Alan’s TTIM Stories #27

On a sunny October afternoon, Fred Odwell rounded third at St. Louis’s League Park, 90 feet from a miscalculation or baseball immortality. The outfielder took too long to run down the ball and make the throw to the infield. Too late to hesitate, the promised land of home plate was within reach. The rare inside-the-park home run would have reverberations beyond the score of the game.

From the dugout, Cy Seymour watched his teammate run the bases in a bittersweet elation for the possibility of the winning run. A future Cincinnati Reds Hall of Famer, Seymour enjoyed one of greatest seasons in Reds’ history. In 1905 he led the league in hitting (.377 – still a Reds’ record), 121 runs battled in, and tied for the most home runs. If the stats stayed as is, he would win the coveted Triple Crown of offense in baseball.

Fred “Fritz” Odwell came out of Downsville, New York. He played his rookie season as an outfielder with the Reds in 1904. With average stats, he was best known for his hustle, 60 years before Pete Rose gained a similar nickname. What the skinny kid lacked in talent was countered by enthusiasm.

“No decade in the baseball century bore more witness to change and evolution within the game than the 1900s.”1 Pitchers ruled the game with every disgusting abuse of the baseball allowed. Cy Young and Christy Mathewson commanded the mound. Only Honus Wagner of Pittsburgh showed consistent offensive success. Upper range of annual salaries ranged around $8,000. NOTE: Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers makes $127,273 for every plate appearance.

The Reds were on the road to finish the season battling the Cardinals. An unremarkable season for Cincinnati finishing in 5th place in the National League with a 79-74 record. The New York Giants won the World Series over the Philadelphia Athletics.

As Odwell touch home plate, dreams of Triple Crown were dashed for Seymour, and Odwell entered the history books as the Major League home run king of 1905. Two more seasons in the “bigs” did not produce another home run for Fritz.

Oh yes, the number of home runs to lead the league in 1905 – NINE.

Sources: This Great Game.com 1, Wikipedia, Baseball Almanac.com, The World Almanac

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