After playing only part-time during his first three seasons, he powered 13 home runs in 1915; the next season his 12 homers tied for the National League lead. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1918 and blossomed into one of the top players in baseball.

An all-around athlete, Cy Williams had speed, an excellent throwing arm and bulging muscles. With the introduction of the lively ball in 1920, he led the NL with 15 homers and racked up a .325 batting mark, the first of six years of hitting over .300. By 1923, he along with Babe Ruth were baseball's power-boys.

In 1923, Cy Williams 41 homers tied him with Ruth for the ML lead. He won his fourth NL home run title with 30 in 1927 at the age of 39. When he retired after the 1930 season, his 251 career homers were the NL record for left-handed batters.

Fred Cy Williams career: .292 BA, 1,981 hits, in 2002 Games, 306 Ds, 74 Ts, 251 Hrs, 1024 R, 1005 RBIs, a high .470 slg/pct, 690 Ws, and struck out only 721 times in 6,780 at bats.

Riggs Stephenson was signed by the Cleveland Indians directly from college and hit .330, .339, .319, and .371 in his first four years, while playing 2nd base. However, unable to make the pivot on double plays due to his injured throwing arm, he was then converted to an outfielder.

Traded to the Chicago Cubs for the start of the 1926 season, Stephenson became one of the team's offensive stars. In 1927, he batted .344 with 46 two-base hits, scored 101 runs, and struck out only 28 times in 579 at bats.

In 1929, Stephenson hit .362, 17 homers and drove in 110 runs to help the Cubs win the pennant. This team was the first outfield in NL history to have all three men with more than 100 RBIs each. He was also a main hitting force for the 1932 pennant winning Cubs and hit .444 in the World Series, which they lost to a New York Yankees' squad led by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

Riggs Stephenson career: .336 BA, 1515 hits, 321 Ds, 54 Ts, 63 Hrs, .407 on-base-pct, 494 Ws, only 247 Ks in 4508 at bats.

The 6-3, 190 pound, nicknamed 'Long Bob' because of his long legs, stole 140 bases in his career. In 1924, he played right-field, smashed 24 homers, drove in 135 runs and helped the Yankees win their first-ever pennant. All-told, Meusel played on six Yankee pennant winners, 1921-1923, 1926-28.

Bob Meusel Career: .309 BA, 1693 hits, 368 Ds, 95 Ts, 156 Hrs, 1067 RBIs, .497 slg/pct, .356 on-base-pct, in 1,407 Games, 5476 at-bats. baseballhistorian.com - Archives

George Grantham played 12-plus years, had eight consecutive over .300 seasons, and ended with a .302 career batting mark. But field, he could not - hence his nickname 'boots'. He made his big-league debut with the Chicago Cubs in 1923 as a 2nd baseman and committed 55 errors - 25 more than the next highest 2nd baseman, while finishing last in fielding pct. He also led the NL by fanning 92 times.

The next year, 1924, Boots Grantham hit .306, led the NL again with 63 Ks and again led the league in errors, 48. After the season, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and shifted to 1st base.

He hit his career high in batting, .326, for the pennant winning Pirates but finished last in chances per/game, which he did again in 1926 when he batted .318. He was moved back to second base the following year, hit .305 and finished 7th in fielding/pct on another Pirate pennant winner. In 1930, he batted .324, along with 18 home runs, and 99 RBIs. Of course, he led all NL 2nd baseman with 35 errors.

Boots Grantham career: .302 BA, 1508 hits in 4989 Games, 912 Runs, 712 RBIs, 717 Ws, 526 Ks, .392 on-base-pct, 292 Ds, 93 Ts, 105 Hrs. 132 stolen bases in 185 attempts.

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1920s Baseball History

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The 5-ft, 6 1/2 inches, 155-pounds Joe Sewell, a shortstop with the Cleveland Indians, holds baseball's all-time record for fewest career strikeouts...

Sewell fanned just 114 times in 7,132 times at-bat, in a career spanning 1,903 games. He collected 2,226 hits, walked 842 times, lined 553 extra base hits, scored 1,141 runs, and had 1,055 RBIs while compiling a .312 lifetime batting mark. The following from Microsoft Complete Baseball:

Shortstop Joe Sewell was not only a smooth fielder and a life-time .312.He was, without a question, the hardest man in the history of the game to strike out. Even considering the standards of his day, his bat control was remarkable, and by contemporary standards his strikeout ratio is unbelievable.

Sewell fanned only once in every 62.6 at bats. Second on the list is Lloyd Waner at 44.9. One of the best of the post-expansion era was Felix Millan at 23.9.

His ability to make contact resulted in seasons when Sewell fanned only three or four times. In one year, during which Sewell struck out only four times, three of them occurred on called strikes. In only one case did Sewell swing and miss. And at least one of the called third strikes was highly questionable.

'The ball was right at the bill of my cap,' recalled Sewell. 'Umpire Bill McGowan said, 'Strike three, you're out. Oh my God, I missed it Joe.' But I didn't say a word. I just walked back to the bench. And the next day he came out and apologized and I said, 'Bill don't worry about it. You were honest about it.'

Sewell felt there were three key factors in batting: knowing the strike zone, making allowances for the umpire behind the plate, and keeping your eye on the ball. 'I hit the ball just about every time I swung at it,' he contended later in life. 'I could see a ball leave my bat. A lot of people don't think that's possible. But it sure is.'

'All you have to do is watch it. It doesn't disappear when you put the bat on it. I watched a big league game not long ago and I saw some boys striking at balls that I swear they missed by a foot. They couldn't have been looking at those balls. You just know they couldn't.'

Alabama-born (on 10/9/1898 in Titus... died 3/6/1990 in Mobile) Joseph Wheeler Sewell, named for a Confederate cavalry officer, was the son of a country doctor. The elder Sewell encouraged sons, Joe, Luke and Tommy to attend the University of Alabama. All did, and all became major league ballplayers. Luke, an American League catcher for 20 seasons, shares the major league record for the most career no-hitters caught, with three. Tommy had only one at bat in the majors, with the Cubs during the 1927 season.

After graduating from Alabama in 1920, Sewell after being recommended by coach Zinn Scott, signed with the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association. He had been there for 92 games and was hitting .289 when he was ordered to report to the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians were battling the Yankees and White Sox for the pennant and desperately needed a shortstop. The popular and talented Ray Chapman had been killed by a Carl Mays pitch on August 16, 1920 and light-hitting Harry Lunte pull a hamstring and was out of action.

Manager Tris Speaker inserted him into his lineup against the A's. The first time up Sewell lined a hard-hit ball to center, but it was caught. In his second at bat he hit a pitch over third into the left-field corner where it rattled around and enabled Sewell to reach third base.

'Boy I went around the bases just like I was flying. Not even my toes seemed to touch the ground. When I got to third base I said to myself - 'Shucks, this ain't so tough here.' - And, from that day on, I was never nervous again.'

In 1920 Sewell hit .329 as Cleveland captured the pennant. in the World Series, however, he hit only .174 and committed six errors. Despite Sewell's poor performance, the Indians won the Series, defeating the Dodgers in seven games.

For a man his size, Sewell was a remarkably durable player. he had run up a streak of 460 consecutive games when he was spiked by St Louis Browns pitcher Elam Van Gilder and missed the next game. He then put together a streak of 1,103 straight contests. 'And I played almost a month with my shoe cut open before I was back to normal. But I played,' said Sewell, who finally was put out of action by the flu. His streak is the sixth-longest in major league history.

Sewell hit at least .315 each season from 1923 through 1929. Converted to a third baseman, Sewell was released by Cleveland in January 1931and signed with the Yankees.

In the 1932 World Series against the Cubs he hit .333. That was the Fall Classic that featured Babe Ruth's fabled 'Called Shot' home run off pitcher Charlie Root.

'Do I believe he really called it?' asked Sewell... 'Yes sir. I was there. I saw it. I don't care what anybody says. He did it. He probably couldn't have done it again for a thousand years, but he did it that time.'

Sewell was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1977.

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