Heinie Manush was a
fish out of water: a
dead-ball hitter in the era of the blossoming
home run. He also stood in the shadows of giants for many years, finishing in the top 10 in virtually every hitting category every year, but rarely winning. Still, Manush's
Hall of Fame career is a testament to longevity: a lifetime .330 hitter, Manush played 17 years with 6 different teams, collecting over 2,500 hits.
Early Years
Henry Emmett Manush was born July 20, 1901, in Tuscumbia, Alabama. He spent his pre-baseball years helping out his father, a local pipefitter. When he was 18, he signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Athletics, his older brother Frank's one-time team. However, in 1921, Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ruled that certain gentleman's agreements between owners without proper paperwork were illegal, and named several players free agents, including Heinie.
Playing With The Big Boys
Heinie (a grandmother's rather ribald nickname for Henry) moved to the Detroit Tigers farm system, and earned a place on the starting roster in 1923. At the time, he played in the outfield with both Ty Cobb and Harry Heilmann - both outstanding hitters. From 1923 to 1926, one of these 3 men won the American League batting crown. On the final day of 1926, Manush needed 5 hits to surpass Babe Ruth for the crown. He did so, going 6-for-9 in a doubleheader, including 4-for-4 in the 2nd game, the shortest game in American League history (at 55 minutes!)
Glory Days
Cobb retired in 1926, and Manush took over in center field. However, he struggled in 1927 (although batting a highly respectable .298 and leading the league in hit by pitches, a feat he repeated in 1928) and was traded to the St. Louis Browns. He played there for 2 years, both times finishing in the top 3 in batting. He was traded in 1930 mid-season to the Washington Senators for another future Hall of Famer, Goose Goslin.
He finished the year out batting .362 for the Nats, taking them to their last World Series, and he made it a memorable one. In Game Four, he was called out by Charley Moran. To protest the call, he grabbed Moran's tie, stretched its elastic band, and let it snap back in Moran's place. Shortly thereafter, Manush became the second player ever ejected from a World Series game.
End Of A Career
Manush continued playing for Washington, accumulating a 33-game hitting streak in 1933, and being named an All-Star in 1934. After another subpar season in 1935, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox, where he missed half the 1936 season with problems resulting from a dislocated shoulder. In 1937, he was again traded, this time to the Brooklyn Dodgers. By now, Manush served more as a bench coach than a player, although he still batted .333. He was traded one final time near the end of the 1938 season, to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he retired in 1939.
After Baseball
He continued to player-manage in the minors until 1945, when he became a scout for the Boston Braves, and then the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1953, his old team the Washington Senators picked him to be their hitting coach, and in 1955 he became their scouting director. In 1964, Manush was selected by the Veterans Committee to join the elite rank of the Major League Baseball Hall Of Fame.
Heinie Manush passed away May 12, 1971, in Sarasota, Florida.
Lifetime Statistics
YEAR TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA
1923 DET AL 109 308 59 103 20 5 4 54 3 5 20 21 .334
1924 DET AL 120 422 83 122 24 8 9 68 14 5 27 30 .289
1925 DET AL 99 278 46 84 14 3 5 47 8 3 24 21 .302
1926 DET AL 136 498 95 188 35 8 14 86 11 5 31 28 .378
1927 DET AL 151 593 102 177 31 18 6 90 12 8 47 29 .298
1928 SLB AL 154 638 104 241 47 20 13 108 17 5 39 14 .378
1929 SLB AL 142 574 85 204 45 10 6 81 9 8 43 24 .355
1930 SLB AL 49 198 26 65 16 4 2 29 3 1 5 7 .328
WSH AL 88 356 74 129 33 8 7 65 4 3 26 17 .362
TOT AL 137 554 100 194 49 12 9 94 7 4 31 24 .350
1931 WSH AL 146 616 110 189 41 11 6 70 3 3 36 27 .307
1932 WSH AL 149 625 121 214 41 14 14 116 7 2 36 29 .342
1933 WSH AL 153 658 115 221 32 17 5 95 6 4 36 18 .336
1934 WSH AL 137 556 88 194 42 11 11 89 7 3 36 23 .349
1935 WSH AL 119 479 68 131 26 9 4 56 2 0 35 17 .273
1936 BOS AL 82 313 43 91 15 5 0 45 1 3 17 11 .291
1937 BRO NL 132 466 57 155 25 7 4 73 6 40 24 .333
1938 BRO NL 17 51 9 12 3 1 0 6 1 5 4 .235
PIT NL 15 13 2 4 1 1 0 4 0 2 0 .308
TOT NL 32 64 11 16 4 2 0 10 1 0 7 4 .250
1939 PIT NL 10 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 .000
CAREER 2008 7654 1287 2524 491 160 110 1183 114 58 506 345 .330
* Bold denotes led league.
Sources
- TheBaseballPage.com - http://www.thebaseballpage.com/past/pp/manushheinie/default.htm
- Baseball-Reference.com - http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/manushhe01.shtml
- BaseballLibrary.com - http://www.pubdim.net/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/M/Manush_Heinie.stm
Mickey Mantle | Rabbit Maranville
Hall Of Fame Index