| Clark Griffith | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Pitcher /Manager /Owner | |
| Born:(1869-11-20)November 20, 1869 Clear Creek, Missouri, U.S. | |
| Died: October 27, 1955(1955-10-27) (aged 85) Washington, D.C., U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 11, 1891, for the St. Louis Browns | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 7, 1914, for the Washington Senators | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 237–146 |
| Earned run average | 3.31 |
| Strikeouts | 955 |
| Managerial record | 1,491–1,367–59 |
| Winning % | .522 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager
As owner | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Member of the National | |
 Baseball Hall of Fame | |
| Induction | 1946 |
| Election method | Old-Timers Committee |
Clark Calvin Griffith (November 20, 1869 – October 27, 1955),[1] nicknamed "the Old Fox", was an AmericanMajor League Baseball (MLB)pitcher,manager and team owner. He began his MLB playing career with theSt. Louis Browns (1891),Boston Reds (1891), andChicago Colts/Orphans (1893–1900). He then served asplayer-manager for theChicago White Stockings (1901–1902) andNew York Highlanders (1903–1907).
He retired as a player after the 1907 season, remaining manager of the Highlanders in 1908. He managed theCincinnati Reds (1909–1911) andWashington Senators (1912–1920), making some appearances as a player with both teams. He owned the Senators from 1920 until his death in 1955. Sometimes known for being a thrifty executive, Griffith is also remembered for attracting talented players from theNational League to play for the upstartAmerican League when the Junior Circuit was in its infancy.
Griffith has the second-mostties by a manager in MLB history, with 59. He trails onlyConnie Mack, who has 76 ties and holds the record for managing the most games in MLB history, with a total of 7,755 games, 4,838 more than Griffith. Additionally, 25 managers have managed more games than Griffith’s 2,917, making the incidence of ties in his managerial career significantly higher than any other manager in Major League history.[2]
Griffith was elected to theNational Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.
Clark Calvin Griffith was born on November 20, 1869, inClear Creek, Missouri, to Isaiah and Sarah Anne Griffith. His parents were of Welsh ancestry. They had lived in Illinois before Clark Griffith's birth. The family took a covered wagon west toward theOklahoma Territory. Along the way, the family encountered hungry and disenchanted people returning from the Oklahoma Territory, so they decided to settle in Missouri. Griffith grew up with five siblings, four of them older.[3]
When Griffith was a small child, his father was killed in a hunting accident when fellow hunters mistook him for a deer.[4] Sarah Griffith struggled to raise her children as a widow, but Clark Griffith later said that his neighbors in Missouri had been very helpful to his mother, planting crops for her and the children. Fearing amalaria epidemic that was sweeping through the area, the Griffith family moved toBloomington, Illinois.[5]
A childhood incident taught him about the money side to baseball, Griffith recalled. When he was 13, he and a few other young boys had raised $1.25 to buy a baseball. They sent one of the boys 12 miles on horseback to make the purchase. The ball burst the second time that it was struck. Griffith later found out that the boy who purchased the ball only spent a quarter, keeping the leftover dollar.[6] At the age of 17, Griffith had made $10 pitching in a local baseball game inHoopeston, Illinois.[7]
Griffith broke into organized baseball late in the 1887 with the local Bloomington club in theCentral Interstate League.[8] The following year, during an exhibition game against theMilwaukee Creams of theWestern Association, Griffith so impressed Milwaukee managerJim Hart that he offered the 18-year old a contract at $225 a month. Clark pitched for Milwaukee for three seasons beforeCharlie Comiskey convinced him to join the major leagues.[9]
Griffith entered theAmerican Association in 1891, pitching226+1⁄3 innings and going 11-8 for Comiskey'sSt. Louis Browns. He was released in July of that year after developing a sore arm, and joined theBoston Reds later that season. After the 1891 season, the Association disbanded and he was left looking for new work.[9]
Griffith spent the next two seasons moving from independent minor league club to minor league club, playing in Tacoma, Washington, Missoula, Montana, and Oakland, California. The leagues were unstable; he had 30 wins for Oakland when the club disbanded in August 1893, and Griffith performed on stage in Wild West variety shows in San Francisco'sBarbary Coastred-light district before signing with theChicago Colts in early September.[9]
Griffith began the following season with theColts, and spent the rest of his playing career in the major leagues. In 1893, the pitchers box was moved back; it had been 55 feet from home plate and was moved to the modern distance of 60 feet, six inches. Following that change, offensive numbers increased across baseball and many pitchers had to adjust their approaches.[10]Cap Anson was the player-manager of the Colts during Griffith's tenure and he utilized a rotation of only three starting pitchers. Just before Griffith's arrival on the team, pitcherBill Hutchison had thrown more than 600 innings in a single season for Anson, which may have contributed to a decline in Hutchison's career. Griffith tried a new pitch to increase his longevity. By modifying the grip of acurveball, he threw a pitch similar to thescrewball thatChristy Mathewson had developed. He also often scuffed balls with his spikes or rubbed them in the grass.[10]
In 1894, Griffith began a string of six consecutive seasons with 20 or more victories, compiling a 21–14 record and 4.92earned run average (ERA). Griffith lowered his ERA over the following years to a low of 1.88 in 1898, the lowest mark in the league.
WhenBan Johnson, a longtime friend, announced plans to form theAmerican League, Griffith was one of the ringleaders in getting National League players to jump ship. Using the cover of his post as vice president of the League Protective Players' Association (a nascent players' union), Griffith persuaded 39 players to sign on with the new league forthe 1901 season. Griffith himself signed on with theChicago White Stockings asplayer-manager. He won 20 games for the final time in his career and led the White Stockings to the first AL pennant with an 83–53 record.
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At Johnson's suggestion, Griffith left Chicago in1903 to take over as manager of theNew York Highlanders. The Highlanders had just moved fromBaltimore, and Johnson knew that for the league to be successful, it needed a strong franchise in the nation's biggest city. Griffith's last year as a regular player was1907 after he nearly suffered a breakdown from overwork in April 1907.[11]
After a falling-out with the Highlanders' ownership, Griffith was fired during the 1908 season. The team had started strong, but the team's pitching faltered as the season progressed and Griffith was criticized for trading awayJimmy Williams in exchange for a disappointing prospect.[12]
He made brief appearances as a player for the Reds (1909–1910) and Senators (1912, 1913 and 1914).[13]
Griffith returned to the National League as manager of theCincinnati Reds in1909.
Late in the1911 season, the American League'sWashington Senators needed to raise money to pay for the construction of their new park, National Park, which had been hurriedly built just days before the start of the season after its predecessor,Boundary Park, burned down. Principal ownerThomas C. Noyes had been friends with Griffith, and asked one of his minority partners, Ed Walsh, to come to Washington as manager in1912. At the same time, he also bought stock in the team as part of an effort to finance the construction of National Park. By selling the cattle on his Montana ranch, then mortgaging the ranch, Griffith was able to acquire a 10 percent stake in the Senators in two separate transactions totaling $27,000 ($879,734 in 2024 dollars), making him the team's largest single shareholder.[14] At the time, the franchise had little going for it other than star pitcherWalter Johnson. In the American League's first 12 years, the Senators had never had a winning record or finished higher than sixth.
To entertain the fans, Griffith hiredNick Altrock as a first base coach in his first season with Washington. Described as a "natural buffoon", Altrock engaged in lighthearted fun while coaching first base. He wrestled with himself, copied the motions of the pitcher and made the fans laugh with other antics.[15] Griffith also engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in major league history, leading the Senators to second place. In nine years, his Washington teams only twice finished below fifth in the eight-team league.
Through this time, Griffith frequently clashed with the Senators executives, who were sometimes unwilling to spend the money he felt necessary to make the team a consistent winner. Noyes had died in the middle of the 1912 season and was succeeded as president byBenjamin Minor. Unlike Noyes, Minor insisted that Griffith clear all transactions with him. Griffith began an effort to increase his interest in the team. Along the way, he used his ties withSecretary of WarNewton D. Baker to keep the baseball season going past July after the government issued a "work or fight" order requiring all able-bodied men to either serve in the military or work in an essential occupation. Griffith persuaded Baker to allow ballplayers to perform military drills on the field with bats rather than rifles, allowing the season to go on through Labor Day.[14]
In late 1919, frustrated by continued resistance on the board, Griffith joined forces withPhiladelphia grain broker William Richardson, a close friend of Mack's, to buy controlling interest in the Senators.[14] Minor was more than willing to sell, believing he could no longer devote attention to the team.[16] Griffith boosted his holdings to 44 percent, while Richardson bought a 40.4 percent stake. Richardson and Griffith quickly came to an agreement that allowed Griffith to vote Richardson's shares as well, effectively giving Griffith a commanding 84 percent controlling interest.[14] This all but assured his election as team president that November. At the same time, the Senators' home park, National Park, was renamedGriffith Stadium.
Griffith stepped down as manager after the 1920 season to devote all his energy to the front office. He finished his managerial career with a 1,491–1,367 record. His 1,491 wins ranked 19th all-time as of 2005. During his managing tenure, Griffith had a tradition of treating the fans to a farce game as the final game of the season. This tradition is a factor in the inflation of Walter Johnson's minuscule ERA from 1.09 to 1.14 in 1913.
Griffith was known for running the Senators on a shoestring. This was almost out of necessity; unlike most other owners, he had no income other than the Senators and Griffith Stadium. However, theWashington Redskins (who moved into the stadium in 1937 from Boston) and other tenants enabled him to turn a profit for 21 straight years.
He was known for his faith in young players. He twice entrusted 27-year-old players to manage his teams—Bucky Harris in1924 andJoe Cronin in1933. Griffith's wagers appeared to pay off, as the Senators won the pennant in both years under their new youthful managers. In Harris' case, they won the1924 World Series. Cronin came to the team as a player when Griffith's friendJoe Engel, a former Senators pitcher, was placed in charge of theChattanooga Lookouts atEngel Stadium. Engel was the first to scout Cronin for the club and said, "I knew I was watching a great player. I bought Cronin at a time he was hitting .221. When I told Clark Griffith what I had done, he screamed, "You paid $7,500 for that bum? Well, you didn't buy him for me. You bought him for yourself. He's not my ballplayer – he's yours. You keep him and don't either you or Cronin show up at the ballpark." Cronin later married Griffith's niece, Mildred June Robertson.[17] He also leaned heavily onJoe Cambria, a scout who frequently found talented Cuban players for Griffith.[14]
Ironically given his faith in young players, Griffith either would not or could not spend money on afarm system, preferring to mine prospects from independent minor league teams. For a time, the Senators had only three minor league teams–the Class A1 (nowDouble-A) Lookouts, the Class B (equivalent to a short-season A team before 2021, and aLow-A team since 2021)Charlotte Hornets, and the Class D (equivalent to a Rookie-level team today)Orlando Senators. This was a major reason why the Senators were unable to put together a consistent winner, especially after World War II.[14]
Through all of this, Griffith's hold on the team appeared secure. When Richardson died in 1942, his twin brother,George, inherited his stake and voiced full confidence in Griffith. However, George died in 1948, triggering a series of events that almost cost Griffith control of the team. In1949, after a string of mostly humdrum seasons, the Richardson estate sold its stake toJohn Jachym, a businessman who had been a scout for theSt. Louis Cardinals andDetroit Tigers. Griffith long believed he had the right to match any offer made by the Richardson estate, and was surprised when Jachym arrived at Griffith Stadium as part-owner. Jachym had no intention of being a silent partner, but Griffith was able to persuade his board to rebuff Jachym's effort to have any say in team affairs. He was particularly angered when Jachym expressed his fondness for longtime Cardinals general managerBranch Rickey, whom Griffith had long detested. When Jachym proposed buying theBuffalo Bisons of theInternational League, which would have given the Senators a Triple-A team for the first time, Griffith turned the request down out of hand.[14]
Frustrated at being shut out, Jachym sold his stake toH. Gabriel Murphy six months later.[14] However, Griffith understood that unless the team improved, the next vote would go against him.
To protect himself, Griffith persuaded Murphy to sell him enough stock to give him 52 percent of the club, making Griffith majority owner in name as well as in fact. In return, Griffith gave Murphy right of first refusal on his shares should the Griffiths ever decide to sell. However, Griffith stubbornly resisted all efforts to modernize. For example, it would be 1955 before he hired as manager anyone who wasn't a current Senators or ex-Senators player.[18] Additionally, he actively supported theSt. Louis Browns' move toBaltimore, a mere 30 miles north, as theBaltimore Orioles, even though it would have almost certainly cut into the Senators' attendance.[14]
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| CWS | 1901 | 136 | 83 | 53 | .610 | 1st in AL | – | – | – | No postseason |
| CWS | 1902 | 134 | 74 | 60 | .552 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| CWS total | 270 | 157 | 113 | .581 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| NYH | 1903 | 134 | 72 | 62 | .537 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYH | 1904 | 151 | 92 | 59 | .609 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYH | 1905 | 149 | 71 | 78 | .477 | 6th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYH | 1906 | 151 | 90 | 61 | .596 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYH | 1907 | 148 | 70 | 78 | .473 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| NYH | 1908 | 56 | 24 | 32 | .429 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| NYH total | 789 | 419 | 370 | .531 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| CIN | 1909 | 153 | 77 | 76 | .503 | 4th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1910 | 154 | 75 | 79 | .487 | 5th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN | 1911 | 153 | 70 | 83 | .458 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| CIN total | 470 | 222 | 238 | .483 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| WSH | 1912 | 152 | 91 | 61 | .599 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1913 | 154 | 90 | 64 | .584 | 2nd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1914 | 154 | 81 | 73 | .526 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1915 | 153 | 85 | 68 | .556 | 4th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1916 | 153 | 76 | 77 | .497 | 7th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1917 | 153 | 74 | 79 | .484 | 5th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1918 | 128 | 72 | 56 | .563 | 3rd in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1919 | 140 | 56 | 84 | .400 | 7th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH | 1920 | 152 | 68 | 84 | .447 | 6th in AL | – | – | – | – |
| WSH total | 1339 | 693 | 646 | .518 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[19] | 2858 | 1491 | 1367 | .522 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
In 1939, sportswriterBob Considine expressed disappointment that Griffith had not already been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He referred to Griffith as "the real father of the American League", citing the fact that Griffith had been a key force in attracting National League players to join the American League teams in their initial years. He wrote that Griffith "belongs in any hall of fame where the elective body is composed of sports writers, for no other reason than that no sports writer ever came away from the old guy without a story. Some of them were even kindly stories."[20]
Griffith had appeared on ballot for the secondBaseball Hall of Fame election (1937), but he received 2% of the possible votes.[21] In 1938, he received votes on only 3.8% of the submitted ballots.[22] He received votes on 7.3% of ballots the next year.[23] The Hall of Fame held only triennial elections for a few years.[24] In 1942, 30.5% of voters submitted Griffith's name.[25]
Griffith was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee in1946. He was honored at the induction ceremony the following year. According to author Dennis Corcoran, Griffith had attended the initial Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 1939 but that there is no evidence that Griffith came to the 1947 induction or any other ceremony.[26]
In October 1955, Griffith was in the hospital withneuritis when he suffered a stomach hemorrhage.[27] Though he appeared to be improving, Griffith died a few days after he was hospitalized. He was nearing his 86th birthday.[28]
After his death, newspaper accounts described Griffith's longtime relationships with U.S. presidents. DuringWorld War I, he successfully petitionedWoodrow Wilson to allow the continuation of baseball. He did the same withFranklin D. Roosevelt duringWorld War II. He had also begun a tradition of presidents throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at a season's firstOpening Day game, which started withWilliam Howard Taft.[28] When the Baseball Hall of Fame was being built and was looking for baseball memorabilia, Griffith donated several photographs of these presidential first pitches.[29]
League presidentWill Harridge called Griffith "one of the game's all-time great figures."[30] Griffith was survived by his wife, who died of aheart attack two years later.[31] He and his wife had no children, but they raised several relatives.[32] One of those relatives wasCalvin Griffith, who was informally adopted by Clark and Addie at the age of 11. Calvin took over the team after his uncle's death and led efforts to have the club moved to Minnesota and become the Twins. The younger Griffith held on to the team until 1984, when he sold it toCarl Pohlad, thus ending the Griffith family's 65-year ownership of the franchise. Another nephew,Sherry Robertson, played infield and outfield for the Senators and thePhiladelphia Athletics in the 1940s and 1950s.[33]
A monument was erected in honor of Griffith at Griffith Stadium. After the stadium was demolished in 1964, the obelisk was moved toRobert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, where theWashington Nationals played between 2005 and 2007.[34] A collegiate baseball league, the National Capital City Junior League, was renamed in honor of Griffith after his death.[35] The league suspended operations in 2010.[36]
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