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A Rookie Season for the Ages
Another gem from Ray Kinsella, circa 1900, talking about the phenomenal rookie season of Paul Gray...
September 4, 1900
Today, the Colonial League put its official seal on Paul Gray's historic rookie season. The 24 year-old second baseman was named league MVP, capping off a season that will go down as one of the greatest in league history.
Gray burst on the scene with a hitting streak that started on June 19th, just his second month as a big league hitter, and ended on July 25th. A 30-game hitting streak. And Gray was just getting warmed up.
He finished his first season with the Freeport Patriots at the top of the league in four major offensive categories:
.375 batting average
190 hits
37 doubles
101 RBI
He set Colonial League records in two more categories:
.577 slugging percentage*
292 total bases*
Perhaps, most importantly, he led the Patriots to the team's first championship in 17 years.
And this Sim still carries himself like the guy who was picked in the 6th round of the 1897 draft out of little Indian Hills CC.
"There are plenty of guys on this team that deserve this award every bit as much as me," Gray said at a small gathering at Freeport Field. "We wouldn't have had the season we had without Robby (Robert Bushe), Bake (Dave Baker), and 'Big Daddy' (Mike Garrett). I share this with all of them."
Gray can go on and on about his teammates, but without his season, the Patriots don't finish with 71 wins. They just don't. Not with '98 MVP shortstop Harpo Harrington going down with a late season broken elbow. Not with former 20-game winner Cary Cash missing all but seven starts with an elbow injury.
With Harrington and Cash expected to rejoin the team in the 1901 season, the table is set up nicely for a Freeport dynasty run in the Colonial League. And you can bet Gray will be leading the charge, and sharing the credit with his teammates.
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