1905 FOOL-H Draft Class, a historical look!

[Alan T]

Bill 'Rough' Carrigan



- Carrigan started his career as a platoon catcher and played all ten seasons with the Boston Red Sox.
- Until Terry Francona duplicated the feat in 2007, he was the only manager to have won two World Series titles with Boston.


Eddie 'Cocky' Collins



- He was a star on the Athletics' "$100,000 infield" which propelled the team to four American League (AL) pennants and three World Series titles between 1910 and 1914, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1914
- At the end of his career, he ranked second in major league history in career games (2,826), walks (1,499) and stolen bases (744), third in runs scored (1,821), fourth in hits (3,315) and at bats (9,949), sixth in on base percentage (.424), and eighth in total bases (4,268); he was also fourth in AL history in triples (187).
- He still holds the major league record of 512 career sacrifice hits, over 100 more than any other player.
- He was the first major leaguer in modern history to steal 80 bases in a season, and still shares the major league record of six steals in a game, which he accomplished twice in September 1912.
- In 1999, he ranked number 24 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.



Joe 'Smokey Joe' Williams

- an American right-handed pitcher in the Negro Leagues.
- He is widely recognized as one of the game's greatest pitchers, even though he never played a game in the major leagues.
- Considerable debate existed and still exists over whether Williams or Paige was the greatest of the Negro League pitchers. Most modern sources lean toward Paige, but in 1952, a poll taken by the Pittsburgh Courier named Williams the greatest pitcher in Negro League history.
- While he has become more commonly known as "Smokey Joe," during Williams's prime in the 1910s and early 1920s he was universally known as "Cyclone" or "Cyclone Joe," sometimes appearing in box scores simply as "Cyclone."


Boss Schmidt



- holds the dubious distinction of having committed five errors and allowed 16 stolen bases during the 1908 World Series -- both records which still stand today.
- Schmidt also made the last out in consecutive World Series in 1907-08, the only player ever to do so.
- Schmidt also let the 3rd strike with 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth of Game 1 of the 1907 Series get away, allowing a run to score, which tied the game.
- Also, in the 1907 World Series, Schmidt gave up a record 7 stolen bases in Game 3, the most against one catcher in one Series game.
- According to the Detroit Tigers information office, Schmidt beat Cobb in several fights. In the second fight, Schmidt knocked Cobb unconscious but admired Cobb's resiliency while fighting and stayed to revive Cobb as he lay motionless on the Tiger dressing room floor. Depite their clashes, Schmidt and Cobb (both tough as nails) became close friends until Schmidt's death in 1932.
- Schmidt never wore shinguards. He could force nails into the floor with his bare fists. He once visited a local carnival with some of his teammates and wrestled and pinned a live bear.


Joe 'Dode' Birmingham



- He was a mediocre hitter, but he had one of the strongest throwing arms and he was a fine defensive center fielder.
- He was named the manager of the Naps in 1912 at the age of 28 after Harry Davis was fired,
- His tenure was marked with a bit of controversy in 1913 which would be his best finish as manager (86-66, 3rd place). Nap Lajoie, who was Birmingham's former manager, struggled through a hitting slump in mid-season and Birmingham decided to bench the future Hall of Famer at one point. Lajoie who had no love for Birmingham was outraged and cursed out the young manager to his face and in the press The feud only ended when Lajoie was sold back to Philadelphia after the 1914 season.