1 inning major league player

[doug.goodman]

I found this picture in my stuff today, from a group of photos I picked up in a Huggins & Scott auction in Aug 2019.

Rollie Sheldon on the left, fan Jim Armstrong in the middle, and on the right Hal Stowe who pitched one inning for the Yankees in 1960 at Fenway in the final series of the year.

[frankbmd]

Hal Stowe's autograph would be worth a fortune if it was authentic, but alas ......

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Hal Stowe's autograph would be worth a fortune if it was authentic, but alas ......

Would it?

There are a bunch on ebay for as little as $2.99.

And, he's still alive...

[71buc]

The 1971 Bucs version would be Lorenzo “Rimp” Lanier. He was called up 9/11/71. He had four pinch hit appearances and reached base once on a HBP. This guy is a TOUGH autograph. He very rarely signs. I picked up a signed index card a number of years ago pretty cheaply. Now when I do see them, which is rarely, the sell for $300+. I have no idea why he won’t sign and why his autograph is so expensive. This is also the only original team issued photo I have ever found of him.

[jimtigers65]

Fritz Fisher pitched 1/3 of an inning for the Detroit Tigers in 1964. He had a rough outing giving up a couple of hits and 4 earned runs. As a collector of Tiger autographs he signature is tough to obtain. He appears on a 1964 and 1966 Topps cards.

[mr2686]

1934 Cardinals Clarence Lefty Heise pitched 2 innings in one game and that was it for his career. Easy and cheap autograph to find though.

[mrreality68]

Love this history and never realized that even this many made it and only played this little
I am sure there is more but still surprised

Just like this 154 players have only had 1 mlb plate appearances

https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/ml...ne-hit-wonders

[daves_resale_shop]

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bob-daughters/

Always liked this story...

[71buc]

Great story thanks for sharing

[nolemmings]

Good topic. The best I could do with players whose image I have is Danny Musser, who played the final three innings of a September 18, 1932 Sunday loss to Cleveland-- his only appearance in a big-league game. Danny might not have played that day either, but since it was the first game of a doubleheader and the team was down 7-1 after 6 innings, they gave 3b Ossie Bluege the rest of the game off. Musser had no fielding chances but went 1-2, advancing a runner who would score, and thus finished his career with a .500 batting average (1.000 as a pinch hitter!)
Here's an 8x10" George Burke photo of the inimitable Mr. Musser:

[BuzzD]

This is a Conlon photo of Walter Bernhardt. He faced 2 batters in a game in 1918 for the Yankees and that was all she wrote! No record of any minor league experience as well.

[slidekellyslide]

Art Thomason played for the Indians in 20 games in 1910. He passed away in 1944. I can't imagine there are too many of his signatures out there.

[Cliff Bowman]

Phil Mudrock is my all time favorite one inning guy because of his name. He threw one inning for the Cubs April 19, 1963. Adam Greenberg of the Cubs would have had the all time single Major League appearance when he was hit in the head by the only pitch he ever saw against the Marlins in 2005 but the Marlins screwed that up by letting him bat in a promotional stunt seven years later in 2012 and he struck out on three pitches. Another good one is Larry Yount, older brother of Robin Yount. He was warming up to pitch his major league debut in the ninth inning for the Astros on September 15, 1971 but blew out his elbow on a warm up pitch and had to leave before facing a batter. Since he was announced he was officially in a game even though he never actually played.

[frankbmd]

Joe Cleary, Washington Senators 1945

He faced 9 batters

1 Strikeout
3 Walks
5 Hits
7 Earned runs

The strikeout was the only out he recorded so,

1/3 of an inning and a lifetime ERA of 189.00

I respect the others mentioned in this thread but old Joe Cleary is clearly the worst.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Joe Cleary, Washington Senators 1945

He faced 9 batters

1 Strikeout
3 Walks
5 Hits
7 Earned runs

The strikeout was the only out he recorded so,

1/3 of an inning and a lifetime ERA of 189.00

I respect the others mentioned in this thread but old Joe Cleary is clear the worst.

Wow very ugly stat line but he got in the game. Larry Yount loses in career during warm ups Ugh

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Joe Cleary, Washington Senators 1945

He faced 9 batters

1 Strikeout
3 Walks
5 Hits
7 Earned runs

The strikeout was the only out he recorded so,

1/3 of an inning and a lifetime ERA of 189.00

I respect the others mentioned in this thread but old Joe Cleary is clear the worst.

You left out the best part of the cleary story: he was highly regarded, but got bombed so badly and so quickly that the Senators let their batting pitcher go in for him. It happened to be that pitcher's only game, too, even though he pitched decently. But that's probably because the second pitcher only had one leg, the other getting amputated when his fighter crashed in Germany in WWII

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

You left out the best part of the cleary story: he was highly regarded, but got bombed so badly and so quickly that the Senators let their batting pitcher go in for him. It happened to be that pitcher's only game, too, even though he pitched decently. But that's probably because the second pitcher only had one leg, the other getting amputated when his fighter crashed in Germany in WWII

wow the story keeps getting more amazing. who is that other Pitchers one game. And hopefully the rest is total sarcasm

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

wow the story keeps getting more amazing. who is that other Pitchers one game. And hopefully the rest is total sarcasm

No sarcasm, just quite possibly the most amazing MLB story ever:
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bert-shepard/

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

No sarcasm, just quite possibly the most amazing MLB story ever:
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bert-shepard/

Sorry it it sounded like sarcasm.
But boy oh boy this is amazing

That article on Bert Shepard and his life and his game that day is really amazing

Thanks for sharing it

[moogpowell]

Robin Yount's brother, Larry, is the only MLB pitcher to ever appear in a game yet never play in a game in his career. Just learned about this story this year: https://milwaukeerecord.com/sports/r...-accomplished/

[whiteymet]

Here is Harrington's story according to wikipedia.

His MLB appearance came on July 10, 1963, at Connie Mack Stadium, when he was called upon to pinch run following first baseman Roy Sievers' single; it was the eighth inning and the Phils led the San Francisco Giants, 10–2. Harrington advanced to second base one out later, following Don Hoak's single. But the inning ended when Clay Dalrymple grounded into a double play.[3] Harrington did not stay in the game on defense, as veteran Frank Torre took Sievers' post at first base in the ninth.

However I first recall reading about this in a book about Gene Mauch. In that book the story was Mauch used Harrington as a pinch runner and he was either thrown out stealing or was thrown out going first to third. Mauch was pissed. He never liked rookies ( he traded F. Jenkins to the Cubs for two older pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl) and promptly sent him back to the minors, never to be seen in the majors again!

[mrreality68]

Great Stories
and sad in someways for those that made it after working towards it to only play or/not play for such as short period

Keep them coming

[thetahat]

Originally Posted by 71buc

The 1971 Bucs version would be Lorenzo “Rimp” Lanier. He was called up 9/11/71. He had four pinch hit appearances and reached base once on a HBP. This guy is a TOUGH autograph. He very rarely signs. I picked up a signed index card a number of years ago pretty cheaply. Now when I do see them, which is rarely, the sell for $300+. I have no idea why he won’t sign and why his autograph is so expensive. This is also the only original team issued photo I have ever found of him.

I looked him up … he’d have a career if he played today, in the sabermetrics era. 100+ BBs three straight years in the minors, he was an OBP machine. At a minimum he’d be John Cangelosi, an above average fifth outfielder. Thanks for posting!

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

Here is Harrington's story according to wikipedia.

His MLB appearance came on July 10, 1963, at Connie Mack Stadium, when he was called upon to pinch run following first baseman Roy Sievers' single; it was the eighth inning and the Phils led the San Francisco Giants, 10–2. Harrington advanced to second base one out later, following Don Hoak's single. But the inning ended when Clay Dalrymple grounded into a double play.[3] Harrington did not stay in the game on defense, as veteran Frank Torre took Sievers' post at first base in the ninth.

However I first recall reading about this in a book about Gene Mauch. In that book the story was Mauch used Harrington as a pinch runner and he was either thrown out stealing or was thrown out going first to third. Mauch was pissed. He never liked rookies ( he traded F. Jenkins to the Cubs for two older pitchers Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl) and promptly sent him back to the minors, never to be seen in the majors again!

Interesting Fred. From Baseball reference, it looks like Harrington was caught off third, maybe having rounded it and/or trying to score, as the play was described as a Dalrymple double play scored 1-6-5.

In the Philly papers the next day there was a nugget about how some managers, including Mauch, grade their players each game with a plus or minus on given plays. The author, not necessarily Mauch, stated that Harrington would have been docked with a minus for "reckless baserunning". Might not have been a typical gaffe though, since Cepeda was credited with "a miraculous fielding play" on what was undoubtedly the same batted ball (the only chance he had that inning).



Although Harrington was dumped to the minors a few days later, it may been due in part because the call-up Cal Emery played the same position and was leading the International League in HR and RBI with a .310 BA. Emery was also a local product, having starred at Penn State. So it looks like Harrington did himself no favors on the basepaths, but replacing him with another rookie might just have been a good baseball move at the time.

[Vintagecatcher]

George Yantz had one at bat on September 30,1912 for the Chicago Cubs, and he got a single!

Too bad he didn't have a cool nickname like "Moonlight."

Here is my 1910 Orange Border T210-3 of George Yantz.

Patrick

[doug.goodman]

I'll see Yantz's single, and raise you :

Roy Gleason had one at bat on September 28, 1963 for the Dodgers, and he got a double!

[71buc]

Originally Posted by 71buc

The 1971 Bucs version would be Lorenzo “Rimp” Lanier. He was called up 9/11/71. He had four pinch hit appearances and reached base once on a HBP. This guy is a TOUGH autograph. He very rarely signs. I picked up a signed index card a number of years ago pretty cheaply. Now when I do see them, which is rarely, the sell for $300+. I have no idea why he won’t sign and why his autograph is so expensive. This is also the only original team issued photo I have ever found of him.

In case anyone is looking for a Rimp

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36364002763...oAAOSwTn5hKmtf

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Interesting Fred. From Baseball reference, it looks like Harrington was caught off third, maybe having rounded it and/or trying to score, as the play was described as a Dalrymple double play scored 1-6-5.

In the Philly papers the next day there was a nugget about how some managers, including Mauch, grade their players each game with a plus or minus on given plays. The author, not necessarily Mauch, stated that Harrington would have been docked with a minus for "reckless baserunning". Might not have been a typical gaffe though, since Cepeda was credited with "a miraculous fielding play" on what was undoubtedly the same batted ball (the only chance he had that inning).



Although Harrington was dumped to the minors a few days later, it may been due in part because the call-up Cal Emery played the same position and was leading the International League in HR and RBI with a .310 BA. Emery was also a local product, having starred at Penn State. So it looks like Harrington did himself no favors on the basepaths, but replacing him with another rookie might just have been a good baseball move at the time.

Hi Todd:

Thanks for the research. Did a little of my own because the 1-6-5 double play you mentioned would not have included Cepeda. Found this on retrosheet:

PHILLIES 8TH: Sievers singled to left; HARRINGTON RAN FOR
SIEVERS; Demeter made an out to second; Debut game for Mickey
Harrington; Hoak singled to center [Harrington to second];
Dalrymple hit into a double play (first to shortstop to third)
[Harrington out at third, Hoak out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB. Giants 2, Phillies 10.

Thus it was a 3-6-5 double play. Since Cepeda made such a great play on the ball hit by Dalrymple he probably dove for the ball, threw to second for the force by the SS and since the ball was hit so hard the SS saw or knew Cepeda could not get back to first base for a return throw so the SS checked the runner who started on second (Harrington), who as you surmised most likely rounded the bag and was thrown out trying to get back to third.

Inglorious ML career!

[sreader3]

Gary Hargis pinch ran for Tim Foli with two outs in the 13th inning of the Pirates’ game against the Cubs on September 29, 1979. He made it to second on a single by Dave Parker. His only appearance in the majors; at least his team became World Champs!

[baseball tourist]

I love a good “cup of coffee” story and St. Louis Cardinals’ catcher, Bart Zeller has his - on May 21, 1970, against the Philadelphia Phillies, he was inserted to catch the bottom of the ninth inning. Zeller never had a plate appearance, but was credited with one put out, on Billy McCool's strikeout of Jim Hutto. Bart never appeared in a MLB game again.

Picked up Bart’s game bat, likely from 1964 (per LVS branding) when he was with the Class A, Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Northern League. Zeller likely caught a 19 year old pitcher named Steve Carlton, during his stint.