Jimmy Sheckard was the first ML player of the 20th century to slug two grand slams in one season. Furthermore, he hit them in consecutive games on consecutive days. And still furthermore, both were inside-the-park! So far as is known, Sheckard is the only player ever to hit inside-the-park grand slams in consecutive games in the history of ML baseball. Game One: September 23, 1901 Sheckard contributed a single and the grand slam to the Superbas 25-6 rout of last place Cincinnati at League Park in the Queen City. Game Two: September 24, 1901 Brooklyn batters had fun again, battering the Redlegs for 22 hits (4 by Jimmy) in a 16-2 romp. So the Superbas rapped 48 hits and plated 41 runs in two games . And all this carnage came against only three pitchers, two on the 23rd and poor Bill Phillips alone the next afternoon. At various times during his career, Jimmy led the NL in triples, HRs, slugging, runs, on-base percentage, walks, and stolen bases. He also forged a reputation as an outstanding defensive outfielder, a marvelous workman in his pasture and one of the surest, most deadly outfielders on fly balls that ever choked a near-triple to death by fleetness of foot and steadiness of eye and grip, to quote the bloated prose of a sportswriter of his day. Sheckard also displayed a temper at times. Consider this item concerning the June 4, 1901, game between Brooklyn and Cincinnati: Sheckard disputed a decision by Umpire Cunningham and was ordered out of the game. This infuriated him and he threatened the umpire. The police were called in and took him off the grounds. Traded to the Cubs in 1906, Sheckard hit .262 but embarrassed himself by his performance in the World Series. Jimmy bragged that he would hit .400 against White Sox pitching. Instead, a went 0-for-21, failing to hit a ball out of the infield. His performance was one of many factors in perhaps the greatest upset in World Series history as the Hitless Wonders upset the Cubs in six. Nevertheless, in 1952, sportswriter Joe Reichler named Sheckard as the LF on the All-Time Cubs team.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 06:04:39 +0000
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