I would like to introduce you all to a very colorful character, Frenchy Bordagaray. Frenchy played 11 years in the majors, six of them with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was born Stanley George Bordagaray in Coalinga, California, on January 3rd, 1910.
He was one of seven children born to Dominique and Louise Bordagaray, who were among the original settlers of the San Juaquin Valley. His father was a hotel owner and sheep rancher. The family was of Basque descent. He and his six brothers were all nicknamed Frenchy.
Frenchy played baseball, and football and ran track at Coalinga High School. He then went to Fresno State where he continued to play football and baseball. He also played semi-pro baseball while in college and it was the semi-pro connection that led him into organized baseball.
Army Armstrong, a teammate of Frenchy’s, recommended to the Sacramento Senators of the PCL, that they give him a tryout. He impressed the team officials with his speed, and he was signed to a contract on July 30, 1931. He got into 70 games that year. In his first game he went 2-3 against the Oakland Oaks. He batted .373 with 5 long balls and cemented a contract for the following season.
He played an exhausting 173 games for the Senators in 1932 hitting .322 with 223 hits in 692 at bats. Frenchy also gave new meaning to the term “horse racing”, when he actually ran a 100 yard race against a horse named Eat Em Raw at the California State Fair in Sacramento. He ended up eating the horse’s dust as the nag ran the distance in 8.75 seconds. Frenchy’s time was not reported.
Sacramento offered him a pay cut in 33, so in what would become the norm for him, he left spring training. Ownership caved the next day, and he went on to have one of the best seasons in his baseball career hitting .351 with 7 homers.
His numbers impressed the White Sox enough that they purchased his contract for 15,000 dollars. He had an impressive MLB debut with a pinch hit, and he scored a run in an 8-3 White Sox loss. He would appear in 29 games for the Sox, hitting .322 in 87 at bats. Either the Sox were not impressed, or they wanted their money back. He was returned to the Senators. And although he got off to a slow start, he batted .321 in 117 games.
That season, Frenchy performed his first feat of flakiness that made him a raconteur’s delight. In a game against Portland, the General, as he was called, evidently forgot to run out onto the field with his troops. None of his teammates noticed it until the Portland CF, Nino Bongiovanni, hit a double to right field, Frenchy’s vacated spot.
That did not deter Brooklyn from trading for him after the season sending, Johnny Frederick, Art Herring plus cash to Sacramento. He joined Brooklyn and manager, Casey Stengel for the 1935 season. Babe Ruth had brought a new era to baseball in the 20’s. Casey and Frenchy revived an old era when they teamed up, except in this case it was Vaudeville. No one could ever confuse this bunch with the late 40’s and 50’s Boys of Summer. The Dodgers in the 20’s and 30’s were a ragtag group. The franchise was mired in debt and playing in a deteriorating Ebbets Field. Their nickname was ” The Daffiness Boys” because of all the oddball characters and strange plays that made the Dodgers entertaining even if they were not winning.
Stats wise, Frenchy’s first two seasons in Brooklyn were pretty good. He hit .282 with a homer, 39 RBI’s and 69 runs scored. His second season was better with a .315/4/31 line and 69 runs scored. He also stole 12 bases in 125 games. But the numbers do not convey the color he brought to the game.
In one exhibition game, his cap came off while he was chasing a fly ball, being Frenchy, he stopped to retrieve it and then went after the ball. “Stengel stood on the dugout steps with his arms at his side and his mouth open, he could not believe what he was seeing” said former Dodger, Buddy Hassett. When he returned to the dugout, Stengel asked him what he was doing out there. ” The cap wasn’t going anywhere but the ball was.” Frenchy replied, “I forgot.” Another time he was standing on second and was suddenly picked off. Stengel went out to argue to no avail. When he got back to the dugout, he asked Frenchy what had happened, and he told Stengel he was tapping his toe on the bag and the infielder caught him between taps. Classic.
In another classic Frenchy moment, one game he was tagged out when he came into home standing up. His explanation to Stengel was he had some cigars in his back pocket and did not want to crush them. Stengel fined him 500 dollars, and depending upon who is telling the story, he hit a homer the next day and slid into every base on his way around the basepaths.
One of the bigger stories came the following season when Frenchy showed up at spring training sporting a mustache. After the 1935 season he had grown the mustache for a small part in John Ford’s, “The Prisoner of Shark Island.” The part was uncredited, but he decided to keep the mustache. This was the age where all players were clean shaven, so it sparked some controversy. One of the reporters from the Brooklyn Eagle said the mustache resembled the one worn by actor Ronald Coleman. Stengel threatened to grow one, but Frenchy said Ole Casey was just jealous.
Frenchy was also ahead of his time at the art of self-promotion. He kept the press busy writing about the mustache. After about two months, Stengel had enough and called Frenchy into his office where he told him, ” If anyone on this team is going to be a clown, it is going to be me.” After the season, Stengel was fired, and Frenchy was traded to the Cardinals.
They might also have traded him because he did not have the baseball smarts to match his talent. Tommy Holmes remarked after Frenchy was gone that “With all those qualities you’d think he would be a really good ballplayer, yet he makes you eat holes in your hat! The reason seems to me, is lack of big league instinct in such fundamentals as base running and fly catching.”
The 37 Cardinals were not the same team as the 34 World Champs. They still had some of their stars, Medwick, Martin and Dean, but they were no longer a contender. Frenchy got into 96 games at multiple positions. He hit .293 with one homer. He also joined Pepper Martin’s Mudcat Band as a fiddle player and first washboard. The band toured the theater circuit for 50 dollars a show. It was also popular at spring training in 1938 with Frenchy wowing them in the aisles.
The 38 Cardinals finished under .500 for the first time in six years. At first glance, Bordagaray’s contributions seem minimal. He hit .282 in 81 games with no homers. But he excelled that year in one of the game’s most difficult roles, pinch-hitting. He had 20 pinch hits coming within 2 of the MLB record, 22. The new record is 28 set by John Vander Wal of the Rockies in 1995. His BA of .465 as a pinch-hitter was second to Smead Jolley’s .467. The mark now stands at .486 set by Ed Kranepool of the 74 Mets.
The mark wasn’t good enough for the Cardinals. They wanted to send him down to Rochester, but he refused to report and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. The trade worked out in Frenchy’s favor as the Reds won the pennant and he got to appear in his first World Series. He did not contribute much to the Reds pennant. And he appeared in two games in the series as a pinch runner as the Reds were swept by the Yankees.
After the season he opened a nightclub in the city called Frenchy’s Barn. That event got him into Walter Winchell’s column. ” Frenchy Bordagaray of the pennant winning Reds has opened a nightclub in Cincinnati. Could it be that getting swept by the Yankees has affected his mind?”
Winchell had a point, his 39 stats did not exactly ensure job security. He ended up being traded to the Yankees with Nino Bongiovanni for to complete a deal in which the Yanks sent OF Dom DiMaggio and 40,000 dollars and players to be named later. The Yankees were not in need of a .197 hitter either so they sent him to their Kansas City Blues farm team. Frenchy tore up the league hitting .358 with 214 hits earning a ticket to the Bronx in 1941.
Frenchy did not enjoy his time in New York even though it culminated in his only Championship run. He played in only 16 games in the outfield and had 73 at bats. He only appeared in game 2 as a pinch-runner and the Yankees lost the game. Someone might have figured out his teams always lost when he pinch ran. He spent the next 3 games on the bench as the Yanks bested Brooklyn. He said later he thought the Yankees were too serious and business like. He also said they were Snooty. He only really got along with Joe DiMaggio.
After the season, the Yanks sent him back to Brooklyn and he would finish out his career there. In 42 and 43 he played in a total of 137 games and hit a respectable .291. War time shortages gave him more playing time in 1944. He hit .281 with 6 homers and 51 RBI’s. Both career highs. He also played more games at third base than in any other season and made 15 errors there.
In 1945 he had a season in which Branch Rickey proclaimed, ” He is either the poorest great third baseman, or the greatest poor third baseman.” He had 19 errors in 166 chances that season. A .886 fielding pct. After the season he was released.
At the end of his career, Frenchy was being a little more serious. He was still fun loving but was more serious about his career both on and off the field. He invested in a company that built cemeteries across the country and made more money from that than he did playing baseball.
The Dodgers named him player-manager of the Trois Rivieres Royals. A Class-C team in the American Canadian League. He justified their faith in him with a League Championship and a .358 BA. He also aided Rickey’s drive to integrate pro ball. Two black pitchers, John Wright and Roy Partlow pitched for his Championship team posting 12-8 and 10-1 records respectfully. ” I never thought of either of them as anything except ballplayers.” He said.
His success earned him a promotion to the Class-A, Greenville Spinners of the South Atlantic League for 1947. It was there that a promising managerial career came to an end when he punched and spat on an umpire during a dispute on July 15th. He was suspended 60 days and fined 500 dollars. This happened on the same day that he was named MVP of the American Canadian League for 1946. When told of the fine and suspension, he said, “I deserved something, but this was more than I expectorated.” He never returned to organized ball.
After leaving baseball, Frenchy and his wife Victoria, whom he married in 1940, moved to Kansas City where he worked in the cemetery business until 1961. They then moved to Ventura California where he worked for the Ventura Department of Sports and Recreation as a sports supervisor until 1988.
Frenchy would later say that he had fun as a player but felt he could have played better. He also said in an interview that he never reached his peak because doctors failed to diagnose that he had hypoglycemia, a blood-sugar disorder which causes weakness. Frenchy passed away in a nursing home in Ventura on April 13, 2000 at the age of 90. He left behind his wife, four children, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Frenchy Bordagaray. One of the more colorful characters in MLB and Dodger history.
A couple of stories on Yardbarker this morning I found interesting. In Max Muncy’s opinion, the Dodgers are still well equipped to compete in the NL West, and Evan Phillips is not concerned about his role and would gladly step in as the closer. Something to chew on.
Phillips was rated as 4th best RP by mlb.com. He had the breakthrough season of all breakthrough seasons.
The pitching looks really solid to me. There will be injuries, of course… but Pepiot, Grove and Jackson have already seen ML batters… and then there are guys like Miller, Stone, Nastrini, Frasso, Sheehan…. Remember that Bob Welch and Dave Stewart started in the bullpen before they become aces.
Great article Bear. Thought it hilarious Frenchy slid into every base after hitting a home run. Would loved to have seen that. I can picture Joc Peterson doing that.
Thank you JR, yeah, that would have been fun to watch. I still remember Jim Piersall running the bases backwards when he hit his 100th homer.
Wow love that story about Frenchy. Since I went to Fresno State it was very very interesting. When I hear stories about the old PCL days. And how they would take a bus to the games all up and down California. The stories you hear are amazing. When I worked for the Visalia Oaks in college in there marketing department. That’s when I saw black and white video clips of Babe Ruth, Willy Mays, and Sandy Koufax. They would tour minor league baseball towns and play a pickup game. Just love hearing about baseball history and how those baseball heros once we’re in Visalia or Fresno. They were baseball and are such a big part of baseball history.
Thank you Bradley. I enjoy doing these types of story’s.
I knew I liked you Bradley. Go Dogs!
Another raisin guy.
Yes I am a Bulldog I was roommates with Trent Dilfer when he was a freshman at Fresno State. All he has was a bike no car. And to this day we laugh about living in the dorms. See, all freshman athletes that go to Fresno State. They have to live in the dorms. After there freshman year then they can move off campus. So before he was famous yes I was roomies with Trent Dilfer. The Super Bowl winning quarterback. I met so many football players that year. And in high school I played against Lorenzo Neal another famous Fresno State football player that I played against. He went to Lemoore High and I was in Visalia at Redwood High. We beat his team all three years. But he became famous at Fresno State and then in the NFL as probable the best Fullback ever in the NFL. He blocked for so many running backs that had 1000 yard seasons. Pretty cool and a very nice guy.
Bradley … I spent some of my growing up years in Tulare. Loved watching Vada Pinson play for the Visalia Redlegs!
An very entertaining article Bear. He was quite the character. It’s nice to have you do what you do best which is bring some of the “unknown” players in Dodger history to our attention. This is one big reason I come to this site as opposed to the garbage that we had presented to us yesterday. Thank you.
Appreciate it Ted. If there are any old players you would like to hear about, let me know. Red Sox signed Duvall, one year 7 million and the Brewers signed former Marlins 3B Brian Anderson to a one year 3.5-million-dollar deal with 2.5 available in incentives.
We don’t have to rehash that. Let it go.
Baseball America just spewing out prospect content (all $$$$$), I can’t wait for the handbook.
Cartaya, Vargas and Busch all in the top 54 (54!) for exit velo.
Gavin Stone tabbed as a potential “top” rising prospect.
Miller, Pepiot and Stone all “top” pitchers for FB velocity.’
This means nothing of consequence, but it’s better than “discussing” Dave Roberts.
Great positive start to the day Bear – you have a gift for writing – Frenchy would be very proud of you – another fun story of the past to educate us – you made my morning coffee – I hesitated to open the site after yesterday !!!!
Bear, I do have a request of the past if you have time. in 2008, my wife and I went to a wedding in Buenos Aires. On the way back we took a week cruse to the Galapagos Islands. Small cruise, only 24 of us. Waiting in the small airport to fly out to the Islands, all the young were meeting, and us oldies by the side watching but there was one nice older fellow sitting and I went to meet him, Bob. His daughter was treating him to the cruise for a special birthday. We hit it off right away, asked hm where he was from “Brooklyn” !!! Well I said I am a Dodger fan, are you? Not only am I a Dodger fan but I am also one of the original “Knothole Gang”. I had never heard that expression before but he told me about it.
If you have time will you please write up a story of “The Knothole Gang” – thanks would greatly appreciate it – Gerry
lol – I’ve heard that expression before. It referred to the kids that hung out outside of the fences at the old parks and would watch the games through the knotholes in those wood fences.
I can do that. Look for it in the near future.
Tacitus said: “To show resentment at a reproach is to acknowledge that one may have deserved it.”
Take it for what it is worth.
Stalin said (hi Patch)
Quantity is a quality all its own.
A German engineer one commented on the Russian T-34 tank that it would never pass inspection in a German factory. They made a lot of them. They won the war.
Bluto I’m sure has a Stalin quote for every occasion.
He and Lenin are oddly good for quotes.
But that’s a discussion for a different time and place.
I’m sure you have a copy of Mao’s Little Red Book, too.
Since you went there, I used to be much more of a Maoist than a Leninist or Trotskite.
But now I like my paycheck too much.
A quote about quantity coming from a person than killed millions of people? Really?
Um, that kinda (if my memory serves) was his point. That the ability to throw millions of soldiers at a problem was a quality for Russia conducting warfare.
My metaphor is that often in social media quantity of engagement is a quality for social media networks or blogs.
A lot of posts must have been deleted because I didn’t see many outrageous ones when I started reading today.
Anyways I’ve enjoyed this run the Dodgers have had because the only other run that was anywhere near this run in my lifetime was pretty much 1977-1988 and I saw all those years except 1977 and everything in 1978 except the world series when I watched it with my grandpa (Big Dodger fan) as a kid.
The 90s and 2000s were not very successful for the Dodgers at least to me, but I still watched/listened to 98%+ of their games and here’s the funny thing I’ve never told here. After the 2011 season I was so frustrated over 23 years (1989-2011) of not much success from the Dodgers and on top of that 2 managers in a row (Mattingly’s first year 2011) being former Yankees that during the 2012 season I stopped making time to watch Dodgers games like I did in the past. But I still watched a good amount. But then they came up short of making the playoffs that year and that was when I actually took a break from the Dodgers after 34 years of watching/listening to 98%+ of their games during that time.
Well, it turns out that the next season (2013) was when they started this current run and I didn’t pay attetion to the sports internet websites and I got busy too and that remained the case through the 2016 season. Then during the 2017 season something must have caught my eye because I don’t remember, but that’s when I started watching the Dodgers again and I mean back to watching 98%+ of their games. I also started posting here I believe before the 2018 season started or if not during that season and here we are today.
The span of almost my whole life in 3 paragraphs. Pretty good.
No one has been deleted, but it may happen. I have not had any time to look at the site today.
The most profound this was written by Joe Blanton; that was not lost on me… but apparently on others.
I have been a Dodger fan since l was 11 years old (1958) living in LA .
Being a fan (fanatic) means to me that you celebrate the good times and endure the bad times.
I have NEVER not rooted, prayed and supported the team even in the worst of times like when Jason Phillips was our catcher.
In these times we are blessed to have seen our Dodgers become what I consider to be the best organization in baseball.
Bluto, thanks for making everyone aware of the Baseball America list. 6 Prospects in the top 56 is practically unheard of. Not even the number one system overall (Orioles) have that many players ranked as high, but they do have 4 of them raked that high, 8 total, and also have the Number 1 overall. Maybe BA could have pushed Pages, or Outman onto the list. Too bad they didn’t.
Diego Cartaya C 18 23
Bobby Miller RHP 21 38
Miguel Vargas 3B 30 40
Michael Busch 2B 54 76
Ryan Pepiot RHP 55 99
Gavin Stone RHP 56 NR
This is precisely why we don’t have the “Holes” that many on this site think we have. Aren’t you supposed to develop your own prospects and fill in the gaps with free agents?
Vargas and Busch are as close to MLB-ready as you can get. Outman isn’t ranked as high, but he’s ready as well. Pages and DeLuca are very close and Vivas, Leonard and Ramos are right behind them.
By signing free agents, you’re essentially blocking you own prospects. The better players want multi-year deals and the guys that are willing to sign 1-2 year deals aren’t the better players unless they’re trying to re-establish their value like JD Martinez.
Almost the entire market was at shortstop, a position where a solid bat gets paid exponentially. So, if you’re looking for offense, you have to severely overpay for it when it comes from the shortstop position. Outside of those shortstops, the grand prize was Judge, who wasn’t going to leave the Yankees, and Nimmo, who they Mets paid dearly for just to bring him back.
I’m really excited to start seeing some of these guys this Spring. There’s a lot of competition so even though Outman and Vargas are viewed as the favorites to break camp, anything can happen when you have this much young talent.
There was a ($$$$) chat on Baseball America. I just perused it’s summary. This on Busch was interesting:
“The Dodgers are committed to him being a 2B because he won’t have any chance to play 1B with Freddie Freeman there…”
It’s an indication of bullishness on Busch’s bat that I hadn’t seen that clearly stated.
I talked to Jeff Dominique today. We don’t talk enough…
We don’t agree on everything, but we disagree without being disagreeable, and Jeff Dominique is one of the savviest baseball people I know. Here’s what we both agreed on:
1. Gavin Lux will NEVER be a SS;
2. We love Miguel Rojas;
3. Mike Busch could break out this year;
4. Diego Cartaya could be traded with the amazing development of Dalton Rushing; and
5. Gavin Lux is a GG second baseman, but he could also play CF.
More on this tomorrow.
Sorry Mark, but loved this statement enough to quote:
“We don’t agree on everything, but we disagree without being disagreeable,”
Quote of the day I say!
A Gold Glove second baseman? And you also want Lux batting lead-off too, right?
Seems that something about Lux inspires wishful thinking. With his yips, I am reminded of Steve Sax. That’s not a completely bad thing–Sax had an OK career– but I’d prefer Davy Lopes 2.0.
But if Lux delivers GG performance at 2B… fantastic! Happy to eat crow!
Trouble is, with Lux starring at 2B, how does Busch have his breakout?
He doesn’t have the arm for 3B so that leaves him as either a weak-armed left fielder or a platoon DH. Neither option is ideal. It could probably take an injury–always a possibility–to get him ample playing time.
As I recall it, you have a bet going with somebody here predicting that Rojas will get more SS starts than Lux. That’s one of this season’s most important subplots. Again, injuries might be the critical factor. (Or maybe it’s that mid-season trade that gives up Cartaya for Adames.)
Perhaps you’d like to double down on how many starts Lux get at CF.
B & P,
Well said!
If Busch out shines Lux in spring training. Do they then make Busch the centerfielder and trade Lux. Because they have Rojas for starting at shortstop and Muncy has to play second base. So where does that land Lux at. I mean I hear that Busch is a hitting machine. Let’s see, what teams would need a second baseman and would want Lux. Hey the Yankees need a second baseman. Don’t they have alot of outfielders and infielders? Any other teams you can think of if Lux doesn’t hit in spring training. And Outman Busch and Vargas all do. Does Lux then not have a starting position and then becomes a younger Chris Taylor utility guy. Or could they trade Lux and get something for him and what?
Busch can’t play CF
Yeah, Busch is limited on D because of his arm. And he’s not particularly fast.
He played 1B at UNC. Dodgers have trained him for 2B, but he can also be a weak-armed leftfielder.
If the Dodger brass really committed to a “kids play” lineup, then we might see Vargas in LF, Outman in CF and Busch at 2B. Max would man 3B and Lux would be SS (because he’s a kid compared to Rojas).
I don’t see this happening, but it would be fun to see what the rookies can produce.
Lux has the luxury of not really having to hit well in spring. He has shown what he can do with a bat. Busch is an unknown that way. Lux will be concentrating on making SS his own. His fielding is going to take precedent over hitting. Busch really is not fast enough to cover center field. And right now, they have 5 guys on the roster and non-roster who have CF experience so putting someone out there who has never played the position does not make much sense.
Busch isn’t ready yet, he had mediocre stats last year in AAA. Plus we already have 2 rookies Outman and Vargas that are almost 100% assured a starting job. That’s enough for now. Give Busch more time in AAA. And please stop talking about Rojas starting you’re giving me a headache.
Might be, but he is in the picture. Whether he does or not will be one of the big questions this spring. Rojas himself has said he thinks he will be playing all over the infield. He is going to wear # 11. Martinez is wearing # 28.
I really enjoyed doing this story. I really like that baseball has had some of the more colorful characters in sports. The Dodgers have had their share. It was much more common early on in baseball’s history. Not so much nowadays. Kike was a character of sorts, but not really outlandish like Frenchy or say Jim Piersall. Having fun for some back in the day was all part of the game.
We probably will not see the likes of them again. I remember guys like Mark Fidrych who used to manicure the mound. The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky, who would stomp around the mound and get himself all worked up before slamming the ball into his glove and then facing the batter.
Probably a favorite was Ryne Duren, who wore glasses almost as thick as coke bottles. Although he was not that wild, he would come in and launch one to the backstop scaring the bejeezus out of the opposing hitters. Yep, those days are long gone. And to tell the truth, baseball could really use a couple of guys like that.
Who else is on the All-Frenchy team?
I nominate Napoleon Lajoie, Lou Boudreau and the LaRoche family.
Bruce Bochy was born in France. Scott Alexander and his brother’s mother Maryann is from France. Steve Jeltz, Charlie Lea, Claude Gouzzie, Paul Kritchell, Duke Markell and Joe Woerlin all from France or have French ancestry. I totally forgot about Claude Raymond, who did the French language broadcasts for the Expos back in the day.
On this date in 1972, January 19th, the BBWAA elects Yogi Berra, Early Wynn and Sandy Koufax to the Baseball Hall of Fame.