Baseball History: Debs Garms

Many players in baseball history are long forgotten.

However, some need to be remembered for moments in time that are a part of the sport’s legacy.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer had just completed his second straight no-hitter and was making his next start on June 19, 1938.

The Reds were in Boston playing the Bees and Vander Meer had not allowed a hit in the game through the bottom of the fourth.

With one out, Debs Garms singled to end the stretch of hitless innings for Vander Meer at 21⅔ over four contests. The Reds would go on to win 14-1 with Vander Meer tossing a four-hitter.

Garms was in his sixth season in the major leagues and second with the Bees, who were also known as the Braves.

At this point in his career, it was his best season. He batted .315 and drove in 47 runs.

Beginning his career with the St. Louis Browns in 1932. After a season in the minors in 1936, he joined the Bees a year later.

Batting Title

Prior to the 1940 season, Garms was sold to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In first of two seasons with the Pirates, Garms won the National League batting title with a .355 batting average in 1940.

It was a controversial title because Garms played in 103 games and had just 127 hits.

The American League had rule at the time that the batting champ that 400 at bats was the miminum, but the NL didn’t have the same requirement.

Fans, especially those of the Chicago Cubs, were wanting Stan Hack to be named the champion because he was a regular player and had been in 149 games and had 191 hits with an average of .317. For the most part, Garms was a regular in Casey Stengel‘s lineup, but he missed time because of injuries.

If you apply the Tony Gwynn Rule to this batting race, Garms would still win with a .318 average.

The Gwynn Rule was adopted in 1996 when he was four appearances short of qualifying for the title. Those four at bats were applied to his total and his average (.353/.349) was still better than that of Colorado’s Ellis Burks (.344).

Another Reds Pitcher

Garms was a part of another memorable moment in Reds history in 1944.

On June 16, Joe Nuxhall made his pitching debut as a 15-year old against the St. Louis Cardinals, which would go on to win the World Series that fall.

In the ninth inning of a blowout, Garms was one of five walks Nuxhall issued that day in what turned out to be an 18-0 loss at Crosley Field.

Garms would play one more year with the Cardinals before finishing his professional career with San Diego of the Pacific Coast League in 1946.