Debs Garms
| Debs Garms | |||
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Garms with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1940
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| Outfielder / Third baseman | |||
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Born: June 26, 1907 Bangs, Texas |
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Died: December 16, 1984 (aged 77) Glen Rose, Texas |
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| MLB debut | |||
| August 10, 1932, for the St. Louis Browns | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 25, 1945, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .293 | ||
| Home runs | 17 | ||
| Runs batted in | 328 | ||
| Teams | |||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
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Debs C. Garms (June 26, 1907 – December 16, 1984) was a professional baseball player for twelve seasons as an outfielder and third baseman for the St. Louis Browns, Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. Garms broke up Johnny Vander Meer's streak of hitless innings in 1938. He won the National League batting title in 1940, hitting .355 for the Pittsburgh Pirates despite having played in only 103 games and garnering 358 at bats. Garms' batting title proved very controversial because of his limited playing time. In 1941 he set a then-major league record for consecutive pinch hits with seven, which stood until Dave Philley broke it in 1958.
Born in Bangs, Texas, Garms was the eighth of ten children, and was named after Eugene Debs. Garms' older sister married Slim Harriss, a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox in the 1920s. Garms attended Howard Payne University, joining the track and baseball teams. One of Garms' games was attended by minor league manager Carl Williams, and soon after, Garms was signed to a minor league contract with the St. Louis Browns. After playing in the minor leagues for multiple years, Garms batted .344 in 1932 and was called up to the major league Browns.
In 1936, Garms was drafted by the Boston Bees from the Browns in the rule 5 draft. In 1938, Bees' manager Casey Stengel platooned Garms with Joe Stripp. After three seasons with the Bees, Garms was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1940, his first year with the Pirates, Garms won the National League batting title despite serving as a platoon player, recording only 358 at-bats in 103 games. Despite the fact that many complained at the low batting averages in 1940 compared to past years, most assumed that 400 at-bats were needed to be eligible for a batting title. In September 1940, league president Ford Frick stated that "The batting title is simply unofficial and never has been subject for league legislation." Frick's spokesman stated that "he thought 100 games would be a sufficient prerequisite for the championship."
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