Here’s just a little something from BBRT to contemplate while waiting for tonight’s Yankees/A’s contest. And it has, appropriately, a bit of a Bronx Bomber hook. It’s about a little recognized and underrated hurler named Johnny Allen.
In the thirty days from September 3 to October 3, 1937, Indians hurler Johnny Allen started and completed eight games winning seven (losing one). During that span, he also made one relief appearance (no decision).
Over the 1937 season and first half of 1938, Allen went 27-2, 2.82 – completing 24 of 36 starts.
On this date (October 3) in 1937, Cleveland right-hander Johnny Allen (who originally came up with the Yankees) was starting for the Indians (against the Tigers) in Detroit. Since September 3, he had thrown one 2 1/3-inning relief stint (no decision) and started seven games. He had completed and won all seven of those starts, throwing 63 innings and giving up just 14 earned runs. On the season, he was a perfect 15-0 (despite missing about a month-and-a-half with appendicitis) and carried a 2.62 earned run average. Going for his eighth win in 30 days (September 3 – October 3), Allen was in a position to record the most wins ever in an undefeated MLB season.
It was not to be, however, but through no fault of Allen. The righty – known for a lively fastball and solid curve – went the distance that day, giving up a second-inning run on a double by Tigers’ RF Pete Fox and a single by 1B Hank Greenberg. It was the only run he would give up in a complete game – his eighth in 30 days – five-hitter. (Side Note: In an article for the Society for American Baseball Research, author Jon Weeks reports that the single actually was a grounder muffed by Cleveland 3B Odell Hale and Allen had to be restrained twice “when he tried to assault the error-prone third-sacker.” Baseball-Reference.com has the grounder scored as a base hit.)
Unfortunately, Tigers’ southpaw Jack Wade – who came into the game at 6-10 on the season, with a 5.64 earned run average, pitched the game of his career. He tossed a nine-inning, one-hit shutout – topping Allen 1-0 and putting the Indians’ hurler’s season mark at 15-1. How surprising was Wade’s performance? His MLB career record (eight seasons) ended at 27-40, 5.00.
Getting back to the underrated and under-recognized Allen – he came up to the majors in 1932, after going 21-9 in the International League (Toronto and Jersey City) the year before.
As a 27-year-old MLB rookie, Allen went 17-4, 3.70 and led the AL in winning percentage at .810. In four seasons with New York his record was 50-19, 3.79 – before attitude (anger) issues contributed to a trade to Cleveland in December of 1935
Hall of Fame outfielder Al Simmons (.334 career average) once said, “The pitcher who gave me the most trouble was Johnny Allen … He threw hard and with a side arm. He was particularly tough with men on base.
(Article by Jimmy Jemail, August 8, 1955, Sports Illustrated.)
Allen flourished in Cleveland, going 20-10, 3.44 in the 1936 season, following that with his 15-1 record in 1937. He started 1938 in the same near-perfect fashion and was 12-1, with a 2.98 ERA at the All Star Break. Then, injury struck (some say something went awry in his shoulder during his All Star appearance, others say he slipped in the shower). After the break, Allen was 2-7, 6.29 – and, over the next six seasons, he won only 43 games (37 losses). He finished with a career mark of 142-75, 3.75. Before the 1938 injury he was 97-31, 3.44 – afterward 45-44, 4.20.
Johnny Allen pitched three innings in the 1938 All Star Game – giving up two hits and one run and fanning three (Leo Durocher, Billy Herman, Mel Ott).
Allen’s temper was a consistent matter of concern (part of the reason he suited up for five different teams in his 13 MLB seasons) – to the point of a fine and suspension for attacking an umpire in 1942. Ironically, after retiring as a player, Allen became a minor league umpire – even rising to Umpire-In-Chief in the Carolina League.
Primary sources: Baseball-Reference.com; Society for American Baseball Research.
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