Mr. Mack's Men
1929 Philadelphia AthleticsHome Field: Shibe Park
World ChampionsHit: #2 R, BA
W - 104 L - 46Pitch: #1 OR, ERA
Manager: Connie MackDef: #1 FA

Connie Mack had waited a long time for this. Since breaking up a strong team after 1914, Mack's Athletics spent most of the next 15 years near the cellar. By 1925, he had the nucleus of what would become a great team. In 1928, Philadelphia pushed New York to the brink before falling 2 1/2 games short. 1929 would be another story. They not only won the pennant in 1929, they ran away from the field. By winning 104 games, Mack's men outdistanced the Yankees by 18 games.

The league's best pitching staff was paced by Lefty Grove and George Earnshaw. Al Simmons led the loop with 157 RBIs and was second with a .365 batting average. Big Jimmie Foxx had his first big season, batting .354 with 33 homers. Catcher Mickey Cochrane chipped in with a .331 mark. The Athletics boasted six .300 hitters as Bing Miller, Jimmy Dykes, and Mule Haas also topped the mark.

The 1929 fall classic matched the A's against the Cubs. It was an entertaining series in which anything went. In the opener, Mack surprised the experts by giving the ball to veteran Howard Ehmke, a journeyman who had appeared in just 11 regular season games. Ehmke held the Cubs at bay, striking out a then-record 13 in the process. By Game 4, Philadelphia owned a two games to one lead. It looked for sure that the Cubs would even the series when they jumped to an 8-0 lead when Philadelphia came to bat in the seventh. The Athletics sent 15 men to the plate and scored 10 times in that inning for the win. The final blow came two days later. Chicago held the A's scoreless for eight innings while holding a 2-0 lead. Fate was with the Athletics, who scored three times in the ninth to win it.

The crew of Grove, Simmons, Foxx, and Cochrane followed up 1929 with two more pennants. Philadelphia won a second straight World Series in 1930. The 1931 edition won 107 games, three more than the 1929 crew had. Their quest for a third straight championship was derailed in a tough seven game loss. Ironically, Mack was forced to break up this group of stars beginning after the 1932 season. This time, Mr. Mack was a casualty of, among other things, the Great Depression. In order to remain solvent, he began selling his stars.



Pos Player Bats AB H R HR RBI BA    AL Rank
C Mickey Cochrane L 514 170 113 7 95 .331  
1B Jimmie Foxx R 517 183 123 33 117 .354    #4 HR, R; #5 BA
2B Max Bishop L 475 110 102 3 36 .232  
SS-3B-2B Jimmy Dykes R 401 131 76 13 79 .327  
3B Sammy Hale R 379 105 51 1 40 .277  
LF Al Simmons R 581 212 114 34 157 .365    #1 RBI; #2 BA; #3 HR
CF Mule Haas L 578 181 115 16 82 .313  
RF Bing Miller L 556 186 84 8 93 .335  
                   
SS Joe Boley R 303 76 36 2 47 .251  
OF Homer Summa L 81 22 12 0 10 .272  
C Cy Perkins R 76 16 4 0 9 .211  
2B-SS-3B Jim Cronin B 56 13 7 0 4 .232  
OF Walter French L 45 12 7 1 9 .267  
                   
TOTAL: Team   5204 1539 901 122 845 .296  
  League Average   42181 11976 6138 598 5655 .284  


Pitcher Throw G IP W L ERA PCT    AL Rank
  Lefty Grove L 42 275 20 6 2.82 .769    #1 ERA, K; #3 W
  George Earnshaw R 44 255 24 8 3.28 .750    #1 W; #2 K; #4 ERA
  Rube Walberg L 40 268 18 11 3.59 .621  
  Bill Shores R 39 153 11 6 3.59 .647  
  Jack Quinn R 35 161 11 9 3.97 .550  
  Eddie Rommel R 32 114 12 2 2.84 .857  
  Howard Ehmke R 11 55 7 2 3.29 .778  
                   
TOTAL: Team       104 46 3.44    
  League Average           4.24    

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