|
Herold Dominic "Muddy" Ruel (February 20, 1896 – November 13, 1963) was an American professional baseball player, coach, manager and general manager. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for 19 seasons with the St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees, Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and the Chicago White Sox. Ruel was one of the top defensive catchers of his era, and is best remembered for scoring the winning run for the Washington Senators in Game 7 of the 1924 World Series and, for being the battery-mate of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, Walter Johnson.〔(Muddy Ruel New York Times Obituary at www.thedeadballera.com )〕〔(''Muddy – But Stylish'', by Francis Stann, Baseball Digest, February 1964, ISSN 0005-609X )〕 ==Major League career== Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Ruel began his professional baseball career at the age of 19 with his hometown team, the St. Louis Browns, appearing in 10 games during the 1915 season.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Muddy Ruel Statistics and History )〕 He then played in the minor leagues for two seasons with the Memphis Chickasaws before joining the New York Yankees in .〔(Muddy Ruel minor league statistics at Baseball Reference )〕 With the Yankees, Ruel shared catching duties with Truck Hannah from 1918 to 1920.〔 He was the Yankees catcher on August 16, when a Carl Mays' pitch hit Ray Chapman on the head, resulting in Chapman's death the next day.〔(August 16, 1920 Indians-Yankees box score at retrosheet )〕 He later defended Mays and said that he was innocent of any wrongdoing. Ruel would be traded to the Boston Red Sox in 1921, where he played for two seasons before being traded to the Washington Senators in .〔(Muddy Ruel Trades and Transactions at Baseball Reference )〕 In the 1923 season, he posted a career-high batting average of .316 along with 54 runs batted in.〔 He led American League catchers in assists and putouts, and finished 11th in the American League Most Valuable Player Award ballot.〔(1923 American League Fielding Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕〔(1923 American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting results at Baseball Reference )〕 He had another solid year in 1924, playing in 149 games and once again leading the American League catchers in assists and putouts.〔〔(1924 American League Fielding Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 With Ruel calling the pitches, Walter Johnson's career was revitalized, as he led the league with 23 victories and a 2.72 earned run average.〔(Walter Johnson at Baseball Reference )〕 The Senators clinched the American League pennant, finishing the season two games ahead of the New York Yankees. The Senators would face John McGraw's heavily favored New York Giants in the 1924 World Series.〔(1924 World Series at Baseball Reference )〕 The two teams traded wins back and forth until the series reached the seventh and deciding game. The Senators trailed the Giants 3 to 1 in the eighth inning of Game 7, when they rallied and tied the score.〔(1924 World Series Game 7 box score at Baseball Reference )〕 Ruel hit a single, then scored the tying run during the rally, to send the game into extra innings with the score tied at three runs apeice.〔 In the bottom of the twelfth inning with Ruel at bat, he hit a high, foul ball directly over home plate.〔 The Giants' catcher, Hank Gowdy, dropped his protective mask to field the ball but, failing to toss the mask aside, stumbled over it and dropped the ball, thus giving Ruel another chance to bat.〔 On the next pitch, Ruel hit a double and, then proceeded to score the winning run when Earl McNeely hit a ground ball that took a bad hop over third baseman Freddie Lindstrom's head.〔〔 Ruel had another good season in 1925, producing a .310 batting average along with 54 runs batted in and, for the third consecutive year, he led American League catchers in assists and putouts.〔〔(1925 American League Fielding Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 The Senators would win the American League pennant for the second year in a row, however they were defeated by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1925 World Series.〔(1925 World Series at Baseball Reference )〕 Ruel hit for a .299 batting average in 1926 and led the American League catchers with a .989 fielding percentage, as the Senators slipped to a fourth-place finish.〔 He had one more good season in 1927, posting a .310 batting average and finishing second among catchers in fielding percentage, putouts, assists and baserunners caught stealing.〔〔(1927 American League Fielding Leaders at Baseball Reference )〕 Ruel finished sixth in the American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting.〔(1927 American League Most Valuable Player Award balloting results at Baseball Reference )〕 After the 1927 season, his offensive production began to diminish, and by 1929, Bennie Tate had begun to take over as the Senators' main catcher.〔(1929 Washington Senators at Baseball Reference )〕 In December 1930, Ruel was purchased from the Senators by the Boston Red Sox, who then traded him to the Detroit Tigers in August 1931.〔 With the Tigers, he served as a reserve catcher in 1932 working behind Ray Hayworth.〔(1932 Detroit Tigers at Baseball Reference )〕 He returned to the St. Louis Browns in 1933 before ending his playing career with the Chicago White Sox in 1934 at the age of 38. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Muddy Ruel」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|