Bobby Veach

Veach was the Tigers’ lefthanded-hitting left fielder for more than 11 years and batted .306 or better in 8 of them. He drove in at least 100 runs six times, tied teammate Sam Crawford for the AL lead with 112 RBI in 1915, and led with 103 RBI in 1917 and 78 in the war-shortened 1918 season. Yet Veach was overshadowed by Hall of Fame teammates Crawford, Ty Cobb, and, later, Harry Heilmann. In 1919 he topped the league in hits, doubles, and triples but finished second to Cobb in the AL batting race, hitting .355 to Cobb’s .384.

With the Yankees in 1925, Veach once pinch hit for Babe Ruth. He went to the pennant-winning Senators that August, and in the closing weeks of the season he broke up Ted Lyons’s bid for a no-hitter with a two-out ninth-inning single. After ending his ML career with his only World Series appearance, he played for Toledo (American Association) in 1926-29. At the age of forty he hit .382 to capture the 1928 AA batting crown.