Читать книгу No Money, No Beer, No Pennants. The Cleveland Indians and Baseball in the Great Depression онлайн

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For most of the season Roger split time at the shortstop position with Ivy Olson. He still had problems with American League hurlers, batting a measly .212. Despite the problems with the bat, Roger had a good opportunity to be the regular Cleveland shortstop. Just when things appeared to be falling his way, though, a major obstacle blocked his path. His name was Ray Chapman. The new infielder had rocketed through the minor leagues, hitting and fielding like no other shortstop in the organization. He would take the job away from Peck, causing the Indians to trade the local boy to the New York Yankees.

Roger played nine seasons in New York. There he became the consummate shortstop. He had enough quickness to go deep in the hole and gun the ball to first base. Roger could dash behind second base, spear a ground ball, and fire across his body to get the runner. While batting he held his hands slightly apart and generally slashed the baseball to left field.

Near the end of the 1914 season, manager Frank Chance resigned. The Yankee ownership did not hesitate to make Peck the interim manager. It was only a handful of games, but valuable experience for a twenty-three-year-old. He showed a lot of maturity for a young man, which would later result in him becoming a Yankee captain. A few years later, Babe Ruth joined the Yankees and became fast friends with Peck. In fact, the two became close enough that Babe asked for a thousand-dollar loan. That was a considerable amount of money, but Roger wrote the check. To this day, Peckinpaugh family members assert that Babe eventually paid back the loan.