Moose Clabaugh, “62 homers” ©DiamondsintheDusk.com John William (Moose) Clabaugh, a hard-hitting outfielder/first baseman from Missouri, gains national attention during the 1926 season when he hits 62 home runs for the Tyler Trojans of the East Texas (D) League, breaking the organized baseball record of 60 established the previous season by Tony Lazzeri of the Salt Lake City Bees. Clabaugh’s home run total is even more impressive when you consider that his 62 round-trippers are achieved in only 123 games and Tyler’s elevation is 544 feet … Lazzeri totals his 60 home runs over 197 games and Salt Lake City’s elevation is listed at 4,226 feet. Despite playing for a team that finishes 57-64 and 25 1/2 games behind the first-place Longview Cannibals, Clabaugh captures the East Texas “Triple Crown”, leading the circuit in home runs, runs batted in (164) and batting average (.376). Despite playing in a low-level minor league, his performance earns him a Moose Clabaugh late-season call 1933 Baltimore Orioles Clabaugh Year by Year: up to the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League, where he goes 1-for-14 (.071) with one RBI in 11 games. Year Team League Level HR RBI AVG 1923 Topeka Kaws .........................Southwestern C 10 .254 Hutchinson Wheat Shockers .Southwestern C 10 .254 Such are the expectations for the 24-year-old Cla- 1924 Bartlesville/Ardmore Bearcats ........Western C 11 .357 baugh, that when he breaks his bat in his first ma- 1925 Ardmore Boomers .........................Western C 1 .424 jor league plate appearance against the New York 1925 Paris Bearcats ............................East Texas D 34 .385 Giants on August 30, 1926, it makes headlines in 1925 Decatur Commoodores ................... Three-I B 1 .264 1926 Tyler Trojans ..............................East Texas D 62 164 .376 newspapers across the country. 1926 Brooklyn Dodgers ......................NATIONAL ML 0 .073 1927 High Point Pointers ......................Piedmont C 21 .363 Less than two months later, on November 14, the 1927 Jacksonville Tars ...................Southeastern B 0 .279 Dodgers send Clabaugh back to the Tyler Trojans … 1928 Jacksonville Tars ...................Southeastern B 15 71 .366 the Albany, Missouri, native will never get another 1928 Mobile Bears ................................ Southern A 2 30 .345 invitation to a major-league spring training camp. 1929 Mobile Bears ................................ Southern A 10 77 .316 Birmingham Barons ..................... Southern 1930 Buffalo Bisons .........................International AA 0 .300 Clabaugh plays in 2,100 games over 16 minor league 1930 Quincy Indians ................................ Three-I B 30 154 .337 seasons for 19 different teams from 1923 to 1940 … 1931 Quincy Indians ................................ Three-I B 1 .367 he ends his minor league career with a lifetime bat- 1931 Nashville Volunteers .................... Southern A 23 104 .378 ting average of .339 with 346 career home runs … has 1932 Nashville Volunteers .................... Southern A 32 107 .382 1933 Baltimore Orioles ....................International AA 16 .336 10 seasons with 20 or more home runs and captures 1934 Atlanta Crackers ........................... Southern A 4 21 .338 five batting titles, including back-to-back titles in the 1934 Portland Beavers .................... Pacific Coast AA 16 73 .305 Southern (A) Association in 1931 and 1932 … led three 1935 Portland Beavers .................... Pacific Coast AA 16 116 .342 different leagues - East Texas League (1926) 62; Three-I 1936 Portland Beavers .................... Pacific Coast AA 20 112 .317 League (1930) 30; Southern Association (1931) 23 - in 1937 Portland Beavers .................... Pacific Coast AA 17 114 .326 home runs … with the Quincy Indians in 1930, he sets 1938 Toledo ........................Oregon State League 1939 Trois-Rivieres .................................Quebec Ind. 2 .262 a Three-I League record with 154 runs batted in. 1939 Grants Pass Cave Shop ...... Oregon Softball 1940 Portland Beavers .................... Pacific Coast AA 1 5 .118 Following a contract dispute with the Portland Bea- 1940 Salem Senators .........Western International B 6 .319 vers of the Pacific Coast (AA) League, Clabaugh sits 1945 Ames Grocery ............Portland City League out the entire 1938 and 1939 seasons, ... joining the 1946 Ames Grocery ............Portland City League Bold denotes led league Oregon State Police during the holdout, he returns Led 1926 East Texas League in runs (106) to baseball in 1940, before retiring at midseason. Led 1927 Piedmont League in hits (187) Led 1935 Pacific Coast League in doubles (56) Page 1 of 4: Clabaugh [2 of 4]: Within a week of retiring from the Salem Senators, Clabaugh is appointed to the umpiring staff of the Western (B) International League ... one of the first -um pires in pro ball to wear glasses, he also continues to manage, and play, semi- pro baseball in the Portland area. Later, Clabaugh takes a job as a security officer at the Bonneville Dam in -Or egon. Clabaugh Chronology July 24, 1925 Despite leading the East Texas (D) League in home runs (34) and being second in hitting (.385), Clabaugh is sold to the Decater Commodores of the Three-I (B) League ... to replace Clabaugh, Paris buys the contract of outfielder Travis Lowrance from Longview. August 20, 1926 Minor League Home Run Leaders Back in the East Texas League with the Tyler Trojans, Clabaugh hits home run No. Joe Bauman, Roswell .................1954 72 Joe Hauser, Minneapolis ..........1933 69 60, tying Tony Lazzeri’s organized baseball Bob Crues, Amarillo ...................1948 69 record for home runs in one season ... his Dick Stuart, Lincoln ....................1956 66 eighth-inning home run off of Paris’ Frank- Bob Lennon, Nashville ..............1954 64 lin Stone, clears the centerfield wall “by Joe Hauser, Baltimore ...............1930 63 some 40 feet and sailed over the tops of Moose Clabaugh, Tyler .......1930 62 several houses across the street,” and keys a Ken Guettler, Shreveport .........1956 62 13-10 Tyler victory. Tony Lazzeri, Salt Lake City .....1925 60 Frosty Kennedy, Plainview ......1956 60 August 21, 1926 Clabaugh becomes baseball’s all-time lead- ing home run hitter when he hits home run No. 61 off of Paris’ James Emmons in a 3-2 Trojan win in the second-to-last game of the year. August 22, 1926 In the final game of the season, Clabaugh clouts home run No. 62, a three- run shot in the bottom of the third inning, in a 7-6 10-inning loss to the cellar dwelling Paris Bearcats ... Clabaugh wins the league’s “Triple Crown” hitting .376 with 62 home runs and 164 RBIs. It is announced on the same day that the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League have purchased Clabaugh and that he is to report to the team im- mediately. Dispute about a Moose - Following the announcement that Clabaugh has been sold to the Brooklyn Dodgers, a dispute quickly erupts as three minor league teams - Mission Bells (AA Pacific Coast League), Denver Bears (A Western League) and the Waco Cubs (A Texas League) – each announce that they have filed claims for the rights to the slugging outfielder … Base- ball Commissioner Landis makes a “unique” ruling that invalidates all four teams’ claims, returns Clabaugh back to the Tyler Trojans ... Landis’ ruling essentially makes Clabaugh a free agent and available to the highest bid- der, which turns out to be Brooklyn. Clabaugh [3 of 4]: Great Hitting, Poor Fielding August 30, 1926 On June 1, 1940, Mose Clabaugh claims Playing with Brooklyn, Clabaugh a spot on John Ehinger’s mythical great makes his major league debut against fielding, poor fielding team ... Ehinger the New York Giants ... pinch hittng says of the below listed players that for pitcher Jesse Barnes in the bottom “they brought woe and misery to team- of the ninth inning, Clabuagh breaks mates, managers and fans.” his bat and lines into a double play. 1B .................................................. Buzz Arlett November 15, 1926 2B .....................................Whitey Alperman The Brooklyn Dodgers return Clabaugh back to the Tyler Trojans ... it is 3B ............................................... Goldie Rapp reported that both Denver and Waco are intertested in having Clabaugh SS ............................................Bill Hunnefield LF ..................................................... Ike Boone on their roster in 1927. CF ...................................... Moose Clabaugh RF ...........................................Mose Solomon March 24, 1927 C .................................................Smead Jolley Tyler sells Clabaugh to the High Point Pointers of the Piedmont (C) League P .............................................Allan Sothoron ... Tyler President D.M. Maynor says that Clabaugh’s salary demands are “fabulous” ... Frank Kitchens, manager of the Pointers agrees to purchase Clabaugh ... terms of the deal are not disclosed. July 17, 1928 Playing for the Jacksonville Tars, Clabaugh is hitting .386 and leads the Southeastern (B) League in home runs with 17, when he sent to the Mobile Bears of the Southern (A) League for a 30-day trial ... the Tars also an- nounce the release of 3B Walter Sandquist who is batting .265 in 31 games. September 25, 1929 The Birmingham Barons, behind Clabaugh’s steal of home in the bottom of the seventh inning, edge the visit- ing Dallas Steers 1-0 to take the opening game of the 1929 Dixie World Series ... in the top of the seventh inning, Clabaugh makes a running catch