Fothergill was an outstanding line-drive hitter more famous for his girth than his hits. Charitably listed at 230, the 5'10" outfielder was
sensitive about his size and preferred Bob or Roy (his middle name) to Fat. The stories were told in every dugout: Leo Durocher once
complained it was illegal to have two men in the batter's box; during a crash fasting program, Fothergill supposedly bit an umpire after a
called third strike; there were several accounts of his shattering outfield fences in pursuit of fly balls. But he could hit. In 1927, his top
year, he batted .359 with 114 RBI for the Tigers. Eventually relegated to pinch hitting, he led the AL with 19 in 1929. Of those with more
than 200 pinch-hit at-bats, only Fothergill has posted a .300 career average. (DB)
Cobb Would Have Caught It: The Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit Paperback by Richard Bak (Author)
Book Excerpt:
CHARLIE GEHRINGER: My first full season was 1926, Cobb's last season in Detroit. For the next several years we generally had a
heavy-hitting ball club, but we couldn't win anything because of our pitching. When I first came up we had Heilmann, Cobb, and Veach
in the outfield, and guys like Heinie Manush and Bob Fothergill sitting on the bench, even though they were hitting .350. Now, when you
see kids hitting .240 playing regularly, it's laughable.
Fothergill? I don't know if you ever saw a picture of him, but he was about as round as he was tall. Had a terrible weight problem, but he
could really run. He came from Massillon, Ohio, where he'd been a great football player. I remember seeing him punt a football once --
golly, he punted it as far as anyone I ever saw.
But he was a great hitter, especially against left-handers. A lefty couldn't get him out without him hitting a line drive. They might catch
the ball, but he'd really smash it.
He had a time keeping his weight in shape, but he still ran pretty good. In fact, I remember we were in Philadelphia once and we were
getting beat about 13-0 going into the last inning when he hit a home run. He's rounding the bases nice and easy -- and then when he
gets to third base he comes running like a freight train and -- and then when he gets to third base he comes running like a freight train
and does a complete flip in the air and lands on home plate! Never saw him do that before. Man, he brought the house down!
Fothergill was a funny guy. I remember when the Boston ball park had a little knoll that went up to this short fence in left field. They've
taken it out since, but back then, an outfielder had to run up the knoll because you couldn't back up it. One day Fothergill misjudged a
fly ball. He ran up the knoll, then he ran down it, and as he started coming down the ball hit him in the head and bounced away. We
were going to Philadelphia next. They must have read about it in the papers because before the next game, some guy presented
Fothergill with a football helmet at home plate.
Heilmann was another super guy. He played a little first base, but mostly right field. He was a good fielder with a good throwing arm, but
he was slow and couldn't cover a lot of ground. But he sure could hit. Seemed like every other year he'd win the batting championship.
He'd hit .390, .395, and over .400 one year. A tremendous hitter. Cobb couldn't hit any better than that, so he didn't fool with him.
Besides, Heilmann was so big and strong I don't think Cobb would get very nasty with him.
Book Excerpt:
GEORGE UHLE: Pitchers have good years and bad years because hitters catch up to the way you pitch. You have to change them. If
they've been hitting your fast stuff inside, you have to switch over to let up pitches and curves.
I had a good fastball. I didn't throw extremely fast, by any means, but when I had to I could put an extra pound behind it. That's what
Heilmann called it, "putting an extra pound" on the fastball. And if I had to, I'd put another couple pounds on the next pitch. I had a real
good overhand curveball. Then towards the end, when I was with Detroit, I came up with a slider. One day Heilmann and I were working
out. Eddie Phillips was catching us. I don't know, I just happened to turn a ball loose a certain way, and it sailed. I said to Heilmann, "I've
got a new one!" So I threw another one that way, and it sailed. I started using it in ball games. When I first started using it with Detroit,
the batters would call time and want the umpire to look at the ball, like I had roughed it up. And Eddie would always say, "Well, that's his
sailer."
Who were the toughest hitters to pitch to? Well, you have to put Ruth in that category for one. Heilmann was another. Then Lou
Gehrig. But there were two hitters who used to guess me right pert near every time. One was Bob Fothergill and the other was Bibb
Falk. It was uncanny the way they could guess what I was going to throw.
Fothergill was with Detroit when I went there. When I was with Cleveland, we had dinner together one night. He bet me the next night's
dinner that he'd get three hits off me the next day, provided I didn't walk him. I said, "Okay" -- and the son of a gun got three hits. It
wasn't until I got to Detroit that I learned Bob couldn't hit those big, slow, roundhouse curves. He'd jump out of his shoes trying to him
them.
Book Excerpt:
EDDIE WELLS: Well, I knew in the spring of 1933 1 was going somewhere. I knew I was through with the Yankees because of all these
young pitchers. I didn't know where. One day before a ball game, Joe told me to come into his room. Well, I knew I was being released. I
walk in there and Joe says, "Ed, here's a letter from Wilbert Robinson, manager of the Atlanta club. He's offering twenty thousand
dollars for your contract." That's a minor league team, see. He said, "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. You've got a good friend, Bill
Killefer, who's manager of the St. Louis Browns. I'm sending you over there for seventy-five hundred dollars." Joe had my release to the
Browns and a ticket on the Twentieth Century Limited out of New York that night for St. Louis.
So I went over to St. Louis. Well, the first trip the Yankees make into St. Louis, I'm pitching. So I happen to pitch a good ball game. We
won, 5-2. Now here's something I never heard a manager do. Joe came up to me afterwards and said,
"Ed, I want to congratulate you on that game you pitched against us today. That was a good ball game." Now, can you imagine an
opposing manager doing that? That's the kind of fella he was.
Who was greater, Cobb or Ruth? Now listen, those are two different characters all together. Now, Cobb was a dynamic ball player. He
was always one thought ahead of everyone else on the field. Smart as the devil. They'd boo the devil out of Cobb, but he'd just eat it
up. He liked it. If they didn't boo him he'd think something was wrong.
Me and Cobb were close. We were both Shriners. We'd go to lodge meetings a lot. That's when you had day games. We'd always go to
meetings at night in different cities we were playing in. You got a big Masonic Temple in Detroit. What'd we do? Well, that's secret and
stuff.
So who would I pick? Now, wait a minute. Babe won a lot of ball games for me. And Cobb managed me, and he won me a couple ball
games too. They're just two different kinds of ball players. It's hard to say which one is the best. Cobb was a great man with Detroit.
Good Lord! And Babe was a great man with the Yankees. I'd say it's about a tie. That's what I think.
I'll tell you one thing, slugger. Back then baseball players were dedicated. There weren't that many salary disputes. A lot of them were
just tickled to death to be playing in the big leagues. Now it's money. The game's changed. I can tell by watching the ball players today.
They're not as dedicated as they were. We used to love that ball game. We'd get to the ballpark at 10:30 in the morning. Now they get
there in time for batting practice, if then.
I'll tell you how things have changed. One time with Detroit we was in the last half of the ninth inning, playing Cleveland, I think. We had
men on and Cobb was looking up and down the bench for a pinch hitter. Cobb says, "Who here can hit?" Bob Fothergill got up and
said, "I'll try."
Now, Bob's sitting there with a sprained ankle. Bad. Had it all taped up. Cobb said, "My gosh, you can hardly walk."
Bob said, "Well, I'll try." Cobb said, "Well, go on up there."
Bob was a dead-pull line-drive hitter. Everything was always to left field. The right fielder was way over to right center. This time Bob got
hold of one and hit it over the first baseman's head into the right-field corner. Should've been at least a double. He got about two-thirds
of the way to first and fell down. He crawled the rest of the way and got a single. Just barely.
Now, can you imagine the ball players doing that this day and age? If you were hurt, it didn't keep you from playing. They don't do that
no more, slugger. But that's the way we played ball back there and then.
The following was taken from www.baseballlibary.com
Friday, May 5th
IN THE NEWS: The Giants evict their American League tenants as of the end of the year, so the Yankees sign a contract to build their
own $750,000 stadium on a site they had held an option on since 1920. Pitching against the Tigers, Browns Bill Bayne takes a no-hitter
into the 8th inning.
Pitching against the Tigers, Browns Bill Bayne takes a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Detroit manager Ty Cobb then sends up five straight
pinch hitters, the first of whom in the 9th breaks up the no-hitter. One of the pinch hitters Cobb inserts is Bob Fothergill, who bats for
Cobb and strikes out, but becomes the only man ever to pinch hit for the Georgia Peach. The Browns win, 6-1.
SCOREBOARD: MAY 5, 1922
Cleveland Indians 6, Chicago White Sox 3 at Comiskey Park I
St. Louis Browns 6, Detroit Tigers 1 at Tiger Stadium
New York Yankees 5, Philadelphia Athletics 4 at Shibe Park
Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Chicago Cubs 1 at Forbes Field
St. Louis Cardinals 3, Cincinnati Reds 2 at Sportsman's Park III
Tuesday, July 28th
IN THE NEWS: The White Sox record an AL-record 12 hits in the 8th inning against the Yankees. They score 11 runs as Bob Fothergill
homers and triples to win 14-12.
SCOREBOARD: JULY 28, 1931
Chicago Cubs 6, Philadelphia Phillies 3 at Wrigley Field
Cincinnati Reds 5, Brooklyn Dodgers 4 at Crosley Field
New York Giants 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2 at Forbes Field
St. Louis Cardinals 1, Boston Braves 0 at Sportsman's Park III
Boston Red Sox 8, Detroit Tigers 1 at Fenway Park
Chicago White Sox 14, New York Yankees 12 at Yankee Stadium
Philadelphia Athletics 6, St. Louis Browns 3 at Shibe Park
Washington Senators 8, Cleveland Indians 1 at Griffith Stadium
sensitive about his size and preferred Bob or Roy (his middle name) to Fat. The stories were told in every dugout: Leo Durocher once
complained it was illegal to have two men in the batter's box; during a crash fasting program, Fothergill supposedly bit an umpire after a
called third strike; there were several accounts of his shattering outfield fences in pursuit of fly balls. But he could hit. In 1927, his top
year, he batted .359 with 114 RBI for the Tigers. Eventually relegated to pinch hitting, he led the AL with 19 in 1929. Of those with more
than 200 pinch-hit at-bats, only Fothergill has posted a .300 career average. (DB)
Cobb Would Have Caught It: The Golden Age of Baseball in Detroit Paperback by Richard Bak (Author)
Book Excerpt:
CHARLIE GEHRINGER: My first full season was 1926, Cobb's last season in Detroit. For the next several years we generally had a
heavy-hitting ball club, but we couldn't win anything because of our pitching. When I first came up we had Heilmann, Cobb, and Veach
in the outfield, and guys like Heinie Manush and Bob Fothergill sitting on the bench, even though they were hitting .350. Now, when you
see kids hitting .240 playing regularly, it's laughable.
Fothergill? I don't know if you ever saw a picture of him, but he was about as round as he was tall. Had a terrible weight problem, but he
could really run. He came from Massillon, Ohio, where he'd been a great football player. I remember seeing him punt a football once --
golly, he punted it as far as anyone I ever saw.
But he was a great hitter, especially against left-handers. A lefty couldn't get him out without him hitting a line drive. They might catch
the ball, but he'd really smash it.
He had a time keeping his weight in shape, but he still ran pretty good. In fact, I remember we were in Philadelphia once and we were
getting beat about 13-0 going into the last inning when he hit a home run. He's rounding the bases nice and easy -- and then when he
gets to third base he comes running like a freight train and -- and then when he gets to third base he comes running like a freight train
and does a complete flip in the air and lands on home plate! Never saw him do that before. Man, he brought the house down!
Fothergill was a funny guy. I remember when the Boston ball park had a little knoll that went up to this short fence in left field. They've
taken it out since, but back then, an outfielder had to run up the knoll because you couldn't back up it. One day Fothergill misjudged a
fly ball. He ran up the knoll, then he ran down it, and as he started coming down the ball hit him in the head and bounced away. We
were going to Philadelphia next. They must have read about it in the papers because before the next game, some guy presented
Fothergill with a football helmet at home plate.
Heilmann was another super guy. He played a little first base, but mostly right field. He was a good fielder with a good throwing arm, but
he was slow and couldn't cover a lot of ground. But he sure could hit. Seemed like every other year he'd win the batting championship.
He'd hit .390, .395, and over .400 one year. A tremendous hitter. Cobb couldn't hit any better than that, so he didn't fool with him.
Besides, Heilmann was so big and strong I don't think Cobb would get very nasty with him.
Book Excerpt:
GEORGE UHLE: Pitchers have good years and bad years because hitters catch up to the way you pitch. You have to change them. If
they've been hitting your fast stuff inside, you have to switch over to let up pitches and curves.
I had a good fastball. I didn't throw extremely fast, by any means, but when I had to I could put an extra pound behind it. That's what
Heilmann called it, "putting an extra pound" on the fastball. And if I had to, I'd put another couple pounds on the next pitch. I had a real
good overhand curveball. Then towards the end, when I was with Detroit, I came up with a slider. One day Heilmann and I were working
out. Eddie Phillips was catching us. I don't know, I just happened to turn a ball loose a certain way, and it sailed. I said to Heilmann, "I've
got a new one!" So I threw another one that way, and it sailed. I started using it in ball games. When I first started using it with Detroit,
the batters would call time and want the umpire to look at the ball, like I had roughed it up. And Eddie would always say, "Well, that's his
sailer."
Who were the toughest hitters to pitch to? Well, you have to put Ruth in that category for one. Heilmann was another. Then Lou
Gehrig. But there were two hitters who used to guess me right pert near every time. One was Bob Fothergill and the other was Bibb
Falk. It was uncanny the way they could guess what I was going to throw.
Fothergill was with Detroit when I went there. When I was with Cleveland, we had dinner together one night. He bet me the next night's
dinner that he'd get three hits off me the next day, provided I didn't walk him. I said, "Okay" -- and the son of a gun got three hits. It
wasn't until I got to Detroit that I learned Bob couldn't hit those big, slow, roundhouse curves. He'd jump out of his shoes trying to him
them.
Book Excerpt:
EDDIE WELLS: Well, I knew in the spring of 1933 1 was going somewhere. I knew I was through with the Yankees because of all these
young pitchers. I didn't know where. One day before a ball game, Joe told me to come into his room. Well, I knew I was being released. I
walk in there and Joe says, "Ed, here's a letter from Wilbert Robinson, manager of the Atlanta club. He's offering twenty thousand
dollars for your contract." That's a minor league team, see. He said, "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. You've got a good friend, Bill
Killefer, who's manager of the St. Louis Browns. I'm sending you over there for seventy-five hundred dollars." Joe had my release to the
Browns and a ticket on the Twentieth Century Limited out of New York that night for St. Louis.
So I went over to St. Louis. Well, the first trip the Yankees make into St. Louis, I'm pitching. So I happen to pitch a good ball game. We
won, 5-2. Now here's something I never heard a manager do. Joe came up to me afterwards and said,
"Ed, I want to congratulate you on that game you pitched against us today. That was a good ball game." Now, can you imagine an
opposing manager doing that? That's the kind of fella he was.
Who was greater, Cobb or Ruth? Now listen, those are two different characters all together. Now, Cobb was a dynamic ball player. He
was always one thought ahead of everyone else on the field. Smart as the devil. They'd boo the devil out of Cobb, but he'd just eat it
up. He liked it. If they didn't boo him he'd think something was wrong.
Me and Cobb were close. We were both Shriners. We'd go to lodge meetings a lot. That's when you had day games. We'd always go to
meetings at night in different cities we were playing in. You got a big Masonic Temple in Detroit. What'd we do? Well, that's secret and
stuff.
So who would I pick? Now, wait a minute. Babe won a lot of ball games for me. And Cobb managed me, and he won me a couple ball
games too. They're just two different kinds of ball players. It's hard to say which one is the best. Cobb was a great man with Detroit.
Good Lord! And Babe was a great man with the Yankees. I'd say it's about a tie. That's what I think.
I'll tell you one thing, slugger. Back then baseball players were dedicated. There weren't that many salary disputes. A lot of them were
just tickled to death to be playing in the big leagues. Now it's money. The game's changed. I can tell by watching the ball players today.
They're not as dedicated as they were. We used to love that ball game. We'd get to the ballpark at 10:30 in the morning. Now they get
there in time for batting practice, if then.
I'll tell you how things have changed. One time with Detroit we was in the last half of the ninth inning, playing Cleveland, I think. We had
men on and Cobb was looking up and down the bench for a pinch hitter. Cobb says, "Who here can hit?" Bob Fothergill got up and
said, "I'll try."
Now, Bob's sitting there with a sprained ankle. Bad. Had it all taped up. Cobb said, "My gosh, you can hardly walk."
Bob said, "Well, I'll try." Cobb said, "Well, go on up there."
Bob was a dead-pull line-drive hitter. Everything was always to left field. The right fielder was way over to right center. This time Bob got
hold of one and hit it over the first baseman's head into the right-field corner. Should've been at least a double. He got about two-thirds
of the way to first and fell down. He crawled the rest of the way and got a single. Just barely.
Now, can you imagine the ball players doing that this day and age? If you were hurt, it didn't keep you from playing. They don't do that
no more, slugger. But that's the way we played ball back there and then.
The following was taken from www.baseballlibary.com
Friday, May 5th
IN THE NEWS: The Giants evict their American League tenants as of the end of the year, so the Yankees sign a contract to build their
own $750,000 stadium on a site they had held an option on since 1920. Pitching against the Tigers, Browns Bill Bayne takes a no-hitter
into the 8th inning.
Pitching against the Tigers, Browns Bill Bayne takes a no-hitter into the 8th inning. Detroit manager Ty Cobb then sends up five straight
pinch hitters, the first of whom in the 9th breaks up the no-hitter. One of the pinch hitters Cobb inserts is Bob Fothergill, who bats for
Cobb and strikes out, but becomes the only man ever to pinch hit for the Georgia Peach. The Browns win, 6-1.
SCOREBOARD: MAY 5, 1922
Cleveland Indians 6, Chicago White Sox 3 at Comiskey Park I
St. Louis Browns 6, Detroit Tigers 1 at Tiger Stadium
New York Yankees 5, Philadelphia Athletics 4 at Shibe Park
Pittsburgh Pirates 3, Chicago Cubs 1 at Forbes Field
St. Louis Cardinals 3, Cincinnati Reds 2 at Sportsman's Park III
Tuesday, July 28th
IN THE NEWS: The White Sox record an AL-record 12 hits in the 8th inning against the Yankees. They score 11 runs as Bob Fothergill
homers and triples to win 14-12.
SCOREBOARD: JULY 28, 1931
Chicago Cubs 6, Philadelphia Phillies 3 at Wrigley Field
Cincinnati Reds 5, Brooklyn Dodgers 4 at Crosley Field
New York Giants 6, Pittsburgh Pirates 2 at Forbes Field
St. Louis Cardinals 1, Boston Braves 0 at Sportsman's Park III
Boston Red Sox 8, Detroit Tigers 1 at Fenway Park
Chicago White Sox 14, New York Yankees 12 at Yankee Stadium
Philadelphia Athletics 6, St. Louis Browns 3 at Shibe Park
Washington Senators 8, Cleveland Indians 1 at Griffith Stadium
| Robert Roy Fothergill Baseball |
Sources:
Baseball Library
Baseball Library
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