Major League Baseball Player. Played Major League Baseball as an outfielder for 11 seasons (1930-1940). An outstanding prospect in the Cubs minor league organization in the late 1920's, he was traded to the Boston Bees (Braves) in November 1929 when it was clear he would not break into a Cubs outfield that included Kiki Cuyler and Riggs Stephenson. Batted .310 with 38 home runs and 119 RBI's in an outstanding rookie year for the Braves (his 119 RBI's would stand as a Rookie record for 71 years, until the Cardinals' Albert Pujols broke it in 2001). He would be a major star for the next six seasons, batting over .300 three times, hitting over 30 homes runs twice, and leading Boston into the first time in since the early 1920's. In 1935 he led the National League with 35 home runs (three of them Grand Slams) and 130 runs batted in. In 1933 he was selected to play in the first All-Star game in Chicago, and was the NL's first starting center fielder. He would be selected to the next 4 NL All-Star teams. In 1936 he suffered an injury to his shoulder that would cause his career to decline. Two and a half months into the 1937 seasons he was traded to the New York Giants for cash and pitcher Frank Gabler. He batted a respectable .291 for the rest of the year, and helped the Giants get to the World Series (where they lost to the powerful Yankees, 4 games to 1). Traded to the Cincinnati Reds in June 1938 for infielder Alex Kampouris, he played with them until 1940, seeing limited service, and playing in the Reds 1939 World Series appearance (he played in all 4 games of the Yankees sweep of the Reds). In 1940 he played for a month with the Philadelphia Phillies before being released, ending his career. His rookie mark of 38 home runs stood until the Reds' Frank Robinson tied it in 1956, and the A's Mark McGwire broke it in 1987. His National League rookie record, shared with Robinson, still stands. His career totals were 1,350 games played, 1,550 hits, 242 home runs, and a .300 career batting average.