John William Rawlings '' ed' (August 17, 1892 – October 16, 1972) was a second baseman and

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for six different teams between the and seasons. Listed at , 158 lb., he batted and threw right-handed.

Career

A native of Bloomfield, Iowa, Rawlings attended high school in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. He started his professional career in 1911 with the

Vernon Tigers The Vernon Tigers were a Minor League Baseball team that represented Vernon, California in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1909 to 1925. The team won back-to-back PCL pennants in 1919 and 1920. The Tigers, together with the Sacramento Solons ...

of the Pacific Coast League. Rawlings entered the majors in 1914 with the Cincinnati Reds, appearing for them in 33 games before jumping during the mid-season to the

Kansas City Packers The Kansas City Packers were a Federal League baseball club in Kansas City from 1914 to 1915. They finished sixth in 1914 with a 67–84 record, and fourth in 1915 with an 81–72 record. The Packers moved to Kansas City in July 1913 from Coving ...

of the outlaw

Federal League The Federal League of Base Ball Clubs, known simply as the Federal League, was an American professional baseball league that played its first season as a minor league in 1913 and operated as a "third major league", in competition with the e ...

. After one and a half seasons in Kansas City, he spent 1917 with the Toledo Iron Men of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. Rawlings returned to major league action with the Boston Braves (1917-20), and later played for the Philadelphia Phillies (1920-'21), New York Giants (1921-'22) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1923-26). His most productive season came in 1921 for Phillies and Giants, when he posted career highs in hits (156), runs (60), extrabases (27), RBI (46) and games played (146), while hitting .278

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

. In 1922, Rawlings hit .282 in 82 games, good enough to play for

John McGraw John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager who was for almost thirty years manager of the New York Giants. He was also the third baseman of the pennant-winning 1890 ...

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 ...

pennant winning Giants in 1921 and 1922. He hit .333 (10-for-30) with three doubles and four RBI for the 1921 Giants World Series champions. Of particular note was the last play in the series, the last time a best-of-nine game format was used. With the Giants winning in the ninth inning and the Yankees facing elimination, Yankees manager Miller Huggins sent

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

in to pinch hit to lead off the inning. Ruth had knee and elbow injuries and had missed Games 6 and 7 completely, and had sat out Game 8 thus far. He grounded out to the first baseman unassisted. Aaron Ward coaxed a walk, and represented the tying run. The next batter was

Home Run Baker John Franklin "Home Run" Baker (March 13, 1886 – June 28, 1963) was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Althoug ...

. After fouling off several pitches, he hit a ball that appeared to have eyes for right field. Ward took off on contact. Rawlings reached the ball, and after tumbling, threw to first base from his knees to get the out. Ward inexplicably continued running, rounded second base, and with his head down, barreled toward third. An astute throw to

Frank Frisch Frank Francis Frisch (September 9, 1898—March 12, 1973), nicknamed "The Fordham Flash" or "The Old Flash", was an American Major League Baseball player and manager of the first half of the twentieth century. Frisch was a switch-hitting seco ...

at third base nailed Ward for the third out, and the Series was won by the Giants. Six seasons later, the winning pitcher, Art Nehf, then with the Cincinnati Reds, would call Rawlings' snag the best play he had ever seen. In all, Rawlings earned three

World Series ring A World Series ring is an award given to Major League Baseball players who win the World Series. Since only one Commissioner's Trophy is awarded to the team, a World Series ring is an individual award that players and staff of each World Series ...

s, though he did not play for the

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

Giants and

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Pirates series champions. During an early September game at Pittsburgh against the St. Louis Cardinals, Rawlings, now playing for the eventual World Champion Pirates, broke the fibula near the ankle in his left leg, while sliding into second base. The injury would keep him out of the World Series, and would cut short his major league playing career the following year. Following his major league career, Rawlings played in the minors until 1930. He began the 1930 season with the Pacific Electric ball club in Los Angeles, but by June, fate found him playing infield on the same Texas League Dallas Steers ball club with former Major League great

Grover Cleveland Alexander Grover Cleveland Alexander (February 26, 1887 – November 4, 1950), nicknamed "Old Pete", was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. He ...

, a future Baseball Hall of Famer. After he was released by the Steers in June, Rawlings signed on in July as a utility infielder with the Los Angeles Angels. From the 1940s Rawlings coached for a number of years and also managed during eight years in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League for the

Grand Rapids Chicks The Grand Rapids Chicks were a women's professional baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League from 1945 to 1954, winning championships in 1947 and 1953. History The franchise ...

(1946-'50),

Peoria Redwings The Peoria Redwings was a women's professional baseball team who joined the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1946 season and remained in the league through 1951. The team represented Peoria, Illinois, playing home games a ...

(1951) and

Rockford Peaches The Rockford Peaches were a women's professional baseball team who played from through in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. A founding member, the team represented Rockford, Illinois. The Peaches were one of two teams to pla ...

(1953-'54). He led his teams to six playoff appearances, including a Championship Title with the 1947 Chicks.

Personal life

Johnny Rawlings was married to the former Alexia Selma Wieben (1894–1986) in Los Angeles, California on October 19, 1917. They had two daughters, Audrey (later Mrs. Jack Perry), who was born in 1921 in Pennsylvania, and Joanne (later Mrs. Jack Lynwood), who was born in 1927 in California. Shortly after his retirement from playing baseball, Johnny Rawlings was an insurance salesman in Los Angeles.''Omaha World Herald'' (Omaha, Nebraska)- Friday, August 5, 1932 – p.17 Rawlings died in Inglewood, California in 1972, at the age of 80. His wife Alexia died in 1986.

Sources

*''The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia'' – Gary Gillette, Peter Gammons, Pete Palmer. Publisher: Sterling Publishing, 2005. Format: Paperback, 1824pp.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rawlings, Johnny Major League Baseball infielders Boston Braves players Cincinnati Reds players Kansas City Packers players New York Giants (NL) players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players All-American Girls Professional Baseball League managers Columbus Senators players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Vernon Tigers players Toledo Iron Men players Minor league baseball managers Baseball players from Iowa 1892 births 1972 deaths People from Bloomfield, Iowa Los Angeles High School alumni