Looking Back: Street's 110th Anniversary Stunt

Exactly 110 years ago this month, former Nashville Vols catcher (1915-17) Charles "Gabby" Street was involved in an historic "monumental" stunt. Before arriving in Nashville, Street played multiple years in the major leagues for many different teams. Many years after he left baseball as a player, Street would manage in the major leagues.
On August 21, 1908, Street was trying to duplicate a feat accomplished 14 years earlier by Pop Schriver. A Chicago White Stocking's catcher, Schriver was persuaded by his manager Cap Anson to catch a ball dropped from the Washington Monument. Teammate pitcher Clark Griffin dropped one ball to the apprehensive Schriver who watched it fall to the ground.
After seeing the trick was not dangerous, Schriver caught the next ball. Street was the primary catcher for future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators in 1908.
Legendary Nashville sports writer Fred Russell wrote the following in his book, Bury Me in An Old Press Box:
"My first sight of a professional baseball park and an introduction to Gabby Street came on the same day-almost too much. Gabby wasn't only the Nashville catcher, he had caught the ball dropped from the Washington Monument. It wasn't until thirty-five years later, in Florida, that I heard the true details of this feat from Street himself.
"It was August 21, 1908," Gabby said. "Walter Johnson was at his peak with Washington and I was looked upon as the only man who could hold this fastest of pitchers. Of course, that wasn't true, but I didn't object to the notoriety.
"Pres Gibson, a Washington newspaperman, got the idea that if I could catch Johnson, I could catch anything. He used to argue that way and finally he made a big bet. So I had to help him out.
"We went out to the monument, he with thirteen baseballs and me with a mitt. I don't know why he took thirteen; maybe he was superstitious Anyhow, he went up to the top and I went out on the grass. The first few balls hit the side of the shaft and never came near me. He threw a couple out away from the monument, but I couldn't get to them.
"The Pres went around to the other side on account of the wind. There were only four times I was close enough to the ball to make a try for the catch. It just happened that the ball I caught was the last one.
"I felt I would get some sort of write-up for it at the time, but I never dreamed this thing would stick with me through life."
The drop from a window at the top of the monument was 550 feet while it was estimated at the time that the ball traveled at the rate of 161 feet per second. Street won the $500 bet.
Street was born on September 30, 1882 in Huntsville, Ala. He played baseball for South Kentucky College and began his professional baseball career with Hopkinsville in the Kitty League in 1890. Later he was sold to Terre Haute of the Central League and made his major league debut with Cincinnati in 1904.
In the major leagues, Street was a .208 lifetime hitter (1,501 at bats) appearing in 504 games with two home runs and 105 RBIs. He played with Cincinnati (1904-05), the Boston Braves (1905), Washington (1908-11), the New York Yankees (1912) and Browns (1931). He bounced around with a few minor league teams and wound up in Nashville in 1915.
Street's numbers in Nashville include: 1915, a .239 batting average with 382 at bats in 123 games; 1916, a .246 batting average with 358 at bats in 116 games and in 1917, a .236 batting average with 292 at bats in 86 games.
Street caught Vols teammate Tom Rogers' perfect game on July 16, 1916 at Nashville's Sulphur Dell. This was the first perfect game in the history of the Southern Association. Nashville would win the Southern Association's championship that season and Rogers led the league with 24 wins against 12 losses.
In March 1917, the Washington Senators with the great Walter Johnson pitching three innings defeated the Vols in an exhibition game on Vanderbilt's baseball field. Street was catching for Nashville, which gave him the opportunity to play against his old Washington battery mate Johnson.
After his playing career, Street managed in the minors before becoming a member of the St. Louis Cardinals coaching staff. Street would replace manager Bill McKechnie in 1930 and delivered a National League pennant but lost to the Philadelphia A's in six games in the World Series.
The next year he won another NL pennant, but this time defeated the A's in a World Series rematch in seven games. Street's 1932 Cardinals fell to seventh place and a 72-82 record. Frankie Frisch as manager replaced him during the 1933 season.
Street earned the nickname "Gabby" from always talking to his pitcher during a game to keep his pitcher focused. He was also known as "Old Sarge" from his service during World War I.
Street dropped out of baseball until his return as manager of the St. Louis Browns in 1938. That job lasted one year after a seventh-place finish. He would manage in the minors a few more years before joining the St. Louis Cardinals broadcasting team, which consisted of a young Harry Caray. Street died of a heart attack in Joplin, Mo., in 1951 at age 68.
"He was a great talent, so charming, so colorful," Caray once said about Street. "He could go on the air, be himself, and be a hit."
If you have any comments or suggestions contact Bill Traughber via email [email protected].