Luke Sewell

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James Luther Sewell (January 5, 1901 - May 14, 1987) was an American catcher and manager in Major League Baseball. Born in the rural town of Titus, Alabama, he grew up wanting to play baseball, and graduated from the University of Alabama; he batted and threw right-handed. Sewell had two brothers who also played major league ball: Joe, a Hall of Fame shortstop, and Tommy, who had 1 at bat with the Chicago Cubs.

[edit] Career overview

Sewell played from 1921 until 1939, and briefly in 1942, and played with 4 teams altogether. In all years, he played primarily as a catcher. He played with the Indians twice:

Sewell managed from 1941 until 1952, and managed 2 teams:

Sewell had his first full year in 1926 with the Indians, where he had 103 hits in 433 at bats, good for a .238 batting average. He had 46 RBIs on the year, but no home runs.

His next year, however, was a breakout one. He hit .294 with 53 RBIs, 52 runs scored, and 138 hits, with 27 doubles and 6 triples. He was ninth in voting for the MVP Award, which Lou Gehrig won.

The catcher questioned Babe Ruth's integrity in a game on June 11, 1927. He demanded that umpires check Ruth's bat after he clouted two straight homers off Garland Buckeye.

He also had a very good arm and was great at throwing out runner, leading the league in assists 4 times.

Sewell got his only postseason opportunity in the 1933 World Series when his Washington Senators lost to the New York Giants in 5 games. His World Series stats include a .176 batting average (3 for 17), with 1 stolen base, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI.

Even for the era, his low strikeout numbers were remarkable. Sewell never struck out more than 27 times in a season, and his career best was just 16 strikeouts in 451 at bats in 1936. That year, he also set his career highs in stolen bases (11) and RBIs (73). By that point in his career, he was an accomplished hitter, but had never made an All-Star team since the game's creation in 1933; he would earn an All-Star spot in 1937, with the Chicago White Sox. That year, he put up even better numbers than the consistently good ones he had been posting for a decade. On the season, he had a .269 batting average, with a .343 on base percentage and 6 triples, finishing 5th in MVP voting (Charlie Gehringer won). Although his season was not superb, some said he was given the trip to the All-Star game as a tribute to his career.

Sewell retired after making a very brief comeback as a player-manager in 1942 with the Browns. His final game was on August 1 of that year. Although the majority of his career took place with the Indians, many believe it can be argued that either his stay in Cleveland or Chicago was most noteworthy.

Sewell's career statistics include a .258 batting average with 20 home runs and 696 RBIs. He had 65 career stolen bases and 653 runs scored. He accumulated 1393 hits, with 272 doubles and 56 triples. He holds the American League record of 20 seasons as an active catcher. He caught three no-hitters in his career (Wes Ferrell, Vern Kennedy, and Bill Dietrich).

After his retirement, Sewell decided to become a manager. Sewell's full managerial record was 606-644, a .485 winning percentage. His most significant managerial job took place with the St. Louis Browns from 1941 through 1946 where he managed 850 games and had a 432-410 record. He led them to an AL pennant – the team's only championship in its 52 years in St. Louis—in 1944, although they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the all-St. Louis World Series. That year, he managed such players as Red Hayworth, Vern Stephens, and Jack Kramer, led them to an 89-65 record, and was awarded The Sporting News' Manager of the Year Award. After that, he joined the Reds in 1949, and retired in 1952 when Rogers Hornsby took over, also coincidentally coming off managing the Browns.

Sewell and his brother Joe rank eighth on the all-time list of combined hits by brothers, with 3619.

Sewell died in Akron, Ohio at age 86.

[edit] External link

Preceded by
Fred Haney		 St. Louis Browns Manager
1941-1946		 Succeeded by
Zack Taylor
Preceded by
Bucky Walters		 Cincinnati Reds Manager
1949-1952		 Succeeded by
Rogers Hornsby
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