Tris Speaker & The Pope

Tris Speaker & The Pope

In 1912, the inaugural year of Boston's Fenway Park, the Red Sox starting outfield consisted of Duffy Lewis in left, Harry Hooper in right, and "The Grey Eagle," Tris Speaker, in centerfield. This combination was known by some in the press as "The Golden Outfield" and by others as "The Million Dollar Outfield." Whatever its preferred nickname, many baseball historians consider it to be the best outfield of its day if not one of the best outfields of all-time.

Of course, Speaker was the crown jewel in the trio, a great graceful fielder who would eventually play 22 years amassing a combined batting average of .345. It should be noted that the other components had fine careers as well, most notably Hooper who would also end up in baseball's Hall of Fame not to forget Lewis who most likely should be in the Hall.

During most of Speaker's playing career and even through the incredible Yankee teams of Ruth and Gehrig, Speaker was a national fan favorite and was often seen as a worthy rival for Ty Cobb who had a similar baseball pedigree.

Though the record of the Red Sox during this time period was impressive with World Series wins in both 1912 and 1915, few knew that the team suffered serious internal tensions mostly caused by religion. Tris Speaker was Protestant while Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper were Irish Catholics in the city of Boston which was predominately Irish and Catholic.

Differences in religion do not usually lead to high-level turmoil on a baseball team but Speaker seemed to be especially anti-Catholic. It is reputed that he was a member of the Klu Klux Klan, a secretive organization which has always held a variety of racist tomes not the least of which is an inherent hateful attitude toward Catholicism. Speaker rarely said a word to Hooper and Duffy throughout the numerous seasons they played together unless an argument broke out in the clubhouse which would then predictably lead to a banter of religious slurs from both sides.

Additionally, Bill Carrigan, the team's catcher and another Irish Catholic, was particularly sensitive to Speaker's barbs and the two had several fistfights in the clubhouse which often left the combatants with black eyes.

Matters seemed to get even worse when Babe Ruth joined the team in 1914. Mostly raised in a Catholic orphanage, Ruth wasn't especially religious but he tended to side with Lewis and Hooper to the disdain of Speaker. Ruth's carefree fun attitude and penchant for the night life further irritated Speaker who kept a fairly rigorous training routine and daily schedule.

Money was another factor that divided the outfield. Joe Lannin, the team's owner had given Speaker a contract of $18,000 in 1914 after Speaker had threatened to jump to the Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the upstart Federal League. It was rumored that Speaker had been offered $100,000 to become their player manager. That sum of money was almost unimaginable for the era but even the reduced amount of $18,000 far surpassed the salaries of his other teammates. Hooper and Lewis who were making substantially less money openly complained.

When the Federal League soon folded, Lannin asked Speaker to take a 50% pay cut to $9,000 which he refused. The holdout and ensuing stalemate along with the clubhouse divisiveness soon proved to be the tipping point for Lannin who ridiculously traded Speaker away to Cleveland for Sam Jones, Fred Thomas and $55,000.

At Cleveland, Speaker became the player manager. In 1920 the Indians were demoralized by the sudden death of their popular shortstop Ray Chapman who was accidentally beaned by Yankee pitcher Carl Mays. While Chapman had grown up Protestant, his wife was Catholic. Chapman was a close friend of the Indian's catcher Steve O'Neill, also a Catholic. Both O'Neill and Chapman's wife convinced the weakening player to convert to Catholicism on his deathbed.

At the subsequent funeral Mass, Tris Speaker was supposed to be a pallbearer, but he never showed. It was later discovered that Speaker and O’Neill had quarreled and fought the night before which was evidenced by bruises on O'Neill's face and hands at the ceremony.

But, there is an ironic twist in this tale due to love. Speaker became enamored with one Mary Frances Cuddihy who was not only Irish but Catholic and the two were married by a priest. Evidently, Speaker began to re-evaluate his views on Catholicism, the Klan and tolerance of others in general.

In 1947, Speaker then long retired from active playing status, was asked by the Indians to train and convert their first black player, Larry Doby from an infielder to outfielder. Speaker did so eagerly and both he and Doby became lifetime friends.

So, what does Pope Pius X have to do with any of this story? Absolutely nothing but it did make an interesting photo on a baseball site which is something you rarely see.