The Base Ball Life of Patrick O'Farrell

[jdw]

Big Six wrote:

> We are pleased to inform you that you
> have been chosen as the Most Outstanding
> Batter in the American League for the 1917
> season.

Pat finally won the BOY! Yes!


John

[jdw]

Big Six wrote:

> It's hard to believe that Pat has spent
> ten full seasons in the show, but he
> has, and here's what he has to show
> for them, statistically. I'll use
> black ink like the Macmillan
> encyclopedia this time, too:

Very cool.

Six - how did Pat do in the various leaderboards in 1917? Always love to see those.

John

[Carlton]

Bout time Pat won the BOY!

I love Spec Harkness having a good career....he always was a product of poor run support with the Cards in my replays...

[Big Six]

Here's how Pat ended up on the leader boards for 1917. If Pat didn't lead the league in a category, I list the leader and his performance in parentheses. In most cases, Pat's are listed with his career totals, a few posts back. If a particular stat wasn't included, I'll give O'Farrell's mark here, too.

BA: 4th (Eddie Murphy, .356)
OBP: 1st
SLG: 1st
OPS: 1st
Runs Created: 1st; 136.3
RC/27 Outs: 1st; 9.25
Plate Appearances: 1st, 661
Hits: T-7th (Eddie Murphy, 206)
2B: 6th (Dots Miller, 38)
3B: 2nd (Earl Smith, 13)
HR: 1st
RBI: 4th (Joe Jackson, 103. Speaker was 2nd with 90, despite missing 6 weeks of the season.)
R: 1st
SB: 1st
BB: 1st
Extra Base Hits: 1st, 59
Total Bases: 1st, 257

No doubt who deserved the BOY, is there? I think he deserved it a couple other times, too, even after accounting for my natural bias.

[Big Six]

Carlton,

Spec Harkness is doing well with the Indians. In four full seasons, he's 79-55, with a 3.28 ERA. He's struck out 711 batters in 1209 innings, while walking only 306.


He's never won fewer than 16 games in a season, with a high of 23 in 1915. The Indians have been a good team to pitch for, too, because this time he's getting some run support.

[Big Six]

Boston American League Baseball Club
Fenway Park
Boston, Massachusetts

January 8, 1918

Mr. Patrick O'Farrell
148 Cherry Street
Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Dear Mr. O'Farrell,

Enclosed please find an offer of a contract to secure your services as a player for the Boston American League Baseball Club.

In light of your contributions to the team's successes, not only in 1917 but for a number of years previously, and also of your potential for continued success, the club is prepared to offer you the sum of forty-five thousand ($45,000) dollars, payable in equal installments of fifteen thousand ($15,000) dollars for each of the 1918, 1919, and 1920 seasons.

If this contract is agreeable to you, please sign one copy and return it to the team offices at your nearest opportunity.

Once again, congratulations on your superb season in 1917. Your selection as the league's Most Outstanding Batter was richly deserved.

I hope you enjoy the remainder of your off-season.

Sincerely yours,
John I. Taylor
Boston American League Baseball Club

[Big Six]

Majestic Hotel
Hot Springs, Arkansas

March 23, 1918


Mrs. Sarah O'Farrell
148 Cherry Street
Stockbridge, Massachusetts

My dearest Sarah,

Tomorrow morning we board the train that will take us, slowly but surely, back to Boston for the beginning of the season. We will be playing several exhibition games, the first in Mississippi against the college team, in a final effort to get our playing muscles in shape.

I feel as strong at the beginning of the season as I ever have, and I believe I am not alone in this. Many of the fellows have looked like world-beaters this spring.

Joe Wood is throwing freely, and the ball seems to explode into the catcher's mitt when he turns loose his fast one. Among the other pitchers, Art Nehf has looked particularly impressive. I would not be surprised if he has a more regular turn in the rotation this season.

It also looks like some of the younger players are ready to play first-rate ball this season. Joe Judge has been hitting the ball hard to all fields, and Mike McNally, a third baseman, is smooth both at bat and in the field.

The story of the camp, however, has been George Ruth. The "Babe" is one of the strongest men I have ever seen, and the sound the ball makes when he connects with it solidly is enough to make players on the adjoining field turn their heads. Ruth has also matured significantly over the course of the past few months, it seems to me. Some of the fellows crack wise, behind his back, about Ruth's lack of refinement. Nobody is foolish enough to taunt him to his face, however, and had any of those who poke fun at him grown up in a world like the one Ruth faced as a boy, they would surely lack polish themselves. For my part, I like Ruth just fine. He usually has a smile on his face and, as I said, he is approaching his business with a renewed dedication this spring.

I must go now, as we have one final work-out this afternoon, and then it will be off to a theater in town for a special performance in our honor. I miss you, Beth, Mike and Mary Catherine terribly, and I cannot wait to see you all again on the 30th.

With all my love,
Pat

[Big Six]

Boston Herald, June 1, 1918

RED SOX START BETTER THIS SEASON THAN LAST
Key Players Performing Well So Far

BOSTON--Two months is usually an adequate length of time for a base ball team to display its true character. The peaks and valleys of short surges and slumps have had time to balance each other out. Men who have developed new skills have had opportunity to display them. Others who have begun to fade, due to age or infirmity, have shown signs of their decline.

At the end of May last year, it was already clear that the Red Sox were not likely to be a strong enough team to win the pennant. Their torrid streak in July, in which they won thirteen straight contests, masked the fact that they were, for the most part, a team that would lose as often as it would win.

This season, fortunately, the squad has demonstrated quite a different character over two months of competition. The batting, pitching, and fielding are all sharper, and the men peform with much more pep.

A cast of younger players who are, in most cases, receiving their first extended opportunity to show their stuff at the major league level has injected a much-needed dose of ginger into the Red Sox.

First baseman Joe Judge, who gave a fine preview of his talents when he hit .319 as a reserve last season, is playing first base regularly. Long-time regular Ed Konetchy now appears mainly when a tough left-handed pitcher faces the Red Sox. While Judge has not hit .319 again, he has been productive, with an average near .280 and good power. He has also demonstrated an adeptness afield that he had not shown in his previous tenure.

Across the diamond, third sacker Mike McNally spells Del Paddock when a left-hander pitches for the other team. McNally, like Judge, is a spectacular fielder, with a howitzer for an arm, and the offensive aspect of his game is coming along nicely as well. If he can sharpen his eye at the plate, Mike should develop into a fine hitter.

Right field is now the province of Babe Ruth, whose impressive performances in spring training in Arkansas earned him the right to begin the season as the regular. Ruth has made Manager Collins look like a genius so far. The powerfully built Ruth has hit in the middle of the order for the Red Sox all season, joining Pat O'Farrell and Tris Speaker in a formidable trio. Ruth has hit twelve doubles, tying him with O'Farrell for the league's lead, and with three home runs, he has a share of the league's top mark in that category as well.

O'Farrell, as usual, is among the league's best players, and has been at least as productive as he was in 1917, when he was recognized as the league's Outstanding Batter. With Speaker and Ruth hitting so well behind him, Pat has not attempted to steal as many bases as he did last year, but in all other respects he has, at least, equalled his 1917 performance. His batting mark stands at .330 as of today, and with forty-one walks, five triples, and two home runs, it seems as if O'Farrell is constantly doing something right with the bat in his hands.

The pitching staff has a much more stable look this year than last. Manager Collins has sent the same four men to the hill in a regular rotation for most of the season: Joe Wood, George Dauss, Ray Collins, and Art Nehf.

Wood has returned completely to his old form, and has already won ten ball games with the season almost exactly a third over. While he does not strike out as many batters as he did in the past, this seems to reflect a trend in base ball the past two or three seasons, rather than a diminution of Wood's skills. He still fires his fast one with as much velocity as ever.

Dauss' record is even at seven wins and seven losses, and opposing batters have managed better than a hit an inning against him, but he pitched for two weeks with a tightness in his calf muscle that left him, at his estimation, with ninety percent of his effectiveness.

Collins has had rough luck, as he has lost twice by 1-0 scores already this season.

As with the batsmen, a young star has emerged to provide the Bostons with some additional fire power. Art Nehf has built on his fine 1917 campaign and has emerged as one of the American League's most fearsome twirlers. Art, a tall, powerfully build left-hander, leads the league with an ERA of 1.90, and his nine wins are one behind the leaders.

With a record of 30 wins and 23 losses, the Red Sox are in third place, only three games behind the league leaders, the Philadelphia Athletics. The surprising Washington Nationals occupy second, a game ahead of Boston. This Red Sox team appears to have all the necessary components it will need to remain in contention for the pennant all season long, and a return trip to the World Series, which the fans of Boston have waited for longer than they have in a decade, could be in order once again.

[Big Six]

Boston Globe, June 9, 1918

RED SOX OBTAIN WALTER JOHNSON
Chuck Rose and Rube Kroh Dealt to Senators as Sox Trade Two Arms for One

BOSTON--A surprising trade between two teams which are tied for second place in the American League standings was announced this morning.

Walter Johnson, one of the most acclaimed pitchers in base ball history, was obtained by the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Chuck Rose and Rube Kroh. The development of several of the Red Sox' young hurlers made a trade such as this one, in which Boston sent two good arms to a league rival, possible.

"Of course there is a risk when a team trades with a rival," Boston manager Jimmy Collins remarked. "We have sent Washington two good men who will win some ball games for them. On the other hand, when you can obtain a player like Walter Johnson, you do it. Neither Rose nor Kroh was getting much of an opportunity to pitch for us.

Johnson has a record of seven wins and eight losses this season, but he leads the league in strikeouts with 72, two more than new teammate Joe Wood. Walter has clearly established himself as one of the finest hurlers in the American League over the past decade, and at thirty years of age, there should be plenty of life left in his powerful right arm.

[Big Six]

Boston Post, June 21, 1918

SPEAKER INJURED
Center Fielder Will Be Out of Action For At Least a Month

BOSTON--The Red Sox lost more than a ball game yesterday. For the second time in as many seasons, star outfielder Tris Speaker will be forced to miss a sizeable chunk of the season due to an injury.

In the bottom of the first inning, Speaker slashed a long drive off New York's Roy Castleton, driving in Pat O'Farrell, who had also doubled, and Babe Ruth, who had walked. Tris's ball looked good for three bases, but he was seen to pull up hard halfway between first and second. Yankee center fielder Roy Cook fired the ball to second, and Speaker was nearly thrown out there.

Tris immediately called time and began to limp around the bag in an attempt to loosen up his sore left leg, but to no avail. He left the field only with assistance, and Fred Snodgrass came in to run for him, staying in the game to play center field.

Speaker has badly pulled a muscle in his calf, and doctors have said he will probably return to action around August 1.

The runs Speaker plated with his double would be the only ones the Red Sox would score, while the Yankees treated Walter Johnson with unaccustomed roughness, and went on to win the game by the score of 8-2...

[Carlton]

Originally Posted by Big Six

Carlton,

Spec Harkness is doing well with the Indians. In four full seasons, he's 79-55, with a 3.28 ERA. He's struck out 711 batters in 1209 innings, while walking only 306.


He's never won fewer than 16 games in a season, with a high of 23 in 1915. The Indians have been a good team to pitch for, too, because this time he's getting some run support.

I had the same problem with Addie Joss IN cleveland...and the AI traded him to the Giants...and now he IS Addie Joss. Sometimes it's all about the run support

[Big Six]

Boston Herald., June 23, 1918


RED SOX MAKE ANOTHER TRADE
Outfielder Roush Picked Up From Giants

BOSTON--With the Red Sox still very much in the thick of the American League race, the team today made a trade to plug the hole left by Tris Speaker's injury.

Three players--outfielder Chet Chadbourne, first baseman Bill Mundy, and catcher Wally Snell--were sent to the New York Giants in exchange for outfielder Edd Roush.

Roush, who can play all three outfield positions but prefers center field, is 25 years of age, and is regarded as a promising player. He could not crack the lineup of the Giants, who have made a shambles of the National League pennant chase.

Manager Jimmy Collins says Roush will play center field every day while Speaker is disabled, and depending on how he performs, will see more or less playing time in the Red Sox outfield for the rest of the season.

[Big Six]

St. Louis Dispatch, June 29, 1918

ALL-STAR GAME TODAY
American and National League Lineups Here!

ST.LOUIS--Below are the lineups for today's All-Star game, matching the best players from the American and National leagues. The Cardinals are the hosting this year's contest, which will be played at Sportsman's Park.

The lineups reflect the strength displayed this season by the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants. Five Athletics will start the game for the American League, while four Giants take the field for the National League.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Jack Lelivelt, Philadelphia, LF
Joe Jackson, Philadelphia, CF
Ty Cobb, Detroit, RF
Pat O'Farrell, Boston, 2B
Del Gainer, Detroit, 1B
Syd Smith, Philadelphia, C
Eddie Collins, Philadelphia, SS
Simon Nicholls, Philadelphia, 3B
Joe Wood, Boston, P


NATIONAL LEAGUE
Charlie Hollocher, Chicago, SS
Sandy Piez, New York, CF
Tillie Shafer, New York, 3B
Ward Miller, New York, LF
Buck Herzog, New York, 2B
Joe Harris, Boston, 1B
Jack Dalton, Pittsburgh, RF
Jack Roche, St. Louis, C
George Pearce, Chicago, P

**********
The American League shut out the Nationals, 6-0. Pat had a fine game, singling twice and drawing a free pass in three plate appearances. He also scored a run and stole a base. Del Pratt replaced Pat in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Joe Wood pitched three innings, giving up only one hit, walking one man, and striking out three to earn the win for the American League.

Art Nehf also made the American League team, and he pitched a perfect seventh inning for the winners, striking out one batter.

[Big Six]

84 Westland Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts

August 11, 1918

Mr. Frank Owens
220 Park Avenue
South Bend, Indiana


Dear Frank,

Thank you again for coming out to watch our series against the White Sox last week. I am glad you got to watch us play well and win all three games, because unfortunately we have had very few stretches of success like that one.

I suppose it is the natural order of things to run in cycles. Several years ago, we enjoyed a period in which it was considered a disappointment when we lost in the World Series. Now, perhaps, we are at low tide. We cannot stop fighting; after all, seven games might be made up in the standings if we play well enough to gain a game on the leaders every week from now until the end of the season. More troubling is the fact that we must pass four teams in the standings to win the pennant, and the odds of us overtaking Philadelphia, Detroit, Washington, and New York together are longer. If any one of those clubs has a hot streak, we must play that much better.

With our record at the .500 mark, I suppose I cannot be blamed for looking at the years to come in an order to raise my spirits just a little. Players like Judge, Chapman, McNally, Ruth, and now Roush should only improve as they gain experience, and many of the rest of us--Wood, Speaker, Johnson, Yerkes, Hooper--are no older than thirty and should be good for a few more years. Carrigan kids us about being an old man, but at thirty-four, he is showing very few signs of slowing down. Snodgrass spells him behind the plate a little more than he used to, but Bill, as you saw on Wednesday when he got those three hits, can still do the job just fine.

I should mention to the fellows in the front office that we won three in a row with you in attendance. You might find yourself being asked to accompany us wherever we play, and if we could win a pennant by doing so, we could probably find a way to bring your entire family along as well. I would be willing to switch to baritone in order to have you back in our quartet, that is, if Chapman wouldn't surrender the tenor part to you in honor of your seniority.

Please say hello to your family for me, and thank your wife once again for the delicious meal she prepared on Wednesday night. It was a wonderful, relaxing evening, and I am sure it was the primary reason why I had four hits on Thursday afternoon.

Your pal,
Pat

[jdw]

Big Six wrote:

> 84 Westland Avenue
> Boston, Massachusetts
>
> August 11, 1918
>
> Mr. Frank Owens
> 220 Park Avenue
> South Bend, Indiana
>
>
> Dear Frank,

*snip*

It's pieces like this popping up from time-to-time that make "The Base Ball Life of Patrick O'Farrell" such a special thread. Getting to hear Pat's "voice" once or so a season gives heart and soul to the body that is in the form of the newspaper articles.

As always, thanks for all the great reading you give us, Six.


John

[Big Six]

Thanks, John!

The personal letters are fun to write for me, too. I think a lot of people have fun reading them, so I like to look for good opportunities to add them to the story.

[Big Six]

Boston Post, August 22, 1918

JOHNSON INJURED
Pitcher to Miss At Least Three Weeks

BOSTON--Walter Johnson threw only eighteen pitches in yesterday's game against the Tigers, and they may be the last ones he throws for about a month.

Johnson left the game complaining of pain in his upper arm, and was quickly examined by team physicians. The pain seems to be centered in his biceps muscle, and the prognosis called for complete rest for at least three weeks.

The injury to Johnson, one of the league's best hurlers, leaves a gap in the Boston pitching rotation and might virtually end the Red Sox' hopes of climbing back into contention in the American League.

The Red Sox currently find themselves in fourth place, six games behind the Philadelphia Athletics.

[Big Six]

Statler Hotel
St. Louis, Missouri

August 28, 1918

Mrs. Emily Wood
227 Elm Street
Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Dear Emily,

I am writing to you while I sit in the lobby of our hotel, with my leg propped up on a chair. I wanted you to hear what happened from me, before you read about it in the newspapers.

In the first inning of today's game, I hit a ball over the center fielder's head, and had every intention of trying to come all the way home. Between second and third bases, however, I felt something strange in my right thigh, and decided to settle for a triple. As I stood on the bag, my leg continued to tighten, and Collins, coaching at third, noticed I could not put my full weight on it.

He told me at once that I was coming out of the game, and signalled Del Paddock to run for me. I tried to walk normally to the dugout, but the pain made it impossible for me to do anything but limp.

I had the leg checked by a doctor, who has assured me I did not injure it severely. I am planning on playing tomorrow anyway; I will simply wrap it tightly with an elastic bandage and do my best. We are finally beginning to show some real signs of life, and I am not about to let a minor injury take me out of the lineup in what now seems to be a pennant race.

Your husband pitched as well as he has all season long, as I am sure you know by now. The Browns' three hits were all "cheap," none of them being hit hard at all. He had the batters hitting ground balls all afternoon, and our infielders kept gobbling them up. I doubt if Joe threw a hundred pitches all day. His control was superb, and he did not walk a single man.

That makes eight straight wins for us now, and we are now only a game behind the Tigers for second place. Even more importantly, the Athletics are only three games ahead. I must confess that I hardly believed a month ago that we would be this much in the thick of things come the first of September. All of fellows who have been with the Red Sox for a few years are used to winning, however, and we do not lose heart easily. We are loose and, with the exception of my leg, feel fine, and rest assured that we are going to make a fight of it over the next month.

Tell Mom and Dad that I am fine, and give your little girl a hug and a kiss for me.

Your loving brother,
Pat

[Big Six]

Statler Hotel
St. Louis, Missouri

September 22, 1918

Mrs. Sarah O'Farrell
84 Westland Avenue
Boston, Massachusetts

My dearest Sarah,

We beat the Browns today, but when we got back to our hotel, we learned that Philadelphia had won their game as well. That means the Athletics have clinched the pennant again. We made a run at them, a stronger run than I honestly thought we would make, but they played well enough to hold us off. They are an outstanding team, especially at bat. I believe every man in their lineup hit .300, or close to it. Murphy and Jackson, in particular, had excellent years. I read in the paper that only two teams in all of the major leagues had a lower team batting average than we did, which surprised me. It makes the fact that we stayed in the pennant race as long as we did a bit of a surprise, too.

I suppose the Athletics will have their hands full with the Giants in the World Series, though. The Giants appear, at least from their statistics, to be the superior team. The list of National League leaders looks quite a bit like the New York roster this season!

I suppose we will see quite a few of the substitutes getting into the last three games of the season, a few of the fellows who came up from the minor leagues at the first of the month. I doubt if I will see any more action myself. My thigh muscle is still sore, and I am tired from playing so many games in a row during the past month, as we were back in the thick of the race.

Do you realize that I have played almost 2,000 games a a professional, if you count the minor leagues and the World Series? I read that the other day, and I found it almost impossible to believe. After all, I only turned thirty-one last week. I believe I could play for ten more years; that is, of course, if we decide that is what is best for our family. And, of course, that will depend on how long I am able to play well enough to keep a job!

I do appreciate, more than you know, your willingness to support my career so wholeheartedly. From the time I was six or seven years old, and first said that I wanted to play ball for a living one day, you never laughed at me, and when my father nearly made me forget about my plans, you never let me set them aside.

You have been both mother and father to our children from March until October, and I appreciate that most of all. The one thing I regret about my career in base ball is the fact that I have to spend so much time away from you. Living together in Boston during the season makes it easier, but when it comes time to board the train and leave for another road trip, the pain returns afresh. On the other hand, I cannot imagine myself working at any other trade right now. I have no idea how a fellow who goes to work on an assembly line, for example, can stand the sameness of his daily tasks. I, at least, face a different pitcher every game, and there is no telling how things will turn out.

Unfortunately, things did not turn out as well for us as they could have, but on the other hand, we will all be back in Stockbridge a bit sooner. That, at least, makes losing the pennant again more tolerable.

Hug and kiss the children for me, dearest.

With all my love,
Pat

[Big Six]

Here are Pat's statistics for 1918, plus his updated career totals:

        G    AB   H   2B  3B HR RBI   R    BB  K   SB  CS  BA   OBP  SLG  OPS
1918   140  495  162  34  12  8  81  102  108  24  72  23 .327 .443 .493 .936 
Total 1585 5830 1917 338 164 67 929 1164 1052 748 698 160 .329 .431 .478 .909

This makes nine consecutive seasons in which Pat has scored at least 100 runs.

As you can see, that 2000th hit is likely to drop in sometime around the All-Star break in 1919, and he might drive in his 1000th run by September.

Pat's best month in 1918 came during the September stretch drive (.394-2-17, in 20 games, with a .477 OBP and a .620 slugging percentage. He hit .300 in every month except for July (.273).

Oddly, Pat hit .373 on the road, and only .279 at home, and he slugged over 130 points higher away from Fenway Park.

O'Farrell continued to demonstrate his talent for hitting in the clutch. In close/late situations, he produced at a sizzling .408/.574/.592 rate, and was .338/.482/.489 with runners in scoring position.


Coming next: Pat on the leader boards, and a career leaders update.