Year In Review : 1924 American League

O ff the field...

Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall and oilmen Harry Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny were all charged with conspiracy and bribery in the "Teapot Dome scandal" which involved fraudulent leases of naval oil reserves. Fall was later indicted for conspiracy and for accepting bribes and after being convicted of the latter; he was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $100,000. In another trial for bribery Doheny and Sinclair were acquitted, although Sinclair was subsequently sentenced to prison for contempt of the Senate and for employing detectives to shadow members of the jury in his case. Eventually, the oil fields were restored to the U.S. government through a Supreme Court decision in 1927.

I n the American League...

During a 12-4 Philadelphia Athletics' victory over the Cleveland Indians, first baseman Joe Hauser set an American League record with three homeruns and a double for a total of fourteen bases. Ty Cobb later broke the record with sixteen bags of his own on May 5, 1925.

On May 1 ^st , White Sox shortstop Bill Barrett stole home twice (first and ninth innings) tying the Major League mark for home-plate thievery. Chicago went on to beat the Cleveland Indians 13-7.

Washington Senators' ace Walter Johnson struck out fourteen on May 23 ^rd (including six in a row) for a 4-0 one-hitter over the Chicago White Sox and his one-hundred third shutout. Johnson went on to finish the season with his best record in five years while going 23-7.

I n the National League...

On April 15 ^th , Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Cardinals went two-for-five on Opening Day (against Vic Aldridge of the Chicago Cubs) giving him a .400 batting average with one game under his belt. Later in the season, his .424 batting average would mark the highest Major League batting average of the twentieth century and from Opening Day forward his average never dipped at or below the .400 mark again.

Giant's first baseman George Kelly went "solo" on June 14 ^th after hitting three homers to drive in all of New York's runs during an 8-6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Over a decade later, Bob Johnson of the Philadelphia Athletics matched the "one-man-show" with an 8-3 win over the St. Louis Browns.

On July 11 ^th , Chicago Cubs first baseman Lee Cotter equaled a Major League record with twenty-one putouts and one assist during a 9-1 loss against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

A round the league...

Following the American League's lead, the Nationals agreed to offer a $1000 cash prize to the player named their most valuable player as selected by an exclusive panel of sports writers.

Sen Kaney called the first live radio broadcast (from a grandstand behind home plate) on October 1 ^st at Cubs' Park in Chicago. The home team went on to beat their cross-town rival White Sox with a solid 10-7 effort.

On December 10 ^th , both leagues agreed to a permanent rotation system for World Series play with the first two games at one league's park, next three at the other leagues park, last two (if needed) back at the first league's park, and all future openers to alternate between leagues. The National League was granted the inaugural advantage in 1925.