George Case

Outfielder

Born: November 11, 1915
Trenton, New Jersey

Died: January 23, 1989 (aged 73)
Trenton, New Jersey

Batted: Right

Threw: Right

MLB debut

September 8, 1937, for the Washington Senators

Last MLB appearance

August 3, 1947, for the Washington Senators

MLB statistics

Batting average

.282

Hits

1,415

Stolen bases

349

Teams

Career highlights and awards

4× All-Star (1939, 1943–1945)
6× AL stolen base leader (1939–1943, 1946)

George Washington Case (November 11, 1915 – January 23, 1989) was an American left and right fielder in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Washington Senators. Possibly the sport's fastest player between the 1920s and 1950s, he is the only player to lead the major leagues in stolen bases five consecutive times (from 1939 to 1943), and his six overall league titles tied Ty Cobb's American League record; that mark was later broken by Luis Aparicio. His 349 career steals ranked ninth in AL history at the end of his career, and were the most by any player from 1930 to 1960; his 321 steals with the Senators were the third most in Washington history.

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Case attended the Peddie School in Hightstown and made his first appearance with the Senators in September 1937, and in his 1938 rookie season batted .305. In 1939 he batted .302, led the Senators with 103 runs, and topped the league for the first time with 51 steals, also earning the first of four All-Star selections. In 1940 he posted career highs in runs (109), hits (192) and runs batted in (56) while recording 35 steals. After having 33 stolen bases and leading the AL in assists in 1941, he hit a career-high .320 in 1942, again scoring over 100 runs with 44 steals. In 1943 he won his fifth straight title with 61 stolen bases, equalling the highest total in the major leagues between 1921 and 1961; he also led the AL with 102 runs, with a personal best of 36 doubles and a .294 average, as the Senators enjoyed their first winning season since 1936, finishing second in the AL to the New York Yankees. 1944 saw him slip to a .250 average and only 63 runs, though he finished second to Snuffy Stirnweiss in the AL with 49 steals. 1945 saw him again finish second to Stirnweiss with 30 steals as he raised his average to .294; the Senators again finished second, only a game and a half behind the Detroit Tigers, and Case earned his last All-Star selection (though the game was cancelled due to war restrictions) and finished ninth in the MVP voting.

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Wikipedia