Career
Manush was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama to German immigrant parents. Manush began his pro career in 1920 playing 6 games for the Portland Beavers in the Pacific Coast League. Moving to the then-B League Edmonton Eskimos in the Western Canada League in 1921, Manush hit .321 in 83 games. In 1922, he had a big season for the Omaha Buffaloes in the Western League, batting .376 with 20 home runs. That performance got him called up to the majors.
He followed his older brother, Philadelphia Athletics third baseman Frank Manush, to the major leagues in 1923 and quickly became known as a skillful hitter.
During his rookie season with the Tigers, he batted .334 in 308 at-bats while sharing an outfield with Ty Cobb, Harry Heilmann, Bobby Veach, and Bob Fothergill. In 1926, he led the American League with a batting average of .378 and finished second behind Babe Ruth in the statistical categories of slugging percentage (.564) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.985).
After hitting "only" .298 and seeing an almost 200 point drop in his OPS percentage, Manush was traded on December 13, 1927 to the Browns in exchange for outfielder Harry Rice, mediocre starter Elam Vangilder, and Chick Galloway. Although Rice would approximate Manush's previous season in 1928, Vangilder & Galloway would both have injuries shorten their careers within a year of arriving in Detroit and Manush would put up a career year while the Tigers would lose 14 games in the standings. In his first season in St. Louis, Manush batted .378 and led the league in hits (241), doubles (47), and singles (161). He would also finish second in voting for the American League MVP to catcher Mickey Cochrane and tie the Browns' single season record for triples (20 in 1928), set by George Stone in 1906. After another fine season in 1929 (in which he hit .355 and again lead the league in doubles), the Browns traded Manush with pitcher Alvin Crowder to the Senators on June 13, 1930 in exchange for left fielder Goose Goslin.
Manush played six seasons in Washington. He finished third in MVP voting in back-to-back seasons and was voted to the All-Star Game in 1934, the season in which he set a Major League record, which still stands, for the fastest player to reach 100 hits. Manush recorded his 100th hit of the season in his 60th game. In 1933, he had a 33-game hitting streak which led to his fourth and final 200-plus hit season, while leading the league in hits and helping the Senators win the AL pennant. In the 1933 World Series, however, he was limited to two hits in 18 at-bats against the New York Giants. In Game 4, after being called out by the first base umpire, Manush pulled on the umpire's bow tie and let it snap back; he was ejected from the game.
Manush played one season in Boston before moving to the National League for three final seasons with the Dodgers and Pirates. In 2,008 career games, he batted .330 with 2,524 hits and 1,183 RBI. After his major league career ended in 1939, Manush spent the next six years managing in the minor leagues and getting an occasional at-bat, first in the B Level Piedmont League and then in the Eastern League and Carolina League in 1944 and '45, before hanging up his uniform.
Read more about this topic: Heinie Manush
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