1935 San Francisco Seals season

1935 San Francisco Seals
LeaguePacific Coast League
BallparkSeals Stadium
CitySan Francisco
Record103–70
League place1st
ManagersLefty O'Doul

The 1935 San Francisco Seals season was the 33rd season in the history of the San Francisco Seals baseball team. The team compiled a 103–70 record and won the PCL pennant.

Joe DiMaggio with the Seals

In January 1935, the Seals hired Lefty O'Doul as the team's player-manager.[1][2] O'Doul had played for the Seals at the start of his playing career and went on to play 11 years in the major leagues, winning National League batting titles in 1929 and 1932.[2] At age 38, he appeared in 68 games for the 1936 Seals, compiling a .269 batting average.[3] He continued as the Seals' manager through the 1951 season.[2]

Outfielder Joe DiMaggio, a 20-year-old native of the San Francisco Bay Area, was the team's brightest star.[3][4] Though he finished one point behind Ox Eckhardt in the competition for PCL batting championship,[5] DiMaggio was selected as the PCL's most valuable player, led the league in RBIs (154), runs scored (173), and triples (18), and ranked second with 34 home runs.[6] DiMaggio had been sold to the New York Yankees in November 1934, but on the condition that he would remain with the Seals for the 1935 season.[7]

In the PCL championship series, played in late September, the Seals defeated the Los Angeles Angels four games to two.[8]

Players

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Batting

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Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; SLG = Slugging percentage

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR SLG
OF Joe DiMaggio 172 679 270 .398 34 .672
C Joe Becker 75 207 77 .372 0 .483
C Larry Woodall 79 257 91 .354 0 .412
Steve Barath 100 218 72 .330 11 .471
Lonny Backer 154 525 163 .310 0 .392
1B Les Powers 171 704 217 .308 4 .402
Ted Norbert 149 524 158 .302 11 .471
IF Art Garibaldi 171 731 218 .298 7 .432
SS Hal Rhyne 150 523 154 .294 1 .373
CF Joe Marty 159 609 175 .287 6 .417

[3]

Pitching

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; PCT = Win percentage; ERA = Earned run average

Player G IP W L PCT ERA
Sam Gibson 38 252 22 4 .846 3.46
Win Ballou 33 220 18 8 .692 3.27

[3]

References

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  1. ^ "O'Doul To Boss Seals This Year -- if Terry Consents". San Francisco Examiner. January 20, 1935. p. 9W – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c "Lefty O'Doul". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "1935 San Francisco Seals". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  4. ^ "The forgotten story of ... Joe DiMaggio and the San Francisco Seals talent factory". The Guardian. May 21, 2015.
  5. ^ "Eckhardt Bat King". Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1935. p. II-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Josh Jackson (January 30, 2017). "DiMaggio's PCL stint was one for the ages". Minor League Baseball. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
  7. ^ "DiMaggio, Seals Player To Join New York Yankees". San Bernardino Daily Sun. November 22, 1934. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "San Francisco Seals Take Coast League Pennant". The Klamath News. October 1, 1935. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

[edit]
  • "The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957", by Dennis Snelling (McFarland 2011)
  • "San Francisco Seals", by Martin Jacobs & Jack McGuire (Arcadia Publishing 2005)