- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Philadelphia
- Team: Phillies
- League: National League
Sherwood Robert Magee (1884-1929) was a brawling rogue and one of the best outfielders in Philadelphia history. Fans with long memories smiled when this man who had once been suspended for cold-cocking an ump turned to officiating games upon his retirement as a player. Magee began a decade-long streak as the Phillies’ left fielder as a 19-year-old rookie. He had great years at the plate but none better than in 1910, the year before he knocked out Bill Finneran and suffered the worst sanction dealt by the NL since 1877. In ’10 Sherry bested even Honus Wagner, winning the NL batting title and leading in runs and RBI.
- Magee played minor league ball until age 40, then turned to umpiring. The NL put him under close watch due to his prior history but he established himself as a fine arbiter
- Struck down by pneumonia at 44, Magee was lauded in the press as “one of baseball’s most colorful figures,” and “one of the greatest natural batsmen in the game”
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
George Edward Lewis (1888-1979) turned 18 on April 18, 1906 and thought he’d never see 19. His home town of San Francisco was rocked by quake and fire but Lewis survived to play college and minor league ball before Boston Red Sox owner John Taylor trekked all the way to the coast to personally sign this promising youngster. Lewis didn’t endear himself to his teammates in 1910 — too pushy for a rookie, didn’t defer to Speaker, Hooper, et. al. But his bat justified his cockiness and Lewis quickly emerged as one of Boston’s finest. Long before the Green Monster, eternally quirky Fenway sported an incline up to the left field fence. No one mastered that terrain like Lewis and the geography became “Duffy’s Cliff.” Went on to anchor left for perhaps the best defensive outfield ever. Three Series’ titles and league leadership in most hitting categories followed.
- Witness to the Babe’s first and last HRs, the final while coaching the Braves (1931-35)
- Proudly recounted the time he pinch hit for Ruth, 7/11/14, and won the game
- Only member of the famed OF trio not to be inducted into the Hall
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Indianapolis
- Team: Hoosiers (FL)
- League: Federal League
Benjamin Michael Kauff (1890-1961) came oh so close to owning the Big Apple. The brash, dapper young outfielder had all the tools, all five to be exact. And he had attitude. And style. For unknown reasons, the Highlanders gave up on the rookie in 1912 after a mere five games and consigned him to the minors. Kauff then detoured to the Federal League in ‘14-15, tearing up the league in all offensive categories. John McGraw had tried to get Benny before losing out to the upstart Feds and finally succeeded when the circuit folded. Sadly for Kauff, his press notices as the “Ty Cobb of the Federal League” rang hollow when he could only muster a .264 average in 1916 for the Giants. He raised that average over .300 until the war intervened but never set the world on fire. Caught up in the maelstrom of 1919 shadiness, Kauff gained a reputation for dishonesty that would haunt him when he faced felony theft charges the next year.
- Despite being exonerated with McGraw’s help, Ban Johnson and Kenesaw Landis didn’t buy it. The Black Sox affair had created a climate where the Judge would brook no hint of scandal and Kauff was banned from the game
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Cleveland
- Team: Naps
- League: American League
Joseph Jefferson Wofford Jackson (1887-1951) had the “perfectest” swing according to Babe Ruth who copied it. After nearly a century of more contenders, many would still say Shoeless Joe was the purest hitter ever to wield a baseball bat. Expelled from baseball by Judge Landis, Jackson lives in infamy despite demonstrating prowess at the plate and grace afield. While he will ever be branded with the “Black Sox,” Jackson stirred passions that still echo in baseball today.
- Still ranks as the third-highest career batting average in history (.356)
- His .408 average in 1911, his rookie season, is sixth-highest in the modern era
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Harry Bartholomew Hooper (1887-1974) anchored right field for one of the best outfields in baseball for the Red Sox with Tris Speaker and Duffy Lewis from 1910-15. Still holds Boston club records for triples and SBs. Entered the Hall of Fame in 1971 with 2466 hits and a career .281 BA.
- First player to lead-off both games of a doubleheader with a home run
- With Heinie Wagner, was part of a record four Sox World Series championships
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1971
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