Earl Webb
William Earl Webb

Bats Left
Throws Right
Height 6'1
Weight 185

Born Sepetmber 17, 1898
Bon Air, TX
Died May 23, 1965
Jamestown, TN

Batting  

 Year Ag Tm     G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS    BA  lgBA   SLG lgSLG   TB 
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 1928 29 SAH        13    2   0   0   0    0    0                     0      .154  .278  .154  .376    2 
 1930 31 SAH       330  102   9   1  13   46   46                     6      .309  .280  .461  .430  152 
 1931 32 SAH  111  349  115  12   0   4   35   33                     2   3  .330  .263  .398  .388  139 
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
  3 Seasons   111  692  219  21   1  17   81   79                     8   3  .316  .272  .423  .408  293
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 Career High  111  349  115  12   1  13   46   46                     6   3  .330  ----  .461  ----  152
+-----------+----+----+----+---+---+---+----+----+----+----+---+---+---+---+-----+-----+-----+-----+----+
 Year Ag Tm     G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS    BA  lgBA   SLG lgSLG   TB 



Transactions

January 1, 1928: Drafted 27th round (209th overall) by Sahara.


Biography
For one season, Earl Webb was able to establish his place in baseball immortality. In 1931, Webb banged out a major-league record 67 doubles, a mark that still stands to this day. Webb's record is one of the longest lasting records in baseball history, and it has not been significantly challenged in over sixty years.

William Earl Webb was born on September 17, 1898 in Bon Air, Tennessee, a coal-mining town that valued hard work and persistence. Like most boys, young Earl began working in the coal mines at age 11 over ten hours a day for five cents an hour. In the early part of the century, Earl's work schedule was a fairly common occurrence. His job was to drive a blind mule up and down the catacombs of the mines.

After a year or so, a doctor advised him to get more fresh air, as breathing in coal dust all day was not healthy for a young boy. Webb joined the local town baseball team as most mining towns had a “town team” as a form of recreation and social gathering.

It was on these crude Tennessee ballyards where Webb harnessed his raw ability. Along with childhood friend Walter “Lefty” Stewart, who would become a twenty-game winner in the majors, Webb, as a pitcher, hooked up with Stewart in several pitching duels across the state.

At the age of 19, Webb's talents garnered the attention of several professional teams, and Earl was offered a job pitching for Memphis of the Southern Association. Webb's reservations about leaving his hometown, family and new bride influenced his decision to turn down the offer.

Two more years in the coal mines made Webb reconsider as did his success against future Hall of Famer Earl Combs in several off-season exhibitions. In 1921, Webb reported to Clarksdale, Mississippi, his first professional baseball assignment.

By 1922, Webb was brought up to Memphis where he was successful as a pitcher. After three seasons in Memphis, the New York Giants bought his contract and brought him to spring training in 1925. His batting skills so impressed the legendary John McGraw that he converted him to an outfielder. Webb spent most of 1925 in Toledo, where he batted .329.

Near the end of the season, McGraw wanted to see Webb as a major leaguer. In fact, McGraw demoted future Hall of Famer Hack Wilson to make room on the Giants roster for Webb. He made his major league debut on August 13, 1925 but only came to the plate three times that season and failed to get a hit.

In 1926, Webb was assigned for another season in the bushes, this time with the Louisville Colonels. Although he batted .333 for the season, he did not merit a call up to the parent club and Earl considered returning to Bon Air coal mines for good.

He received his big break when he was sold to the Chicago Cubs. Playing semi-regularly, Webb batted .301 (100 for 332) in 102 games and appeared on the crest of a hard-earned major league career. However, slumps and injuries in 1928 reduced Webb's playing time and lowered his average to .250. The impatient Cubs assigned Earl to Los Angeles of the Pacific Coast League where he rehabbed his injuries in 1928, and batted .357 as an everyday outfielder in 1929.

He was shipped to the Boston Red Sox before the 1930 season, who were one of the worst teams in the major leagues. Earl had a solid year with Boston, batting .323 (145-449) while blasting 16 home runs and driving in 65.

Then came Webb's historic season of 1931. Boston's new manager, “Shano” Collins, a veteran of the dead-ball era, inspired Webb to become a better ballplayer. As Webb told an interviewer: “Collins was like myself, an average player, a steady, hard worker, who never became a great star.”

As a left-handed hitter, Webb learned how to bang opposite field drives off of the famous “Green Monster” in left. Wide open spaces in right-center also worked to Earl's advantage, and everything was in place for the 32-year old to have the most memorable season of his career.

The doubles banged off of his bat at a fairly consistent pace as Webb approached the record for two-baggers of 64, set by the Cleveland Indians' George Burns in 1926. On September 16, 1931, Webb had 61 doubles as the Red Sox, again in last place, took the field against the Chicago White Sox. Webb blasted a double in the first that scored a run and repeated the feat against in the sixth as the Red Sox won 2-1. More importantly, Webb's performance but him one double away from the record.

Webb tied the record the next day in the first game of a double-header when he slapped a double off of Cleveland veteran Sarge Connally. In the ninth inning of the nightcap, Earl faced right-hander Willis Hudlin. Webb rifled a drive to the opposite field to set the new record.

With eleven games left in the season, Webb blasted three more doubles to finish with his record of 67. He almost had 68, but a one-handed catch by Washington Senator Sam West in the final game of the season robbed him of a probable double.

For the season, Webb batted .333 (196-589), sixth best in the league, with 14 homers and 103 runs batted in. Of his 67 doubles, 39 came within the confines of Fenway Park and the remaining 28 were on the road. Amazingly, the 67 doubles Webb recorded in 1931 were 43% of his career total of 155 two-baggers.

But the magic was over. In 1932, Webb fell off to .281 and was traded to the Detroit Tigers in mid-season. His doubles tally fell by 39 as he finished with “only” 28 doubles for the year. At 34 years of age in 1933, Webb was back to being a part-time player and finished his major league career with the Chicago White Sox, where he batted .290 in only 58 games. Webb did, however, lead all of baseball in pinch-hit at bats, a honor more dubious than noteworthy in its time.

By 1934, Webb was back in the minors with the Milwaukee Brewers where he hit .369. Earl spent the next five seasons in Milwaukee hoping to return to the majors and posting .300 seasons each year as a Brewer. Ironically, 1934 was the season in which Webb's double record received its greatest challenge when the St. Louis Cardinals' Joe Medwick hit 64 doubles for the eventual World Champions.
His final season in professional baseball was 1938 where he batted .328 for Knoxville in his native Tennessee. After the season, he returned to his home and the coal mined of nearby Jamestown.
Earl finished his career with a .306 average (661 for 2161) hit 56 home runs and drove in 333 runners. He appeared in 649 games with the New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.
Earl Webb died of a heart attack in Jamestown, Tennessee on May 23, 1965. He was 66 years old.
Some information courtesy of a John B. Holway article in the December, 1994 issue of Baseball Digest.



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