Burleigh Grimes

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Burleigh Grimes
File:Burleigh Grimes.jpg
Pitcher
Born: (1893-08-18)August 18, 1893
Emerald, Wisconsin
Died: Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day
Clear Lake, Wisconsin
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 10, 1916, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
September 20, 1934, for the Pittsburgh Pirates
MLB statistics
Win–loss record 270–212
Earned run average 3.53
Strikeouts 1,512
Teams
As player

As manager
Career highlights and awards
Member of the National
Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Baseball Hall of Fame Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg Empty Star.svg
Inducted 1964
Election Method Veteran's Committee

Burleigh Arland Grimes (August 18, 1893 – December 6, 1985) was an American professional baseball player, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. Grimes made the most of this advantage and he won 270 games and pitched in four World Series over the course of his 19-year career. He was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1954, and to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

Early life

Grimes was born in Emerald, Wisconsin. He was the first child of Nick Grimes, a farmer and former day laborer, and the former Ruth Tuttle, the daughter of a former Wisconsin legislator. Having previously played baseball for several local teams, Nick Grimes managed the Clear Lake Yellow Jackets and taught his son how to play the game early in life.[1] Burleigh Grimes also participated in boxing as a child.[2]

He made his professional debut in 1912 for the Eau Claire Commissioners of the Minnesota–Wisconsin League.[3] He played in Ottumwa, Iowa, in 1913 for the Ottumwa Packers in the Central Association.

MLB career

File:BurleighGrimesGoudeycard.jpg
Baseball card of Grimes

Grimes played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1916 and 1917. Before the 1918 season, he was sent to the Brooklyn Dodgers in a multiplayer trade.[4] When the spitball was banned in 1920, he was named as one of the 17 established pitchers who were allowed to continue to throw the pitch. According to Baseball Digest, the Phillies were able to hit him because they knew when he was throwing the spitter. The Dodgers were mystified about this; first they thought the relative newcomer of a catcher, Hank DeBerry, was unwittingly giving away his signals to the pitcher, so they substituted veteran Zack Taylor, to no avail. They suggested that a spy with binoculars was concealed in the scoreboard in old Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, reading the signals from a distance, but the Phils hit Grimes just as well in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. A batboy solved the mystery by pointing out that Burleigh's cap was too tight. It sounded silly, but he was right. The tighter cap would wiggle when Grimes flexed his facial muscles to prepare the spitter. He got a cap a half-size larger and the Phillies were on their own after that.[citation needed]

He then pitched for the New York Giants (1927), the Pirates again (1928-1929), the Boston Braves (1930) and the St. Louis Cardinals (1930-1931). He was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the 1932 season in exchange for Hack Wilson and Bud Teachout.[5] He returned to the Cardinals in 1933 and 1934, then moved to the Pirates (1934) and the New York Yankees (1934). Grimes was nicknamed "Ol' Stubblebeard", related to his habit of not shaving on days in which he was going to pitch.[6]

At the time of his retirement, he was the last of the 17 spitballers left in the league. He had acquired a lasting field reputation for his temperament. He is listed in the Baseball Hall of Shame series for having thrown a ball at the batter in the on-deck circle.[7] His friends and supporters note that he was consistently a kind man when off the diamond. Others claim he showed a greedy attitude to many people who 'got on his bad side.' He would speak mainly only to his best friend Ivy Olson in the dugout, and would pitch only to a man named Mathias Schroeder before games. Schroeder's identity was not well known among many Dodger players, as many say he was just 'a nice guy from the neighborhood.'

Post-playing career

Grimes moved to the minor leagues in 1935 as a player-manager for the Bloomington Bloomers of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League. He started 21 games for the team, recording a 2.34 ERA and a 10-5 record.[8] He did not pitch again after that season, moving on to manage the Louisville Colonels of the American Association.[8]

Grimes was the manager of the Dodgers in 1937-38. He followed Casey Stengel's term as Dodgers manager.[9] He compiled a two-year record of 131-171 (.434), with his teams finishing sixth and seventh respectively in the National League. Babe Ruth was one of Grimes's coaches. Leo Durocher was the team's shortstop in 1937 and a coach in 1938.[10] When Grimes was fired by general manager Larry MacPhail after the 1938 season, Durocher was hired to replace him. MacPhail said that the team's morale had not been right for a long period of time.[11]

Grimes remained in baseball for many years as a minor league manager and a scout. He managed the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League from 1942 to 1944, and again in 1952 and 1953, winning the pennant in 1943. As a scout with the Baltimore Orioles, Grimes discovered Jim Palmer and Dave McNally.[10]

Later life

Grimes was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included Grimes in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

Grimes died of cancer in 1985 in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. His wife Lillian survived him.[9]

See also

Notes

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References

External links

  1. ↑ Niese, p. 10.
  2. ↑ Niese, p. 12.
  3. ↑ Christofferson, Jason. Diamonds in Clear Water: Professional Baseball in Eau Claire, 1886–1912. Self-published. 2013. p.143-155.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Bruce Nash, The Baseball Hall of Shame 2
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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