Time for another edition of Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday. I hope you are enjoying weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances or statistical coincidences.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that grabbed my attention.
This Tuesday, we’ll focus on a pair of record-setting pitching performances – made possible by unusual circumstances that offered the hurlers no escape from the mound.
Special note: The records presented here are for the Modern Era (post-1900).
Eddie Rommel … 29 Hits Surrendered In One Game
On July 10, 1932, Philadelphia Athletics’ righty Edwin Americus (Eddie) Rommel (often termed the “father of the knuckleball”) earned his 171st and final major league victory – and it was hard-earned to be sure. (On election day, it seemed like a post with a player named Americus was appropriate.) In the contest, winning-pitcher Rommell set or tied the MLB records for:
- Most hits given up by an MLB pitcher in a game (starter or reliever, regardless of innings) – 29;
- Most runs allowed in a relief win – 14 (The most runs allowed in any relief appearance is 18, by the Athletics’ Bill Bernhard in a 23-12 loss to the Boston Americans on May 2, 1901. Bernard pitched eight innings to a no-decision.);
- Most earned runs allowed in a relief win – 13 (The most earned runs allowed in any relief appearance is 15, by the Brooklyn Robins’ Nelson Greene in a 21-5 loss to the Pirates on June 20, 1925. Greene gave up 15 earned runs over 6 2/3 innings in a no-decision.);
- Most walks in a relief win – 9, tied (The most walks in any relief appearance belong to the Athletics’ Carl Ray at 12 on May 9, 1916 in a 16-2 loss to the Tigers. Ray pitched seven innings and got a no-decision.)
Rommel pitched 17 innings in relief that day, the second-longest relief appearance in the Modern Era. Zip Zabel, gotta love that name, pitched 18 1/3 innings of relief in a 4-3, 19-inning Cubs’ win over the Dodgers on June 17, 1915. Over his 18 1/3 frames, Zabel gave up just nine hits and two runs (walking one and fanning six).
So, how did Rommel’s 17-inning, 29-hit outing come about?
Rommel, at age 34 and in his 13th season with the Athletics, came on in relief of starter Lew Krausse in the bottom of the second, with the Athletics trailing 3-2. Seventeen innings later, Rommel had his final MLB win, as the Athletic prevailed 18-17. That win came after Rommel had surrendered 14 runs (13 earned) on nine walks, again while also giving up a single-game recorded 29 hits.
Why the long relief stint? The Athletics had just finished a series in Philadelphia (against the White Sox) and were traveling to Cleveland for a one-game (make-up game) stand before playing in Philadelphia again on July 11. In an apparent cost-saving move, they brought only two pitchers (Krausse and Rommel) to Cleveland. Once Krause was out, Rommel was “all in.”
Rommel pitched in only five more MLB games (all in 1932) – going 0-2, 3.86 in those games and 1-2, 5.51 on the season. He finished his MLB pitching career with a 171-119, 3.54 record in 501 appearances (249 starts – 145 complete games.)
If Rommel’s name sounds familiar, not only did he win 171 MLB games, he also spent 22 years (1938-59) as a major-league umpire – working a half dozen All Star games and two World Series.
And The Hits Just Keep On Coming
In Eddie Rommel’s 29-hit final victory, Indians’ shortstop and number-two hitter Johnny Burnett collected a single-game MLB record nine hits (11 at bats), with eight of those safeties coming off Rommel. Burnett had seven singles and two doubles, with four runs scored and two RBI.
The 29-hit outing was not indicative of Rommel’s skills on the mound. In 1922, he led the American League in victories, despite pitching for an under-performing (or under-talented) Athletics team. That season, Rommel went 27-13, 3.29, while the Athletics went 65-89. Then, in 1925, Rommel again led the AL in wins with a 21-10, 3.69 record – pitching for an improved Athletics squad (88-64).
Okay, Walter, What Ya’ Got?
On Opening Day in 1926, Eddie Rommel was involved in what has become a legendary Opening Day match up. It came on April 13, with Rommel and his Athletics facing future Hall of Famer Walter Johnson and the Senators. The game ended in a 15-inning, 1-0 Senators’ win, with both Rommel and Johnson going the distance. Johnson’s effort – his final Opening Day start (at age 38) – gave him the longest Opening Day shutout ever.
Allan Travers … 24 Runs for Heaven’s Sake
Rommel’s numbers in his final win pale a bit by comparison with those of Allan Travers in his first (and also final) MLB appearance. (Although Travers had a pretty good excuse for his performance.) It came on May 18, 1912 – with Travis on the mound for the Tigers, facing the Athletics in Philadelphia. Just three days (and two games) earlier, with the Tigers facing the Highlanders in New York, Ty Cobb had gone into the stands and physically accosted a very persistent and offensive heckling (and handicapped) fan named Claude Lucker. Lucker, apparently not lucky that day, suffered a pretty solid beating. As a result, Cobb had been suspended indefinitely by AL President Ban Johnson. After one game without Cobb, a majority of the Tigers players voted to strike until Cobb was reinstated. Johnson did not back down. In fact, he doubled down, announcing that the Tigers would be fined $5,000 for each game they forfeited for not fielding a team. Long story short, Tigers’ manager Hugh Jennings turned to Philadelphia sportswriter Joe Nolan for help in quickly rounding up a squad. Nolan, in turn, contacted Travers, whom he knew as the St. Joseph College Assistant (student) Manager for the varsity baseball squad.
A replacement team – sandlot players, former Georgetown College players, a couple of amateur boxers and two Tigers’ coaches ended up taking the field. The amateurs were signed to one-day contracts ($25), but no one apparently wanted to take the mound. For an extra $25, Travers – who had never thrown a pitch in competition, agreed to take on the task.
Travers, in what would be his only professional baseball appearance, threw an eight-inning complete game, giving up a:
- record setting number of runs (24); and
- record-tying (for a starters) 26 hits in a 24-2 loss.
He walked seven and fanned one (Athletics/ relief pitcher Carroll Brown.)
Just Keep on Running
In Allan Travers May 18, 1912 start, the Athletics collected an AL record-tying six triples. They also had four doubles and 16 singles (five bunt singles), as well as ten stolen bases.
After the fiasco, Ban Johnson doubled down again, cancelling the following game and informing the players if the strike continued, they would be banned for life. Game. Set. Match. Cobb urged his teammate to end the walkout. (Although there may have been some behind the scene negotiations, as Johnson reduced Cobb’s suspension to ten days.)
Travers went on to graduate from St. Joseph in 1913, further study at St. Andrew on the Hudson (New York) and Woodstock College (Maryland) before being ordained a priest in 1926.
Primary Resources; Stathead.com; Baseball-Almanac.com; “Father Allan Travers: The one-game pitcher who might have saved the Detroit Tigers, The Detroit Catholic, July 14, 2013 by Daniel Meloy.
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