Albert Lewis Orth (September 5, 1872 – October 8, 1948) was an American right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He later served as a major league umpire and college baseball coach.

Early life

Orth was born in Sedalia, Missouri and attended

DePauw University DePauw University is a private liberal arts university in Greencastle, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,972 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the G ...

Playing career

As a young pitcher with the Lynchburg minor league team in the

Virginia League The Virginia League was a minor league baseball affiliation which operated in Virginia and North Carolina from 1906 to 1928. It was classified as a "C" league from 1906 to 1919 and as a "B" league from 1920 to 1928. The most famous alumni to c ...

in 1895, Orth won 28 games. He was called up to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

and won his first eight starts for them. He finished the year with an 8–1 record and a 3.89 ERA in 11 games, with nine complete games and one save in a total of 88 innings. He had 25 strikeouts and 22 walks. Batting wise, he had a .356 batting average due to having 16 hits in 45 at-bats with a home run and 13 RBIs. The following year, Orth went 15–10 with a 4.41 ERA in 25 games and 196 innings of work. He had 23 strikeouts and 46 walks while having 19 complete games. In 25 games, he batted .256 while having 13 RBIs and a home run. Before the 1902 season, Orth and several other Phillies left for the American League; Orth joined the Washington Senators. When Orth was traded to the

New York Highlanders The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in after struggling the year before, he picked up the

spitball A spitball is an illegal baseball pitch in which the ball has been altered by the application of a foreign substance such as saliva or petroleum jelly. This technique alters the wind resistance and weight on one side of the ball, causing it to m ...

from Jack Chesbro and had his best year in , going 27–17 and leading the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

in wins. During that season, Orth threw 36 complete games in 39 starts. Known as The Curveless Wonder, Orth never relied on the breaking ball. Instead, his pitching success centered on his control and his ability to change pitch speeds. His pitch was once described in a poem by W.A. Phelon as a "glistening ball... but little speed, and scarce a curve at all." Orth twice finished with the fewest walks in his league. He is one of a handful of pitchers to earn 100 wins in both the National League and the American League. After Orth earned his 199th win in 1907, it took nine attempts to earn number 200; this still represents the greatest difficulty any pitcher has had in reaching the milestone. Orth was also known for his hitting skills, finishing seventh all-time among pitchers in hits, with a lifetime total of 464. He posted a .273

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 12

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 184 RBI. Orth would frequently hit above .300. The left-handed hitter was used as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute Batting (baseball), batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the dead ball (baseball), ball is dead (not in active play); the manager (baseball), manager may use any player who has not yet ...

78 times and even played the field on a few occasions, including fifty-five games as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and eight at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

during his time with the Washington Senators.

Umpiring and coaching days

After knee injuries and a sore arm ended his career, he managed for Lynchburg in the

. He debuted as a National League umpire in the summer of 1912. He was the umpire on May 2, 1917, when

Fred Toney Fred Toney (December 11, 1888 – March 11, 1953) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals from 1911 to 1923. His career record was 139 wins, 102 ...

and

Hippo Vaughn James Leslie "Hippo" Vaughn (April 9, 1888 – May 29, 1966) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. In a career that spanned thirteen seasons, he played for the New York Highlanders (1908, 1910–1912), the Washington Senat ...

each pitched 9 innings of no-hit baseball, the only time in regulation when neither team got a hit. After umpiring for several seasons, knee problems forced him to stop. He later coached at

Washington and Lee University , mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future" , established = , type = Private liberal arts university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.092 billion (2021) , president = William C. Dudley , provost = Lena Hill , city = Lexingto ...

as well as the

Virginia Military Institute la, Consilio et Animis (on seal) , mottoeng = "In peace a glorious asset, In war a tower of strength""By courage and wisdom" (on seal) , established = , type = Public senior military college , accreditation = SACS , endowment = $696.8 mill ...

. In the years before the National League provided for two umpires per game, it was not unusual for both teams in a baseball game to choose one of their players to alternate umpiring duties if the regular umpire failed to appear for the game, and Orth sometimes served that role. On August 20, 1901, Orth had the distinction of playing and umpiring in the same game, when manager

Bill Shettsline William Joseph Shettsline (October 25, 1863 – February 22, 1933) was a baseball executive who served as the business manager of the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from 1896 to 1926. He also served as club president from 1904 to 1 ...

sent him in as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning. Orth hit a single in the Phillies' 3–2 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers.box score, ''Chicago Tribune'', August 21, 1901, p6
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Death

Orth died at age 76 at his

Lynchburg, Virginia Lynchburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch (1740–1820), John Lynch, the city's populati ...

, home on October 8, 1948. He was survived by his wife and two sons.

References

External links