Sunday School: History Lesson 25

Erskine Mayer was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1912-1918. He was a two-time 20 game winner for our Phils. Mayer attended Georgia Tech and left to play pro ball prior to his senior year and after going 26-9 for Portsmouth in his third year in the minors, his contract was purchased by the Phillies.

As a rookie in 1913, Mayer switched between relief work and starting assignments. He finished his first full season with a 9-9 record. Mayer would become known as a workhorse. In 1914, he appeared in 48 games (39 starts), the 2nd highest total in the NL, and threw 24 complete games and 321 total innings. He had a 21-19 record with 4 shut outs, 2 saves and a 2.58 ERA. In the second game on a double header on July 27th, Mayer tossed a 1-hitter against the Cardinals. Mayer also gave up Honus Wagner's 3,000th hit earlier that season.

In 1915, Mayer won 21 games again, this time with just 15 losses and a 2.36 ERA. He pitched 274 2/3 regular season innings that year. In the World Series, Mayer started game 2, allowing only a single run through 8 innings, before losing 2-1. Mayer also started the deciding game 5 of that series against the Red Sox, and was knocked out in the third inning.

Erskine Mayer's innings and appearances began to decrease over the next couple seasons. All the work took its toll and Mayer no longer had the same stamina. In 1916, Mayer made just 16 starts and put up a 7-7 record. Mayer gave an 11-6 effort in 1917, and began 1918 with a 7-4 record, before being traded to Pittsburgh, for Elmer Jacobs.

On August 1st, 1918, Mayer engaged in one of the greatest pitching duels of all time. Art Nehf of the Boston Braves and Mayer each pitched 15 scoreless innings to begin the game. More amazingly, Nehf threw 20 scoreless innings, only to lose the game 2-1, when the Pirates finally scored 2 runs in the 21st inning. Mayer finished 1918 with an overall record of 16-7 with a 2.65 ERA, while throwing 18 complete games. Mayer would pitch just one more season in the Majors.

-------------------------
Follow PhoulBallz on Twitter HERE!

Comments

Lidge Shaky, T-Mac Honored in Trenton

TRENTON, NJ- Brad Lidge made his second rehab appearance for the Double A Reading Phillies on Thursday night and it didn't go as well as the veteran reliever or the team had hoped. Lidge struggled with his command and turned in a rather poor outing for the club that entered the night in a playoff race, 1 game behind division rival Trenton for the Wild Card spot in the Eastern Division. On the disabled list since spring training with a strained right rotator cuff, Lidge experienced an elbow strain when he was working back from that issue in late May. In his outing against the Yankees affiliate in Trenton, Lidge displayed difficulty with his control as he threw three wild pitches, hit two batters, walked another and gave up a single, all while letting up two earned runs on 28 pitches in 2/3 of an inning. After the disappointing performance, Lidge was composed and focused on some positive aspects, having reached 89 and 90 MPH on scouts' radar guns, according to some reports. ...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

Drabek Preparing For Next Step

The transition has been easy for Kyle Drabek. In December, he was part of a package of young prospects that was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for ace pitcher Roy Halladay. Now, as though nothing has changed, he's right back where he was last season...the star prospect on the pitching staff of a team in the Double A Eastern League. Drabek has often stated that he wanted to stay in the Philadelphia organization, who drafted him in the first round of the 2006 amateur draft. The 22-year-old thought after the midseason trade rumors, that surrounded him possibly going to Toronto last year, passed with no action that all the turmoil was over and that he could simply relax and focus on getting to the big leagues with the Phillies. That wasn't the case, as the deal eventually came to fruition over the off-season. In the Blue Jays system this season, Drabek doesn't have to worry about being dealt. He only has to concern himself with opposing batters and working on his secondary pit...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog