TRIS SPEAKER·1916

First full Cleveland summer, and Tris Speaker took the batting crown with him. He hit .386—two hundred eleven hits, forty-one doubles, eighty-two walks—while playing center so shallow the infield dirt nearly kissed his spikes. The Grey Eagle had left Boston; the gaps still belonged to him. League Park learned the dare in a hurry, and the frames ahead catch the title year in three beats.

BATTING CROWN

First full Cleveland summer — .386 and the American League batting title came along for the ride.

SHALLOW CENTER

He stood so close to the dirt the infield could hear him breathe — and still cut off the gaps.

FIRST CLEVELAND

Boston sold him; League Park learned the dare. Two hundred eleven hits in grey flannel.

Tris Speaker by Carl Horner. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.