Tommy Griffith

Thomas Herman Griffith

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut August 19, 1913
• Final Game September 22, 1925
• Born October 26, 1889 in Prospect, OH USA
• Died April 13, 1967 in Cincinnati, OH USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Cover to the sheet music for his song: Take Me Back to Old Ohio

Tommy Griffith played 13 seasons in the big leagues, most notably in 1915 when he was third in the 1915 National League in batting average as well as in RBI, Total Bases and Triples.

In one of the odder duos in baseball history, Griffith split the 1922 Robins right-field job with Bert Griffith, who was unrelated. They alternated in the #3 spot in the batting lineup and early in the year both were in the top 10 in the National League in batting average.

Tommy Griffith is the author of (at least) two copyrighted songs: "Take Me Back to Old Ohio," which he wrote both the lyrics and music, and "I'll Change Your Shadows to Sunshine," for which he wrote the words (Elmer Griffith composed the music). Both songs were copyrighted in 1912.

He also invented a "portable knock-down baby bed", per an article in the The Corpus Christi Caller. (Corpus Christi, Tex.), April 22, 1921.

Further Reading

• Chip Greene: "Tommy Griffith", in Bill Nowlin, ed.: The Miracle Braves of 1914: Boston's Original Worst-to-First World Series Champions, SABR, Phoenix, AZ, 2014, pp. 79-83. ISBN 978-1-933599-69-4

Related Sites

• Tommy Griffith at the SABR Bio Project