MVP Profile: Jim Bottomley, 1928

First Baseman, St. Louis Cardinals

Age:  28 (April 23)

7^th season with Cardinals

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 6’0”    Weight: 180

Prior to 1928:

An Illinois native, Bottomley dropped out of high school at 16 to work at odd jobs to help his family. Playing semipro baseball he came to the attention of Cardinals GM Branch Rickey and after a tryout he signed with the Cards for $150 per month in 1919. He started out in the Class D South Dakota League with the Mitchell Kernels in 1920 where he hit .312 before moving up to the Class A Sioux City Packers for a brief late-season stint. Bottomley was with the Class A Houston Buffaloes in 1921 and batted just .227 before moving on to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AA international League where he hit .348 with 15 triples and 14 home runs in 1922. Bottomley joined the Cardinals later during the 1922 season and took over as the starting first baseman in place of Jack Fournier. Over the course of 37 games he batted .325 with 5 home runs and 35 RBIs. In his first full major league season in 1923 he ranked second in NL batting with a .371 average and also accumulated 34 doubles, 14 triples, 8 home runs, and 94 RBIs. A fan favorite dubbed “Sunny Jim” due to his pleasant personality (illustrated by his tendency to wear his cap at a jaunty angle) Bottomley had another strong season in 1924, highlighted by setting a major league record for RBIs in a game with 12 against Brooklyn.  Over the course of the year Bottomley drove in a total of 111 runs while batting .316 with 31 doubles, 12 triples, and 14 home runs. 1925 was a bigger year yet with a .367 batting average, a league-leading 227 hits and 44 doubles, and 12 triples, 21 home runs, and 128 RBIs. The Redbirds won the pennant in 1926 and Bottomley led the NL with 120 RBIs and 40 doubles, also contributing 14 triples, 19 home runs, and a .299 batting average. He also hit .345 with 5 RBIs in the seven-game World Series victory over the New York Yankees. St. Louis dropped to fourth place in 1927, but “Sunny Jim” had another strong season with 31 doubles, 15 triples, 19 home runs, 124 RBIs, and a .303 average.

1928 Season Summary

Appeared in 149 games

1B – 148, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 667 [9]

At Bats – 576 [13]

Runs – 123 [2]

Hits – 187 [10]

Doubles – 42 [3, tied with Rogers Hornsby]

Triples – 20 [1]

Home Runs – 31 [1, tied with Hack Wilson]

RBI – 136 [1]

Bases on Balls – 71 [6]

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 54 [5]

Stolen Bases – 10 [16, tied with Jake Flowers & Chuck Dressen]

Caught Stealing – N/A

Average - .325 [11]

OBP - .402 [6]

Slugging Pct. - .628 [2]

Total Bases – 362 [1]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 3 [20, tied with twelve others]

Sac Hits – 17

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading triples were +1 ahead of runner-up Paul Waner

League-leading RBIs were +12 ahead of runner-up Pie Traynor

League-leading total bases were +32 ahead of runner-up Fred Lindstrom

Midseason snapshot: HR – 19, RBI - 74, AVG - .353, OBP - .429, SLG PCT – .707

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 4 AB) at Phila. Phillies 6/2

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

HR at home – 14

HR on road – 17

Most home runs, game – 2 (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 5/21, at Phila. Phillies 6/2, (in 5 AB) at Bos. Braves 6/12, (in 4 AB) vs. Chi. Cubs 7/4

Multi-HR games – 4

Most RBIs, game – 5 vs. Chi. Cubs 5/21

Fielding

Chances – 1526

Put Outs – 1454

Assists – 52

Errors – 20

DP – 113

Pct. - .987

Postseason Batting: 4 G (World Series vs. NY Yankees)

PA – 16, AB – 14, R – 1, H – 3, 2B – 0, 3B – 1, HR – 1, RBI – 3, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 6, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .214, OBP - .313, SLG - .571, TB – 8, GDP – N/A, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – N/A

Awards & Honors:

NL MVP: League Award

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Jim Bottomley, St.LC.: 76 pts. - 95% share

Fred Lindstrom NYG: 70 pts. – 88% share

Burleigh Grimes, Pitt.: 53 pts. – 66% share

Larry Benton, NYG: 37 pts. – 46% share

Hughie Critz, Cin.: 37 pts. – 46% share

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Cardinals went 95-59 to win the NL pennant by two games over the New York Giants. The team led the league in doubles (292) and bases on balls drawn (568). They lost the World Series to the New York Yankees, 4 games to 0 as Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig hit a combined .593 with seven home runs between them.  

Aftermath of ‘28:

Bottomley spent another four seasons with the Cardinals and remained a reliable hitter and fine fielder throughout. He was traded to Cincinnati in 1933 and in four seasons with the Reds his production began to tail off. He moved on to the St. Louis Browns for the last two years of his career in 1936 and ’37. Overall in the major leagues he hit .310 with 2313 hits that included 465 doubles, 151 triples, and 219 home runs with 1422 RBIs. Of that, 1727 hits, 344 doubles, 119 triples, 181 home runs, 1105 RBIs, and a .310 batting average were accumulated with the Cardinals. Bottomley was the interim manager of the Browns after Rogers Hornsby was fired during the 1937 season. Following his major league career Bottomley was a minor league player/manager with Syracuse. He later became a scout and minor league manager in the Cubs organization. Bottomley was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974, 15 years after his death.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.