All-Time Indians: Roger Peckinpaugh

An all-time great shortstop, largely remembered for his time with the New York Yankees from 1913 to 1921, Roger Peckinpaugh began and ended his life and career in Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in Wooster in 1891 and, after attending Cleveland East Tech High School, was signed by the Cleveland Naps in 1910. In his only full season with the Naps, Peckinpaugh was the back-up short stop behind Ivy Olson in 1912, playing in 70 games, stealing 11 and knocking in 22 runs. A single game into the 1913 season, Olson was sent to New York in a trade that involved an incredible lack of foresight being exchanged for Jack Lelivelt and Bill Stumpf.

Olson would go on to play almost a decade with the Yankees and five years with the Washington Senators including three World Series appearances (1921, 1924-1925) including a win with the Senators in 1924. The following season, Peckinpaugh would win the MVP with a .294 average and 64 RBI, his last full professional season. He would play two more parts of seasons including 1927 with the White Sox before retiring as a player.

In his career, Peckinpaugh totaled more than 1,000 runs, 200 steals and 1,800 hits, but one of the most important parts of his career to Cleveland was his time as a player manager with the Yankees in 1914. While it was a short tenure (just 20 games), he had proven his maturity early on (he was just 23 years old in 1914) and was likely part of the decision making that brought him back to Cleveland in 1928.

After the 1926 season, Tris Speaker left the Indians in a flux as he retired from his post largely due to gambling allegations that were ultimately dismissed. While Jack McAllister took over the helm in 1927, his 66-87 record left much to be desired and with his Cleveland past and 17 years of MLB playing experience, Peckinpaugh was an obvious choice to become a manager once his playing career ended.

He was instated at the beginning of the 1928 season and unfortunately, was even less successful than McAllister had been the year before. With Speaker gone, only Joe Sewell and Charlie Jamieson remained of the regulars from the 1920 World Series winning team as they transitioned the franchise into the next stage. Always a volatile time, the seventh place finish should have been expected and Peckinpaugh was allowed to maintain his role for another season.

That year was the first full season with the Indians for Earl Averill and Lew Fonseca while Mel Harder became a full time starter for the first time in 1930. With the addition of these new stars under Peckinpaugh’s expert tutelage, the Indians won 81 games in both 1929 and 1930, finishing third and fourth in the American League. Unfortunately, that wasn’t anywhere near the top, however, as the Philadelphia Athletics took the 1929 pennant 24 games ahead of the Tribe. Even without postseason success, the improvement of 19 wins between 1928 and 1929 was incredible and largely had much to do with Peckinpaugh as there were no superstar players carrying these teams.

Between the 1930 and 1931 seasons, the Indians offense greatly improved with Averill, Ed Morgan and Joe Vosmik all breaking through. In 1931, the team took a step back in wins with 78, but still finished fourth, again 30 games behind the incredible A’s. Things finally came together in 1932 as the pitching caught up to the hitting. Both Harder and Wes Ferrell, veterans that had been around since 1928, had incredible seasons, leading to Peckinpaugh’s highest ever win total of 87. Despite the highest win total since 1926, the Indians still came in fourth, 17 games behind the second place A’s and 30 behind the AL Champion Yankees.

After winning the World Series a decade earlier, team president Alva Bradley only had so much patience for fourth place finishes and after beginning the 1933 season 26-25, Peckinpaugh was relieved to find other work. He was replaced as manager by the greatest pitcher of all time, Walter Johnson, who had similar success throughout his three seasons at the helm. For the next seven years, Peckinpaugh participated in a wide variety of activities including different management roles in the minor leauges and a traveling demonstrator along with his former player, Fonseca.

In 1941, Bradley brought Peckinpaugh back on a two year deal to replace Ossie Vitt as the manager of the Indians. After finishing just one game out of first the year before, the Indians managed just 79 wins under Peckinpaugh that year and he was replaced for 1942 by the player/manager Lou Boudreau. With seven years of service as the manager, Peckinpaugh had become the Indians second longest tenured manager ever (behind Speaker) and would only be surpassed to this day by his replacement, Boudreau and Mike Hargrove. With 490, he also still ranks sixth in Indians history in total wins, making him unquestionably one of the best managers in franchise history.

Continuing on with the team, Peckinpaugh was promoted to vice president and general manager, replacing C.C. Slapnika who had owned the role since 1935. After five seasons in this capacity, Bradley was bought out by Bill Veeck and with the loyalty owed to the man who gave him his second chance, Peckinpaugh left as well with Veeck taking over both roles as president and GM. After retiring from baseball, Peckinpaugh stayed in Cleveland and worked for the Cleveland Oak Belt company until 1976. Just a year later at the age of 86, Roger Peckinpaugh died in Cleveland, Ohio.