Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner
"He is a better player than me and can spot me 25 feet and then beat me in a sprint. A batter's got to knock a fly over the fence to keep him from reaching it, and he doesn't miss 'em either. " - Older Brother Paul Waner
Joe Sewell - Older brother of Luke and Tommy Sewell and cousin of Rip Sewell
Interesting facts about Joe Sewell:
“When I was a boy I’d walk around with a pocket full of rocks or a Coca-Cola top,” Sewell said, “and I can’t remember not being able to hit them with a broomstick handle.”
"Ted (Williams) said he could see the ball leave his bat and I could too. I did that from the first day until I finished and that’s the reason why I didn’t strike out much. "
Sewell’s big league career was born out of one of the game’s tragedies. After Indians shortstop Ray Chapman died after being struck by a pitch from the Yankees’ Carl Mays in August 1920, Sewell was called up from the minors. The 21-year-old Sewell played in just 92 minor league games before his big league debut, yet he settled in immediately and helped the Indians win the 1920 World Series title.
Within a few seasons, Sewell had established himself as the game's toughest batter to strikeout. Sewell fanned 20 times in 558 at-bats during the 1922 season, and that would be his career high. He never even reached double-digits in strikeouts in any of his last nine seasons. During the 1929 season, Sewell went 115 games between punchouts. He ended his career with a rate of 62.6 at-bats per strikeout.
He had seven seasons in which he recorded more than 500 at-bats while striking out less that 10 times. From September 1922 through April 1930, Sewell played in 1,103 consecutive games, the second-longest such streak in history at the time. Sewell was also known for using only a single bat through his entire career, a 40-ouncer he dubbed “Black Betsy.”
2/13/2021 10:48 AM (edited)