Cecil Howell Travis (August 8, 1913 – December 16, 2006) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and scout. He played his entire career in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the Washington Senators from 1933 to 1947, losing four seasons to military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in hits in and his career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .314 is a record for

shortstops, and ranks third among all shortstops behind

Honus Wagner Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner (; February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955), sometimes referred to as "Hans" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pitts ...

(.327) and Arky Vaughan (.318).

Biography

Travis was born on a farm in

Riverdale, Georgia Riverdale is a city in Clayton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 15,134 at the 2010 census, up from 12,478 in 2000. Riverdale is a suburb just south of Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport and is part of the Atlanta ...

, the youngest of ten children, and declined a scholarship to

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in favor of a scholarship to a baseball training school. A left-handed batter, he broke in with the Senators in , getting five hits in his first game – joining Fred Clarke as the second player to do so – and batting .302 in 18 games at age 19. Prior to 2019, it was the last pennant-winning campaign by a Washington team, although Travis did not play in the five-game

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

loss to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. The following year he began to take over third base duties from veteran

Ossie Bluege Oswald Louis Bluege (; October 24, 1900 – October 14, 1985) was an American third baseman, manager, coach and front-office executive in Major League Baseball who spent his entire playing career with the Washington Senators franchise from 1922 t ...

, and batted .319 as the team plummeted to seventh place. He followed by hitting .318, .317, .344 and .335, playing full-time at shortstop from 1937 to 1939, but the 82-71 team – on which he split time between shortstop and right field – would remain the only winning squad for which he would play regularly. He led the AL with 29

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

s at third base in . In he was named to his first All-Star team, and placed ninth in the AL's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

voting. After slipping to a .292 average in 1939 while suffering two cases of the

flu Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...

, he returned with All-Star seasons in 1940 and 1941, hitting .322 and .359 (second in the AL as

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

batted .406). In the latter year Travis enjoyed his best overall season with career highs of 101

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

, 106 runs scored, 39 doubles, 19 triples and 7

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, along with his league-best 218 hits, and finished sixth in the MVP vote. Travis entered the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in the winter of 1941–42, and spent most of World War II in the United States, playing on military baseball teams. Sent to Europe in late 1944 while serving in the 76th Infantry Division, he suffered a severe case of frostbite during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted fr ...

, necessitating an operation to prevent amputation of his feet. Travis received a

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his military service. Although only 31 years old when he returned to baseball, he was not the same player as he had been before the war, and hit .241 in late 1945 and .252 in 1946. He retired after batting .216 in 74 games in . One month before his final game, he was honored with "Cecil Travis Night" at

Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium stood in Washington, D.C., from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street (left field), and between W Street and Florida Avenue NW. The site was once home to a wooden baseball park. Built in 1891, it was called Boundar ...

, with General

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

in attendance. In his career, Travis had 1544 hits, 665 runs, 657 RBI, 265 doubles, 78 triples, 27 home runs, 402 walks and 23

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 1328 games. He was a Senators scout until 1956, and then returned to his family farm. He was inducted into the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

in 1975. He died at his home in December 2006 at age 93.

External links

''Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators: The War-Torn Career of an All-Star Shortstop''
– publisher's book page
SABR biographyCecil Travis
– Baseballbiography.com
The Baseball Page
– biography

* ttps://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/sports/baseball/21travis.html?ex=1324357200&en=af97116438f68cd5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss ''New York Times'' obituarybr>Baseball Think Factory
– discussion of Hall of Fame candidacy {{DEFAULTSORT:Travis, Cecil 1913 births 2006 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Chattanooga Lookouts players Major League Baseball shortstops People from Riverdale, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Washington Senators (1901–60) scouts

Biography

See also

Further reading

External links