Wally Pipp

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Wally Pipp
Wally Pipp
First Baseman
Born: February 17, 1893
[[florida

, Illinois|florida ]], Illinois
Died: January 11, 1965 (aged 71)
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Batted: Left Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 29, 1913
for the Detroit Tigers
Final game
September 30, 1928
for the Cincinnati Reds
Career statistics
Batting average     .281
Home runs     90
Runs batted in     998
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Walter Clement Pipp (February 17, 1893 – January 11, 1965) was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball, now best remembered as the man who lost his starting role to Lou Gehrig at the beginning of Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games.

After playing 12 games with the Detroit Tigers in 1913, Pipp graduated from The Catholic University of America in 1914. The Chicago-born Pipp then joined the New York Yankees for the 1915 season, and would play 136 or more games for them every season until 1925 (except 1918 which was curtailed by injury), hitting .282 with little power, even after the end of the "dead ball" era. Pipp did lead the American League with 12 home runs in 1916, and again with 9 in 1917. Pipp was the first Yankee to win a Home Run title. Pipp scouted and asked Miller Huggins to sign young Lou Gehrig from Columbia University, whom Pipp personally helped develop as a young First Base player. Wally Pipp was then traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1926, but played in Old Timers games as a Yankee. He was later hired by Sports Illustrated as one of the magazine's first writers. His 226 sacrifices as a Yankee is still a team record.

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[edit] Pipp's removal from the Yankees' starting lineup

On June 2, 1925 Pipp was removed from the Yankees' starting lineup and replaced with Gehrig. While many stories over the years have suggested that Pipp sat out the game due to a headache, Yankee manager Miller Huggins had actually benched Pipp and other veterans in order to "shake up" the slumping lineup. A month later, Pipp received a skull fracture when he was hit by a practice pitch from Charlie Caldwell, an event that had also been mistakenly linked to his initial benching. Pipp was later traded to the Cincinnati Reds before the 1926 season. He played 372 games for them over the next three seasons before retiring.

Pipp died at age 71 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

[edit] Career statistics

G AB H 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO SH HBP AVG OBP SLG
1,872 6,914 1,941 311 148 90 974 997 596 551 272 38 .281 .341 .408

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Braggo Roth		 American League Home Run Champion
1916-1917		 Succeeded by
Babe Ruth & Tilly Walker
v • d • e
New York Yankees 1923 World Series roster