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MLB history: Forgotten stars of the current AL East teams

By Rick Soisson

Mar 21, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Scott Kazmir (16) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a Spring Training game at Camelback Ranch, Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2021; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Scott Kazmir (16) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a Spring Training game at Camelback Ranch, Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports /
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NEW YORK – AUGUST 30: Former first baseman Wally Pipp, of the New York Yankees, poses for a portrait fielding a ball while sitting on a chair at firstbase prior to Old Timer’s Day festivities and a MLB doubleheader on August 30, 1953 between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York. (Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – AUGUST 30: Former first baseman Wally Pipp, of the New York Yankees, poses for a portrait fielding a ball while sitting on a chair at firstbase prior to Old Timer’s Day festivities and a MLB doubleheader on August 30, 1953 between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, New York. (Photo by: Olen Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images) /

In the lull that exists because of Major League Baseball’s current lockout, while the super-rich and regular-rich decide how to carve up the cash cow that is The Show, perhaps it is finally time to finish up our series on the forgotten stars in MLB history.

For those of you new to Call to the Pen or those with fading memories, some time ago we were gathering up important historical players fading into the mists of time. We have only the AL East left to consider. The other divisions were all covered by Opening Day of 2020, which you will recall was a bit later than usual.

We will start with the team with the most stars, probably, both in the real and celebrity senses of the term…

Wally Pipp, Yankees

You are no doubt saying right now, “Hold on now, Pipp isn’t forgotten. He was the guy Gehrig replaced – forever.” This is true. Most fans were hit with that Pipp-Gehrig fact as an MLB history trivia question round about sixth grade.

The problem was finding a star Yankees player “forgotten” in MLB history.

What is somewhat forgotten, however, is that Wally Pipp was something of a Yankees star, and not just for a flash-in-the-pan season like a couple of players chosen for this series.

In fact, if the Yankees had not become the behemoth many fans now hate between their acquisition of Babe Ruth in 1920 and 1965, Wally Pipp might be remembered as a big Yankees star. As a young player, in fact, he appeared headed for great heights. At 23, in 1916, his second year in New York, he led MLB in home runs. His pre-Ruth bombardment ended at 12, but he also drove in 93 runs.

That year his strikeout total also led the AL (a then-disgraceful 82), but he became a better contact hitter, and by 1921 he hit a stride in which he slashed .306/.361/.437 for four years. In that period, he was the primary first baseman and hit .304 on the Yankees first world championship team (1923), hit .329 and slugged .466 (1922), and led his league in triples with 19 (1924). In the “off year” in the stretch (1921), he had 103 RBI.

The tall, broad-shouldered first sacker was also “one of the finest defensive first basemen of the Deadball Era,” to borrow from Lyle Spatz. For his 15-year career, with over 20,000 chances, he posted a .992 fielding percentage, three points above league averages.

If he had only not had that nagging headache on June 2, 1925, when the Iron Horse replaced him.

Wally Pipp finished his career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his first of three seasons there, he hit .291, drove in 99, and gathered a few MVP votes at the age of 33. It was the third time he collected votes for that award.

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