The Sizzler: George Sisler, Baseball's Forgotten Great

George Sisler. St. Louis Browns Hall of Fame first baseman. Twice in his career he hit over .400. He held the single-season hit record of 257-hits until 2004. Sisler’s mentor and friend throughout his career and life was Branch Rickey. When Sisler attend college at the University of Michigan, Rickey was his coach on the baseball team. Sisler was primarily a pitcher then and played outfield on days he didn’t pitch. After college, he signed with the St. Louis Browns who’s then was manager Rickey. It was Rickey who saw Sisler’s hitting ability’s were too good not be used as an everyday player. And had him move to first base. The closes Sisler and the Browns ever got to the World Series was 1922. When they finished one game behind the New York Yankees. After his player career, he went to Brooklyn with Rickey and served as an scout and hitting instructor for the Dodgers. Helping to improve the hitting promise of Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo and Gil Hodges. He also signed star pitcher Johnny Podres. St. Louis baseball fans and all fans of the game, will enjoy the story of George Sisler.

George Sisler, the subject of Rick Huhn's book, "The Sizzler," is yet another of the classic ballplayers of the early 20th century, admired during his career, acknowledged for his achievements during and after his career, slowly forgotten over the years and without a biography until recently. Huhn has stepped in to correct that oversight in Sisler's case, and it is a welcome addition to the baseball greats section of the library. George Sisler, as Huhn stressed, was not a colorful player: he kept a low profile and let his playing do the talking. There were few incidents in his life where he made waves: signing a professional contract while underage, and the resulting fight for his services helping to lead to the end of the National Commission; his tenure as manager of the St. Louis Browns, his transfer to the Senators in the late 1920s; his sinus infection and the resulting difficulties with Browns management in 1923; but most importantly, his hitting and fielding with the Browns during his greatest years. His record for hits in a season was untouched for 84 years, and his two years with averages over .400 are impressive, even for the time in which he played. He finished second to Ruth in home runs one year, and his Runs Created between 1915 and 1922 surpassed Ruth by over 100. That he was not exactly the same player after sitting out 1923 is a disappointment, but he was certainly honored in his time, named by Ty Cobb in his all-time team as first baseman. Huhn has provided us with a fine biography of a deserving player, a stand-out performer in his time, and all time. One other thing: It has been noted that Bill James, author and Society of American Baseball Research member, wrote in his 2001 Historical Baseball Abstract that Sisler is "perhaps the most over-rated player in baseball history." (p. 441) Mr. James is entitled to his opinion; it's his book and he can interpret the statistics in any way he cares to. I've been a SABR member for over 25 years and am familiar with Mr. James' work, and it is quite safe to say that I do not agree with him a good half the time, this being one of those times. If you look back at his 1985 Historical Baseball Abstract, you'll find that he said "George Sisler is probably the only player other than Gehrig who can reasonably be considered the greatest first baseman ever in terms of peak value . . . Sisler was a different type of player, he didn't have the home run pop, but he hit for a higher average, was faster and a better defensive player than Gehrig, and the comparison between the two is not easy." (p. 346) So what happened? Sisler's statistics didn't change in the 16 years between books; the 1920s didn't change, either. Most of the guys who seemingly leap-frogged over him in performance were done playing before 1985. Mr. James explains on page of the 2001 book that in rereading the 1985 book there are a lot of things that he didn't like. As I said, it's his book and he writes what he want

This last moron to post a review bashed Sisler saying that he is overrated, mostly noted because he hardly hit home runs. I didn't think one had to hit home runs in order to be a Hall of Famer. It's obvious he wasn't a slugger - but just look at this: Twice he was second in the AL in long balls and five times he was in the top 10; on six occasions he was in the top 5 in slugging percentage. Seven times he was top 10 in RBI, four times the steals champ. Let's throw in an MVP for good measure. The list goes on reflecting Sisler's above-average speed and outstanding hitting ability (over 200 hits in 6 different seasons, very easily could have been 8). Don't allow the lack of Sisler power numbers deter you from reading this book.

Rick Huhn's biography of George Sisler makes its case for a reaasessment of this relatively unheralded superstar of the 1920's. Huhn also exposes a flaw in our assessment of athletic accomplishment that is even more relevant in our age of self-aggrandizing sports heroes. It's a variation on the problem that Steibeck described so well in Cannery Row: "The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness,honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second." In Sisler, Huhn finds a successful man of admirable traits, a nice guy who finished first in many respects, yet whose legacy suffers when held up against flashier, more self-promoting peers (Hornsby, Cobb). Huhn persuaded me that, with Sisler as a prime example, our notion of sports heroism needs to be more thoughtful and inclusive. I also liked how Huhn uses the second half of Sisler's career, as a scout and batting coach, to reinforce his player's image as a tireless student of and selfless contributor to the game. There is a lot for the true baseball fan to enjoy in this book.

Players like George Sisler seem finally to be getting their due in the baseball bio realm. Sisler was a great star who was a quiet person, and who never played in New York. He thus missed out on the publicity machines that have made much lesser players famous. Rick Huhn serves us well by giving us an unusually balanced baseball bio. Unusual in that he tells us the on-field, and the private stories of the man, as well as they are likely to be told. Sisler left private memoirs which his family made available to the author. These give the insight that most baseball biographers either don't have, or don't bother to try to access. Huhn does get a number of baseball facts confused: players names, stats, scores, historical firsts. Strangely, he makes the same error twice, calling Dolf Luque in 1930 a "pitching prospect", and Joe Black in 1954 a "Dodger prospect." These star pitchers were both in their waning years at these points in time. On the whole, though, the research is thorough. Huhn could try to avoid hackneyed phrases in his writing style. In one case he misses out on opportunity to turn a too-worn expression into something humorous and meaningful, while recounting a fine anecdote. On June 10, 1922, Carl Mays of the Yanks accused St. Louis of trying to hit him with pitches (Mays himself threw "the pitch that killed" two years earlier). The umpire averted a brawl, and then "adding insult to injury, [the St.Louis Browns owner]'s left cheek required stitches when [he] was struck by a foul ball..." Surely this was rather "adding injury to insult." You won't go wrong with this book. More entertaining bios like this one are needed.

It's hard to believe it took so long for a full length bio of Sisler to finally come to print, but Huhn came through superbly with this effort. It's true that there's not a tremendous amount of insight or stunning revelations on Sisler's personal life, but that's not Huhn's fault. Indeed, that absence in itself is a major theme of the book, as Huhn makes a convincing argument that the same quiet, focused demeanor that made Sisler such a tremendous athlete is also what prompted a relative lack of interest in him after his career ended. As Huhn relates, there is also unfortunately not a tremendous amount of information available on the more personal aspects of Sisler's remarkable life, again partly because of his reserved nature. This book will be boring for you only if you want some juicy social drama, or are expecting something like ESPN's "Behind the Glory." Cobb didn't frollick with hookers like Ruth or beat up hecklers like Cobb, but reading about his overlooked career remains just as captivating as the many rehashed accounts of more flamboyant stars of that era.