OUR MUSEUM IN ACTION
BUCKY HARRIS GLOVE FROM 1924 WORLD SERIES
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Often derided as “First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League,” the Washington Senators’ first quarter-century was marked with mediocrity. After a fourth-place finish in 1923, team owner Clark Griffith fired manager Donie Bush and turned to his young second baseman, Bucky Harris.
“You’re only a kid, as managers go,” Griffith told Harris. “But I’m gambling on you having the right stuff.”
Griffith’s gamble paid off immediately. Harris, just 27 years old, promptly led the 1924 Senators to the AL pennant and World Series title, the first in franchise history. It was an incredible feat for a man who was forever known afterward as “The Boy Wonder.”
Growing up in the small coal mining town of Pittston, Pa., Harris was first discovered by Senators scout Joe Engel in 1919. He debuted for the Senators at age 22 and soon established a reputation as a .300 hitter and a fierce competitor.
When Griffith made Harris player-manager in 1924, Harris inherited a team stacked with future Hall of Famers like Goose Goslin, Sam Rice and the great Walter Johnson, who was 36 years old by that time. Harris quickly earned the respect of his teammates and was among the first managers to employ relief pitchers on a regular basis. The Senators finished the season with a 92-62-2 record, edging the defending world champion New York Yankees by two games for the American League pennant.
It was in the 1924 World Series against John McGraw’s heavily favored New York Giants that Harris cemented his storybook season with a stellar performance and bold decision-making. He slugged two homers in the series and batted .333, while also setting Fall Classic records for chances accepted, double plays and putouts. In Game 7, with the game tied in the ninth inning, Harris brought Johnson, who had lost Games 1 and 5, on in relief. The Senators’ elder statesman kept the Giants at bay until for four innings, and Washington won the game in the bottom of the 12th when Earl McNeely delivered an RBI double. Harris became the youngest manager to win a world championship.