1939 Cincinnati Reds Photo Gallery
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Equal Time for the 1939 Reds!
My recent post about the 1939 Yankees got me to thinking about their National League opponents in the 1939 World Series: the Cincinnati Reds. So to give them a little equal time, here’s a nice photo of Hall-of Fame catcher Ernie Lombardi and four of his teammates from the 1939 pennant-winning Reds. They lost to the Yankees in the World Series 4-0 that year, but came back to win the pennant and World Series the following year, beating the Tigers.
See if you can guess any of the names of the other players in the photo before looking at the identifications at the bottom of the post.
Also, here’s a few interesting facts about the 1939 Reds; and also some information about their Hall-of-Fame catcher, Ernie Lombardi, one of the game’s most under-appreciated and over-looked greats:
The 1939 Reds, managed by Hall-of-Famer Bill McKechnie, went 97-57 (.630), finishing 4.5 games ahead of the Cardinals. Their pitching staff was led by Bucky Walters, going 27-11 (.711, 2.29 ERA), and Paul Derringer at 25-7 (.781, 2.81 ERA), the last two 25-game winners for the Reds in the 20th century. Also on the staff was Johnny Vander Meer of the back-to-back no-hitter fame from 1938. Hall-of-fame outfielder Al Simmons was an August pickup from the Boston Bees. As a team, the Reds hit .278 and posted a3.27 ERA.
The team represented a good slice of “Americana,” with a lot of ethnicities, including: Italian with Nino Bongiovanni, Vince DiMaggio, and Ernie Lombardi; Irish with Bill McKechnie, Red Barrett, and Mike McCormack; French with “Frenchie” Bordagaray; Jewish with Ival Goodman, Greek with Pete Naktenis, German with Wally Berger and Billy Werber, and Dutch with Johnny VanderMeer. And how about this great baseball name: “Peaches” Davis!
When third baseman Billy Werber passed away in 2009 at age 100.2, he was until the time of his death the oldest living ballplayer.
Hall-of-Fame Catcher Ernie Lombardi:
Ernie Lombardi compiled a lifetime .306 batting average over 17 seasons (1931-47), with 190 home runs and 990 RBIs. Only two catchers in the Hall of Fame have a higher lifetime batting average. Lombardi won National League batting titles in 1938 and ’42 (only catcher Joe Mauer has won more), threw out an astonishing 47% of potential base stealers, and was known as a great handler of pitchers.
He became a national star in 1938 when he hit a league-leading .342 with 19 home runs, drove in 95 runs, and won the National League’s MVP award. He was a World Series champion in 1940 with the Reds and had the distinction of catching both of Johnny Vander Meer’s back-to-back no-hitters (June 11 and June 15, 1938). Lombardi made 8 All-Star game appearances and is included in Lawrence Ritter’s book “100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.
The Infamous Lombardi “Snooze”
Lombardi is probably most remembered – unjustly — for the infamous “snooze” which occurred in the 1939 World Series. During the fourth game in the 10th inning with the score tied and runners on first and third, Joe DiMaggio singled. One run scored, then Reds outfielder Ival Goodman fumbled the ball. Yankees’ powerful right fielder Charlie “King Kong” Keller beat the throw to catcher Lombardi and inadvertently hit Ernie in the groin, rendering him in pain and dazed. DiMaggio raced around the bases and scored while the ball lay just a few feet away. The press was hugely critical of the sensitive catcher and it came to be known as “Lombardi’s Snooze”.
Lombardi is also remembered, perhaps not unjustly, as one of the slowest runners in the history of the game. To be that slow and still hit .306 over 17 years — you have to a heck of a hitter! He was overlooked by the Hall of Fame until nine years after his death. He died a broken man in 1986, bitter over his snub by the Hall. He was finally elected by the Veteran’s Committee in 1977.
Player Identification:
L-R: Ernie Lombardi, Ival Goodman, Frank McCormick, Wally Berger, Harry Craft.
I remember Harry Craft as a coach for the Cubs in the 1950’s.
-Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: Boston Public Library Leslie Jones Collection and Public Domain.
Biographical information edited from the Ernie Lombardi Wikipedia page. Statistics from Baseball Reference
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