Skip to main content

Sunday School: Phillies History Lesson 59

By
Dick Bartell was a shortstop with the Phillies from 1931-1934. Nicknamed "Rowdy Richard", for his hustling nature and aggressiveness toward the opposing team, Bartell debuted with the Pirates at age 19 in 1927.

With Pittsburgh, Bartell became a regular, splitting time between second base and shortstop, and hit over .300 three straight seasons. After the 1930 season, Bartell was traded to Philadelphia for infielder Tommy Thevenow and pitcher Claude Willoughby. Bartell would continue his solid batting, as he hit over .300 while scoring over 100 runs twice (in 1932 & 1934) and made an all-star team (in 1933) in 4 seasons with the Phillies.

Bartell was likely best known for his efforts and his style of play around the second base bag. During an era when players regularly went hard into opposing infielders with their spikes upward, to get an advantage, Bartell was a master of that sort of cleat action. He was once identified as, "probably the most-hated gent in the National League," by a sports writer. The tough-nosed Bartell told the reporter, "I've never gone out of my way for trouble and I've never side stepped. If some of these guys around figure on getting tough, why, that'll be all right with me." A fiery guy who spoke like that today would surely be loved by Philadelphia phans.

Much like so many other players who excelled in a Phillies uniform during the 1930's, Bartell was shipped out of town to help pay bills. After the 1934 season, Bartell was traded to the Giants for 4 players and cash. Bartell would help the Giants go to two straight World Series in 1936 and 1937. In that 1937 pennant season, he made another all-star team and finished 6th in MVP voting with 14 homers, 62 RBI, 91 runs scored and a .306 batting avg.

Bartell would spend time with both Detroit and the Cubs before landing back with the Giants in 1941. In 1943 he began two years of military service, during World War II. Bartell returned to the Majors and played in 5 games in 1946, then retired from playing. He would go on to manage in the minors and coach for Detroit and Cincinnati.

-------------------------------

Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

By
J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...
2 comments
Read more

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

By
JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

By
Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...
Post a Comment
Read more