MVP Profile: George Sisler, 1922

First Baseman, St. Louis Browns

 Age:  29

8^th season with Browns

Bats – Left, Throws – Left

Height: 5’11” Weight: 170

Prior to 1922:

An Ohio native, Sisler was the son of Hiram College-educated parents who encouraged excellent performance in the classroom while he also excelled on the baseball field in his youth in small-town Manchester. At 14 he moved to Akron to attend high school and was a successful pitcher on the school team as well as in football. Playing semipro baseball, he was nicknamed “Gorgeous George” for his handsome appearance. Following high school, he entered the Univ. of Michigan where he was spotted by recent law school grad Branch Rickey, who took over as the university’s baseball coach. Sisler performed well as a freshman and joined the varsity the following year where he batted .445 while pitching effectively for a 22-4-1 squad. Spending his summers playing in the Akron industrial league, Sisler continued to star at Michigan. He hit .404 for his collegiate career and struck out 232 batters over 153 innings pitched. With Rickey having moved on to the Browns, Sisler signed for $300 per month plus a $5000 bonus in 1915. As a pitcher he appeared in 15 games as a 22-year-old rookie and produced a 4-4 record with a 2.83 ERA. Playing at first base and the outfield as well, he hit .285. Sisler became the regular first baseman in 1916 (at the expense of his pitching career). He drew praise for his graceful defensive play and batted .305 with 21 doubles, 11 triples, 5 home runs, and 76 RBIs. In 1917 his average rose to .353 and in 1918, he led the AL in stolen bases with 45 to go along with a .341 average and .400 on-base percentage. In 1919 his production rose to .352 with 31 doubles, 15 triples, 10 home runs, and 83 RBIs. Sisler was the American League batting champion by batting .407 with 257 hits, a major league record that lasted until 2004, while also compiling 49 doubles, 18 triples, 19 home runs, 122 RBIs, and 42 stolen bases. Excellent at hitting to the gaps from his erect stance, he hit .371 in 1921 while leading the league in triples (18) and stolen bases (35) to go along with 38 doubles, 12 home runs, and 104 RBIs.

1922 Season Summary

Appeared in 142 games

1B – 141, PH – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate AL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 655 [16]

At Bats – 586 [13]

Runs – 134 [1]

Hits – 246 [1]

Doubles – 42 [3, tied with Ty Cobb]

Triples – 18 [1]

Home Runs – 8

RBI – 105 [4]

Bases on Balls – 49

Int. BB – N/A

Strikeouts – 14

Stolen Bases – 51 [1]

Caught Stealing – 19 [2, tied with Chick Galloway]

Average - .420 [1]

OBP - .467 [2]

Slugging Pct. - .594 [5]

Total Bases – 348 [2]

GDP – N/A

Hit by Pitches – 3

Sac Hits – 16

Sac Flies – N/A

League-leading runs scored were +3 ahead of runner-up Lu Blue

League-leading hits were +35 ahead of runner-up Ty Cobb

League-leading triples were +2 ahead of runners-up Ty Cobb & Baby Doll Jacobson

League-leading stolen bases were +14 ahead of runner-up Ken Williams

League-leading batting average was +.019 ahead of runner-up Ty Cobb

Midseason snapshot: 2B – 23, 3B – 11, HR - 7, RBI - 62, SB – 32, AVG - .426, OBP - .478, SLG – .622

Most hits, game – 4 on twelve occasions

Longest hitting streak – 41 games

HR at home – 4

HR on road – 4

/Most home runs, game – 1 on eight occasions

Multi-HR games – 0

Most RBIs, game – 5 at Phila. A’s 5/12

Pinch-hitting – 0 for 1 (.000)

Fielding

Chances – 1435

Put Outs – 1293

Assists – 125

Errors – 17

DP – 119

Pct. - .988

Awards & Honors 

AL MVP: League Award

Top 5 in AL MVP Voting:

George Sisler, St.LB.: 59 pts. - 92% share

Ed Rommel, PhilaA.: 31 pts. – 48% share

Ray Schalk, ChiWS.: 26 pts. – 41% share

Joe Bush, NYY: 19 pts. – 30% share

Eddie Collins, ChiWS.: 18 pts. – 28% share

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Browns went 93-61 to finish second in the AL, 1 game behind the pennant-winning New York Yankees, while leading the league in runs scored (868), hits (1684), triples (94), RBIs (785), stolen bases (136), batting (.310), slugging (.453), and total bases (2458). The Browns got hot in June and stayed in first place until July 28. With Sisler leading a solid group of hitters (four of which compiled 100 RBIs) despite suffering an arm and shoulder injury, they stayed close to the Yankees, although a tough loss to Cleveland on August 30 put them 2.5 games back with 26 left to play. Winning four of their next five put them narrowly back in front five days later. The Browns lost two of three to the visiting Yankees in mid-September giving New York a lead that, with Sisler sidelined by injury, the Browns could not overcome.

Aftermath of ‘22:

Sisler missed the entire 1923 season due to a severe sinus infection that impaired his vision. Returning to the Browns in 1924 as player/manager, although his performance dropped off due to lingering vision problems (he remained as manager for three seasons, and the club went 218-241). He still hit .305 in ’24, but with lesser extra base totals. Rebounding to .345 in 1925 with 105 RBIs, he dropped to .290 in 1926. In 1927, his 27 stolen bases led the AL while he batted a solid .327 with 201 hits and 97 RBIs. Sisler was traded to Washington prior to the 1928 season and was subsequently sold to the Boston Braves in May. He finished with a combined .331 average for the year with 179 hits, .370 OBP, and 70 RBIs. He spent 1929 and ’30 with the Braves and batted .326 and .309 respectively. He played two minor league seasons prior to retiring following the 1932 season in which he played for Shreveport-Tyler of the Texas League. For his major league career, Sisler batted .340 with 2812 hits that included 425 doubles, 164 triples, and 102 home runs. He scored 1284 runs and compiled 1178 RBIs and 375 stolen bases. His career OBP was .379 and he had a .468 slugging percentage while only striking out 327 times and drawing 472 walks. With the Browns he batted .344 with 2295 hits, 1091 runs scored, 343 doubles, 145 triples, 93 home runs, 962 RBIs, 351 stolen bases, a .384 OBP, and a .481 slugging percentage. Sisler never appeared in the postseason. He won two batting titles and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. After he founded the American Softball Association, Sisler was hired by his mentor Branch Rickey as a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he helped Jackie Robinson adjust to playing first base for his color-line-breaking 1947 season. He later followed Rickey from Brooklyn to Pittsburgh and served as a roving hitting instructor even after Rickey’s departure from the front office. Sisler died in 1973 at age 80. Two of Sisler’s sons played major league baseball. Dick Sisler was an outfielder/first baseman primarily with the Phillies and Cardinals and Dave Sisler pitched for the Red Sox, Tigers, Senators, and Reds.

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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.