Beloit’s Edward Gharrity was better known as “Patsy” during a big-league career that began in 1916 and saw him become a close friend of Walter Johnson, pick fights with Ty Cobb and make a momentous decision in 1923.
Gharrity’s long career in baseball came to mind recently with the publication of the book “Team of Destiny: Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith, Bucky Harris and the 1924 Washington Senators” authored by baseball historian Gary Sarnoff.
Gharrity very well could have been one of the heroes of that 1924 team, which won Washington’s lone World Series until the 2019 Nationals came along.
A product of the Beloit sandlots, Gharrity had enjoyed his best season as a pro in 1921 when he hit .310 for the Senators. But he had contract squabbles with owner Griffith and following the 1923 season he decided to return to Beloit and play baseball for the local Fairbanks Morse Fairies where he could supplement a baseball salary with a factory job.
Meanwhile, Muddy Ruel ended up being the overworked catcher for the 1924 Senators, who shocked the world by winning it all.
The punch-line of the comedic phrase, “Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League,” the Senators returned in 1924 with basically the same team that had finished 75-78 and fourth the AL the season before.
The biggest differences in 1924 were the manager and his ace pitcher. At 36 and hinting at retiring following the season, “Big Train” Johnson suddenly recaptured his best form after several mediocre seasons. Johnson went 23-7 with a 2.72 ERA in 1924 , and he led the AL in strikeouts for the 12th and final time.
“The whole season is about coming out of nowhere,” Sarnoff said in a telephone interview. “That started with Johnson, who had a lump in his arm that was really hindering him for a few years and by 1924 that lump was gone. His fastball was back to what it once was, he was feeling great and he had his best season since 1919. It all came together for him that year.”
Guiding the Senators was their 27-year-old second baseman, Bucky Harris, who had no managerial experience.
“Griffith had Harris in mind as a future manager, but he wanted Eddie Collins, the Chicago White Sox veteran, to take over his team,” Sarnoff said. “He couldn’t swing a deal for Collins. He offered the job to Kid Gleason and he wasn’t interested. One week before spring training started, he figured the time was right for Harris to manage.”
There were other player-managers, but not like Harris.
“Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker were player-managers, but they were seasoned veterans who were over 30 years old,” Sarnoff said. “To go with someone 27 years old who only had four full seasons of major league experience was unheard of. (Harris) was nervous, but his players told them they would work hard for him. His biggest obstacle was the press thinking he was too young for the job and Ty Cobb trying to intimidate him.”
In amazing detail, Sarnoff dissects that season, on and off the field in Washington. He spent a myriad of hours perusing newspapers of that day on microfilm, reading the vivid descriptions of some of the most famous sports writers of that era.
After beating out Ruth and his New York Yankees for the pennant, the Senators faced the New York Giants in the World Series and Johnson returned after two losses to deliver in the final game in the 12th inning as the Senators finally came out on top 4-3.
Sarnoff admits it certainly sounds like a Hollywood script.
“A movie would be great,” he said. “All it needs is someone to take interest in it.”
Sarnoff grew up on the north side of Chicago, a baseball fan for life.
“From 1972 to 1994 I went to County Stadium at least once a year to see the Brewers play and I’ve been to Beloit several times to see the Snappers in their old stadium,” he said. “I was there in the Don Money days. I’d like to see the new place.”
Sarnoff’s book is available at most bookstores or at this amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Team-Destiny-Griffith-Washington-Senators/dp/1538182343
• Just a little more on Gharrity. His father, Thomas, had grown up in Beloit and later moved to Parnell, Iowa, where Ed was born on March 13, 1892. In 1910, Thomas Gharrity moved his family back to Beloit and Edward Gharrity went no to play football, basketball and baseball at Beloit High School.
When an American Association team stopped in Beloit in 1913 to play a local all-star team, the pro’s catcher was injured and Gharrity was called down from the stands to fill in and catch veteran pitcher Rube Waddell. He was impressive enough to receive a referral to the Dayton Veterans of the Class B Central League, who signed him for 1914.
He moved up from backup to starter due to an injury and helped Dayton win its league. In late August,, his contract was sold to the Cincinnati Reds and from there he was traded to the Minneapolis Millers.
The following year he hit .308 in 86 games for the pennant-winning Millers, who traded him to Washington. In spring training in 2016, he was catching for the rookies in an intrasquad game against the regulars in Charlottesville, Va, when he threw out four would-be base stealers. Griffith kept him as a backup on the big-league club and he made his major-league debut on May 16 and hit a sacrifice fly in a rout of the Detroit Tigers.
Three days later he was back in the lineup and collected his first big-league hit. After sitting on the bench all June, he filled in for 11 games at first base for injured Joe Judge and went 13-for-42 with four doubles, a triple and five RBIs. He moved back to catcher and finished the season batting .237.
He was a backup in 1917 and 1918, but in 1919 he played in 111 games between catcher and the outfield and hit .271. The biggest highlight came on June 23, 1919, in Boston when he went 5-for-5 with a single, two doubles and his first two major-league home runs. His total of 13 bases set an AL record that was broken by Cobb in 1925.
Gharrity had married Margaret Elizabeth Donahue on Oct. 17, 1917 and the couple had the first of six children in December 1918. He supplemented his Senators’ salary by working as a toolmaker in the off-season.
Gharrity finally took over as the Senators’ No. 1 catcher in 1920 and played 131 games. He hit .245 in a career-high 428 at-bats. The following year he played in 121 games, 116 of them at catcher. He enjoyed his finest season in the majors with single-season highs in in nearly every category, including batting average at .310. He also achieved a career milestone on Aug. 9 when he caught all 19 innings of an eventual 8-6 loss to the St. Louis Browns.
Gharrity was the No. 1 catcher again in 1922. After a slow start, he went on a tear, going 12-for-22 with nine runs scored and nine RBIs. A shoulder injury, however, shelved him for much of the season.
Griffith acquired Ruel for the 1923 season and Gharrity was back to being a utility player, appearing in 93 games and batting a career-low .207. Over the winter, he decided to join the Beloit Fairies, play in the independent Midwest Industrial League and get paid for ball-playing and factory work.
He may have decided differently if he knew Harris would lead the Senators to a pennant in 1924 and 1925.
Griffith made it impossible for him to return, placing him on the suspended list. Gharrity played for the Fairies from 1924 to 1927 and along with former big leaguer Jim “Hippo” Vaughn, formed the best battery in the league.
After being reinstated in 1929, Gharrity did make it back to the big leagues as a Senators coach for their new manager, Johnson. He coached and even played a few games for the Senators through the 1932 season. When Johnson was hired in Cleveland in 1933, Gharrity joined him there.
After umpiring a few years in the minors and one season as manager of Class D Eau Claire, Wis., he returned to Beloit and during World War II was a naval inspector at the Fairbanks Morse plant. Civic-minded, he was a member of the Beloit City Council for four years and served as president of the Baseball Old-Timers Association.
Gharrity passed away on Oct., 1966 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Beloit. He was posthumously inducted into the Beloit Historical Society Sports Hall of Fame 20 years later, in the inaugural class of 1986.
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