Why MLB Legend Tony Lazzeri Believed His Failure Was Only Reason He’d Be In The Baseball Hall Of Fame

An all-time sports great went to his grave believing his career was defined by failure

Second baseman Tony Lazzeri is one of the best to ever man his position in baseball history. A long-time star player for the powerful New York Yankees, he was eventually inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame, long after his death. Unfortunately, when he was alive, he was convinced the only way he’d be included in any way in the sport’s venerable museum was for a notorious failure he had as a rookie on the game’s biggest stage.

The right-handed Lazzeri enjoyed a 14-year big league career (1926–1939), spending all but his final two seasons with the Yankees. He combined to hit .292 with 334 doubles, 115 triples, 178 home runs and 1,194 RBIs. He was a key cog in the middle of the infield for seven New York teams that went to the World Series, with five squads claiming titles. Sadly, he passed away in 1946 as the result of a fall caused either by a heart attack or seizure. In 1991, 45 years after his death, he was voted into the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee.

Despite his star status, Lazzeri was convinced the only way any part of his name and career would end up in the Hall of Fame was because of a very public failure he had during the 1926 World Series. In that game, he struck out against future Hall of Famer Grover Alexander with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of the deciding game to end a potential rally, which ultimately handed the Series to the opposing St. Louis Cardinals. It was all fans could talk about, even though the second baseman was a 22-year-old rookie who had hit .275 on the season with 18 home runs and 117 RBIs.

Alexander’s strikeout was considered so pivotal and career-defining that it was noted on his Hall of Fame plaque when he was enshrined in 1939. It was something that aggravated Lazzeri to no end, even talking about it with reporters after his major league days were over.

The September 10, 1945 issue of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph published an interview with Lazzeri at a San Francisco bar he owned, where he lamented his believed misfortune of having no way to get into the Hall of Fame except by purchasing a ticket or through his connection with Alexander:

“I’m in the Hall of Fame, did you know that? Sure, I am. I saw a picture of it one. It’s one of those engraved plaques and it’s under the statue of Grover Cleveland Alexander. It says that one of his great claims to fame is that he struck out Tony Lazzeri with the bases filled in the seventh inning of the last game of the 1926 Series.’

Lazzeri was a little incredulous that in spite of his many accomplishments, one at-bat from so early in his career seemed to be his defining moment:

“Funny thing, but nobody seems to remember much about my ball playing, except that strikeout. There isn’t a night goes by but what some guy leans across the bar, or comes up behind me, at a joint, and bring up the old question. Never.”

Lazzeri believed he had plenty of better moments that should have been in peoples’ minds when they surveyed his career:

“Nobody ever remembers that two years later, under the same circumstances, the same Alexander, same Lazzeri, same bases filled, I cleared the sacks with a double. The reason I remember it is that Bill McKechnie, who was managing the 1928 Cardinals, walked Bob Meusel to fill the bases just to get to me.

“I never can get anybody to remember the 1937 Series, either. We were playing the Giants, you know, and I came up with the bases filled. (Bill) Terry brought in Dick Coffman to pitch me and I put one in the stands in right-center at the Polo Grounds. I got a wire that night from Elmer Smith, the old Cleveland outfielder who’s the only other guy who ever did that in a Series. Still got it… But nobody wants to see it, I guess. All they want to talk about is that damned time I struck out.”

For the record, Lazzeri did just fine when it came to his overall World Series record. In 32 Fall Classic games, he batted a combined .262 with four home runs and 19 RBIs.

Unfortunately, Lazzeri never got to see himself go into the Hall of Fame on the basis of his playing record. Throughout his life, he had a constant nagging of that one particular failing in his first season that was later eclipsed by myriad accomplishments. However, as long as he walked the earth, nobody ever forgot. Even as he was concluding his interview with the Sun-Telegraph, a drunk at the bar shuffled over to where he was sitting, tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him, ‘Tell ’em about the time you punched out, Tony.’