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| | |summary=was a professional first baseman and manager from 1926-1935. Despite a career .291 batting average, alcoholism and insubordination limited his major league stint to only four seasons. | | |summary=was a professional first baseman and manager from 1926-1935. Despite a career .291 batting average, alcoholism and insubordination limited his major league stint to only four seasons. |
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| - | Charles Arthur Shires was many things; dapper, over-dressed, well-spoken, loud-mouthed, confident, cocky, entertaining, clownish; a hard drinker and a harder fighter. Shires arrived on the major league scene in 1928 with much fanfare, almost all of it of his own making. The Italy, Texas native nicknamed himself “Art The Great”(he was also known as "Whataman"), once boasted that, next to [[Babe Ruth]], he was the biggest drawing card in the American League, and frequently stopped passersby on the sidewalk to ask them if they were going to that day’s ballgame to watch the outstanding first baseman, referring to himself, of course. The cocky first sacker also came with a ton of baggage and a hair-trigger temper that hampered his career and landed him in hot water on and off the field. In fact, twice in his 59-year life, he was accused of killing a man.
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| - | Shires died of lung cancer at his home in Italy, Texas on July 13, 1967 exactly one month shy of his 60th birthday.. | + | Charles Arthur Shires was many things; dapper, over-dressed, well-spoken, loud-mouthed, confident, cocky, entertaining, clownish; a hard drinker and a harder fighter. Shires arrived on the major league scene in 1928 with much fanfare, almost all of it of his own making. The Italy, Texas native nicknamed himself “Art The Great” (he was also known as "Whataman"), and once boasted that, next to [[Babe Ruth]], he was the biggest drawing card in the American League. The cocky first sacker also came with a hair-trigger temper that hampered his career and landed him in hot water on and off the field. In fact, twice in his life he was accused of killing a man. |
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| | + | Shires died of lung cancer at his home in Italy, Texas on July 13, 1967 exactly one month shy of his 60th birthday. |
| | ==Minor League Career== | | ==Minor League Career== |
| - | Shires attempted to catch on with the [[1925 Washington |Washington Senators]] in 1925, trying out as a pitcher and going by the name of Robert Lowe in order to maintain his college eligibility, but the Nats passed. Instead he began his career in 1926 with [[1926 Waco |Waco]] of the [[1926 Texas League |Texas League]], and the 18-year-old was impressive, hitting .280 and fielding at a .991 clip. He was even better in 1927, batting .305 with a .410 slugging percentage, then enjoyed his finest season to date in 1928, batting .317, slugging .478, and committing only five errors in 105 games. He so impressed the [[1928 Chicago White Sox |Chicago White Sox]] that they purchased his contract, along with those of [[Johnny Watwood]] and [[George Blackerby]], on July 31, 1928. | + | Shires began his professional career in 1926 with [[1926 Waco |Waco]] of the [[1926 Texas League |Texas League]], and was impressive enough in three seasons that the [[1928 Chicago White Sox |Chicago White Sox]] purchased his contract on July 31, 1928. |
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| - | After three years in the majors, he was sold to the [[1931 Milwaukee |Milwaukee Brewers]] of the Double-A [[1931 American Association |American Association]] in 1931 for $10,000, and led the AA in batting with a .385 average, hits with 240, and total bases with 334. He spent the 1932 season with the [[1932 Boston Braves |Boston Braves]], then returned to the minors in 1933, playing for [[1933 Rochester |Rochester]] and [[1933 Columbus Red Birds |Columbus]] that year, [[1934 Fort Worth |Fort Worth]] in 1934, and [[1935 Harrisburg |Harrisburg]] in 1935, where he served as a part-time first baseman and full-time manager. He retired from professional ball after the 1935 season and played semi-pro ball and softball for a few years before quitting for good. | + | After three years in the majors, he was sold to the [[1931 Milwaukee |Milwaukee Brewers]] of the Double-A [[1931 American Association |American Association]] in 1931. He spent the 1932 season with the [[1932 Boston Braves |Boston Braves]], then returned to the minors in 1933, playing for [[1933 Rochester |Rochester]] and [[1933 Columbus Red Birds |Columbus]] that year, [[1934 Fort Worth |Fort Worth]] in 1934, and [[1935 Harrisburg |Harrisburg]] in 1935, where he served as a part-time first baseman and full-time manager. He retired from professional ball after the 1935 season and played semi-pro ball for a few years before quitting for good. |
| | ==Major League Career== | | ==Major League Career== |
| | ===Chicago White Sox=== | | ===Chicago White Sox=== |
| - | Shires made his major league debut on August 20, 1928 and enjoyed immediate success, rapping out four hits against Hall of Famer [[Red Ruffing]], including a triple in his first at-bat. After only five trips to a major league batter's box, Shires insisted he'd hit .400. He fell short of that mark, but was impressive in his 33-game rookie stint, batting .341 and reaching base at a .409 clip. In fact, White Sox brass was so impressed with the 21-year-old that he was named team captain. | + | Shires made his major league debut on August 20, 1928 and enjoyed immediate success, rapping out four hits against Hall of Famer [[Red Ruffing]]. He was impressive in his 33-game rookie stint, batting .341 and being named team captain at only 21. He was later stripped of his captaincy for breaking training, but enjoyed another good year at the plate in 1929. He batted only .258 with the White Sox in the early part of 1930 before being dealt to the [[1930 Washington |Washington Senators]] in June. |
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| - | He was later stripped of his captaincy for breaking training, but enjoyed another good year at the plate in 1929 when he hit .312 in 100 games. He batted only .258 with the White Sox in the early part of 1930 before being dealt to the [[1930 Washington |Washington Senators]] for [[Garland Braxton]] and [[Bennie Tate]] on June 16. | + | |
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| | ===Washington Senators=== | | ===Washington Senators=== |
| - | Shires rebounded with the Senators and batted .369 with a .464 slugging percentage, but he had trouble cracking a lineup that already featured 36-year-old, 16-year veteran slugger [[Joe Judge]] at first base. Shires appeared in only 38 games with Washington before being sold to the Brewers. | + | Shires rebounded with the Senators and batted .369, but he had trouble cracking a lineup that already featured 16-year veteran slugger [[Joe Judge]] at first base. Shires appeared in only 38 games with Washington before being sold to the Brewers. |
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| | ===Boston Braves=== | | ===Boston Braves=== |
| - | Shires resurfaced with the Braves in 1932, but batted only .232 and slugged an anemic .339, despite a career-best five home runs. He suffered two major injuries that year, which most likely accounted for his poor performance. In the first inning of an April 27 game against [[1932 Brooklyn Dodgers |Brooklyn]], Dodgers outfielder [[Johnny Frederick]] smashed a grounder that took a wicked hop and hit Shires in the face, knocking him out and breaking his nose. Shires was able to stay in the game, but in the ninth, he was knocked down for the count and wouldn’t return until May 15. [[Joe Stripp]] laid down a bunt towards third baseman [[Fritz Knothe]], who made a strong throw that beat the runner. But Shires was in Stripp’s path and the two men collided head-on. Stripp was down for three or four minutes, but Shires had to be carried off the field and into the clubhouse. X-Rays later revealed a torn ligament in his left knee. | + | Shires resurfaced in 1932 with the Braves and suffered a major injury that year, tearing a ligament in his left knee in April. He returned to the lineup in May but wasn’t the same hitter. Braves owner Judge Emil Fuchs advised Shires to retire, offering to pay him his full salary while covering all medical expenses required to repair his knee. Shires accepted the offer and underwent surgery on his knee on August 25. |
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| - | Shires returned to the lineup on May 15 in an 8-3 win over the [[1932 St. Louis Cardinals |Cardinals]], but he wasn’t the same hitter who’d started strong in April. Braves manager [[Bill McKechnie]] released Shires in August, but when Braves owner Judge Emil Fuchs learned of the release, he ordered it rescinded, and advised Shires to retire instead, offering to pay him his full salary while covering all medical expenses required to repair his knee. Shires accepted the offer and underwent surgery on his knee on August 25.
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| | ===St. Louis Cardinals=== | | ===St. Louis Cardinals=== |
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| | ==Semi-Pro Career== | | ==Semi-Pro Career== |
| - | Only two days after the deal that sent him from Waco to Chicago was announced, Shires balked at the purchase price, insisting that Waco had received a better offer from the Cleveland Indians, which would have brought him a “liberal cut.” In protest, Shires joined a semi-pro team called the Baytown Oilers and planned on playing for them instead. But Shires eventually relented and joined the White Sox in mid-August.
| + | In 1936, Shires played semi-pro ball in Chicago for the Mills team, which also featured former major leaguer [[Hippo Vaughn]]. Shires played mostly in the outfield and batted over .600 but the team released him because they didn’t like that he was singing in cabarets at night. Shires then joined [[Bob Fothergill |Bob Fothergill’s]] Detroit team. |
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| - | In 1936, Shires played semi-pro ball in Chicago for the Mills team, which also featured former major leaguers [[Hippo Vaughn]], [[Bert Atkinson]], and [[Charlie Uhlir]]. Shires played mostly in the outfield and batted over .600 but, according to Frank Finch of the ''Los Angeles Times'', the Mills team released “Art The Great” because they didn’t like that he was playing ball during the day and singing in cabarets at night, so they released him. Shires then joined [[Bob Fothergill |Bob Fothergill’s]] Detroit team. | + | |
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| | In 1937, he signed with the Springfield Empires, another Chicago-area semi-pro team, and played with Hall of Fame pitcher [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]], who was 50 at the time, and former Reds and White Sox outfielder [[Evar Swanson]]. | | In 1937, he signed with the Springfield Empires, another Chicago-area semi-pro team, and played with Hall of Fame pitcher [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]], who was 50 at the time, and former Reds and White Sox outfielder [[Evar Swanson]]. |
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| - | ==Off-the-Field Controversies== | + | ==Sources== |
| - | ===Fisticuffs===
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Art Shires Confident Sox Will Pay $25,000 | newspaper=Washington Post | year=1930 | month=1 | day=29 | pages=18 | last= | first= }} |
| - | During spring training 1929, Shires arrived at the team’s hotel long after curfew and so drunk that he walked right past White Sox manager [[Lena Blackburne]] without recognizing him, went out into the courtyard and began howling at the moon. Blackburne immediately stripped Shires of his captaincy and warned that further infractions would result in a long suspension without pay and a $100 fine.
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| - | White Sox owner [[Charlie Comiskey |Charles Comiskey]] ordered Shires back to his home in Italy, Texas until he was in playing condition, and the ''Washington Post'' dubbed him, “the freshest busher in baseball.” Shires charged Blackburne with being “incompetent and tyrannical” and the ''Post'' partially sided with Shires, placing much of the blame on Comiskey, who had gone through six different managers since the Black Sox scandal.
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| - | The recalcitrant first baseman remained on Chicago's roster, but was planted firmly on the bench while [[Bud Clancy]] played first base and played it well. Shires was used as a pinch hitter a handful of times and made it known to everyone that he wasn’t happy about his new role and that he hadn’t been given a fair chance to show his worth as a ballplayer. Finally on May 15, everything came to a head. Prior to that day’s game against the [[1929 Boston Red Sox |Red Sox]] at [[Comiskey Park I |Comiskey Park]], Shires was admonished by Blackburne for wearing a red felt hat during batting practice; Blackburne felt Shires was trying to “burlesque the game” and wasn’t taking his job seriously. Shires countered with a “number of large words not suited to household purposes” and threatened to run Blackburne out of his job. Blackburne suspended Shires on the spot and fined him $100. Shires left the park, but returned before the end of the game to confront the White Sox manager. Words were exchanged before the two men came to blows, each landing a punch to the other’s face before they were separated.
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| - | The next day Blackburne declared that he was through with Shires and it was up to Comiskey to decide what to do with the first baseman. Shires insisted he was through with baseball and planned to go back to school to get his law degree, but he eventually apologized and was reinstated less than two weeks after his fight with Blackburne.
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| - | Unfortunately he couldn’t keep his temper in check and was suspended again in mid-September after getting into another fight with Blackburne in a Philadelphia hotel room. Blackburne was passing by Shires’ room and heard a commotion, and when he peeked into the room, he found Shires using empty liquor bottles as “indian clubs and shouting for more liquor.” Blackburne accused Shires of being drunk (again); Shires responded by knocking Blackburne down and bouncing his head off the floor repeatedly. Shires not only gave Blackburne a pretty good beating, but he turned his ire towards White Sox Traveling Secretary [[Lou Barbour]] as well when Barbour tried to intervene. According to reports, Shires almost bit off Barbour’s right index finger during the fracas (other reports claimed that it was Blackburne who accidentally bit Barbour, and one report had Barbour accidentally biting himself). Police took Shires into custody, but incredibly Blackburne and Barbour refused to press charges.
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| - | As far as Blackburne was concerned, however, Shires was persona non grata. Shires was suspended for the rest of the season, then did what only Art Shires had the audacity to do; he held out for more money, demanding $25,000 while insisting that he was as big a “drawing card” as anyone in the American League with the exception of Babe Ruth.
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| - | Shires eventually agreed to terms and signed for $7,500, far less than he was demanding, but slightly more than Comiskey wanted to pay. Though Shires may have been nothing out of the ordinary, he was still one of the better hitters on the team and, despite all his bluster to the contrary, Comiskey appeared to be willing to overlook Shires’ petulance to get his bat in the lineup.
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| - | ===In the Ring=== | + | |
| - | In the winter of 1929, Shires, buoyed by his pugilistic victories over the much smaller Blackburne, decided to try his hand at boxing. He enjoyed brief success, knocking out “Dangerous Dan” Daly in 21 seconds in front of the biggest fight crowd in the history of White City amusement park in Chicago (Daly was actually Jim Gerry, also identified as Jim Gary, a friend of Blackburne’s from Columbus, Ohio), which earned him a fight against George Trafton, a professional football player who played center for the Chicago Bears. Meanwhile, Shires demanded a bout with Cubs center fielder ]]Hack Wilson]], who had gained a reputation of his own for decisively settling arguments with his fists.
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| - | While Wilson was mulling over Shires’ challenge, Trafton beat the “Great One” to a pulp and knocked him down three times in a fight that lasted only five rounds because neither man had the strength to continue (Trafton later said, “I couldn’t get my hands up. They weighed 100 pounds apiece.”) The fight was dubbed by one sportswriter as the “Laugh of the Century,” while another scribe called it the “Battle of the Clowns.” Soon after, Wilson decided against fighting Shires because the White Sox first sacker had already been beaten and Wilson had nothing to gain by fighting a man with a tainted record (rumor has it that Wilson's wife also put a stop to the proposed bout).
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| - | On January 10, 1930, Shires scored a TKO against friend and future teammate [[Al Spohrer]] in front of more than 18,000 Boston Garden spectators. After the fight, Shires shouted at crowd, “I didn’t want Al Spohrer, I wanted ‘Hack’ Wilson!”
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| - | Undaunted, Shires applied for a New York boxing license. But not long into his “career,” he was suspended by the Michigan Boxing Commission after it was learned that his next scheduled opponent, “Battling” Criss, was offered money to “take a dive.” Only two days later, Gerry admitted that he, too, took a dive after being threatened that he’d be “taken for a ride” if he refused (Shires was alleged to have been suspended in Illinois and New York as well, and one report had him suspended in as many as 32 states).
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| - | The boxing commission eventually cleared Shires after failing to find any evidence that he or anyone associated with him fixed his fights. But before Shires could step back into the ring, Commissioner [[Kenesaw Mountain Landis]] kayoed Shires’ boxing career by issuing an ultimatum, “quit the prize ring or quit baseball.” In fact, he issued an edict that impacted all baseball players who considered following in Shires’ footsteps: “Hereafter any person connected with any club in this organization who engages in professional boxing will be regarded by this office as having permanently retired from baseball. The two activities do not mix.”
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| - | Regardless, with his baseball career flagging in 1934, Shires decided it was time to step back into the boxing ring. He was matched up against Sid Hunter on January 31, 1935 and was knocked out in the second round when Hunter caught him with a hard right cross to the chin. Less than two weeks later, Shires fought a palooka named Joe Daley and knocked him out in the third round. It would prove to be Shires’ final professional fight and he finished his career with a 5-2 record and five knockouts.
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| - | ===Alcohol, Money, and Domestic Issues===
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| - | Shires also suffered from a battle with the bottle—several times he was accused by his managers of not staying in shape or breaking training—and a failed real estate venture that depleted his bank account from $30,000 to $85. Once his major league career was over, Shires began to physically abuse his wife Betty, punching and slapping her in November 1932. Not surprisingly, Art announced only two months later, in January 1933, that he and Betty had separated. He cited his frequent traveling for the rift and insisted that he and his wife were still friends. Curiously, Betty refused to comment. But the world according to Shires was often volatile and muddled; two days later he announced that he and Betty had reconciled and the separation was off.
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| - | In September 1936, some troubling news was made public when Shires’ wife Betty filed for divorce and charged that Art had struck her again. She cited “cruelty” as her reason for seeking the divorce. She and Shires had been separated for more than a year. The divorce was finalized on November 23. From there, Shires’ life deteriorated even further—he made money refereeing wrestling matches, then became a wrestler himself in 1937, but he was virtually broke. When he was ordered to pay $5 a week to support his three-year-old son, he argued his own case, citing an inability to get a full-time job because of his bum knee.
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| - | He began to fade from the spotlight, but before his light dimmed completely an article appeared in the ''Hartford Courant'', linking Shires to Chicago gangster Al Capone, the most notorious mobster in American history. The article in question detailed a fairly innocuous incident in which Shires was photographed shaking Capone’s hand at Comiskey Park before a White Sox game. When American League president Will Harridge saw the photo he was apoplectic and warned that players caught fraternizing with fans before a ballgame would be fined.
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| - | But further investigation shows that the incident may not have been banal after all. When Commissioner Landis forbade Shires (and others) from boxing while he was still a major leaguer, it wasn’t just because “boxing and baseball don’t mix,” it was also because Landis was aware of rumors that Capone and his men had a hand in the Shires-Trafton bout. It’s not a stretch to believe Capone’s thugs also fixed the fight against Jim Gerry and offered “Battling” Criss money to take a dive against Shires. At the time of Landis’ decree, the Black Sox scandal was still less than a decade old; the last thing major league baseball needed was a fresh scandal involving fixed fights and gangsters.
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| - | ==Legal Troubles==
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| - | ===Accidental Death===
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| - | On December 28, 1928 a 53-year-old Shreveport, Louisiana man named Walter Lawson died from an injury he suffered to his spinal chord at the base of his brain. The man’s death, though unfortunate, probably wouldn’t have garnered much national attention, except that his injuries came when Shires angrily threw a baseball at a group of disapproving fans during a game between Waco and Shreveport on May 30. The ball hit Lawson in the head and he died seven months later. The fact that Lawson was a “Negro” made the incident even more controversial (although one can only imagine the public’s “outrage” in 1928 had the roles been reversed).
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| - | Lawson’s wife, Ida, sued Shires for $25,411, but only a day after the lawsuit was reported in the papers, Shires was exonerated by a grand jury on March 29, 1929. The suit was dropped from the court’s docket after an agreed judgment for $500 on January 11, 1930.
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| - | ===Contract Issues===
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| - | On May 23, 1933, he was ordered by Judge Joseph Cordes to pay his former attorney, William Timlin, the $119.33 he owed him for defending Shires in a breach of contract suit.
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| - | On June 15, 1933, [[1933 American Association |American Association]] president Thomas J. Hickey barred Shires and three other members of the Columbus club from playing for the Red Birds for the rest of the season on the basis that they were being paid more than the maximum allowed by the AA. Columbus exceeded the monthly payroll of $6,500 agreed upon by members of the association and was fined $500. Then on August 14, he was charged with signing a false affidavit in connection with his 1933 contract and fined $200. Teammate [[Gordon Slade]] was also fined $200, while teammates [[Charlie Wilson]] and [[Jim Lindsey]] were assessed $100 penalties. Apparently the Cardinals had agreed to “remunerations in excess of that designated in their contracts.” The three men appealed the decision and won; the fines assessed against them were ordered remitted.
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| - | ===Assault and Battery=== | + | |
| - | On May 25, 1933, Shires was involved in a fight with a 32-year-old Louisville, Kentucky man named Jack Deacon, who broke his leg and suffered numerous lacerations when Shires picked him up and threw him down a staircase. Shires was defending Louisville Colonels second baseman and former high school teammate [[Jimmy Adair]], who started the fracas when he accused a woman of trying to “roll” him for $125. Deacon took exception to Adair’s accusations; Shires stood up for Adair because he was a “small guy,” and pitched Deacon down the stairs.
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| - | Shires and Adair were charged with malicious assault and sued for $50,000. Deacon was charged with the same crime, as well as “conducting a disorderly house.” Two others were charged with malicious assault, and one was charged with disorderly conduct. Deacon’s attorney argued that his injuries were so severe that his leg may have to be amputated and that he could possibly die. The hospital where Deacon was laid up during the hearing claimed Deacon was in no immediate danger of either. Charges were eventually dismissed against everyone when Deacon decided not to pursue prosecution, but Shires was allegedly forced to pay Deacon’s hospital bills.
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| - | ===Charged with Murder===
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| - | On October 3, 1948, Shires and [[William Erwin |W.H. (Hi) Erwin]], a former minor league ballplayer and umpire, who'd been friends for 25 years, got into a fight that turned tragic. According to Shires he went to Erwin’s cleaning and pressing shop to give him a steak, but things went horribly wrong. Erwin allegedly hit Shires across the face with a telephone receiver, and Shires retaliated by knocking him down. Erwin grabbed a knife and began stabbing Shires' legs; Shires retaliated again and began beating Erwin. Erwin died on December 4 and Shires was charged with murder on December 7. According to the charges, Shires “willfully and with malice forethought killed William Hiram Erwin by beating him with his fists…and stomping him with his…feet.”
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| - | Erwin’s physician reported that the victim died of internal injuries suffered in a fight, and that’s when police got involved. But Dr. P.A. Rogers, who treated Erwin after the fight, reported that Erwin died from hypostatic pneumonia and cirrhosis of the liver “with contributing causes being blows to the head, chest and abdomen.” A hearing revealed that Dr. E.E. Muirhead, who supervised Erwin’s autopsy and conducted microscopic examination of the deceased’s tissue, agreed with Rogers that Erwin died of cirrhosis of the liver and pneumonia. Both testimonies would eventually work in Shires’ favor.
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| - | Justice of the Peace, W.L. Sterrett, referred a murder charge against Shires to the Dallas County grand jury on December 16. Though the grand jury found that Shires “did inflict serious bodily injuries” to Erwin, the charge of murder was reduced to aggravated assault on January 31, 1949. A little more than a year later on February 11, 1950, Shires was charged with simple assault and fined $25. He had been involved in the deaths of two men in 20 years and got off with slaps on the wrist both times.
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| - | ==Offseason Activities== | + | |
| - | The offseason between 1930 and 1931 proved to be extremely busy for Shires and he appeared to love every minute of it. He was named to a major league All-Star team that played a series of games against the Negro League’s Chicago American Giants in October 1930, and though the team included future Hall of Famers [[Harry Heilmann]] and [[Charlie Gehringer]], the ''Chicago Tribune'' gave Art “Whataman” Shires top billing. The Giants took three of four games from the All-Stars; Shires went 5-for-6 in Saturday’s game, then he and Walter “Steel Arm” Davis “kept the stands in an uproar by their clowning” in Sunday’s 6-1 affair, won by Giants hurler Willie Foster.
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| - | Shires joined a second All-Star team, featuring A’s stars [[Lefty Grove]] and [[Bing Miller]], and headed to Los Angeles to play a series of exhibition games at [[Wrigley Field (Los Angeles, CA) |Wrigley Field]]. He was also slated to appear in films that winter and had agreed to get married on camera when a studio producer offered him $1,000 for the right to film the ceremony. But when the money failed to arrive, Shires married his bride, 18-year-old University of Wisconsin co-ed Elizabeth “Betty” Greenabaum, on November 10 at the county courthouse instead.
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| - | Later that month, he was signed by Universal Studios to play opposite Kane Richmond in episodes nine and ten of "The Leather Pushers," a series of ten dramas about boxing.
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| - | ==Life After Baseball== | + | |
| - | In May 1938, Shires was recruited to play softball for a team of boxers, including Henry Armstrong, against a team of wrestlers that included “Man Mountain” Dean. Shires belted three home runs in the fighters’ 15-14 victory over the grapplers.
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| - | On May 18, 1948, the ''Chicago Tribune'' reported that Shires, who’d operated a shrimp house and bar in Dallas since 1943, was running for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. He was confident that he’d get the support he’d need for a victory, but no one backed him; he was defeated and went back to his restaurant.
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| - | In August 1956, the White Sox invited Shires to participate in an Old Timers’ game at Yankee Stadium; apparently they felt he could still pull a crowd, even in New York. The White Sox’s roster boasted such fine ballplayers as [[Red Faber]], [[Ed Walsh]], [[Ray Schalk]], [[Muddy Ruel]], [[Jimmy Dykes (dykes-002jam) |Jimmie Dykes]], [[Johnny Mostil]], and [[Bibb Falk]]. The Yankees loaded up with some all-time greats—[[Joe DiMaggio]], [[Lefty Gomez]], [[Bill Dickey]], [[Home Run Baker]]—and All-Stars like [[Charlie Keller]], [[Tommy Henrich]], and [[Allie Reynolds]], and won the game, 4-1. Shires spent some time in right field, but failed to record an official at-bat.
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| - | ==Quotes== | + | |
| - | "Shires is the chewingest player I’ve seen in forty years of baseball.”—''Umpire Tommy Connally referring to the massive wad of tobacco in Shires' cheek the first time the arbiter saw him.''
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| - | “He wore his fancy suitings and he sported his glittering canes. His haberdashery was chosen with infinite taste, rich but not gaudy. In the evenings he ventured forth in correct evening dress, braving the taunts and insults of his team-mates who had no proper appreciation of the finer things in life.”—''Sportswriter John Kieran on Shires' plentiful and eclectic wardrobe''
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| - | “I understand you’re a pretty well-dressed fellow. Well, when you see me, hide.”—''Art Shires to new Senators teammate [[Al Schacht]]''
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| - | “No, he’s the ''most'' dressed”—''Al Schacht responding to the question "Is Shires the best dressed player on the team?"''
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| - | “They have cooperated to wreck what might have been a fair ball club, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to thrash the pair of them together when they came gumshoeing into my room tonight. [Lou] Barbour and [Lena] Blackburne walked into my room with their chests sticking out. Can you imagine those two stool pigeons trying to scare me? I just started swinging.”—''Art Shires explaining why he thrashed Blackburne and Barbour in a Philadelphia hotel room in 1929''
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| - | “As a major league ball player Shires didn’t show he was anything out of the ordinary last year. He will have to be a little better than the ordinary player now to overcome his peculiarities. And you must remember the White Sox are trying to employ ball players and are not in the market for any wild men from Borneo.”—''White Sox owner Charles Comiskey during 1930 contract negotiations''
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| - | “You’re a made man now and I don’t want this club to stand in awe of me. Just call me Shires.”—''Art Shires to his new skipper, [[Walter Johnson]], upon joining the Senators in 1930''
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| - | “Gin is not good for an athlete. Walter Johnson told me so. Did Lena Blackburne tell me so when I was with the White Sox? No. He just told me I couldn’t drink it. He didn’t appeal to my reason.”—''Art Shires''
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Art Shires Sued for Death of Lawson, Struck by Ball | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | year=1929 | month=3 | day=28 | pages=21 | last= | first= }} |
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| - | “In signing a contract before he received one, Shires must have performed a miracle. Perhaps he’s psychic. Figuratively, he stole first base.”—''Sportswriter Shirley Povich after Shires reported he'd signed a deal with the Braves, which the team refuted''
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Lay Murder to Art Shires, Ex-Sox Star | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | year=1948 | month=12 | day=8 | pages=1 | last= | first= }} |
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| - | "When a man’s slipping, people want to step on him. I’m trying to find work now, but, because of my knee, I can’t play through a full season. For five nights I’ve slept in a chair, unable to pay for a hotel room.”—''Art Shires arguing that he couldn't afford to make his child support payments''
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Rookie Shires Leads Sox to 6-4 Win Over Boston | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | year=1928 | month=8 | day=21 | pages=15 | last= | first= }} |
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| - | “I’m going to fight the battle of the little man. The little man really gets pushed around in Texas. Labor’s going to be for me and so will all the people in sports. And the sports writers all ought to back me. I’ve furnished them enough copy.”—''Art Shires to reporters during his run for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives.''
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Art Shires is Retired With Pay by Braves | newspaper=Washington Post | year=1932 | month=8 | day=4 | pages=9 | last= | first= }} |
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| - | “I had to rough him up a good deal because he grabbed a knife and started whittling on my legs.”—''Art Shires explaining to Dallas detectives why he beat Hi Erwin, which eventually contributed to his death''
| + | * {{cite-newspaper | title=Where Are They Now?: Art (Whataman) Shires | newspaper=Los Angeles Times | year=1936 | month=7 | day=3 | pages=A12 | last=Finch | first=Frank }} |
Shires died of lung cancer at his home in Italy, Texas on July 13, 1967 exactly one month shy of his 60th birthday.
Shires made his major league debut on August 20, 1928 and enjoyed immediate success, rapping out four hits against Hall of Famer Red Ruffing. He was impressive in his 33-game rookie stint, batting .341 and being named team captain at only 21. He was later stripped of his captaincy for breaking training, but enjoyed another good year at the plate in 1929. He batted only .258 with the White Sox in the early part of 1930 before being dealt to the Washington Senators in June.
Shires rebounded with the Senators and batted .369, but he had trouble cracking a lineup that already featured 16-year veteran slugger Joe Judge at first base. Shires appeared in only 38 games with Washington before being sold to the Brewers.
Shires resurfaced in 1932 with the Braves and suffered a major injury that year, tearing a ligament in his left knee in April. He returned to the lineup in May but wasn’t the same hitter. Braves owner Judge Emil Fuchs advised Shires to retire, offering to pay him his full salary while covering all medical expenses required to repair his knee. Shires accepted the offer and underwent surgery on his knee on August 25.
He never appeared in the majors again and finished his brief career with a .291 average in just short of 1,000 at-bats.
In 1936, Shires played semi-pro ball in Chicago for the Mills team, which also featured former major leaguer Hippo Vaughn. Shires played mostly in the outfield and batted over .600 but the team released him because they didn’t like that he was singing in cabarets at night. Shires then joined Bob Fothergill’s Detroit team.
In 1937, he signed with the Springfield Empires, another Chicago-area semi-pro team, and played with Hall of Fame pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander, who was 50 at the time, and former Reds and White Sox outfielder Evar Swanson.
