1928 San Francisco Seals season

San Francisco Seals 1928 120–71 Pacific Coast League Recreation Park San Francisco 1st Nick Williams The 1928 San Francisco Seals season was the 26th season in the history of the San Francisco Seals baseball team. The 1926 team won the Pacific Coast League (PCL) pennant with a 120–71 record. Nick Williams was the team's manager.1928 San Francisco Seals Sports Reference LLC Baseball-Reference.com February 17, 2020 https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi?id=113bee61 In the 1928 PCL championship series, the Seals defeated the Sacramento Solons four games to two. The 1925 Seals were selected in 2003 by a panel of minor league experts as the ninth best team in the PCL's 100-year history.PCL top 10 Los Angeles Times March 30, 2003 D9 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44737497/pcl_top_10/ Newspapers.com The team was also selected by Minor League Baseball as the 50th best team in minor league history.Top 100 Teams: 50. 1928 San Francisco Seals Minor League Baseball February 17, 2020 Bill Weiss Marshall Wright http://www.milb.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=50 https://web.archive.org/web/20190309215911/http://www.milb.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=50 dead March 9, 2019 According to one published account, the Seals in 1928 were "considered the second most valuable franchise in sports, second only to the New York Yankees." The team's outfield trio of Smead Jolley, Earl Averill, and Roy Johnson, rated by some as the best minor league outfield in history,California Baseball: from the Pioneers to the Glory Years Chris Goode 2009 978-0557087600 320 combined for 813 hits, 103 home runs, and 437 RBIs. Right fielder Jolley won the PCL's Triple Crown, leading the league with a .404 batting average, 45 home runs, 188 RBIs, 309 hits, and 516 total bases. Center fielder Averill, a Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, led the league with 178 runs and finished second behind Jolly with 173 RBIs. Left fielder Johnson hit .360 and led the PCL with 16 triples. After the 1928 season, the Seals sold the three outfielders for a total of $135,000. Though remembered mostly for their offensive output and .308 team batting average, the 1928 Seals also had a strong pitching staff. Dutch Ruether, a native of Alameda, California, led the PCL with 29 wins and 28 complete games.Dutch Ruether Society for American Baseball Research Charles F. Faber February 17, 2010 https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bdbe89ae Elmer Jacobs won 22 games, had a streak of 35 scoreless innings, and led the league with 159 strikeouts and a 2.56 earned run average. Duster Mails, a native of San Quentin, California, won 20 games and struck out 152 batters. 1928 PCL standings Team W L Pct. GB San Francisco Seals 120 71 .622 -- Sacramento Solons 112 79 .586 8.0 Hollywood Stars 112 79 .586 8.0 Mission Reds 99 92 .518 21.0 Oakland Oaks 91 100 .476 29.0 Los Angeles Angels 87 104 .455 33.0 Portland Beavers 79 112 .414 41.0 Seattle Indians 64 127 .335 56.0 Players Batting Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI RF Smead Jolley 191 765 309 .404 45 188 LF Roy Johnson 170 650 234 .360 22 76 CF Earl Averill 189 763 270 .354 36 173 1B, P Sloppy Thurston 129 420 146 .348 24 2B, 1B Gus Suhr 191 741 233 .314 22 133 SS Hal Rhyne 185 692 216 .312 6 106 3B Babe Pinelli 114 422 131 .310 2 81 3B Frankie Crosetti 96 326 81 .248 4 22 C Joe Sprinz 158 505 119 .236 4 49 Pitching Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; PCT = Win percentage; ERA = Earned run average Player G IP W L PCT ERA SO Dutch Ruether 36 303 29 7 .806 3.03 110 Elmer Jacobs 37 277 22 8 .733 2.57 159 Duster Mails 45 277 20 12 .625 3.96 152 Ollie Mitchell 35 200 13 11 .542 3.87 66 Buckshot May 50 205 11 13 .458 4.74 90 Dick Moudy 39 213 10 10 .500 4.10 93 Sloppy Thurston 26 137 9 7 .563 4.60 37 References Further reading "The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903-1957", by Dennis Snelling (McFarland 2011) "San Francisco Seals", by Martin Jacobs & Jack McGuire (Arcadia Publishing 2005) Category:1928 in sports in California Category:Pacific Coast League seasons