Pipp’s Pull Proves Purposeful

Wally Pipp is best remembered as the man who lost his starting first base job to Lou Gehrig. The most famous headache in sports history occurred June 2, 1925. Pipp took himself out of the Yankee lineup that day due to a nagging noggin. The young, gifted Gehrig replaced him. Lou went on to play a record 2,130 consecutive games from that second day in June and Wally never saw another game at first base for New York.
It is funny how Pipp is part of the American lexicon. Nobody wants to be “a Wally Pipp” and have a permanent replacement simply because they miss a day of work. Today is Pipp’s birthday. It is also Michael Jordan’s birthday. Most of us would rather “be like Mike” than like Pipp.
Walter Clement Pipp was born in 1893. That seems like eons ago to me. He grew up near Kalamazoo, Michigan, like Derek Jeter. The Detroit Tigers signed the hometown boy in 1912 and he went 0-3 in his 1913 major league debut against the St. Louis Browns. Wally became a Yankee after being signed in the 1915 off-season. He singled in his first at-bat Opening Day. The opposing pitcher was Walter Johnson.
Tall and lanky, Pipp produced plenty of pop as part of the pinstripes’ famous, Murder’s Row team. His minor pitfall was being a free swinger and often leading the American League in strikeouts. Still, Wally held home run titles in back to back years (1916 & 1917) and was known for walloping his way triumphantly. Pipp matured at the plate in later years and became a disciplined hitter. In the 1920s, his strikeout totals dropped dramtically and his batting average climbed to as high as .329 in 1922. Double plays and putouts were his specialty at first base. Pipp possessed soft hands, a good glove and sizable range for a slick fielder. Wally had surprising speed and could fly around the bases brilliantly. He held the record for consecutive games before the Iron Horse set the standard. Ironically, Pipp recommended the Columbia University standout, Gehrig, to Miller Huggins and the Yankees. Pipp played for the Bronx Bombers from 1915 through 1925 before finishing his career in Cincinnati.
Wally’s headache on June 2 is how most baseball fans remember the former Yankee. He actually suffered such headaches throughout his life. Players in Pipp’s days were supposed to play through injuries and pain. Gehrig was ten years younger than Wally when Huggins installed him as Wally’s replacement and probably did not expect the move to be so impact. What would have happened if Wally’s world at first base in NY had not come to a crashing conclusion that summer afternoon? What a Pipp that Wally was to remove himself!

Parting points: “I don’t want to be your monkey wrench”