Bob Meusel - Legacy

Legacy

Meusel received the most recognition for being a member of the "Murderers' Row" teams of the mid-1920s, which included Ruth, Gehrig, second baseman Tony Lazzeri and center fielder Earle Combs. He shares the record for the most times hitting for the cycle with three, tying the mark set by Long John Reilly in 1890; Babe Herman later tied the mark in 1933. Meusel had one of the strongest arms of the era; in his obituary, The New York Times called his throwing arm "deadly accurate". Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel, who played on the 1921 through 1923 Giants teams, said that he had never seen a better thrower.

Harvey Frommer described Meusel as a heavy drinker and womanizer who did not get along with his teammates. His manager Miller Huggins called him "indifferent". He was quiet and reserved, rarely giving newspaper interviews until his career was winding down. He was also known for his lazy attitude, such as refusing to run out ground balls, which many said kept him from achieving greatness. Regularly among the league leaders in strikeouts, his 24 career strikeouts in the World Series were a record for right-handed hitters until Yankees Hank Bauer and Gil McDougald surpassed it in 1958.

Meusel was considered for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by its Veterans Committee in 1982, but the committee instead selected former commissioner Happy Chandler and former Giants shortstop Travis Jackson in its balloting.

In 1925 Bob Meusel joined Philadelphia Athletics outfielder Tilly Walker (1918), St. Louis Browns outfielder Ken Williams (1922) and later Lou Gehrig (1931) as the only players other than Babe Ruth win the AL home run title between 1918 and 1931. Both Walker and Gehrig won the title jointly with Ruth while Williams and Meusel won the title individually.