Debs C. Garms (June 26, 1907 – December 16, 1984) was a professional baseball player for 12 seasons as an
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
and
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...
for the
St. Louis Browns,
Boston Braves
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During it ...
,
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
, and
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
. Garms broke up
Johnny Vander Meer's streak of hitless innings in 1938. He won the
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
batting title in 1940, hitting .355 for the Pirates despite having played in only 103 games and garnering 358 at bats. Garms' batting title proved very controversial because of his limited playing time.
In 1941, he set a then-major league record for consecutive pinch hits with seven, which stood until
Dave Philley broke it in 1958.
Early life
Born in
Bangs, Texas
Bangs is a city located in Brown County in west-central Texas, in the United States. The population was 1,603 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Bangs is located in western Brown County at (31.716392, –99.130949). U.S. Routes 67 and U.S. Route ...
, Garms was the eighth of 10 children, and was named after
Eugene Debs
Eugene may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...
. Garms' older sister married
Slim Harriss, a
pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...
for the
Philadelphia Athletics
The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oakla ...
and
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
in the 1920s.
Garms attended
Howard Payne University
Howard Payne University is a private Baptist university in Brownwood, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Howard Payne College was founded by Reverend Noah T. Byers and Dr. John David Robnett in 1889. The institu ...
, joining the track and baseball teams. One of Garms' games was attended by
minor league
Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in No ...
manager Carl Williams, and soon after, Garms was signed to a minor league contract with the St. Louis Browns. After playing in the minor leagues for multiple years, Garms batted .344 in 1932 and was called up to the major league Browns.
Career
In 1936, Garms was drafted by the
Boston Bees
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During ...
from the Browns in the
rule 5 draft. In 1938, Bees'
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activitie ...
Casey Stengel
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...
platooned Garms with
Joe Stripp
Joseph Valentine Stripp (February 3, 1903 – June 10, 1989) was an American professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Bees between 1928 ...
.
After three seasons with the Bees, Garms was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1940, his first year with the Pirates, Garms won the National League
batting title
In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...
despite serving as a platoon player, recording only 358 at-bats in 103 games.
[ Despite the fact that many complained at the low batting averages in 1940 compared to past years, most assumed that 400 at-bats were needed to be eligible for a batting title. In September 1940, league president ]Ford Frick
Ford Christopher Frick (December 19, 1894 – April 8, 1978) was an American sportswriter and baseball executive. After working as a teacher and as a sportswriter for the ''New York American'', he served as public relations director of the Natio ...
stated, "The batting title is simply unofficial and never has been subject for league legislation." Frick's spokesman said, "he thought 100 games would be a sufficient prerequisite for the championship."
After the season, the league's decision to make Garms the champion remained controversial, particularly for Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...
fans, who believed that Stan Hack was the rightful winner.runs scored
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...
, 141 doubles, 39 triples, 17 home runs, 328 RBI, 288 walks, .355 on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
, and a .379 slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
. He appeared in the 1943 World Series
The 1943 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1943 season. The 40th edition of the World Series, it matched the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the New York Yankees, in a rematch of the 1942 ...
and 1944 World Series
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, and was hitless in seven at-bats. Garms made the last out of the 1943 World Series when he grounded out to New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
second baseman Joe Gordon
Joseph Lowell Gordon (February 18, 1915 – April 14, 1978), nicknamed "Flash" in reference to the comic-book character ''Flash Gordon'', was an American second baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Yank ...
in Game 5.
After baseball
After Garms retired, he purchased a ranch in Glen Rose, Texas
Glen Rose is a city in and the county seat of Somervell County, Texas, United States. As of the 2012 census estimate, the city population was 2,502.
History
19th century
The area was first settled in 1849 by Charles Barnard, who opened a tradin ...
. Garms lived at the ranch until the 1950s, when the severe Texas drought forced him to sell the ranch and move into town in 1959, where he worked as foreman for a lime quarry operation, and eventually served on the school board for Glen Rose Independent School District. Garms was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...
in the 1980s, and died on December 16, 1984.
See also
* List of Major League Baseball batting champions
In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league wi ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garms, Debs
1907 births
1984 deaths
Major League Baseball left fielders
Major League Baseball right fielders
Major League Baseball third basemen
Howard Payne Yellow Jackets baseball players
National League batting champions
St. Louis Browns players
Boston Bees players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
St. Louis Cardinals players
Baseball players from Texas
People from Glen Rose, Texas
People from Brown County, Texas
Augusta Tygers players
Augusta Wolves players
Sacramento Solons players
San Antonio Missions players
San Diego Padres (minor league) players
Spartanburg Spartans players
Topeka Senators players
Wichita Falls Spudders players