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Tris Speaker

Baseball is an outdoor sport in which a pitcher pitches a hard, fist sized ball to the hitting area of a batter. The batter hits the hard ball with a tapered, smooth, cylindrical bat made up of wood or metal. The batsman scores by running counter-clockwise within the four markers called the bases arranged at the corners of a diamond. Baseball is sometimes called hardball to differentiate it from similar games such as softball.

Tris Speaker was born on 4th April 1888 in Hubbard, Texas and died on 8th December 1958 in Lake Whitney, Texas. His height is five feet eleven and half inch with weight 193 pounds. He was inducted with the Hall of Fame in 1937.

The seventh player elected to the Hall of Fame, Tris Speaker's plaque there is inscribed greatest centerfielder of his day. From the start of his 22-year career, he maintained confidence in his eventual success despite some early setbacks. Bought in 1907 by the Red Sox from Houston of the Texas League, he did not hit and the next spring, without a Boston contract, he was left behind at Little Rock as payment for the use of the training camp. He did not take kindly to personal criticism. In 1910 he sustained an early-season batting slump and manager Patsy Donovan politely suggested he temporarily yield his third batting spot.

From 1910 to 1915, Speaker was the leader of Boston's legendary outfield which included Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper, and made 161 of their record 455 assists. In his first several years he enjoyed fringe benefits. He advertised Boston Garters, had a two-dollar straw hat named in his honor, and received free manufacturers' mackinaws and heavy sweaters. Hassan cigarettes created the most popular tobacco trading cards of Speaker, with four depicting his progress around the bases.

He was player-manager for the Indians for part of 1919 and the following seven full seasons. In 1926 a gambling scandal broke concerning a questionable game between Detroit and Cleveland in 1919. Speaker and Ty Cobb were alleged to have participated, and AL, American League president Ban Johnson secured their resignations as managers to protect baseball's image. Speaker ended his career with single seasons with the Senators and Athletics.

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