University of San Francisco Athletics

Athlete All-American

Walter "Dutch" Ruether

Honors:
Baseball (1912-1913)

Walter “Dutch” Ruether was born September 23, 1893 in Alameda, CA, the son of German immigrants. He attended the then Saint Ignatius College Preparatory, and played baseball for them. He attended Saint Ignatius College and, at 6’ 1”, 180 lbs., Ruether pitched and batted left-handed for Ignatius. In college, his performance was uneven, but he had an outstanding fast ball. In 1913, the then Gray Fog played against the Chicago White Sox. The Ignatians lost the game 4-2, but Ruether played well and caught the attention of scouts. While in college, he tried out for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and after two years at Ignatius, signed with the caveat that they not assign him to the Minors. The Pirates did that, and in 1914, Ruether left to play with the Vancouver Beavers, and in 1916 went on to win the pennant with the Spokane Indians.

In 1917, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs, and after ten games, was selected to play for the Cincinnati Reds on waivers. Following that season, he enlisted in the United States Army at the outbreak of World War I, and reported to Camp Lewis in Washington State. In 1919, he rejoined the Reds and the team won the World Series. But the Black Sox scandal overshadowed the victory, which was marred by allegations that the White Sox had thrown the Series at the behest of gamblers. Since the Reds had finished with a better regular season record than did the White Sox, and were not underdogs, there is ample reason to believe they could have won regardless of any fix. Ruether was angry when the media cited his opening game play as evidence that the Sox were not on the level. “I was a pretty good hitting pitcher. I was often called upon to pinch-hit and once in a while there was talk of me becoming a first baseman when my arm gave out (Sabr Analyticas Conference).”

He spent the next four seasons with the Brooklyn Robins, suffered an arm injury, but played in the 1925 World Series as a pinch-hitter. He was moved to the Washington Senators. In 1926, he was traded to the New York Yankees, and played in the World Series with them against the St. Louis Cardinals, and Ruether pitched all three games. The Cardinals won 4-0.

In 1927 Ruether had a nice season for the Yankees, despite rooming with Babe Ruth. Ruth would not have been a good influence on the pitcher, who shared his love of the nightlife. They had other things in common. Both started their major-league careers as left-handed pitchers. Ruether won more games (137) than did Ruth (94), but only because the Babe spent most of his career as an outfielder. Only Cy Young, Babe Ruth, and Dutch Ruether have ever pitched and tripled in a World Series game. Dutch is the only one who hit two triples in the game. Both had reputations as carousers and heavy drinkers. Ruether reportedly liked the nightlife, and newspapers frequently called him a playboy. It is said, “he enjoyed taking a nip or two or three or four (Sabr Analyticas Conference).” Ruether was the only one to get into trouble with management for his behavior, because Ruth’s managers gave him more leeway.

The Yankees had reportedly agreed to pay Ruether a $2,500 bonus if he won 15 games during the 1927 season. According to reports, he earned 13 victories by September 1st. In order to avoid paying the bonus, the Yankee ownership ordered Huggins not to use Ruether in any more games. Angered by this treatment, Ruether quit the Yankees and returned to the Pacific Coast League and had a record of 137-95, and .591. He holds the League record for most innings pitched in an opening game, at 14 with the Robins. He pitched with the Pacific Coast League until 1933, and won 29 games with the San Francisco Seals. He was named the Best Pitcher in the League in the post-season selection of an All-Star team. John McGraw expressed interest in drafting him for the New York Giants, but he wound up taking Tony Kaufmann instead. After his great 1928 season, Ruether got into a salary dispute with the Seals and was given permission to make a deal for himself. He signed with San Francisco’s other team, the Mission Reds, much to the annoyance of the Seals. He had a good year with the Reds in 1929 (14-9, .609) but he never again approached the heights he had reached in 1928. He won 17 games for Seattle in 1930, but fell out of favor with manager Ernie Johnson in 1931. With a reputation for violating training rules, Ruether had not been keeping on the straight and narrow and was out of shape. He was soon on the move again. He finished the 1931 season with Portland. He played after that for Nashville, and then the Mission Reds.

In 1934 Ruether accepted a position as player-manager of the Seattle Indians in the Pacific Coast League. Many minor-league clubs had a difficult time making ends meet during the depths of the depression. Entire leagues folded. The Indians survived the 1936 season before going under. Ruether told how the owner, Bill Klepper, once gave him all the gate receipts to hide from the sheriff, who came to the ballpark to collect back taxes due on admission fees. “I had all those damned dollar bills stuffed down my baseball pants, while I was coaching third base (Sabr Analyticas Conference).” At the end of the 1936 season, Ruether’s career as a player or manager was over. At the age of 43, he returned to the Los Angeles area and worked as a scout for the Chicago Cubs for seven years and for the Giants for 24 years.

Photo courtesy of Saint Ignatius College Preparatory.

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