Baseball Longevity

[fan_since79]

Not Angels-related, but fun nonetheless. 

 

Chester "Red" Hoff, the oldest ex-major league player ever, died in 1998 at the age of 107. A pitcher who appeared in only 23 games, he struck out the first batter he ever faced, Ty Cobb. He considered that the highlight of his career.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Hoff

 

[Docwaukee]

Cool find!

 

Here is another one

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Devlin

 

Jim Devlin

 

threw 622 innings in 1876 with a 1.56era and went 30-35

got banned from baseball in 1877 after conspiring with several other teammates to throw games that eventually led to the Louisville Grays not winning the pennant

He became a cop and died at age 34 of tuberculosis. 

[ELEVEN]

662 innings in one year?

A one armed Cop?

Whut?

[Tank]

how do you have an era of 1.56, yet still lose 35 games?

 

must have been a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.

[fan_since79]

In 1877, Devlin pitched every inning of his team's games, the only time that has ever been done.

[fan_since79]

how do you have an era of 1.56, yet still lose 35 games?

 

must have been a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.

Not really. The fielding was uniformly terrible back then in the dead ball era. Devlin allowed 309 runs that year but only 108 were earned. His own team committed 396 errors that season.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LOU/1876.shtml

[Count Orlok]

Conan has a great skit about old time baseball

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Aax2V7a3S4

[Taylor]

how do you have an era of 1.56, yet still lose 35 games?

 

must have been a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games.

 

He was pitching for the Angels.

[ELEVEN]

In 1877, Devlin pitched every inning of his team's games, the only time that has ever been done.

Because the bullpen had a bull in it.

[ELEVEN]

Conan has a great skit about old time baseball

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Aax2V7a3S4

Awesome.

[LBHalos17]

That Conan skit was amazing!

I'm reading "The Emerald Diamond" right now.  It's about how the Irish have always ben in baseball.  One of the first stories in the book is about the crazy old rules they started the game with.  Back in the 1800's, a third base coach ran with his runner toward home and took-out catcher Connie Mack before the ball arrived.  Apparently this was good form back then, and Mack returned the favor later in the game.  It's termed "Irish baseball" in the book.

Maybe that's how difficult it was to score runs back then.

[ELEVEN]

That Conan skit was amazing!

I'm reading "The Emerald Diamond" right now. It's about how the Irish have always ben in baseball. One of the first stories in the book is about the crazy old rules they started the game with. Back in the 1800's, a third base coach ran with his runner toward home and took-out catcher Connie Mack before the ball arrived. Apparently this was good form back then, and Mack returned the favor later in the game. It's termed "Irish baseball" in the book.

Maybe that's how difficult it was to score runs back then.

That book looks like a great read. Just ordered a copy on Amazon. Thanks!

[Jimmag]

Not really. The fielding was uniformly terrible back then in the dead ball era. Devlin allowed 309 runs that year but only 108 were earned. His own team committed 396 errors that season.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/LOU/1876.shtml

Those guys had no pop in the bat 3 home runs were consider a bunch. It must have been because steroids were not yet invented. Of course it also could have been because of the bat.