Graham Edward Moore (January 18, 1899 – February 10, 1976) was an American professional baseball player who played
second base and
outfield
The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area.
In cricket, baseball and ...
from 1923 to 1934 in the Major Leagues.
Baseball career
Moore nearly usurped
Pie Traynor
Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor (November 11, 1898 – March 16, 1972) was an American third baseman, manager, scout and radio broadcaster in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played his entire career between 1920 and 1937 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. ...
's job as the starting third baseman for the
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
in 1924, his rookie season.
[Forr, James, and David Proctor. ''Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography''. McFarland, 2010, p. 65. ] Traynor, mired in a terrible slump, was benched on June 18, and Moore batted .423 in his first 13 games at the position.
On the strength of this performance, manager
Bill McKechnie
William Boyd McKechnie (August 7, 1886 – October 29, 1965) was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman during the dead-ball era. McKechnie was the first manager to win Wo ...
declared Moore to be his starter going forward.
However, Moore was hit by a pitch from
Johnny Stuart
John Davis Stuart (April 27, 1901 – May 13, 1970), nicknamed "Stud," was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from to after pitching at Ohio State University. He coached Marshall University
Marshall Unive ...
of the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
on July 1, suffering a dislocated shoulder, and Traynor took advantage of Moore's absence to re-solidify his hold on the position.
The next season, after
Rabbit Maranville
Walter James Vincent "Rabbit" Maranville (November 11, 1891 – January 6, 1954) was an American professional baseball shortstop, second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ch ...
was traded to the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
, Moore became the Pirates' starting second baseman. He injured his shoulder on May 8, but was forced back into the lineup at less than full strength after only a few days of rest because the father of his backup,
Johnny Rutledge, had died unexpectedly.
Moore was sold to the
Boston Braves
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During it ...
in 1926, after a confrontation with
Fred Clarke
Fred Clifford Clarke (October 3, 1872 – August 14, 1960) was an American Major League Baseball player from 1894 to and manager from 1897 to 1915. A Hall of Famer, Clarke played for and managed both the Louisville Colonels and Pittsburgh Pirat ...
, who was then working as the Pirates' assistant manager and head of scouting.
[Forr and Proctor, p. 92.] The trouble began during a doubleheader against 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. ...
on July 12.
Moore committed an error in the first game, and was booed by the crowd.
He had a habit of reflexively smiling during moments of stress, and when Clarke saw his grin, he took it to be a sign that Moore did not care about what he was doing.
The two got into a shouting match in the dugout after the end of the inning, with Moore telling Clarke to "get off the bench".
That game was Moore's last with the Pirates.
That evening, McKechnie fined Moore and pitcher
Emil Yde
Emil Ogden Yde (January 28, 1900 – December 4, 1968) was a left-handed professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1924–27) and Detroit Tigers in 1929. As a rookie ...
for what he termed "indifferent play", and on July 20 the team sold Moore to the Braves.
On September 27, 1930, Moore became the last major-league player to hit a "bounce"
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 ...
.
(Prior to the 1931 season, a ball that bounced from the field of play into the outfield stands was considered a home run.)
Moore helped lead the
New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...
to a
Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A (1902–1935), Cl ...
championship in 1933, batting .309 as the team's starting shortstop.
[Gisclair, S. Derby. ''Baseball in New Orleans'', Arcadia Publishing, 2004, p. 52. ]
in 748 games over 10 seasons in his major league career, Moore posted a .285
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 ...
(706-for-2474) with 360
runs, 108
doubles, 26
triples
TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...
, 13
home runs
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 ...
, 257
RBI, 52
stolen bases
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 ...
, 272
bases on balls
A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...
, .359
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
and .366
slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. He finished his career with an overall .953
fielding percentage
In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...
. In the
1925 World Series
The 1925 World Series was the championship series of the 1925 Major League Baseball season. A best-of-seven playoff, it was played between the National League (NL) pennant winner Pittsburgh Pirates and the Washington Senators. The Pirates def ...
, he hit .231 (6-for-26) with 7 runs, 1 double, 1 home run, 2 RBI and 5 walks.
References
* http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=mooreed01
* http://www.gousfbulls.com/pdf8/670823.pdf
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110428025340/http://www.scottsaddition.com/images/Newsletter_9_09.pdf
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Eddie
1899 births
1976 deaths
Major League Baseball second basemen
Major League Baseball outfielders
Brooklyn Robins players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Boston Braves players
New York Giants (NL) players
Cleveland Indians players
Baseball players from Kentucky
Atlanta Crackers managers
Minor league baseball managers
Atlanta Crackers players
St. Petersburg Saints players
Oakland Oaks (baseball) players
Montreal Royals players
New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players
Savannah Indians players
Syracuse Chiefs players
Spartanburg Spartans players
Baltimore Orioles (IL) players
Winston-Salem Twins players
Gainesville G-Men players