Art Shires
From SABR Encyclopedia
| Art Shires | |
| Charles Arthur Shires | |
| "Art The Great" | |
 | |
| Bat/Throw: | L/R |
|---|---|
| Height: | 6' 1" |
| Weight: | 195 |
| Born: | 1906-8-13 at Italy, TX (US) |
| Died: | 1967-7-13 at Italy, TX (US) |
| Interred: | Italy Cemetery in Italy, TX (US) |
| More info | |
| Statistics: | Retrosheet |
|---|---|
| SABR Searches: | Pictures of Art Shires | width:90% height:65% scrolling:auto | Pictures}} · Bibliography |
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.
Shires died of lung cancer at his home in Italy, Texas on July 13, 1967 exactly one month shy of his 60th birthday.
Contents |
Minor League Career
Shires began his professional career in 1926 with Waco of the Texas League, and was impressive enough in three seasons that the Chicago White Sox purchased his contract on July 31, 1928.
After three years in the majors, he was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers of the Double-A American Association in 1931. He spent the 1932 season with the Boston Braves, then returned to the minors in 1933, playing for Rochester and Columbus that year, Fort Worth in 1934, and 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
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. 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.
Washington Senators
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.
Boston Braves
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.
St. Louis Cardinals
The Braves sold Shires to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 19, 1933, but he was a Card for only a week before being sent to Columbus.
He never appeared in the majors again and finished his brief career with a .291 average in just short of 1,000 at-bats.
Semi-Pro Career
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.
Professional Boxing Career
On December 9, 1929 he embarked on a boxing career, which began with a 1st round KO of Jim Gerry (who also fought as "Dangerous Dan Daly"). Gerry stated after the fight that he had been paid to take a dive (Jan.6th Hamilton Evening Journal). Shires next fight 12/16/1929 was with George Trafton a Chicago Bear football play which he lost on points. His next three fights were won by KO's two of these fights were against major league baseball players Tony Faeth and Al Spohrer. Art returned to the ring in 1935 for two fights winning one by a KO and losing one on points.
Sources
- "Art Shires Confident Sox Will Pay $25,000", pg 18. Washington Post, 1930-01-29.
- "Art Shires Sued for Death of Lawson, Struck by Ball", pg 21. Chicago Tribune, 1929-03-28.
- "Lay Murder to Art Shires, Ex-Sox Star", pg 1. Chicago Tribune, 1948-12-08.
- "Rookie Shires Leads Sox to 6-4 Win Over Boston", pg 15. Chicago Tribune, 1928-08-21.
- "Art Shires is Retired With Pay by Braves", pg 9. Washington Post, 1932-08-04.
- "Where Are They Now?: Art (Whataman) Shires", pg A12. Los Angeles Times, 1936-07-03.
- http://www.boxrec.com/randomarticle, retrieved on 2011-07-01.
