October 6, 1929: At age 48, Boston Braves coach Johnny Evers plays final major league game

The third-place New York Giants and the cellar-dwelling Boston Braves had little to play for on the final day of the 1929 season; neither team could finish any higher in the National League standings. The only significant unresolved item was the NL home-run race, where the Giants’ Mel Ott was just one homer behind league leader Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies. (Klein had broken the NL record the day before with his 43rd round-tripper.1)

Trailing by three runs in the ninth, Boston attempted to spice things up for the sparse crowd at Braves Field by inserting both of its coaches into the game.2 The grizzled veterans were key members of the 1914 Miracle Braves, 40-year-old Hank Gowdy and 48-year-old Johnny Evers. Gowdy’s one-inning appearance was uneventful, but the once slick-fielding Evers was not so fortunate. He committed an error that led to two unearned runs and the Braves lost, 9-4. It was the last time Evers was in uniform for a major-league game.

The once-proud Braves had finished in the second division every season since 1922. Judge Emil Fuchs, the team owner since 1923, decided to shake things up after Boston lost 103 games in 1928. The Braves traded player-manager Rogers Hornsby to the Chicago Cubs in November for the princely sum of $200,000 and five marginal players.3 Fuchs appointed himself manager and hired Evers, who had a reputation as one of the smartest players of the Deadball Era, as his “first lieutenant.” Gowdy was hired as Fuchs’s “second assistant.”4 Fuchs also acquired a third member of the Miracle Braves by purchasing the contract of 37-year-old shortstop Rabbit Maranville from the St. Louis Cardinals.5

Evers had enjoyed great success playing for the Cubs, helping them win four pennants and back-to-back World Series championships, but his 1913 season as player-manager did not go well. Chicago had its worst season since 1902 and controversial owner Charles Murphy sacked Evers, ending his 12-year stint with the Cubs.6

In 1914 Evers led the Braves to a stunning pennant victory – they were in last place on July 18 – and a shocking World Series sweep over the Philadelphia Athletics. He earned the NL Chalmers Award as the league’s MVP in what was his last outstanding season. Evers’ playing career ended at the beginning of the 1918 season.7

Evers found less success as a coach and manager. He coached the Giants in 1920,8 managed the Cubs for 96 games in 1921 before getting fired, coached the Chicago White Sox in 1922, and managed them to a last-place finish in 1924.

The final game of the 1929 season saw several young players auditioning for roster spots. The Giants’ Roy Parmelee, a 22-year-old righty, was making his first major-league start after getting roughed up in his debut on September 28, a two-inning relief stint against the Brooklyn Robins. Parmelee was opposed by Boston’s ace, Bob Smith. The veteran righty came into the game with an 11-17 record and a 4.70 ERA. (NL pitchers combined for a 4.71 ERA in 1929.)

Braves third baseman Henry Peploski, playing in his sixth and final major-league game, was the first batter to reach base when he walked to lead off the bottom of the second. After Parmelee issued his second consecutive free pass, center fielder Phil Voyles, appearing in his 20th and final big-league game, drove both runners home with a triple to the center-field fence. Shortstop Freddie Maguire followed with a looping, opposite-field single to right field, giving Boston a 3-0 lead.9

Smith completely fell apart in the third, surrendering four runs − all earned − on six singles. The Giants scored on a single by Ott, a throwing error by Braves right fielder Lance Richbourg, and two-out singles by rookie first baseman Pat Crawford and left fielder Freddy Leach.

The Braves tied the score, 4-4, on three consecutive one-out singles in the fourth off Parmelee, the last of which was by Bill Dunlap.10

Veteran Braves righty Harry “Socks” Seibold, who had pitched a scoreless fourth inning in relief of Smith, returned for the fifth. He surrendered a run on a walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly by Crawford, and the Giants led, 5-4.

Right-hander Bill Clarkson, making the last of his 51 appearances in the majors, replaced Seibold on the mound in the seventh. The Giants added a pair of insurance runs on an RBI single by former Brave Doc Farrell and another sacrifice fly by Crawford.11 It was Crawford’s third RBI of the game.

Ott was still stuck on 42 homers after making the third out in the top of the eighth.12

The Giants led, 7-4, as the teams headed to the ninth. Evers took over at second base and Gowdy went behind the plate. Coming into the season, Gowdy hadn’t appeared in the majors since 1925, although he had bounced around the minor leagues until 1928. He was pressed into action in mid-August when Braves backup catcher Lou Legett fell into a 2-for-25 slump. Gowdy went 7-for-16 (.438) at the plate between August 18 and September 18.

Evers, on the other hand, hadn’t appeared regularly in the majors since the end of the 1917 season with the Phillies.13 His previous game action came during his season as a White Sox coach, filling in at second base for an injured Eddie Collins on April 27, 1922.14

Clarkson got the first out of the ninth on a groundball to shortstop Gene Robertson. The next batter, Farrell, hit what the Boston Herald called an “easy” grounder to Evers, but the ball stayed down and skipped through his legs for an error.15 Buck Jordan, who had replaced Crawford at first base a half-inning earlier and was playing in his seventh big-league game, doubled to left field and Farrell pulled into third. Sam Leslie, appearing in his first big-league game, hit a sacrifice fly that scored Farrell and advanced Jordan to third.16 Jordan scored on Travis Jackson’s infield single, and the Giants led, 9-4.17

According to the Boston Herald, when the inning ended Evers paused on his way back to the dugout and exclaimed to the crowd, “I told you I was through, but you wouldn’t believe it.”18

Evers and Gowdy were due up fifth and sixth in the bottom of the ninth. On the mound for the Giants was 21-year-old Ray Lucas, making his third major-league appearance. Lucas had tossed three scoreless innings since relieving Parmelee in the sixth. He limited the Braves to just a single in the ninth, denying the Boston coaches a chance to bat.19 The Giants finished the season with an 84-67-1 record, while the loss dropped the Braves to 56-98.

George E. Phair of the New York American wisecracked that Evers finished the season with a fielding average of zero.20 Not surprisingly, the hometown papers were more supportive of Evers’ predicament. “It was a strange sight to see him foozle that way,” wrote Boston Globe sports editor Walter Barnes. “Boy, couldn’t he gobble them in his palmy days!”21

Hugh Fullerton of the Associated Press noted that with little on the line, few fans paid attention to the final regular-season games of the 1929 season. Those who did show up to the ballpark “were treated to [a] baseball vaudeville act when the ancient members of the coaching staffs stepped out for a final crack at the game.”22 In addition to Evers and Gowdy, three other coaches made cameo appearances in front of their home crowds: 39-year-old Ivey Wingo of the Cincinnati Reds,23 49-year-old Jimmy Austin of the St. Louis Browns,24 and 53-year-old Nick Altrock of the Washington Nationals.25

Even the World-Series-bound Cubs got into the act, bestowing the starting assignment upon their regular batting-practice pitcher, Hank Grampp.26 The only home teams that didn’t pull any lineup shenanigans on the season’s final day were the New York Yankees and the White Sox.

When Fuchs hired Evers as his assistant manager, he hinted that Evers might inherit the job when it was time for him to step down.27 But one day after the season ended, Fuchs announced the hiring of Bill McKechnie as the Braves’ new manager.28 Gowdy returned as a player-coach in 1930 and he continued to coach the Braves until 1937.29

Evers was shifted into a scouting role, never to coach or manage in the big leagues again.30 He scouted for the Braves for five years before leaving to become the general manager of the International League’s Albany Senators in 1935.31 The Senators finished in the basement and Evers resigned after just one season at the helm, citing interference from the team’s owner.32

Evers operated a sporting-goods store in Albany with his brother Joe until he died on March 28, 1947. Less than a year earlier, the Cubs’ famous double-play combination of Joe Tinker, Evers, and Frank Chance had been voted into the Hall of Fame by the Old Timers Committee.33 The induction ceremony took place in Cooperstown four months after Evers died.34

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Ray Danner and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, Retrosheet.org, The Sporting News contract cards, and the SABR biographies of Johnny Evers, Judge Emil Fuchs, George Harper, and Hank Grampp. Unless otherwise noted, all detailed play-by-play information was taken from the article “Giants Win, 5 to 4 [sic], in Final at Hub,” in the October 7, 1929, edition of the New York American.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BSN/BSN192910060.shtml   

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1929/B10060BSN1929.htm   

Photo credit

Johnny Evers, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 The Phillies’ season ended on October 5. The previous record was 42 by Rogers Hornsby of the 1922 St. Louis Cardinals. Klein held the record for only one season: Hack Wilson smashed the record when he hit 56 homers for the Cubs in 1930. As of 2025, the most home runs hit in a single season by an NL batter – excluding the steroid era – was 59 by Giancarlo Stanton of the 2017 Miami Marlins.

2 Only 2,000 fans were in attendance on October 6, 1929, and Braves Field had a capacity of 46,500. The Braves averaged 4,836 fans per game. Thanks to the adoption of Sunday baseball in Boston in 1929, per-game attendance increased by 62 percent.

3 The amount paid for Hornsby was the equivalent of $3.75 million in 2025 dollars. The five players acquired by the Braves were pitchers Harry “Socks” Seibold, Bruce Cunningham, and Percy Jones, catcher Lou Legett, and second baseman Freddie Maguire.

4 Associated Press, “Two-Part Race in National,” Boston Globe, January 26, 1929: 8.

5 The Braves purchased Maranville and 36-year-old outfielder George Harper from the Cardinals on December 8, 1928. The Cardinals had initiated a youth movement after winning the pennant in 1928. In 1929 Maranville batted .284 and was one of the NL’s best defensive shortstops. He sat out the final day of the season.

6 The 1913 Cubs finished in third place with an 88-65-2 record, 13½ games out of first place. Their .575 winning percentage was their lowest since 1902, when they had a .496 winning percentage. The NL owners granted Evers his release from the Cubs after Murphy claimed that Evers had resigned. Evers sold his contract to the Braves, becoming the highest-paid player in NL or AL.

7 Evers was expected to be a player-coach for the Boston Red Sox in 1918. The Red Sox surprised fans and the media by replacing Evers with Heinie Wagner on Opening Day. Wagner served as a player-coach and Evers was put on waivers. “Wagner Again Coach,” Boston Post, April 16, 1918: 13; Edward F. Martin, “Evers Off for Troy, His Case a Puzzle,” Boston Globe, April 16, 1918: 7.

8 In 1920 the Giants had their worst winning percentage (.558) in the 10-year period from 1916 to 1925. John McGraw’s other coach that season was Christy Mathewson.

9 Maguire shifted to second base and Gene Robertson entered the game at shortstop in the top of the fifth.

10 Dunlap drove in Lou Legett with his single. Dunlap had replaced Richbourg in right field in the top of the inning. It’s unclear if the substitution had anything to do with Richbourg’s throwing error.

11 Farrell had been traded from the Braves to the Giants for outfielder Jimmy Welsh on June 14, 1929.

12 Ott was batting leadoff to maximize his opportunities to hit a home run. It was the only time he batted leadoff between 1928 and 1940. Ott had two singles and a walk in five plate appearances in the game.

13 The Braves put Evers on waivers and the Phillies claimed him on July 12, 1917. Philadelphia finished in second place, 10 games behind the Giants.

14 It was the only game that Collins missed in 1922; he appeared at second base in every other game. Evers went 0-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI in the game. He played flawless defense, recording three putouts and three assists.

15 I.A. Siegel, “Braves Lose to Giants, 9 to 4, as Season Ends; Evers Muffs Only Chance; Gowdy Also Plays,” Boston Herald, October 7, 1929: 27.

16 Leslie made his major-league debut when he pinch-hit for Leach in the seventh. He hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning. Leslie remained in the game in left field. His sacrifice fly in the ninth inning was the first RBI of his 10-year career in the majors.

17 Jordan recorded his first career double and run scored in the inning. He had also played five games for the Giants in September 1927.

18 Siegel, “Braves Lose to Giants, 9 to 4, as Season Ends; Evers Muffs Only Chance; Gowdy Also Plays.”

19 Parmelee picked up the first of his 59 wins in the big leagues. Although the save didn’t become an official statistic until 1969, Lucas was retroactively credited with a save in this game. It was the only save in his 22 career major-league appearances.

20 George E. Phair, “Giants Win, 5 to 4 [sic], in Final at Hub,” New York American, October 7, 1929: 7.

21 Sportsman (Walter Barnes), “Live Tips and Topics,” Boston Globe, October 8, 1929: 26.

22 Hugh S. Fullerton, Jr, “Vets and Rookies Romp in Closing Big-League Tilts,” Rome (New York) Daily Sentinel, October 7, 1929: 14.

23 Wingo caught the last two innings and made the first out in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals. It was his only appearance of 1929, the last of his career, and the first since appearing in seven games in 1926.

24 Austin, who had seen little game action since 1922, played third base for the last three innings and struck out in his only at-bat. He had two assists and made no errors in what was his last appearance as a player. Austin had also played in a game in 1923 and in the final game of the 1925 and ’26 seasons.

25 In a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox, Altrock got a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth and played right field in the ninth. He hadn’t seen action in more than five games in a major-league season since 1909. Altrock’s previous appearance was on the last day of the 1924 season, the day after Washington clinched its first pennant. He pitched two innings and hit a triple, becoming the oldest player to triple in an AL or NL game (48 years, 15 days). As of 2025, the oldest major-league player to hit a triple was String Bean Williams of the Washington Potomacs in the Eastern Colored League − also in 1924. Williams turned the trick in his age 51 season.

26 The Cubs faced the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series two days later. (The Athletics defeated the Cubs four games to one in the series.) Grampp’s start on October 6 was his third and final appearance in the big leagues. He gave up six earned runs in two innings, taking the loss against the second-place Pittsburgh Pirates. Grampp had made two relief appearances for the Cubs in 1927. He finished his brief big-league career with a 16.20 ERA.

27 “New York Learns Judge Isn’t Joking,” Boston Globe, November 10, 1928: 8.

28 Henry Richards, “McKechnie Faces Tough Job with Braves,” Brooklyn Standard Union, October 8, 1929: 18.

29 Gowdy also coached the Reds from 1938 to 1946 and the Giants in 1947-48.

30 Evers had scouted for the Giants in 1926 and 1927. Gil Bogen, Tinker, Evers, and Chance (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003), 201; James C. O’Leary, “Joint Meeting May Act on Broadcasts,” Boston Globe, December 12, 1929: 29.

31 Associated Press, “Johnny Evers Named Manager at Albany,” Wilkes-Barre Record, February 4, 1935: 13.

32 Con Heffernan, “‘Too Much Interference’ Seen Cause of Evers’ Resignation, Albany Times-Union, September 12, 1935: 27.

33 Associated Press, “Honor Tinker, Evers, Chance, Walsh at Last,” Chicago Tribune, April 24, 1946: 33.

34 Associated Press, “15 New Members in Hall of Fame; Walsh Only Newcomer at Affair,” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 22, 1947: 16.