The misery for the St. Louis Browns – a condition they faced often during their existence – was almost over on the afternoon of June 15, 1923. Trailing 10-0 with two outs in the ninth inning against the New York Yankees, right fielder Jack Tobin came to bat facing Herb Pennock.
At that time, Tobin was one of the American League’s best hitters: from 1919-23 he batted .327, .342, .351, .331, and .317; and he finished with a career BA of .315, an OBP of .366, and a slugging percentage of .424. He was 1-for-4 that game, having singled in the seventh inning. In the ninth he hit a grounder to the Yankees’ first baseman, who gloved it and stepped on the bag for the final out.
But that 3 unassisted play – it’s only known as that now, as players back then were not assigned numbered positions – made a century ago on June 15th, was more than the conclusion of a game now lost to history. It was the first play made by one of baseball’s legends in his major league debut, Lou Gehrig.
The best Gehrig biography – and one of the best baseball biographies – is Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig. In an early chapter, Eig recounts the almost Hollywood-like events of Gehrig’s first few weeks with the Yankees.
