When the 6’ 3” 175 pound Ralph Edward “Hap” Myers was let go by the Boston Braves after the 1913 season a reporter told Braves shortstop Rabbit Maranville he was sorry to see Myers go. Maranville joked:
“Well, you might be, but I’m not. Do you know that guy is so thin that every time I picked up a grounder I had to shade my eyes with my gloved hand to locate him before throwing the ball.”
Myers began his professional career after graduating from University of California, Berkeley in 1909, where he also played baseball. The San Francisco native hit a combined .311 playing for the Sacramento Sacts in the Pacific Coast League, and the San Jose Prune Pickers and Santa Cruz Sand Crabs in the California League.
Myers went east in 1910 after being purchased by the Boston Red Sox, but became ill, with scarlet fever, and as a result appeared in only six games in Boston before being sent first to the Toronto Maple leafs in the Eastern league, then the Louisville Colonels in the American Association.
Despite hitting just .240 with Louisville, Myers was selected by the St. Louis Browns in the Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox claimed Myers still belonged to them and his contract was awarded to Boston, where he began the season, was sold to the St. Louis Browns, who quickly released him despite hitting .297 in 11 games, then back to the Red Sox where he hit .368 in twelve games before being sent to the Jersey City Skeeters in the Eastern League.
It was never clear why, in spite of hitting .333 in 81 at bats in 1910-1911, Myers couldn’t stick in the American League.
In 1912 he returned to the West Coast to play for the Spokane Indians in the Northwestern League where he led the league in hits, and runs, hit .328, and led all of professional baseball with 116 stolen bases. The Portland Oregonian said:
“Myers base stealing smashes any previous performance in Northwestern League history. You have to go back 20 years in official guide books to find any record to compare…and that includes every league in organized baseball.”
Spokane owner Joe Cohn went overboard in his praise of Myers in The Spokane Spokesman-Review:
“Best ballplayer in the Northwestern League by a long shot. He is the greatest ballplayer I ever saw. Boy I tell you this Myers is a wonder. Ty Cobb, Hans Wagner, Tris Speaker and all of them have nothing on Myers…I think Myers has it on Cobb, Wagner, Lajoie, Jackson and the whole bunch.”
Myers, and Portland catcher Rex DeVogt were purchased by the Braves from Portland, Devogt would only last for three games, and six hitless at-bats in April of 1913. Myers would become the Braves starting first baseman. Another Pacific Coast League player, pitcher “Seattle Bill” James also joined the Braves.
“Seattle Bill” James and “Hap” Myers
Myers got off to a slow start; he was hitting just .224 in early July, but was leading the National League in steals. An article in The Tacoma Times said:
“When Hap Myers, recruit first baseman of the Boston Braves is in full stride stealing bases, he covers nine feet…the average stride of a sprinter is six feet. “
The article said the average player took 13 steps, roughly seven feet per step, between bases but Myers took only ten steps:
“Myers is something of a baseball curiosity, and his work is watched with interest by the fans. If the time comes that the big fellow climbs into the .300 class as a batter, he is apt to become a veritable terror of the paths.”
He was also said to use “a bat of unusual length,” but the size was never mentioned.
After the slow start, Myers hit well in the second half of the season, ending with a .273 average and 57 stolen bases (second to Max Carey of the Pittsburgh Pirates who stole 61). Despite his strong finish, Myers was replaced at first base for 22 games in August and September by Butch Schmidt, who was purchased from the Rochester Hustlers in the International League.
“Hap” Myers
At the end of the season Myers was sold to the Hustlers, the deal was, in effect, a trade for Schmidt. The Boston press simply said Myers did not get along with manager George Stallings; Myers told a reporter in San Francisco that there was another reason; baseball’s labor unrest:
“I was assigned by the fraternity to get as many Braves as possible into the fraternity, and succeeded in enrolling nearly the entire team. The powers that be evidently didn’t relish my actions for soon my every move began to bring calldowns and I was not surprised to read in the newspapers a little later that I had been sent to Rochester.”
Myers jumped Rochester to join the Federal League; his signing was reported months before he actually signed. The Associated Press said in March of 1914:
“Although it has been generally understood that Hap Myers, last season’s first baseman of the Boston National has been under a Federal League contract for some time, the elongated first sacker did not put his name to a contract until yesterday afternoon. Myers originally expected to play with Larry Schlafly on the Buffalo Federals, but was transferred to Brooklyn, and seemed altogether pleased with the move.”
Myers got off to a strong start, and The Sporting Life said:
“Brooklyn fans cannot understand why Hap was passed out of the National League. They have had a chance already to give his successor at first base on the Boston team (Butch Schmidt) the once over, and the general opinion is that- Hap Myers “lays all over.”
His success in Brooklyn didn’t last; in 92 games Myers hit just .220.
Hap’s story continued tomorrow.
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Tags: American Association, American League, Bill James, Boston Braves, Boston Red Sox, Brooklyn Tip-Tops, Buffalo Bisons, Butch Schmidt, California League, Eastern League, Federal League, George Stallings, Hap Myers, Honus Wagner, Joe Jackson, Larry Schlafly, Louisville Colonels, Max Carey, Nap Lajoie, Northwestern League, Pacific Coast League, Pittsburgh Pirates, Rabbit Maranville, Rex DeVogt, Rochester Hustlers, Sacramento Sacts, San Jose Prune Pickers, Santa Cruz Sand Crabs, Spokane Indians, St. Louis Browns, Toronto Maple Leafs, Tris Speaker, Ty Cobb
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