We’ve all seen baseball fans reward a player (with a loud round of applause) for getting up, dusting himself off and trotting to first base after getting hit by a pitch.
But how about a player who gets up, dusts himself off and continues to play – after getting leveled by a lightning bolt. It happened on this day (August 24) back in 1919, when hard-nosed, hard-living, Cleveland Indians’ hurler Ray Caldwell was knocked out by a lightning strike – only to get to his feet, “shake it off” amd complete the game. Note: BBRT commented on Caldwell’s feat in a 2013 post, but a lot of readers have been added since then, and I think Caldwell deserves another shout out for his grit (and I’ll add a few details on his career.)
Bain News Service photo.
As a ballplayer, Ray Caldwell was known as someone who played hard – on and off the field. The 6’2”, 190-pound, right-hander was thought by many to be a potential team “ace” on the mound. However, his career was derailed by ongoing arm troubles and a penchant for “living large” … with a noted preference for liquor and the ladies. His days in MLB were marked with multiple fines and suspensions related to alcohol and absenteeism. As New York Yankees’ manager Miller Huggins described it, “Caldwell was one of the best pitchers that ever lived, but he was one of the characters that kept a manager in constant worry.”
Caldwell, like most pitchers of his day (his MLB career lasted from 1910 though 1921), liked to finish what he started. He, in fact, finished more than 70 percent of his starts (184 complete games in 259 starts). Not only was it difficult for opposing hitters to drive him from the mound, even Mother Nature couldn’t get the best of him.
On August 24, 1919, Caldwell made his initial appearance for the Cleveland Indians (after being released by the Red Sox, with a 7-4 record and 3.94 ERA). Cleveland manager Tris Speaker, in a tight pennant race with the White Sox, thought he could handle the problematic Caldwell, and it turned out he was right. Caldwell went 5-1, 1.71 in six starts down the stretch, including a September 10th no-hitter against the Yankees. (He also hit .348, 8-for-23, with four doubles in his six starts for Cleveland.) But let’s get back to that August 24 game.
Caldwell started his first game in Cleveland – against the lowly Philadelphia Athletics – and, despite threatening weather, was cruising along with a four-hitter and a 2-1 lead. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Caldwell faced not only the A’s number-five hitter (shortstop Jumpin’ Joe Dugan), but also dark skies, rumbling thunder, occasional lightening and intermittent rain. As witnesses reported, with Dugan at the plate, a lightning bolt blazed from the sky, hit near the press box, traveled down the ball park railings, exited and crossed the infield, dropping Caldwell (some said that it hit him in the top of the cap) as though he had been struck by a line drive.
The fans gasped, some even screamed, and the umpires rushed to the mound, where Caldwell lay face up, arms outstretched. Various reports have Caldwell prone for three-to-five minutes. He then slowly sat up, got to his feet and shook his head to clear the cobwebs – refusing any suggestion that he leave the mound. Instead, he demanded the ball and retired Dugan on a grounder to third base on the very next pitch.
Caldwell finished 1919 strong for Cleveland and, in 1920, his 20-10, 3.86 season helped Cleveland capture the AL pennant. By 1922, at the age of 33, however, Caldwell’s history of arm and disciplinary problems had brought his major league career to an end. He kept playing, however, logging a dozen more minor league seasons – and despite two twenty-win minor league campaigns, never again toed a major league pitching rubber.
Ray Caldwell – Some Highlights
In addition to bouncing back to complete a game after being hit by lightning, Ray Caldwell had some other electrifying career moments:
– On June 10 and 11, 1915, Caldwell was used in consecutive games as a pinch hitter for the New York Yankees. He delivered consecutive home runs – a solo homer and a three-run shot. (This was in a year when the AL leader stroked only seven long balls.) More #WhyIHateThe DH. Then, on June 12, Caldwell’s turn to pitch came up – at home against the Saint Louis Browns. Caldwell went the distance in a 9-5 win and, for the third consecutive day, hit a home run. Over the three-day, three-game stretch, Caldwell was three-for-six, with three home runs, three runs scored and seven RBI.
– On June 23, 1917, Caldwell started both ends of a Yankees/Athletics doubleheader – winning both games. He pitched six scoreless innings in Game One (leaving with a 9-0 lead in an eventual 10-4 Yankees’ win); then he threw a complete game six-hitter in Game Two (as the Yankees won 2-1). A good day at the office, for sure.
– In 1915, Calwell started 36 games and completed 31.
– He was a 20-game winner (20-10, 3.86) for the Indians in 1920.
– In 1914, he won 18 games for the Yankees and posted a 1.94 ERA (fourth best in the league).
– In 1915, he finished fifth in the AL in pitching victories (19), and ninth in home runs HIT (4).
– His career batting average was .248 and in 1918 and 1919, respectively, he hit .291 and .296.
Caldwell’s final MLB stats (Yankees, Red Sox, Indians) included a 134-120 record and a 3.22 ERA. In addition to his 20-win season with the Indians, he went 18-4, 1.94 for the 1914 Yankees and 19-16, 2.89 for the 1915 New York AL club. A versatile athlete, Caldwell was also often used in the outfield, first base or as a pinch hitter. In 1918, he pitched in 24 games (21 starts) for the Yankees and also hit .291 in 169 at bats – playing in 65 games and taking the field at first base and in all three outfield positions (most often center field). In 1915, his four home runs were ninth in the AL (Braggo Roth led the league with seven), despite Caldwell having 200 at bats fewer than anyone else in the top ten. (League leader Roth hit his seven homers in 384 at bats; Caldwell hit his four homers in 155 at bats.)
Ray “Slim” Caldwell – not even a lightening bolt could drive him from the mound.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Society for American Baseball Research (article by Steve Steinberg)
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