Buddy Myer about 1925
1. He was born Charles Solomon Myer in Mississippi in 1904. His father was Jewish, his mother Christian, which must have made for some interesting times in turn of the 20th Century Mississippi. Myer appears never to have been particularly religious although his ethnicity got him into a couple of fights during his Major League career.
2. He attended Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Mississippi State University) and graduated in 1925.
3. He signed with Cleveland, was assigned to Dallas, which he hated, and was released at his request.
4. He signed with New Orleans, an independent member of the Southern Association, and was picked up by the Washington Senators. He made it to the Majors that same year, appearing in four games.
5. Regular third baseman Ossie Bluege was injured in the World Series and Myer played third in the final three games of the Series (with only the four games of MLB experience). He hit .250 with two strikeouts and a walk.
6. He became the regular Washington shortstop in 1926, started slowly in 1927 and was traded to Boston (the Red Sox, not the Braves). While at Boston he led the American League in stolen bases in 1928 with 30 (16 caught stealing) and hit .313. That led Washington to make a trade that brought him back to the Senators. It cost them five players: Milt Gaston, Hod Lisenbee, Elliot Bigelow, Grant Gillis, and Bob Reeves.
7. In 1929 he split time between second base and third base before settling in as the Senators’ regular second baseman for the decade of the 1930s.
8. He won the batting title in 1935 hitting .3495 against Joe Vosmik’s .3489 by going four for five on the final day of the season. He scored 115 runs, knocked in an even 100 (the only time he had 100 RBIs) with an OPS of .907 (OPS+ of 138). He made the All Star team and finished fourth in the MVP voting.
9. In 1936 he developed stomach trouble (apparently an ulcer). It bothered him off and on for the rest of his career. His season high in games played after the illness was 127 in 1938.
10. He retired after the 1941 season with a .303 batting average and an OPS of .795 (OPS+ of 108).
11. After retirement he worked as a mortgage banker and died in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1974.
12. In 1949 he received his only vote for the Hall of Fame. Joining him with a single vote were future Hall of Famers George Kelly, Fred Lindstrom, Heinie Manush, and Earl Averill as well as Hall of Fame managers Leo Durocher and Al Lopez.
Tags: Al Lopez, Buddy Myer, Earl Averill, Fred Lindstrom, George Kelly, Heinie Manush, Joe Vosmik, Leo Durocher
Verdun2's Blog 
August 14, 2012 at 2:51 pm
People often talk about how the HOF has been watered down over the years, when actually, several of the worst choices came several decades ago when players like Kelley, Lindstrom and Manush were inducted.
Nice post,
Bill
August 17, 2012 at 2:46 pm
I seem to recall that the Mets 1976 yearbook mentions that Bob Myrick, who was a left-handed pitcher for the Mets at that time, was a relative of Buddy Myer. Myrick was from Biloxi, Mississippi, as I recall.
August 24, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Wow. I just read that Bob Myrick died of a heart attack yesterday. Just a few days after I wrote my previous comment.
Having been a big Mets fan in the 1970s as a teen, I am in shock.
Glen
February 9, 2018 at 12:09 pm
1) Buddy Myer’s father was Baptist, not Jewish. That is clearly stated in his dad’s obituary. 2) Buddy Myer was not a college graduate 3) Buddy Myer was released by the Indians because they would not honor his request for a $1,000 signing bonus. 4) Myer hit .313, not .301, in 1928.
February 9, 2018 at 1:27 pm
Fixed the typo above. His bio states he graduated in 1925. I’ll take your word for his reason for leaving Cleveland.
v
February 9, 2018 at 4:53 pm
His bio and other sources, like the Washington Star in October, 1935, have identified Myer as a college grad. However, his son, Stevey, told me Myer did not graduate due to refusal to learn the operation of ammunition.