Tristram E. Speaker

Tris Speaker

When Tris Speaker arrived in Boston, fresh from his small-town Texas upbringing, he felt a little out of place. So, when asked his name, he got a little creative.

"All I could think about," he said later, "was all the big shots I'd seen and they all had middle initials. I had none, so to add stature to myself, I told them my name was Tristram E. Speaker."

The "E" stuck until after his death.

Arguably the best all-around center fielder before the Mays-Mantle era, Speaker had a career batting average of .345 (6th all-time), 3,514 hits (5th all-time), and 792 career doubles (all-time leader). He is sixth overall in triples and eighth in runs scored.

Defensively, his glove was commonly known as the place "where triples go to die." He still holds the records for career assists, double plays, and unassisted double plays by an outfielder.

Beside being enshrined in Cooperstown, Speaker was also inducted in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1951, the very first inductee.

Two years earlier, Ogden Nash immortalized him in the poem "Line-up for Yesterday":

S is for Speaker,

Swift center-field tender,

When the ball saw him coming,

It yelled, "I surrender."

November

Who is this legendary center fielder?

I was born -- with an operatic first name and an oratorical last name -- on April 4, 1888, in Hubbard, Texas.

I was known by two nicknames throughout my 22-year playing career: the Grey Eagle and Spoke.

As a youngster, I fell from a horse and broke my right arm, forcing me to start throwing left-handed, which I continued to do even after my right arm healed.

I made my major league debut with the Boston Americans (later Red Sox) in 1907. I stayed in Beantown through the 1915 season, helping the Red Sox to two World Series titles as part of the "Million Dollar Outfield" with Duffy Lewis and Harry Hooper.

Following a salary dispute after the 1915 season, I was traded to the Cleveland Indians, where, in 1916, I hit .386. Take that, Lannin! (Boston's owner)

In the tragic 1920 season in which teammate Ray Chapman died after being hit in the head by a pitch, I -- as player-manager -- led the Indians to their first World Series title.

I retired in 1928 and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937.

I died on Dec. 8, 1958, in Lake Whitney, Texas, at age 70.