Heinie Manush hit better than .300 in 11 full big league seasons and consistently ranked among the game’s top batters throughout the 1920s and ’30s.
Manush’s record included a batting title and four 200-hit seasons in his 17-year career. The left fielder played with six teams after breaking into the majors in 1923 with the Ty Cobb-led Detroit Tigers.
Manush hit .334 in his rookie year, though would struggle to get playing time in a crowded outfield until his breakout year of 1926. He won the batting title that year, hitting .378 with a career-high 14 home runs. To win the batting title, Manush went 6-for-9 in a doubleheader on the last day of the season to pass Babe Ruth and teammates Harry Heilmann and Bob Fothergill. It would be the only batting title Manush would win, but the left-hander finished second in 1928 and 1933 and third in 1929 and 1934. The 1928 batting race also featured late-season drama, with Goose Goslin singling in his final at bat of the year to edge Manush.
Manush made his only trip to the World Series with the Washington Senators in 1933, and Manush led the AL that year with 221 hits and 17 triples. He finished third in the AL MVP vote that season, repeating his finish from 1932. In 1934, Manush played in the second ever All-Star Game. In his remaining five years in the major leagues, he would also play for the Red Sox, Dodgers and Pirates – hitting .333 with Brooklyn at age 36 in 1937.
Manush retired in 1939, ending his career with 2,524 hits, a .330 batting average and 160 triples.
Manush, who spent several seasons after retiring as a big league coach, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964. He passed away on May 12, 1971.
