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Talkin’ Washington Baseball with Longtime DC/Baltimore Broadcaster Phil Wood

Posted by Ernie K. on 12/3/20 7:01 PM

Talkin’ Washington Baseball with longtime DC/Baltimore broadcaster Phil Wood—a sports caster in the DC/Baltimore market for over 40 years, working for WRC Radio, WTOP Radio, WTEM Radio, XM/Sirius, The City Paper, MASN (the Nationals and Orioles broadcast network) and countless others. Official scorer of the American League for most of the 1980s, he is a nationally recognized baseball historian and author honored by The Nationals in 2019 with a World Series Ring!

 

 

Key takeaways:

  • The 1944 and 1945 Washington Senators are memorable for having 4 knuckle ball pitchers in their starting rotation. The Nats nearly won the pennant in 1945. Bert Shepard, another Senators pitcher during this period, was memorable for being the only major league pitcher in history who had only one leg. Bert lost his leg in World War II.

  • Walter Johnson is remembered as the greatest Washington baseball player ever, and the greatest right-handed pitcher of all time. He was an original member of the Hall of Fame, and also managed and became a broadcaster for the team.

  • September 30, 1971. The last home game of the expansion Washington Senators. The Senators came back from a 5 to 1 deficit to take the lead, 7 to 5. Nat’s pitcher Joe Grzenda easily got the first two outs against the rival New York Yankees in the top of the 9th, but then the fans stormed the field and the Senators had to forfeit. Frank Howards home run inspired the Senators comeback.

  • The best team in these leagues was easily the Grays who played most of their home games in Washington’s Griffith Stadium when the Senators were playing road games. Usually, the Grays drew bigger crowds than the Senators. Much of the success of the Homestead Grays is attributed to the power hitting from longtime catcher Josh Gibson and first baseman Buck Leonard who were nicknamed the “Thunder Twins.”

  • Mickey Vernon. During the late 40s and 1950s, the Senators first baseman won 2 American League batting titles.

Topics: Around the Community

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