Orval Overall

Orval Overall
Pitcher
Born: (1881-02-02)February 2, 1881 Farmersville, California
Died: Fresno, California
Batted: Both Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 16, 1905, for the Cincinnati Reds
Last MLB appearance
July 29, 1913, for the Chicago Cubs
MLB statistics
Win–loss record	108–71
Earned run average	2.23
Strikeouts	935
Teams
Cincinnati Reds (1905–1906) Chicago Cubs (1906–1910, 1913)
Career highlights and awards
2× World Series champion (1907, 1908) NL strikeout leader (1909)

Orval Overall (February 2, 1881 – July 14, 1947) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball. He was a member of the Chicago Cubs dynasty of the early 1900s. As of 2015, he remains the last man to be on the mound for the last out in a World Series–clinching game for the Chicago Cubs.

Biography

Overall was born in Farmersville, California. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a member of Sigma Nu and captain of the football team. He was named an All-American in football.

Overall's 1911 baseball card

Overall started his professional baseball career in 1904. With the Pacific Coast League's Tacoma Tigers, he pitched 510.2 innings, going 32–25 with a 2.78 earned run average. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in September. In 1905, his rookie season, he was the ace of the Reds pitching staff and won 18 games. He struggled early in 1906, though, and was traded to the Chicago Cubs. In 18 games for Chicago, Overall went 12–3 with a 1.88 ERA. The 1906 Cubs set a major league record for wins in a season and won the National League pennant.

Overall pitched even better in 1907. He went 23–7 with eight shutouts and a 1.68 ERA. He also won a game in the 1907 World Series, and the Cubs won their first title. In 1908, Overall "slumped" to just 15 wins but also won twice in the 1908 World Series as Chicago repeated as champions. In the series-clinching game, he shut out the Detroit Tigers on three hits. In the first inning of that game, he became the first pitcher to strike out 4 hitters in one inning in a post season game (a feat not duplicated until 2013 by Aníbal Sánchez of the Detroit Tigers.) In 1909, he won 20 games and set a career-low in ERA (1.42). He also led the NL in strikeouts, with 205.

Overall retired after the 1910 season. He made a brief comeback in 1913. He played seven years in the major leagues in total, compiling a record of 108–71 with a 2.23 lifetime ERA. He was the vice-president and manager of a bank after his baseball career ended.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball career wins leaders
• List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders
• List of Major League Baseball single-inning strikeout leaders

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Obituary at The Deadball Era
• Orval Overall at Flickr
• Four Strikeouts in One Inning at Baseball-Almanac.com
• 1907 cartoon of Overall from the Los Angeles Examiner