1935 Boston Braves season

1935 Boston Braves
	Babe Ruth's final season in majors
Major League affiliations
	National League (since 1876);
Location
	Braves Field (since 1915); Boston, Massachusetts (since 1871);
Results
Record	38–115 (.248)
League place	8th
Other information
Owner(s)	Emil Fuchs (April–August); Bob Quinn (August–September)
Manager(s)	Bill McKechnie
Local television	none
Local radio	Yankee Network; (Fred Hoey)
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The 1935 Boston Braves season was the 65th season of the franchise. The Braves finished with the worst record in the National League and the majors, with a record of 38 wins and 115 losses.^[1]

In an attempt to make his dream come true to manage, Babe Ruth came to the Braves in February 1935. He was hired as vice president and assistant manager, and team owner Emil Fuchs promised Ruth a share of team profits.

Offseason

October 2, 1934: Bill Lewis was drafted by the Braves from the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1934 rule 5 draft.^[2]
February 26, 1935: Babe Ruth was signed as a free agent by the Braves.^[3]

Regular season

On opening day, Babe Ruth was part of all of the Braves' runs in a 4–2 win over the New York Giants. However, Ruth was only a shadow of his former self. Although he had a fairly decent season in 1934, years of high living had begun taking their toll on his conditioning. His deterioration became more pronounced in early 1935. He couldn't run, and his fielding was so terrible that three of the Braves' pitchers threatened to go on strike if Ruth was in the lineup. A month into the season, Ruth stopped hitting as well. It soon became obvious that Ruth's titles as vice president and assistant manager were mere window dressing, and that he was only on the team due to the attention he commanded. He also discovered that rather than give him a share of the Braves' profits, Fuchs expected him to invest some of his money in the team.^[4]

Seeing a team in utter collapse and realizing he was finished even as a part-time player, Ruth retired on June 1, six days after he had what remains one of the most memorable afternoons in baseball history. He clouted what turned out to be the last three home runs of his career in a game at Forbes Field while playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. He'd wanted to quit as early as May 12, but Fuchs wanted him to hang on so he could play in every National League park. Fuchs lost control of the team soon afterward.^[4]

Despite fielding essentially the same team that finished fourth a year earlier, the 1935 season quickly turned into a debacle. In fact, their Opening Day win was the only time they were over .500 all year. They won only four games in May, and by the time Ruth retired they were 9-27, their season all but finished. They ultimately finished 38–115, the worst season in franchise history. Their .248 winning percentage is tied for the seventh-worst in baseball history, and the sixth-worst in National League history. It is the second-worst in modern baseball history (behind only the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics), and the worst in modern National League history. During the season, Braves pitcher Ben Cantwell would be the last pitcher in the 20th century to lose at least 25 games in one season.^[5] The only highlight was outfielder Wally Berger, who led the League in home runs (34) and RBIs (130).^[1]

Season standings

National League	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago Cubs	100	54	0.649	—	56–21	44–33
St. Louis Cardinals	96	58	0.623	4	53–24	43–34
New York Giants	91	62	0.595	8½	50–27	41–35
Pittsburgh Pirates	86	67	0.562	13½	46–31	40–36
Brooklyn Dodgers	70	83	0.458	29½	38–38	32–45
Cincinnati Reds	68	85	0.444	31½	41–35	27–50
Philadelphia Phillies	64	89	0.418	35½	35–43	29–46
Boston Braves	38	115	0.248	61½	25–50	13–65

Record vs. opponents

1935 National League Records Sources:
Team	BOS	BR	CHC	CIN	NYG	PHI	PIT	STL
Boston	—	6–16	3–19	10–12	5–16	8–14	2–20	4–18
Brooklyn	16–6	—	5–17	11–11	9–13	12–9–1	11–11	6–16
Chicago	19–3	17–5	—	14–8	14–8	13–9	15–7	8–14
Cincinnati	12–10	11–11	8–14	—	8–14–1	13–9	8–13	8–14
New York	16–5	13–9	8–14	14–8–1	—	12–10–2	14–8	14–8
Philadelphia	14–8	9–12–1	9–13	9–13	10–12–2	—	6–16	7–15
Pittsburgh	20–2	11–11	7–15	13–8	8–14	16–6	—	11–11
St. Louis	18–4	16–6	14–8	14–8	8–14	15–7	11–11	—

Notable transactions

June 1, 1935: Babe Ruth announces his retirement.
August 5, 1935: Shanty Hogan was released by the Braves.^[6]

Roster

1935 Boston Braves

Roster

Pitchers

28 Larry Benton

15 Huck Betts

-- Al Blanche

11 Ed Brandt

12 Bob Brown

16 Ben Cantwell

14 Fred Frankhouse

21 Danny MacFayden

21 Leo Mangum

13 Flint Rhem

17 Bob Smith

Catchers

30 Art Doll

8 Shanty Hogan

22 Bill Lewis

22 Ray Mueller

9 Al Spohrer

Infielders

26 Joe Coscarart

7 Fritz Knothe

23 Elbie Fletcher

5 Buck Jordan

20 Les Mallon

23 Rabbit Maranville

28 Marty McManus

2 Billy Urbanski

6 Pinky Whitney

Outfielders

4 Wally Berger

10 Hal Lee

7 Randy Moore

19 Joe Mowry

3 Babe Ruth

18 Tommy Thompson

24 Johnnie Tyler

Manager

33 Bill McKechnie

Coaches

31 Hank Gowdy

32 Duffy Lewis

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Al Spohrer	92	260	63	.242	1	16
1B	Buck Jordan	130	470	131	.279	5	35
2B	Les Mallon	116	412	113	.274	2	25
3B	Pinky Whitney	126	458	125	.273	4	60
SS	Billy Urbanski	132	514	118	.230	4	30
OF	Wally Berger	150	589	174	.295	34	130
OF	Hal Lee	112	422	128	.303	0	39
OF	Tommy Thompson	112	297	81	.273	4	30

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Randy Moore	125	407	112	.275	4	42
Joe Coscarart	86	284	67	.236	1	29
Shanty Hogan	59	163	49	.301	2	25
Babe Ruth	28	72	13	.181	6	12
Rabbit Maranville	23	67	10	.149	0	5
Bill Lewis	6	4	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Fred Frankhouse	40	230.2	11	15	4.76	64
Ed Brandt	29	174.2	5	19	5.00	61

Other pitchers