Going back many years ago, it was common for some pitchers to pitch both games of a doubleheader. Going back to the days of the 1800s, it obviously happened a little more frequently. Thinking about the game of baseball today, even double headers are starting to become uncommon. None are ever scheduled as two games are played the same day only to account for a prior rainout. Complete games are becoming a thing of the past as pitchers are now getting credit for a quality start for pitching just six innings. Today is the 105th anniversary of one of the most impressive performances the game has ever seen. Unfortunately, it happened in the American Association for the Minneapolis Millers against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 13, 1909. The American Association had been a major league, but was considered minor league baseball at this time. While there is a MLB pitcher who has pitched a DH SHO (in 1908), Irv Young's performance deserves a little bit of respect.
As far as Irv Young's MLB career goes, he is best known for winning 20 games in 1905 for the Boston Beaneaters only to lose 21 the same season. His MLB record was 63-95, but pitching in the dead ball era, he managed to have a 3.11 ERA. Out of his 161 career starts (202 career appearances), he completed 120 of the games. Out of his first 83 games started, he completed an unbelievable 78 of them. Young clearly had more success pitching in the American Association as 1909 was the first of his three 20 wins seasons he had in the circuit.
In the midst of a 23-18 season with 338 innings pitched, Young started both games of the scheduled double header against the Brewers. In addition to throwing a shutout in the first game, he hit a solo home run to account for the only run of a 1-0 victory. In the nitecap, Young takes a no hitter into the 9th inning and has to settle for a 5-0, 1 hit shutout. Forget about the fact that this was not a major league game. A 1-0 shutout, hitting a HR for the only run, followed by 8 hitless innings in route to a 1 hitter is a double header pitching performance straight out of a fairy tale. I challenge you the reader to find another double header pitching performance that tops with Young did for the Millers. Yes, Ed Ruelbach threw a double header shutout for the Chicago Cubs on 9/26/1908, but not in the same dramatic fashion Young did. The last time a Cubs pitcher threw a double header shutout was the last year the team won a World Series Championship.
Baseball Almanac put together a fantastic piece on the pitchers who won double header complete games in the history of MLB. The feat happened 10 times in the American League and a whopping 35 times in the National League. Of course, the NL preceded the AL and the first recorded instance was Candy Cummings in 1876. Here is Baseball Almanac's list of all 45 pitchers in the history of MLB to win both games of a doubleheader pitching a complete game in each one.
As far as Irv Young's MLB career goes, he is best known for winning 20 games in 1905 for the Boston Beaneaters only to lose 21 the same season. His MLB record was 63-95, but pitching in the dead ball era, he managed to have a 3.11 ERA. Out of his 161 career starts (202 career appearances), he completed 120 of the games. Out of his first 83 games started, he completed an unbelievable 78 of them. Young clearly had more success pitching in the American Association as 1909 was the first of his three 20 wins seasons he had in the circuit.
In the midst of a 23-18 season with 338 innings pitched, Young started both games of the scheduled double header against the Brewers. In addition to throwing a shutout in the first game, he hit a solo home run to account for the only run of a 1-0 victory. In the nitecap, Young takes a no hitter into the 9th inning and has to settle for a 5-0, 1 hit shutout. Forget about the fact that this was not a major league game. A 1-0 shutout, hitting a HR for the only run, followed by 8 hitless innings in route to a 1 hitter is a double header pitching performance straight out of a fairy tale. I challenge you the reader to find another double header pitching performance that tops with Young did for the Millers. Yes, Ed Ruelbach threw a double header shutout for the Chicago Cubs on 9/26/1908, but not in the same dramatic fashion Young did. The last time a Cubs pitcher threw a double header shutout was the last year the team won a World Series Championship.
Baseball Almanac put together a fantastic piece on the pitchers who won double header complete games in the history of MLB. The feat happened 10 times in the American League and a whopping 35 times in the National League. Of course, the NL preceded the AL and the first recorded instance was Candy Cummings in 1876. Here is Baseball Almanac's list of all 45 pitchers in the history of MLB to win both games of a doubleheader pitching a complete game in each one.
RSS Feed
