be in the 1920s, but he was a better fielder, which was the thing in that era. 

              In 1917 the White Sox won the pennant.   The switch from Fournier to Gandil was widely praised by the press, cited as one of the key reasons the White Sox won the pennant.   I think this is a superstitious interpretation of history.   If A happens and then B happens, people will always write than A caused B, whether there was any actual connection or not.   The White Sox moved from second in 1916 to first in 1917 primarily because Eddie Cicotte pitched 187 innings with a 1.78 ERA, second-best in the league, in 1916, but 347 innings with a 1.53 ERA, best in the league, in 1917; otherwise it was pretty much the same team.  

              But the switch from Fournier to Gandil led to a long term disaster.   Gandil arranged the fix of the 1919 World Series; he was the guy who knew the gamblers and carried the money.   So if they don’t make that switch from Fournier to Gandil in 1917, here’s what happens, maybe:

              1)  They win the pennant anyway in 1917,

              2)  Fournier has a Hall of Fame career,

              3)  The 1919 team doesn’t throw the World Series,

              4)  The 1920 team wins the American League again,

              5)  Some other team becomes the center of the gambling scandals, and

              6)  The White Sox remain an upper-echelon American League team for the next 20 years. 

              Fournier fought his way back to the major leagues and became the #1 first baseman in the major leagues, but he lost what should have been his best years, when he should have been the cleanup hitter on perhaps the best team in baseball. 

 

37.  The Lou Gehrig Years (1926-1938)

              Lou Gehrig was the best first baseman in baseball from 1926 until 1937.   These are the rankings:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1926	1	16	112	.313	.969	30.06
Jim	Bottomley	1926	2	19	120	.299	.870	24.35
George	Grantham	1926	3	8	70	.318	.890	22.52
George H.	Burns	1926	4	4	114	.358	.889	19.49
Joe	Judge	1926	5	7	92	.291	.808	19.10
Lou	Gehrig	1927	1	47	175	.373	1.240	38.12
Jim	Bottomley	1927	2	19	124	.303	.896	26.05
Bill	Terry	1927	3	20	121	.326	.907	23.47
Joe	Judge	1927	4	2	71	.308	.783	18.50
Lu	Blue	1927	5	1	42	.260	.748	17.73
Lou	Gehrig	1928	1	27	142	.374	1.115	39.38
Jim	Bottomley	1928	2	31	136	.325	1.030	26.36
George	Grantham	1928	3	10	85	.323	.894	24.74
Bill	Terry	1928	4	17	101	.326	.912	24.53
Del	Bissonette	1928	5	25	106	.320	.940	23.11
Lou	Gehrig	1929	1	35	126	.300	1.013	36.15
Jimmie	Foxx	1929	2	33	117	.354	1.088	30.70
Bill	Terry	1929	3	14	117	.372	.941	26.28
Dale	Alexander	1929	4	25	137	.343	.977	23.47
Jim	Bottomley	1929	5	29	137	.314	.959	22.38
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1930	1	41	174	.379	1.194	37.46
Jimmie	Foxx	1930	2	37	156	.335	1.066	32.57
Bill	Terry	1930	3	23	129	.401	1.071	29.62
Eddie	Morgan	1930	4	26	136	.349	1.014	23.86
Dale	Alexander	1930	5	20	135	.326	.878	19.92
Lou	Gehrig	1931	1	46	184	.341	1.108	36.42
Jimmie	Foxx	1931	2	30	120	.291	.947	31.48
Bill	Terry	1931	3	9	112	.349	.926	29.24
Eddie	Morgan	1931	4	11	86	.351	.961	22.03
George	Grantham	1931	5	10	46	.305	.851	20.63
Lou	Gehrig	1932	1	34	151	.349	1.072	37.57
Jimmie	Foxx	1932	2	58	169	.364	1.218	36.79
Bill	Terry	1932	3	28	117	.350	.962	29.95
Ripper	Collins	1932	4	21	91	.279	.802	19.32
Eddie	Morgan	1932	5	4	68	.293	.804	19.02
Jimmie	Foxx	1933	1	48	163	.356	1.153	37.62
Lou	Gehrig	1933	2	32	139	.334	1.030	37.12
Bill	Terry	1933	3	6	58	.322	.798	26.50
Ripper	Collins	1933	4	10	68	.310	.816	21.70
Joe	Kuhel	1933	5	11	107	.322	.851	20.64
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Lou	Gehrig	1934	1	49	165	.363	1.172	38.62
Jimmie	Foxx	1934	2	44	130	.334	1.102	33.77
Hank	Greenberg	1934	3	26	139	.339	1.005	26.81
Bill	Terry	1934	4	8	83	.354	.878	26.28
Ripper	Collins	1934	5	35	128	.333	1.008	25.25
Lou	Gehrig	1935	1	30	119	.329	1.049	36.43
Jimmie	Foxx	1935	2	36	115	.346	1.096	30.48
Hank	Greenberg	1935	3	36	170	.328	1.039	29.53
Ripper	Collins	1935	4	23	122	.313	.915	23.44
Zeke	Bonura	1935	5	21	92	.295	.849	22.63
Lou	Gehrig	1936	1	49	152	.354	1.174	36.12
Jimmie	Foxx	1936	2	41	143	.338	1.071	27.52
Johnny	Mize	1936	3	19	93	.329	.979	25.22
Zeke	Bonura	1936	4	12	138	.330	.908	24.31
Hal	Trosky	1936	5	42	162	.343	1.026	21.56
Lou	Gehrig	1937	1	37	159	.351	1.116	32.47
Johnny	Mize	1937	2	25	113	.364	1.021	31.26
Hank	Greenberg	1937	3	40	183	.337	1.105	30.16
Jimmie	Foxx	1937	4	36	127	.285	.929	27.01
Dolph	Camilli	1937	5	27	80	.339	1.034	24.92

 

              Jimmie Foxx in ’38 hit 50 homers and drove in 175 runs:

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Jimmie	Foxx	1938	1	50	175	.349	1.166	30.92
Hank	Greenberg	1938	2	58	146	.315	1.122	30.86
Johnny	Mize	1938	3	27	102	.337	1.036	30.74
Dolph	Camilli	1938	4	24	100	.251	.879	26.00
Hal	Trosky	1938	5	19	110	.334	.948	25.08

 

 

38.  Summarizing the Greatest First Basemen from 1900 to 1938

              Lou Gehrig was clearly the greatest first baseman of this era.   The chart below has Hall of Famers highlighted in blue and bold face, as we have done before. The totals for Beckley, Tenney, and Hickman include seasons before 1900.   Mize, Greenberg, and Frank McCormick were still in mid-career in 1938, so we left them out of the chart below, but included Foxx’s values post-1938 because he was nearer the end of his career:

 

Rank	First	Last	1	2	3	4	5	YOPDI	From	To
1	Lou	Gehrig	11	1	0	0	0	117	1923	1939
2	Jimmie	Foxx	2	9	1	1	1	90	1925	1945
3	George	Sisler	6	1	0	0	0	67	1915	1930
4	Frank	Chance	6	0	0	1	0	62	1898	1914
5	Harry	Davis	0	7	0	0	1	50	1895	1917
6	Hal	Chase	3	1	2	0	3	48	1905	1919
7	Jack	Fournier	3	2	0	0	1	45	1912	1927
8	Jim	Bottomley	0	4	1	0	2	34	1922	1937
9	Ed	Konetchy	1	2	1	1	1	31	1907	1921
10	Bill	Terry	0	0	6	2	0	28	1923	1936
11	Wally	Pipp	0	1	4	2	0	27	1913	1928
12	George	Kelly	0	2	1	2	0	22	1915	1932
13	Joe	Judge	0	2	0	1	3	19	1915	1934
13	Fred	Merkle	1	0	0	4	1	19	1907	1926
15	Stuffy	McInnis	1	1	0	0	1	18	1909	1927
16	Dots	Miller	0	1	2	0	1	16	1909	1921
16	Jake	Stahl	1	0	1	0	1	15	1903	1913
18	Doc	Hoblitzell	0	1	1	1	1	14	1908	1918
19	Fred	Tenney	4	0	1	1	0	12	1894	1911
20	Vic	Saier	0	1	1	0	0	11	1911	1919
21	Jake	Beckley	0	2	4	1	3	10	1888	1907
21	Jake	Daubert	0	0	1	2	2	10	1910	1924
21	Charlie	Hickman	0	0	2	1	1	10	1897	1908

 

              Charlie Hickman is the player identified in some old Encyclopedias as "Piano Legs" Hickman.   As was true in the other groups, the YOPDI score matches up very well with Hall of Fame selection, but in this group the Hall of Fame line is drawn more at 60 points than at 80.  In the hit-or-miss group. . .well, in the "hit" portion of the hit-or-miss group we have four players:  Jim Bottomley, Bill Terry, Jack Beckley and George Kelly. 

              One can certainly make an argument, with regard to Bill Terry and perhaps to Bottomley, that this method is not fair to them because they happened to be competing in an exceptional group of players.   Bill Terry is being compared head to head to Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg.  It is hardly an ordinary collection of first basemen.   It’s an extraordinary case. 

              OK, not arguing the point.  Bottomley’s best seasons are mostly before Gehrig and Foxx, so it is harder to make that case for him.  If I was selecting a new Hall of Fame, I certainly could do without Bottomley, and possibly without Bill Terry as well, although Terry was an exceptionally good player. 

              Beckley was not a truly dominant player, but he has a different argument; he was very good for a long period of time.  He got almost to 3,000 career hits.   It’s a different case.   And George Kelly. . .well, as I have said before, I just think his was an absurd selection.   George Kelly was not anywhere near being a Hall of Fame player, and he does not belong in the Hall of Fame.

              There is actually a flaw on this list, which I will acknowledge now and deal with at more length later, which is that "Boots" Grantham was excluded from the list, since I had him marked as a career second baseman.   He actually should be on the list above. . .will explain later. 

              In terms of peak value, these are the highest Peak Values among first basemen from 1900 to 1938:

Rank	First	Last	YEAR	Peak		Rank	First	Last	YEAR	Peak
1	Lou	Gehrig	1928	39.38		26	Ray	Grimes	1922	23.37
2	Jimmie	Foxx	1933	37.62		27	Jake	Stahl	1909	23.28
3	Frank	Chance	1906	32.69		28	Del	Bissonette	1928	23.11
4	Johnny	Mize	1937	31.26		29	Vic	Saier	1914	22.98
5	Hank	Greenberg	1938	30.86		30	Dots	Miller	1913	22.97
6	George	Sisler	1920	30.34		31	Fred	Tenney	1902	22.67
7	Bill	Terry	1932	29.95		32	Wally	Pipp	1916	22.18
8	Jack	Fournier	1924	29.44		33	Dan	McGann	1905	22.00
9	Harry	Davis	1906	28.79		34	Joe	Judge	1920	21.99
10	Jim	Bottomley	1928	26.36		35	Fred	Luderus	1913	21.43
11	Dolph	Camilli	1938	26.00		36	Earl	Sheely	1924	21.11
12	Hal	Chase	1915	25.72		37	Gus	Suhr	1936	20.88
13	Ed	Konetchy	1910	25.64		38	Lew	Fonseca	1929	20.81
14	Ripper	Collins	1934	25.25		39	Joe	Hauser	1924	20.78
15	Hal	Trosky	1938	25.08		40	Jake	Beckley	1900	20.73
16	Fred	Merkle	1912	25.04		41	Joe	Harris	1923	20.66
17	Stuffy	McInnis	1912	24.67		42	Joe	Kuhel	1933	20.64
18	Zeke	Bonura	1936	24.31		43	Chick	Gandil	1913	20.55
19	Charlie	Hickman	1903	23.97		44	Tim	Jordan	1906	20.39
20	Eddie	Morgan	1930	23.86		45	George H.	Burns	1918	20.31
21	Doc	Hoblitzell	1911	23.85		46	Jim	Nealon	1906	20.24
22	George	Kelly	1924	23.84		47	Kitty	Bransfield	1908	20.24
23	Jake	Daubert	1915	23.79		48	John	Anderson	1905	20.22
24	Babe	Borton	1915	23.49		49	Jiggs	Donahue	1905	20.00
25	Dale	Alexander	1929	23.47		50	Claude	Rossman	1908	20.00

 

              In this group, an automatic Hall of Fame selection requires a Peak Value of around 30.   Below that, Hall of Fame selection is a matter of either luck, or of having something else to tilt the vote in your direction. 

39.  The Mize-Musial-Hodges-Musial Era (1939-1958)

              Basically, from 1938 to 1958, the #1 first baseman in baseball is either Johnny Mize, Stan Musial or Gil Hodges.    The count actually is seven years as #1 for Musial, five years for Mize, four for Hodges, and one each for Phil Cavaretta and Augie Galan (during World War II), and one each for Mickey Vernon and Ted Kluszewski.   Musial switches between the outfield and first base.   When he is in the outfield he ranks first at his outfield spot, or maybe second behind Ted Williams; when he is at first base he ranks first at first.   

First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Johnny	Mize	1939	1	28	108	.349	1.070	32.12
Jimmie	Foxx	1939	2	35	105	.360	1.158	30.29
Hank	Greenberg	1939	3	33	112	.312	1.042	27.68
Dolph	Camilli	1939	4	26	104	.290	.933	27.21
Hal	Trosky	1939	5	25	104	.335	.994	25.27
Johnny	Mize	1940	1	43	137	.314	1.039	31.94
Dolph	Camilli	1940	2	23	96	.287	.926	27.08
Jimmie	Foxx	1940	3	36	119	.297	.993	25.15
Hal	Trosky	1940	4	25	93	.295	.920	24.60
Frank	McCormick	1940	5	19	127	.309	.850	24.01
Johnny	Mize	1941	1	16	100	.317	.941	30.58
Dolph	Camilli	1941	2	34	120	.285	.962	27.66
Elbie	Fletcher	1941	3	11	74	.288	.878	22.20
Frank	McCormick	1941	4	17	97	.269	.740	21.24
Jimmie	Foxx	1941	5	19	105	.300	.917	19.81
Johnny	Mize	1942	1	26	110	.305	.901	31.54
Dolph	Camilli	1942	2	26	109	.252	.843	25.27
Elbie	Fletcher	1942	3	7	57	.289	.810	21.58
Frank	McCormick	1942	4	13	89	.277	.721	20.29
Mickey	Vernon	1942	5	9	86	.271	.725	20.21
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Mickey	Vernon	1943	1	7	70	.268	.744	22.46
Nick	Etten	1943	2	14	107	.271	.775	22.07
Rudy	York	1943	3	34	118	.271	.893	21.92
Frank	McCormick	1943	4	8	59	.303	.758	21.41
Elbie	Fletcher	1943	5	9	70	.283	.791	20.74
Phil	Cavarretta	1944	1	5	82	.321	.841	24.68
Frank	McCormick	1944	2	20	102	.305	.853	23.96
Nick	Etten	1944	3	22	91	.293	.865	22.78
Ray	Sanders	1944	4	12	102	.295	.812	21.85
Rudy	York	1944	5	18	98	.276	.792	21.34
Augie	Galan	1945	1	9	92	.307	.864	28.92
Phil	Cavarretta	1945	2	6	97	.355	.949	27.79
Nick	Etten	1945	3	18	111	.285	.824	21.11
Ray	Sanders	1945	4	8	78	.276	.760	19.57
Frank	McCormick	1945	5	10	81	.276	.729	19.16
Stan	Musial	1946	1	16	103	.365	1.021	39.69
Johnny	Mize	1946	2	22	70	.337	1.013	29.65
Hank	Greenberg	1946	3	44	127	.277	.977	27.62
Mickey	Vernon	1946	4	8	85	.353	.910	25.17
Johnny	Hopp	1946	5	3	48	.333	.827	20.90
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Stan	Musial	1947	1	19	95	.312	.902	34.27
Johnny	Mize	1947	2	51	138	.302	.998	29.65
Jackie	Robinson	1947	3	12	48	.297	.810	20.79
George	McQuinn	1947	4	13	80	.304	.832	20.37
Roy	Cullenbine	1947	5	24	78	.224	.823	18.00
Johnny	Mize	1948	1	40	125	.289	.959	26.69
Ferris	Fain	1948	2	7	88	.281	.808	18.51
Eddie	Waitkus	1948	3	7	44	.295	.764	16.06
Earl	Torgeson	1948	4	10	67	.253	.770	15.66
Eddie	Robinson	1948	5	16	83	.254	.715	15.28
Gil	Hodges	1949	1	23	115	.285	.813	19.34
Ferris	Fain	1949	2	3	78	.263	.754	19.17
Johnny	Mize	1949	3	19	64	.263	.794	18.75
Eddie	Robinson	1949	4	18	78	.294	.840	18.14
Mickey	Vernon	1949	5	18	83	.291	.801	17.05
Stan	Musial	1950	1	28	109	.346	1.034	36.53
Earl	Torgeson	1950	2	23	87	.290	.885	26.29
Walt	Dropo	1950	3	34	144	.322	.961	22.69
Gil	Hodges	1950	4	32	113	.283	.875	22.10
Eddie	Robinson	1950	5	21	86	.295	.846	19.75
First	Last	YEAR	Rank	HR	RBI	Avg	OPS	Value
Gil	Hodges	1951	1	40	103	.268	.901	24.18
Eddie	Robinson	1951	2	29	117	.282	.866	21.69
Earl	Torgeson	1951	3	24	92	.263	.812	19.88
Mickey	Vernon	1951	4	9	87	.293	.781	19.51
Ferris	Fain	1951	5	6	57	.344	.921	19.45
Gil	Hodges	1952	1	32	102	.254	.886	24.83
Ted	Kluszewski	1952	2	16	86	.320	.892	22.70
Eddie	Robinson	1952	3	22	104	.296	.848	21.38
Mickey	Vernon	1952	4	10	80	.251	.746	21.32
Ferris	Fain	1952	5	2	59	.327	.867	19.63
Gil	Hodges	1953	1	31	122	.302	.943	25.61
Mickey	Vernon	1953	2	15	115	.337	.921