| Gabby Street | |
|---|---|
 Street baseball card | |
| Catcher /Manager | |
| Born:(1882-09-30)September 30, 1882 Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. | |
| Died: February 6, 1951(1951-02-06) (aged 68) Joplin, Missouri, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 13, 1904, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 20, 1931, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .208 |
| Home runs | 2 |
| Runs batted in | 105 |
| Managerial record | 365–332 |
| Winning % | .524 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
As player
As manager
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Charles Evard "Gabby"Street (September 30, 1882 – February 6, 1951), also nicknamed "the Old Sarge", was an Americancatcher,manager,coach, and radio broadcaster inMajor League Baseball during the first half of the 20th century. As a catcher, he participated in one of the most publicized baseball stunts of the century's first decade. As a manager, he led theSt. Louis Cardinals to twoNational League championships (1930–31) and one world title (1931). As a broadcaster, he entertainedSt. Louis baseball fans in the years followingWorld War II.
Born inHuntsville, Alabama, Street (who batted and threw right-handed) was a weak hitter. Hebatted only .208 in a seven-year playing career (1904–05; 1908–12) in 502 games with theCincinnati Reds,Boston Beaneaters,Washington Senators, andNew York Highlanders. Apart from 1908 to 1909, when he was the Senators' first-string catcher, he was a part-time player.
On August 21, 1908, Street achieved a measure of immortality by catching a baseball dropped from the top of theWashington Monument—a distance of 555 feet (169 m). After muffing the first 12 balls thrown by journalist Preston Gibson, he made a clean reception of number 13. In addition, Street was fabled as an early catcher and mentor of theAmerican League's nonpareil right-handed pitcher,Walter Johnson.
After Street's playing career ended, he managed in theminor leagues before joining the Cardinals' major league coaching staff in 1929. It was a year of turmoil for thedefending NL champs. They replaced 1928 skipperBill McKechnie before the season withBilly Southworth; then, when Southworth couldn't get results, they brought back McKechnie on July 24. In between, Street served as acting manager for one game on July 23: an 8–2 triumph over thePhiladelphia Phillies.[1] At the close of the 1929 season, McKechnie left to manage the Boston Braves and Street became the Redbirds' full-fledged manager.
The Old Sarge promptly led the Cardinals to consecutive National League pennants. In 1930, they won 92 games and finished two games in front of theChicago Cubs. But in the1930 World Series, they faced the defending world championPhiladelphia Athletics and lost in six games. In 1931, Street's Cardinals won 101 games and bested theNew York Giants by 13 games. Then, in the1931 Series against those same A's, pitchersWild Bill Hallahan andBurleigh Grimes dominated andPepper Martin had 12hits, batted .500,drove in five runs andstole five bases to lead the underdog Redbirds to a seven-game world championship against the lastConnie Mack dynasty.
The Cardinals faltered in 1932, winning only 72 games and finishing tied for sixth, 18 games out, and had improved only to fifth in July 1933. Street was dumped on July 23 and replaced by hissecond baseman,Frankie Frisch. The next two seasons, he managed theMission Reds, but in 1935 he was suspended from thePacific Coast League indefinitely for assaulting anumpire.[2] After that, he managed theSt. Paul Saints of theAmerican Association in 1936 and 1937, before returning to the Mound City as skipper of the 1938St. Louis Browns. The habitually bottom-feeding Brownies finished seventh in an eight-team American League, winning only 53 games. The '38 season put a cap on Street's major league managerial career. In all or parts of six years, he won 365 and lost 332 (.524).[3]
Street would return to St. Louis and the major leagues, however, as acolor commentator for Cardinals and Browns radio broadcasts after the Second World War, working with young colleagueHarry Caray. After battling cancer successfully in 1949, Street fell victim to heart failure in his adopted hometown ofJoplin, Missouri, in February 1951. He died at 68 years of age.
...no (broadcast) partner I've ever had meant as much to me as he did. ... I listened to Gabby and learned, and not only about baseball; I learned many of the most important lessons about life.
— Harry Caray, from Harry Caray,Holy Cow!, p. 71.
Street's likeness made a brief cameo appearance ontheSimpsons episode: "Homer at the Bat" (1992) as one of the would-be ringers forMr. Burns' softball team. Mr. Burns has planned to have Street play catcher until his assistantSmithers has to point out that all of the players Mr. Burns had selected had long since retired and died.
In the bookCatching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dream by Crystal Hubbard, Gabby Street runs a baseball camp. The main character is denied based on the fact she is a girl. When she proves herself, he allows her to attend with the caveat to bring a glove and cleats. When she is unable to afford cleats, he buys a pair for her. This is based on a true story aboutToni Stone and how she got her first pair of cleats.
| Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| STL | 1929 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | interim | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1930 | 154 | 92 | 62 | .597 | 1st in NL | 2 | 4 | .333 | LostWorld Series (PHA) |
| STL | 1931 | 154 | 101 | 53 | .656 | 1st in NL | 4 | 3 | .462 | WonWorld Series (PHA) |
| STL | 1932 | 154 | 72 | 82 | .468 | 6th in NL | – | – | – | – |
| STL | 1933 | 91 | 46 | 45 | .505 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| STL total | 554 | 312 | 242 | .563 | 6 | 7 | .462 | |||
| SLB | 1938 | 143 | 53 | 90 | .371 | fired | – | – | – | – |
| SLB total | 143 | 53 | 90 | .371 | 0 | 0 | – | |||
| Total[3] | 697 | 365 | 332 | .524 | 6 | 7 | .462 | |||
· Baseball Almanac