Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Herbert Jefferis PENNOCK
Every great team has a strong mix of hitting and pitching. The 1927 New York
Yankees had "Murderer's Row" of Ruth, Gehrig, and company to provide offensive explosions. The pitching staff was just as instrumental in the team's success. The staff was anchored by left-handed journeyman, Herb Pennock. When the Yankees traded for Pennock in 1923, they figured to get a few solid starts out of the ten-year veteran. What they got was an ace that would perform brilliantly for ten more seasons and compile a perfect 5·0 World Series record. When all was said and done and his career ended in 1934, Pennock tallied a 240·162 record and completed an astounding 247 games. In 1948, Herb Pennock joined many of his Yankee teammates in Cooperstown with his election to baseball's Hall of Fame.
CAREER STATISTICS:
· Batted:Both
. Threw:Left
. Pitcher:Philadelphia Athletics, 1912-15
. Boston Red Sox, 1915-22, 1934
. New York Yankees, 1923-33
· Earned 33 career saves
· Compiled a perfect 5-0 record in World Series Play
· Had a league-leading.760 winning percentage in 1923
· Elected to the Hall of Fame in I948
· Led the league in innings pitched in 1929
· Logged 247 complete games in his career
New York Yankees Manager Miller Huggins called Herb Pennock the greatest lefthander in the history of
baseball. "If you were to cut that bird's head open," Huggins said, "the weakness of every batter in the league would fall out." Pennock won five World Series games without a loss and retired with 240 career wins.
Pennock was dubbed "the Knight of Kennett Square" because he raised thoroughbreds and hosted fox hunts in his home town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He signed with the Philadelphia Athletics out of Wenonah Military Academy instead of going on to the University of Pennsylvania. The young hurler went directly to the major league club, but his 11-4 season in 1914 didn't impress Manager Connie
Mack. Pennock had no fastball and had trouble finding the plate.
Instead of inspiring fear in hitters, Pennock became the butt of their jokes. One Tigers outfielder said, "The only comforting thing about hitting against him is that you don't have to be afraid of getting hurt. Even if he hits you on the head with his fastball he won't knock your hat off."
In 1915 Mack traded Pennock to the Red Sox, where he languished in the bullpen. "When I was struggling I pitched in games, in batting practice, before games, in morning games, and during the off-season. When I couldn't get anyone to catch me I'd throw against a stone wall or against a barn door, It wasn't always fun, but I kept on plugging away because it meant so much to me."
In 1919 after serving a year in the military, Pennock broke into the starting rotation with the Red Sox and
found his control. His greatest day in a Red Sox uniform came in 1921 when he beat Bob Shawkey and the Yankees, 1-0, at Fenway Park on the strength of his own inside-the-park home run.
After Pennock had compiled a 54-52 record in four years at Boston, he was traded to the Yankees. In New York with the bats of Murderers Row behind him, Pennock put together a 162-90 record in 11 seasons and was nearly unhittable in October. In Game 3 of the 1927 World Series Pennock retired the first 22 Pittsburgh batters before Pie Traynor singled to left. His lifetime ERA in World Series play was
an enviable 1.95.
In 1928 Pennock developed a sore arm, which he attempted to cure through "bee sting therapy." He exposed his arm to a horde of bees, and it swelled painfully, showing no improvement. He later told reporters, "All I can say is that nature intended self-respecting bees to spend their time getting honey out of flowers and not go drilling into a pitcher's arm."
When the Yankees released Pennock he returned to the Red Sox in 1934 and pitched in relief during his 22nd and final playing season. He was a Red Sox coach from 1936 to 1940 and then supervisor of the team's farm system. In 1944 he became general manager for Philadelphia and helped put together the youthful pennant-winning Phillies team known as "the Whiz Kids." He died in 1948, the year he was
inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Pennock pitched with grace, economy, and style. Nothing he did was overpowering; everything he did was tantalizingly effective. A typical Pennock game had few strikeouts, but even fewer walks - 2.3 on average. He was hittable. Over 22 years, he allowed more than a hit an inning, yet those hits somehow produced only 3.61 earned runs a game. He seemed to give up many lazy flies to the outfield. Even-tempered, Pennock never got rattled under pressure. He threw with an effortless, unvarying motion, and it was said that a peek inside his head would reveal the weakness of every batter in the league. He pitched 35 shutouts.
Pennock came from historic Kennett Square, PA, amid comfortable country acres whose owners were horsemen and fox hunters. Pennock himself was an expert rider and a master of hounds. As a profitable hobby, he raised silver foxes for their pelts. Hence, the cumbersome but appropriate nickname: the Squire (or Knight) of Kennett Square.
Originally an unpromising first baseman, Pennock found his true talent on the mound, pitching a no-hitter in 1911, which his catcher, Earle Mack, brought to the attention of his father, Connie Mack. Only 18 when he joined the Athletics, Pennock steadily improved, even earning a brief World Series appearance in the 1914 loss to the Braves. Early in 1915, Mack waived Pennock to the Red Sox.
After two mediocre seasons and a year in the WWI Navy, Pennock hit his stride and, in 1923, became one of the many prizes the Yankees stripped from Boston. The price: three nondescript players and $50,000. In that first year with New York, he led the league in winning percentage (.760), going 19-6, the first of four over-.700 seasons. He then won two games in the 1923 Series triumph over the Giants. He followed with a 21-9 record in 1924, and was a combined 59-25 in 1926-28. He added two more WS victories in 1926, and one in 1927 - a jewel in which he retired the first 22 Pirates he faced and ended with a three-hitter.
The Squire retired in 1934 after one year as a Red Sox reliever. He was a Boston coach, 1936-40, then became the supervisor of their farm system. In 1944 Bob Carpenter made him general manager of the Phillies, a post he held until his death in 1948, the year of his induction into the Hall of Fame.
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