If you say the name Wally Pipp to a baseball fan, there’s probably one thing that comes to their mind. One day in 1925, Pipp got the day off from his normal role as the Yankees’ starting first baseman. In his place, a youngster named Lou Gehrig got the start instead. Pipp then never got his start back as Gehrig became an all-time great who never took a day off.
However, just boiling Pipp down to that one story is unfair. He was a very good player in his own right, helping the Yankees to three World
Series appearances, and the 1923 title. Today also happens to be his birthday, so let’s look back and give him some shine that he deserves.
Walter Clement “Wally” Pipp
Born: February 17, 1893 (Chicago, IL)
Died: January 11, 1965 (Grand Rapids, MI)
Yankees Tenure: 1915-25
Born in Chicago and mostly raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Pipp began to gain prominence in the baseball world while playing college ball at Catholic University in Washington DC. After that, he got his start in the pro ranks back home in Michigan, playing for the delightfully-named Kalamazoo Celery Pickers.
Pipp’s time there got him noticed by the Detroit Tigers, who signed him in 1912. Detroit farmed him out to some minor league teams before giving him his debut in 1913. He didn’t do much of note in his 12 games that year and returned to the minor leagues the following season. Despite an excellent 1914 in the International League, the Tigers sold him to the Yankees the following offseason, probably because they had another first baseman in George Burns, who would go on to have a very nice MLB career himself.
In one of the first moves of new owners Jacob Ruppert and Tillinghast Huston, the Yankees picked up Pipp ahead of the 1915 season. At the point of Pipp’s acquisition, the franchise was somewhat in the doldrums, but they began to show steady improvement over the next couple seasons, with their new first baseman a key part of that. His first year in New York was pretty good, but he really broke out in 1916, putting up a career-best and league-leading 12 home runs and a 123 OPS+.
Two years later, Miller Huggins took over the managerial post, and the Yankees truly began their ascent. Under Huggins, Pipp put up a career best 127 OPS+ in 1918, although his year was cut short after being drafted into the military. He returned for 1919 and was again good. Then in 1920, the Yankees acquired some guy named Babe Ruth.
Ruth took a starring role on the Yankees after that, but Pipp remained a very dependable player for the Yankees, as they won their first AL pennants in 1921 and ‘22. The latter featured arguably Pipp’s best individual season, grading out at 4.3 fWAR and 4.6 rWAR while playing a sterling defensive first base. He took a bit of a step back offensively in 1923, but he was the man who caught the throw on the groundout that clinched the Yankees’ first World Series championship that year.
Also in 1923, a young first baseman named Lou Gehrig made his debut for the Yankees. While he showed some promise, his playing time was limited that year and in ‘24, with Pipp holding things down for the Bombers. Then in 1925, Pipp got off to a very slow start. The legend goes that on June 2, 1925, he came into the clubhouse complaining of a headache and asked the trainer for some aspirin. Huggins overheard him and told Pipp to take it easy and just take the day off. Gehrig got the start and went 3-for-5.
Huggins decided to stick with the youngster for a little while—again, Pipp had been slumping anyway, which is somewhat forgotten in the most common telling of the tale—and a couple weeks later, Pipp was hit in the head in batting practice, which sent him to the hospital. By the time he was back and ready to go, Gehrig was on a heater and had usurped Pipp. The displaced former star spent the rest of the year as a pinch-hitter, but, as you likely know considering “The Iron Horse’s” streak, there weren’t many opportunities for him back at first base.
After 1925, the Yankees decided to move on from Pipp and sold him to the Cincinnati Reds. He played three seasons there and another in the minor leagues before retiring. He returned to his native Michigan after his playing career, and held a number of jobs. Reportedly, he was in attendance at the game in Detroit where Gehrig ended his consecutive games streak at 2,130. Pipp eventually passed away in 1965, a couple months short of the 40th anniversary of his famous day off.
In the case of Wally Pipp, there is a very understandable reason why his playing career gets overshadowed. It’s unfair to the man himself though, as he was hardly just a footnote at the height of his career.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
