St. Louis Browns outfielder and pinch hitter, Ernie Walker, was born on September 19, 1890 in Blossburg, Alabama. Ernie will be one of four MLB players from the Walker family, including his brother Ewart "Dixie" Walker, and nephews Fred "Dixie" Walker and St. Louis Cardinals' Harry Walker. This family would be the first to have two genera
St. Louis Browns outfielder and pinch hitter, Ernie Walker, was born on September 19, 1890 in Blossburg, Alabama. Ernie will be one of four MLB players from the Walker family, including his brother Ewart "Dixie" Walker, and nephews Fred "Dixie" Walker and St. Louis Cardinals' Harry Walker. This family would be the first to have two generations of brothers in the major leagues.
Ernie Walker would spend 11 seasons in professional baseball, with all three Major League seasons with the Browns. Walker started playing baseball in the coal mining industrial leagues of Alabama. He would be signed by Montgomery Rebels in 1912 and recorded 20 hits in 31 games (.222 average), which was enough for the Browns to select him in the minor league draft on September 16, 1912.
Walker would make the Browns opening day roster, and his MLB debut came on April 13, 1913. He would appear as a pinch hitter for catcher Sam Agnew in the bottom of the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox. After batting just .214 in seven games, he was optioned back to Montgomery where his batting improved to .249 the rest of the season.
The Browns gave Walker a second chance in 1914, and he returned with an offensive seasons that saw him lead the team with a .298 average. As a backup outfielder he showed off his versatility with 25 games in left field, 13 games in center field, and 37 games in right field. His best game came on June 9 when he went 2-for-4 including his only Major League home run. It was an inside-the-park homer off Washington's Joe Engel. Seven of the 11 multi-hit games Walker tallied in the Majors was during the 1914 season.
His playing time and production both dropped in his third season in St. Louis (1915). He would only appear in 50 games and his average dropped to .211, resulting in a demotion to the Rochester Hustlers at the end of the season. The Browns would end up sending Ernie Walker, RF Ernie Manning, catcher William Rumler, and infielder Clyde Wares to the Little Rock Travelers on September 25, 1915. This moved was made to complete an earlier deal where Little Rock sent RF Earl East and RHP Bill Fincher to St. Louis on August 12. Ernie Walker would spend the rest of his career in the minor leagues. He would play for Little Rock (1916 and 1918), Mobil Bears (1918), Sioux City Indians (1919), St. Joseph Saints (1919-20), Joplin Miners (1921), and the Charleston Pals (1922-23).
The post-baseball life of Ernie Walker was fairly quiet. He would settle down in Pell City, Alabama, and enjoy watching his nephews play professional baseball in to the 1950s.
HEADLINES
"DIXIE DAVIS AND NEW YORK MISCUES LEADS TO BROWNS VICTORY OVER RUTH'S YANKEES "
FEATURED GAME
1920 - Browns take advantage of 14 hits off New York pitching, including four doubles as the Browns romp, 6-1. RHP Dixie Davis would keep the mighty Yankee lineup silent, allowing only two hits and three walks while while striking out seve
HEADLINES
"DIXIE DAVIS AND NEW YORK MISCUES LEADS TO BROWNS VICTORY OVER RUTH'S YANKEES "
FEATURED GAME
1920 - Browns take advantage of 14 hits off New York pitching, including four doubles as the Browns romp, 6-1. RHP Dixie Davis would keep the mighty Yankee lineup silent, allowing only two hits and three walks while while striking out seven. LF Ken Williams, RF Jack Tobin, and catcher Hank Severeid would all double and score a run. SS Wally Gerber would be perfect in four plate appearances, including a double, a run, and two runs batted in. CF Baby Doll Jacobson would add three hits, and 1B George Sisler would collect two hits along with a run and an RBI. Only three of the six St. Louis runs would be earned runs, due to five Yankee errors. Yankee legend, Babe Ruth, would go hitless on the day, while making two errors and being caught stealing.
BROWNS RECORD ON THIS DAY
Overall Record on SEPTEMBER 19
19 Wins, 22 Losses (.463)
1902-09: 3-4
1910-19: 2-6
1920-29: 5-4
1930-39: 3-2
1940-49: 6-4
1950-53: 0-2
DOUBLE HEADERS
Sweeps: 2
Splits: 4
Swept: 0
TRANSACTIONS
1928 - The Browns purchased the contract of RHP Rip Collins from the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League. Collins would appear in 78 games with the Browns over the next three seasons (1929-31). In 434 innings with St. Louis, he would strikeout 156 batters while walking 174, and tally an ERA of 4.09 with a 25-18 overall record. His time with the Browns would be the best of his career, as shown with his career high 7.5 WAR.
DEBUTS
1924 - RHP Bill Lasley would be the sixth pitcher used in a 15-9 loss to the Washington Nationals. He would appear in the ninth inning where he faced five batters, allowing just a walk.
BROWNS BIRTHDAYS ON SEPTEMBER 19
1912 - INF Red Barkley (1937)
1900 - RHP Jim Wright (1927-28)
1890 - OF/PH Ernie Walker (1913-15)
The 1948 St. Louis Browns were just four seasons removed from their pennant winning team of 1944. The Browns only had three players remaining from that American League Championship team - OF Al Zarilla, C Joe Schultz, and LHP Sam Zoldak. The rest of players were moved to keep the franchise afloat during the years after World War II.
The t
The 1948 St. Louis Browns were just four seasons removed from their pennant winning team of 1944. The Browns only had three players remaining from that American League Championship team - OF Al Zarilla, C Joe Schultz, and LHP Sam Zoldak. The rest of players were moved to keep the franchise afloat during the years after World War II.
The team production took a sharp drop after baseball stars returned from the war. The drop in the standings failed to keep fans attention, and they stopped coming to the games. With dropping attendance, revenue was cut and quality star players could not be kept on the roster. (Plus, the Musial-Slaughter-Schoendienst led Cardinals were in one of their greatest eras in history).
Browns owner Roger Muckerman ordered general manager Bill Dewitt to start cutting payroll in order to survive. The result was the 1948 lineup had five new players for the fans to cheer - 1B Chuck Stevens, 2B Jerry Priddy, SS Eddie Pelligrini, CF Whitey Platt, and RF Paul Lehner. The offense would have some rely on familiar names like LF Al Zarilla (.329 BA), Bob Dillinger (207 hits, .321 BA), and C Les Moss (16 HRs). The pitching staff was led by RHP Fred Sanford and RHP Cliff Fannin, with rookie RHP Ned Garver making his marks on the season.
Zack Taylor would enter his first season as the Browns manager, and he would lead the team to a 59-94 record. Throughout the season the revolving door of players continued, including several of the players listed above.