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Gavvy Cravath

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Baseball Player

The Resume

    (March 23, 1881-May 23, 1963)
    Born in Escondido, California
    Birth name was Clifford Carlton Cravath
    Outfielder for the Boston Red Sox (1908), Chicago White Sox (1909), Washington Senators (1909), and <9536>Philadelphia Phillies (1912-20)
    .287 batting average
    119 home runs
    Led the National League in home runs six seasons (1913-15,1917-19)

Why he might be annoying:

    He reportedly got the nickname Gavvy while playing in the Pacific Coast League when he hit a ball that killed a seagull (‘gaviota’ in Spanish) in flight.
    He also was nicknamed ‘Cactus’ for his Western origins and prickly personality.
    He won all those home run titles largely because Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl had a ludicrously short right field fence (only 272 feet from home plate).
    He hit 92 of his career home runs (77%) at the Baker Bowl.
    When he retired, sportswriter Robert Maxwell called his 119 career home runs ‘a record that might never be equaled’; instead Babe Ruth would eclipse it within a year.
    Tom Walsh, the first person to win more than five times on Jeopardy!, quipped as Ken Jennings obliterated his record, ‘I feel like 'Cactus Gavvy' Cravath. Do you know who that is? Right. Nobody does. He's the guy who had the home run record before Babe Ruth came along.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    An early advocate of power hitting during the deadball era, he said, ‘Some players steal bases with hook slides and speed. I steal bases with my bat.’
    The 24 home runs he hit in 1915 were more than the totals for 12 of the 15 major league teams that season.
    After his baseball days ended, he returned to California and became a successful real estate agent.
    He was elected Justice of the Peace for Laguna Beach (1927).
    During a 36-year career, only two of his decisions were reversed on appeal.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying